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| Vintage GE Manual |
A GE Step Voltage manual. Not a very exciting find for most folks. Except me. Am I an electronics whiz? Not. At. All. But I'm a vintage paper lover from way back.
I can only guess that my love of paper started when I was a toddler. When I was about 2 years old my parents were pleasantly surprised and very much amazed that I appeared to be able to read. Some of my first memories are of being propped up in a lap at a restaurant so I could read the menu out loud. I didn't know why my parents thought that this was entertaining but I was happy to oblige. Years later my mother would tell me stories of how the restaurant patrons would stop in their tracks to listen to me read. She said that about half would nod in disbelief and were certain that I was making up the words as I went along or that it was some kind of trick. Guess I had my 15 minutes of fame before I even knew what that was...
Since reading was easy for me, I couldn't read enough. Every book, label, receipt, price tag, postcard, and slip of paper that I could find was immediately read. This probably drove my mother crazy, but if it did, she never let on. She did, however, make sure that I had plenty of books and magazines to keep me out of her hair busy.
My father played a part in feeding my paper addiction too. He was an electronics whiz and I grew up around ham radio, CB's, tower antennas, and every kind of radio equipment imaginable. That's probably why I have a soft spot for electronics manuals even though I had no interest or special abilities in that world. My father tried to teach me Morse code when I was about 8 and I picked it up quickly but it held no interest for me so I soon forgot. I do remember looking at pages and pages of decoded signals on his desk and thinking that was very cool. Again, it was the paper...
Fast forward 40 years to my foray into the internet world of commerce. My first business was and still is Books Around The Clock. My love of books remain but my continuous joke (which is probably more of an observation) is that I'm a bookseller in a house full of books with no time to read them. True, but that's life as a grown-up. A few years ago as books evolved into eBooks and digital downloads (and as my house became overrun with books) my desire to implement Plan B began to take shape. Not only did I sell books but I also tried selling new items from wholesalers with some marginal success. The novelty of selling new merchandise (mostly made overseas) very soon wore off and I made the decision to only sell what I absolutely love - vintage. Period. New merchandise just never gave me the satisfaction that matching that hard to find piece with that customer that has been looking for it for years would always give. No contest. That's when I launched Vintage Around The Clock and Postcards Around The Clock. The Around The Clock theme seemed to fit nicely since that's about how much I work, but I love what I do so it's not really "work" to me. Most of my free time is spent at live auctions, treasure hunts, and sometimes even reading a book. :-)
I started this blog to highlight some of the interesting finds that I've come across. Some might be items for sale in my stores or some might be drool-worthy pieces that I bump into on the internet. It's all about the paper and vintage. In fact, this may be the only post about me personally unless my life suddenly becomes entertaining blog fodder. If you're a paperholic in any way you might get your fix by checking back here once in a while. Heck, you may even want to subscribe.
