Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

Another Mata Ortiz pot.

This and the earlier Mata Ortiz pots can be seen here.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A plate from L'Objet.

Here is its companion.

I Survived!

Here we are, the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking.

There is an exhibition of artifacts recovered from the Titanic that is currently at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Jerry, Jim Black and I went to the exhibit a couple of months ago.

When you enter the exhibit you are given a "boarding pass" that has the name of a passenger on the Titanic's maiden voyage.

When you get to the end of the exhibit you find a list of the names of the passengers and whether they survived. My passenger, Mr. Alfred Nourney, survived! But all of his money sank. Mr. Nourney apparently didn't behave as a gentleman after leaving the Titanic. He didn't help row the lifeboat. He smoked and fired his pistol instead. He hogged blankets on the Carpathia.  He lived another 60 years.

Jerry and Jim's passengers weren't so lucky. They went down with the ship.

One of the artifacts that is shown is a little coffee cup used in First Class. I commented that it was pretty and that somebody should make replicas of it. Well, imagine my surprise when we got to the gift shop at the end of the exhibit. There were replicas of the espresso muglet for sale! I had to get one:

Since this was a museum exhibition's gift shop I couldn't afford more than one mug. But now I own a (replica of a) piece of history.

It is an interesting, but expensive, exhibit. You should see it when it gets to your town if you can afford it.

By the way, 1912 had other events that are significant to my life:

• New Mexico became a state
• My cash register started its career

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

Three Steuben hand coolers (two designs).

Sadly, Steuben is no more.

Happy Centennial, Cash!

One Tuesday back in 2009 I showed you some little turtles in the drawer of my cash register. In that post I promised more about the cash register in three years time. Now is the time!

Today my cash register is 100 years old!

In August 1994, Jerry and I visited New Mexico. We took a day trip over to Las Vegas. I don't really remember why we went over there. Maybe it was a play day with Peggy. I have no real connection with the town. My parents and older sisters all went to New Mexico Highlands University. I was spared. The only thing I really remember of our trips to Las Vegas to see Jack's Aunt Gladie was our excursions to the nearby Dairy Queen where I'd get a Dilly Bar.

One of our stops on our visit was an antique store on the plaza. They had a bronze National cash register for sale. I was working for NCR at the time and had been wanting to get a cash register. I admired it but decided that it would be too difficult to get it back to California.

Here it is in the antique store.

We went back to Los Alamos without a cash register. The cash register kept calling to me so I decided that we probably could have it shipped. We went back the next day and bought it.

We took it to a business in Los Alamos that ships things. They built a crate with 5/8" plywood, removed the "Amount Purchased" top sign and glass, reinforced the purchase price that was showing (I don't know how to have nothing showing in the amount purchased window) and packed it in foam and styrofoam peanuts. They knew what they were doing. The cash register got here in the same condition we left it.

Its condition isn't perfect but it's pretty good. Its locks are missing their keys. Its Finish C "should be highly polished and clear lacquered with a car quality lacquer, to protect the polished finish" but it's not very shiny.

The people at the antique store told us that they were about its third owners. Its first owner was in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. I think they told me that the son of the first owner used it in a shop in Las Vegas. It then went to the antique store. Now I have it.

I can't find the receipt but the price tag you see in the picture survives.

Ignore the "c 1912"! We know it's actual age!

On the underside of the cash drawer is the guarantee that the cash register will be mechanically correct for two years after it was delivered. It shows that it was built for A. A. Witherspoon of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. It was delivered April 3, 1912.

You'll notice that the Register No. and Size recorded on the guarantee are the same as on the front of the cash register.

This means that this is the original drawer. The cash register isn't cobbled together from pieces!

There is a modification that probably voided the guarantee. The spring that pushes the cash drawer out broke. There is another spring tied to what's left of the original one.

To celebrate my cash register's 100th birthday, here it is making its cheerful Ding! when it registers a sale:

My 100-year-old cash register!

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

Last week, Bobbie and Colleen complained that, unlike the week before, the Tuesday post was static. So, to appease my adoring fans, here is another animated turtle.

You've seen this one before but as far as I can tell not as a Tuesday Turtle. But there's a chance I've posted it but forgot to tag it properly.

It's the turtle I use in my Blogger profile.

Click it to make it bigger

The clouds got thinner as I was shooting the images but I didn't want to shoot them over. I hope you can live with that.

And I hope you don't expect animated images every week!