I bought my house from a woman who was moving into a nursing home. I never met her; rather, I dealt entirely with her son, who was taking care of her affairs because she was incapacitated. When I moved in, I found a number of items that had been left behind because they were too much trouble for the son to deal with, and I have been using several of them. For example, the lawn mower. It is an electric mower, powered by a long and damaged cord — damaged by people running over it with the mower, I assume — that makes me feel as though I’m vacuuming my lawn rather than cutting grass. Also a couple of ugly, mid-60s lamps, a nasty green plastic trash can, a 50s-era chrome-trimmed kitchen table with pull-out leaves, and an ironing board that has seen better days but retains a hip, stylish air.
And in the basement there’s this pencil sharpener. It’s attached to the wall in the laundry/furnace area. Why this spot was chosen for a pencil sharpener I can’t imagine. Maybe it was the only available bit of exposed wood to which the homeowner didn’t mind screwing the thing. There’s a fully functional gas stove down there too, so the owners must have had different ways of using areas of their home than I would think of.
As you can see in the photo, it’s the Midget model. It features a clear plastic body that conveniently lets one see when it’s full of shavings. The shavings in it currently have, I think, been there since I bought the place. I may have used it once, but I can’t remember for sure.
I first noticed it when I was touring the house the first time. I remember thinking, “How odd.” And at the same time, I was excited about it — a little freebie.
I thought of it just now only because frizzyLogic has come in contact with what’s apparently my sharpener’s big brother, the APSCO Giant 51. An impressive specimen, for certain. How many more are still in operation?