Good catch! That was an interesting Planckian slip. As I am sure you already realize, I meant Variable Density Goggles! And before anyone thinks I ruined a valuable artifact, they are fairly common and I have a few examples. 
while you are and were a great host for the thread I'm guessing you'll be a great asset to the new host and to this thread in the future like Outlaw, 3bay, Jake, Jeff and others that are still hanging around picking and finding gems that follow them home.
Here we are at the Crew Members only After-Reveal party!
Nobody is curious what the pieces are!!??
If you look back to post #3, linked here, you’ll recall that my original plans were to mount a little model Hoover vacuum cleaner on a plinth. I never did find a suitable plinth and that model Hoover vacuum cleaner was just not doing it for me. It sucked – and I don’t mean that in a good way! I needed something bigger and better. So I decided to make a trophy instead out of materials I had found at the flea market.
The base is the yoke from a Herbrand Model No. 863 puller.
The plinth is an Armstrong **-1254 1-inch drive 1-11/16” socket.
The placard was salvaged with tin snips from a rusted out WWII Variable Gravity Density Goggles case…
…and the inscription, which reads, “GARAGE JOURNAL 2018 PICKER OF THE YEAR”, was embossed by hand with a leather mallet and letter and number punches.
The pickerupper or retrieving or holding tool itself is a Mechanical Fingers from Aircraft Specialties Products, Inc. in Lapeer, Michigan.
Who will win the “Golden Picker”?
I will be announcing the finalists soon!
Yes, it was about the folding table! You're the most artsy guy I know on here, and I thought you'd appreciate it!
Love the grotto lamp, especially the "temple" shade. Thanks, Andy. Believe it or not, it was not my first approach! I had all kinds of crazy ideas.
That was an instant "NO WAY"! 
The pressure was on but I work best under deadline and one day the small parts picker just dawned on me. I did go back and forth for a few days about whether I should leave the pieces in native finish or paint everything the same color, etc, but I am glad I decided on the metallic silver for the base and the gold plated picker. It definitely pops - and the gold-plated SOB who wins it better not hide in a closet somewhere either!
The only thing I think would be more appropriate would be if the label was made from an under gauge jerry can.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Folding Table Story Post
If you're in a hurry and have no interest in reading a long account of me waxing poetic about this find, skip ahead.
So I am in my Jeep, egg and pork roll sandwich recently devoured, piping hot Styrofoam cup of coffee in hand, literally creeping out of my flea market at 5mph when I spot a folding card table leaning against a telephone pole in one of the house liquidator guys areas.
My interest in it is purely in use.
If you've been following my finds, you know I hardly ever buy anything useful. (Funny, but true.) I am not a utilitarian tools guy, I buy collectibles, and I hardly ever venture far from that outlook. But I have been planning to hold a big yard sale to offload a bunch of my tools for quite some time (probably Spring 2019), and although I plan to borrow folding tables from my neighbors, I could use as many folding tables as I can get.
This one looks a little flimsy and a little old-fashioned, but kind of neat, and I like the color.
So I pull to the side, put it in neutral, crank the emergency brake, leave the car running, the door open, and scurry over to check it out.
I immediately see from the construction and the stylings and the Art Deco bakelite handle that it’s a vintage 50’s folding table. And it’s pretty effing cool. I am laughing to myself, now, thinking, ‘here I am trying to break my usual mode to buy something functional for a change – and it turns out to be vintage!’
Here are some pics of it I took when I got home...
Then I see the "Good Design" sticker. It's torn in half, and some schmoe scribbled all over it - ironically trying to strike-out the very thing that gives it its value, but it's still legible.
This is what it says:
The Manufacturer guarantees that this article corresponds in every particular to the one chosen by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, for the Good Design Exhibition at the Merchantile Mart, Chicago. A registered description of this article is available for inspection at the Museum, at the Mart, in the Manufacturer's files.
Now, as I was standing there at the flea market I didn’t know exactly what the sticker meant, or exactly how old it was, but I knew it was something special. Something unusual. I allowed myself a very brief, exhilarating moment, almost an unconscious flash, to reflect on the mix of good instincts, weird *** luck, and total coincidence that often align at the most unanticipated times to grace pickers with these kinds of finds.
I look up. Dependable Don (that really is his business name) is sitting in his car to stay warm.
I make a ‘How much?’ gesture at the table.
He flashes me an open hand. Five bucks.
SOLD!
(1 of 2 Posts)
HAHA! Believe it or not, I thought about it. If I had a later can (not WWII collectible), I might've gotten the torch or some bigger tin snips out!The only thing I think would be more appropriate would be if the label was made from an under gauge jerry can.
If it has the 'GOOD DESIGN' sticker on it, we are definitely going to have one more thing to laugh about when we're eating those steaks!
.
Also you are wondering why would I pay $30 for a craftsman crown top hand carry box ? [emoji51] I opened the box and saw this
Full 1/2 drive set =v= craftsman standard sockets with hardly any use and no engraving. Also included a few extensions and the 1/2 Flying V ratchet. Also [emoji16]
Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app
May I suggest YOU ****!?
I just bought a 1/2" flying V ratchet and was very happy to get it for $13 all by itself.
I salvage the stainless steel stiffeners from windshield wiper blades to use for this sort of thing. Some are wider than others, but all are tempered to spring temper. I keep an assortment and it is surprising how many times I find a use for them. Cheap, too!
I had a pretty good morning at my Double Early Bird.
- That's an early (1941) FDR Serviceman's pocket bible.
- The OD green canvas box marked 'B-8560' under that is a WWII sewing kit hard case. Most of them are the flat, fold-over roll-up type.
- Indestro rocker rat and L-handle.
- The DOE with the funky jaw faces is a French import.
- The heavy mill wrench is a SHAW.
- And the S-wrench is a Williams.
Thanks for asking, Dave! And funny you should call it a cabinet - because when I saw it from afar, that's exactly what I thought it was, too. My heart was racing and my hand was already going into my front cash pocket.
Thanks for asking, Dave! And funny you should call it a cabinet - because when I saw it from afar, that's exactly what I thought it was, too. My heart was racing and my hand was already going into my front cash pocket.
However, I wasn't too disappointed to discover that it was actually an ornate antique trash bin!
As I was leaving with it, a lady said, "Oh, you bought that. I really like it, but I wish it wasn't painted." She's got an antiques store, thinks it's fin de siècle and probably came out of a pantry in one of the fancy houses on the main line. When I asked her what she thought was under the paint she said brass, but it seems like galvanized steel to me.
If you recall the workbench in the Lugzsonian, I've got a perfect spot for it! I've never been happy with the blue one that's under there now, which is waaaay too small for the space, and, it's not time period correct!
It is pretty cool!! I'll even say You ****!!
