Gear and tackle and trim

Glory be to God for dappled things—

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;

And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

                                                              Gerard Manley Hopkins: Pied beauty

Before going to sleep at night, while lying in bed, I love to read. There is usually a Manhattan skyline of books stacked high on the little table close at hand. I am not very particular in my bedtime reading – anything black on white will do. However, a tool catalogue is an absolute treat. And if it is an antique tool catalogue, I’m in heaven.

To be honest, I love looking at the pictures. For some reason or the other, the pictures in all the old catalogues have the same feel to them. You can almost hear and smell an old printing press, see the engravers, while turning the pages. They carry you off to an era where artisans were proud of their trade and the apprenticeships they went through. I imagine a big part of me is very old school at heart.

I am constantly surprised by the huge variety in the fields of expertise, shining forth from these publications.

 Some examples from old catalogues:

Strictly speaking not so much a catalogue, but a pictorial history of the barbering trade. Notice the barber pole on its beautiful stand. Keep in mind that somebody must have manufactured that. Matilda always says that we lose sight of the fact that most of the things we use or touch in the course of an ordinary day was made by someone.

The origin of the barber pole with its red and white stripes dates back to the era when barbers were involved in the practice of bloodletting and bloody bandages were wrapped around a pole as witnesses to that. During the Middle Ages barbers also extracted teeth. I've always wondered, was that done before or after the shave? 

Different hoes from a 1914 French catalogue. I can’t speak French, but am absolutely convinced that these tools would have been useful in any language.

An Afrikaans Tarry catalogue, somewhere in the mid 1900’s. I looked all over but could not find a date. A neighbour gave it to me after he had discovered it in his late father’s study. The company is still doing business in Zimbabwe. Old catalogues provide insight into the history of business and companies as well.

Something much more recent:

A page from the beautiful 2009 Cromwell catalogue. So comprehensive that it provides reading material for many evenings: Tuesday – Shank milling cutters; Thursday – vices; Friday – Tool holders; Monday – Pipe threaders.

Besides being surprised by the variety that’s presented, it also provides perspective. Anybody who thinks his or her occupation to be the most important, challenging, glamorous or whatever merely demonstrates a lack of knowledge or exposure. I am considering walking around with a set of hair clippers and every time I meet somebody sitting on one of those occupational high horses I want to hand him or her the clippers saying: “See if you can sharpen these.” On the other hand, I imagine that by doing that I am merely setting myself up for disappointment. In all probability the reaction that I’ll get will be: “Buy a new one. Time is money.” Is it vindictive to then conjure up images of a certain somebody’s hair being cut by a barber using only a knife and a fork?

So, I have novels, thrillers and biographies next to my bed. They provide me with hours of pleasure. There are evenings however when I reach out to my tool catalogues and get lost in the air hose coils of a 300 litre, belt drive V-head, 8 bar compressor.

George