Sunday, April 17, 2011

Almost Antique

I think the definition of antique is - 100 years old.


We (my husband and I) make jewelry from vintage typewriter keys. At craft fairs, I'm always asked "Where do you get the keys??".


The answer is - everywhere we can find them!

From estate sales to craigslist to ebay. I've even had people come up to me at fairs and tell me they have one in their garage at home - one sweet lady brought it back to me and we bought it then and there!


The keys we use are from typewriters that range from the 1920's to the 1940's. After that, they started using early plastics, and they aren't so cool anymore.


Recently I bought a set of keys on Ebay (OH so pricey). But the wonderful seller included a receipt that had been in the typewriter case:



From 1938. They paid $25 for the typewriter - pretty expensive for those days?! So this set of keys is 73 years old. It's a Corona, with serif font. The final product will look like this:

Of course, you can find all our jewelry at Buster and boo.


I think I have to frame that old receipt!

1 comment:

K said...

I think we still have an old back typewriter, but being a word monger, I can't cannibalize it. There is something delicious about those old key heads, though - maybe I'll go searching myself. But not around here - too many craft-heads to compete with.