Friday, July 2, 2010

Dowdy mug


[Photograph by Michael Leddy.]

This dowdy mug (distressed by design) is a gift from my son. For use in and out of “the dowdy world.” Thanks, Ben!

Related reading
All “dowdy world” posts (via Pinboard)
Dowdy cup and saucer
From Lady Killer (1933) (Another dowdy beverage receptacle)

comments: 4

Elaine said...

My grand-dad's Parker (no longer working) and my ceramic cartridge pen, and my Mont Blanc are all sitting on my desk at this moment. For the life of me I can't think of what to do with them. Is there a time machine with which i can send these back to their useful lives?

(I'm now a 'fat pen' user; my hand goes to sleep if I try to grasp a narrow writing implement. This seems dowdy.)

Michael Leddy said...

Elaine, many old fountain pens can be brought back to life with nothing more than a good cleaning. If the Parker fills with a lever (which would look like a little toothpick embedded in the pen’s side), then the rubber sac inside is almost certainly in need of replacement. If it’s a later Parker, a 51, say, it might just need rinsing to get the old ink out. There are people who know about these things. The suggestions on this page might get you started.

Elaine said...

It is, indeed, a '51'....Thanks! I assume one can still buy ink-- or do I need to find an art supply shop?

Michael Leddy said...

If it’s a 51, just unscrew and try flushing the aerometric filler with tepid water. You can add a little non-sudsing ammonia to the water. You will probably need to do this many times — water in, water out. If your 51 doesn’t have an aerometric filler, life has just become more complicated. But as the link above suggests, there are whole websites devoted to this stuff.

An art-supply store would very likely have ink. Make sure to buy fountain pen ink, not India ink.