chapter 4
Obsolescence & the Better Mousetrap
Decorative Waxed Paper ★ Figural Pencil Sharpeners ★ Pencils ★ Blotters ★ Animal Can Openers ★ Insulators ★ Butcher Display Tags for Meat Cuts ★ Hangers ★ Clothespins
LEFT: Clothespin, c. 1890. Made and sold by Gypsies. Hand-cut wood, reinforced with steel band, 5" high. USA
RIGHT: Clothespin, c. 1990. Machine-cut wood and spring-loaded steel wire, 2 3/4" high, USA
Obsolescence & the Better Mousetrap ponders objects of such frequent and commonplace use in earlier times that their improvement and replacement was not even considered by the user. With stealth, improved versions displaced them. They were the dwindling party. Those that remain speak volumes about other times when they were the cat’s meow or the only game in town (ex: printed waxed paper, insulators, hangers, figural pencil sharpeners, butcher display tags, animal can openers, blotters, clothespins).
