Up, Up and Away..........A$45

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks. 

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.....read the story over 100 Link Days.   

Your scribe has been complimented with the descriptor "superhuman" having got to the milestone of 100 cuff links posts on this blog.  It wasn't in 100 days, nor was it in 100 working days.....it was simply riffling through the many links that your scribe has accumulated over the years.  Its been great fun and a delight that your scribe has been glad to share with you all on the 100 link days.

It was cathartic in that it made your scribe think twice about the links that hadn't been worn for years;  for whatever reason.  It also provided an excuse to wear the outlandish ones that are only ever worn on special occasions and milestone days and what fun that was too.  We managed to travel to all points of the globe and the places we visited jolted some long buried memories in the haze of travel, wining, dining and generally frivolity that your scribe likes to indulge in when travelling.

There were gift links, market links, bet links, fashion links, aviator links, lucky links, birthday and Christmas links (and other religious holidays!) alma mater links and any number of other wonders that one can accumulate in a working life that takes you places.  One of the over riding themes or pastimes has been aviation and to revisit those air shows or airports and aviator biographies has been a whole lot of fun.

Thanks to all of you who provided and made comments and support.  I did take note on a lot of your concerns and put them in to action.  These included a brunette and red head bias and an assurance of alma mater, religious and political balance.  Thank you all for your indulgence and your scribe hopes that it wasn't all too much of a diversion in your workday worlds.

Our centenary cuff links can only be my Superman cuff links, given my so called super human efforts.  I have had these for years and do not wear them that often given my humble demeanour but your scribe is a huge Superman fan in the comic book form, the television series and the movies.  The Superman "franchise" spans nearly 80 years and from what was shown at trailers prior to Batman the other day, there appears another block buster in the wings.......Your scribe can't wait.

These Superman links can only ever be worn with an iridescent green Paul Smith tie, that I describe as "kryptonite" green and they are worn with the obligatory Brooks Brothers cotton shirt.

Rather than a "Til Later " I guess today it's adios until the next instalments.

ONWARD

The Race is Not to The Swift

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.  

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series ....

 
One of the great story tellers of all time is Aesop (above).  He is up there with the greats and the stories are wonderful for adults and children alike.  Aesop's Fables is a great read and if buying a copy make sure you get the right version that is filled with wonderful illustrations.  Your scribe's version has hundreds of fables and is a wonderful large hard cover edition that takes occasional pride of place on the coffee table when friends with kids come around.  Your scribe is lucky enough to have some lovely old editions in Latin and Ancient Greek.

Strangely there is no real record of Aesop but some speculation has him living around 640 BC in Greece. Having 700 odd fables attributed to him makes it all a bit weird that there is no real record of him having actually written anything. But alas his stories are perhaps the most enduring traditions of European culture and have been in print since the 14th Century.

Just about everybody on the planet knows of at least one or two of his wonderful tales like the Lion and The Mouse.....the Boy Who Cried Wolf.....and your scribes all time favourite The Hare and The Tortoise. The story of course is about the overly confident hare pitching a race against the slow and humble tortoise. I will leave you to read the rest and make your own views on the moral outcomes of the story.

Hence today's links, which are pressed metal tortoises that I found in one of the "treasure" drawers in Tresors, a small antique store in Sydney's wonderful Strand Arcade.  The Links of course allow me to wear one of my favourite Salvatore Ferragamo silk ties that has running hares and bunches of grapes as motifs.  Worn today with a tailored pink pin stripe cotton shirt.

Til Later




ONWARD

Conscienti​ous Objectors at the Sports Carnival..........SOLD

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.  

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series .....

The big sports carnival in London , or "Les Jeux"  has had your scribe out of action for the past few weeks and in attire that precludes cuff links, so hence the down time. I  did however attend a "Les Jeux" function and had the opportunity to dig out some old gems from the days of the 2000 Sydney Games.  There is something special about a town before, during and after the Olympics.

As a youngster, your scribe was in Mexico City for the 1968 Mexico City Games and managed to pass through Munich the month after the 1972 Munich Games.  I remember Munich feeling like a ghost town that was living through the largest hang over imaginable.   The 1980 Moscow Games were interesting as your scribe managed to attend regardless of my country actually boycotting the Games that year.  65 countries boycotted those Games and as you can imagine there were huge medal hauls for the Eastern Bloc that year!!!!!!  There were a few "rebel' athletes that attended regardless and they marched in the opening ceremony under the Olympic flag, as "sporting conscientious objectors".....good on them.  This chart shows the Olympic boycotts for 1976; 1980 and 1984.

Sydney was special as your scribe was lucky enough to attend a number of events and functions of the 2000 Sydney Games.  One of your scribes offspring managed to participate in the 2008 Beijing Games and your scribe had some aviation interests in Athens that managed to coincide with the 2004 Athens Games.

Today's links are from the 2000 Sydney Games and is part of very large bunch of Olympics ephemera collected over time.  They are hauled out for special events and the closing night of the "sports carnival" just passed  had me milling though the attic boxes to find them.  They were pure merchandise and they were acquired with all the other stuff one manages to collect during the Games.  The last evening they were worn with a Brooks Brothers cotton check shirt, a Valentino blazer and the university blue tie.

Bring on Rio.


Til Later




ONWARD

Gold Gold Gold..........A$155

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.  

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series .....

The big sports carnival in London has me thinking of all things gold this week. Your scribe has  been on any number of adventures that involves wineries and some good old fossicking around archaeological digs and historic sites.  Having read History at university your scribe is always up for a field trip. 

I was lucky enough recently to visit one of the localities of the 1850's gold rush just outside of Mudgee in NSW Australia.  The abandoned town is now barely what it was then and armed with a metal detector your scribe had a days outing along the river banks of the "ghost" mining town.

On a freezing cold morning armed with a flask of coffee, rum and a few sandwiches, I entered an eerie world of an abandoned  gold town from over 160 years ago.  Any number of old stores and shacks that people lived in are now ruins and it was something to behold.  A local told me to head to the orange tree..."you cant miss it".  There along the banks of the now dry river bed was a magnificent orange tree that was once the "comfort stop" for the horse and coaches that plied the routes of these old towns. The orange tree of course provided refreshments for all the passengers eager to alight from what must have been a very bumpy ride by modern standards.

The gold rush of course bought prosperity to a lot of towns across Australia and the western states of the USA in the late 19th century.  Amateur prospectors seeking to get rich quick converged on these towns for afar away as China.  The abandoned creek bed along which your scribe wandered all day without seeing a soul was populated by no less than 30,000 during the hey day of the gold rush.

My local contact reliably informed me that there as still gold along the now dried out river bed but that there just wasn't enough of it to make it worth while as a day job!!!  Regardless your scribe, armed with metal detector set off on a day's adventure amongst the ruins and dried out river and creek beds.  Unfortunately your scribe found nothing but nonetheless it was a wonderful day out.

On return to the town later that day I was eager to sample some local fare, some local wines and to take in the thrift and antique stores. And that brings is to today's links that were in a local odds and ends store. They are gold leaf set in a resin of some sort and have a blue background set in gold plate.  They are in great condition for links from what appear to be the late 50's or early 60's. I wear them today with a white cotton Brooks Brother's shirt and a sky blue Chanel silk neck tie.

 Til Later

Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride...of course!..........SOLD

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.  

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series .....

Your scribe has any number of things cramming up space in his attic.  Over the years, your scribe has managed to acquire and repair a bunch of old bakelite radios just to add to the stock pile of "stuff".
In an era of "in-built obsolescence" it's wonderful to marvel at these hardy appliances that in some cases have managed to be reliable and working radios for over 70 years. Art Deco is of course one of your scribe's favourite design themes and the radio in its golden era was the pride of the mantle piece of most modern homes.

Often described as the material of a thousand uses, bakelite has been used to make any number of household and industrial items from billiard balls, radios, electrical components, poker chips, jewellery boxes.....the list goes on and on.....and of course cuff links!!!

As a plastic it is of course man made and entirely consists of a mixture of synthetic components.  With an official chemical name of  polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride it has provided your scribe with no end of fascination.  Wow, plug  polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride in to the search engine or please use it at the next cocktail party!!!!!    "My what wonderful cuff links....what are the made of?" "Why polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, of course."

Like most things in life, bakelite is a thing of the past due to the cost of manufacturing the stuff.....there are some commercial uses that are still around but for your standard household items I'm afraid it's a thing of the past.

Today's cuff links are rose marbled bakelite set in rose gold.  I think they emanate for the US and are most likely 1940's by the look of them.   As is often the case, these little beauties were found in a thrift store shelf covered in dust jammed in to a corner with some other odds and ends. They are worn with tailored cotton shirt and a coral pink Salvatore Ferragamo silk neck tie with radio transmitter tower motifs.


Til Later




ONWARD