In the midst of getting myself ready to travel east for work (and some fun, I’m sure) I couldn’t resist revisiting my thermoses.
No, really, when I was updating the “about” page on this blog I took a few pictures of my recently stalled thermos collection and got inspired all over again.
My thermos collection started by accident. I was out with a friend visiting garage sales in southern New Hampshire one day about three years ago. At one of the sales there was a box near the end of the driveway with the word “free” scrawled on the side. In that box, with a lot of other totally forgettable stuff, was a thermos.
For some reason, I decided to take it. My thermos collection started there.
“Thermos” is one of those brand names that has come to stand for the product, like “kleenex” or “xerox” or “polaroid.” Like my first thermos, many thermoses are actually made by the Thermos company.
There are, however, other brands of “thermoses” not made by Thermos.
This thermos is called the Atlas, but is made by the Faris company in St. Louis.
From the start I had two rules for my thermos collection. Thermoses added to the collection should be inexpensive (or, ideally, free). And they should be aesthetically interesting.
Most of the thermoses I have are glass lined, and many are old enough to have corks under their caps.
Some come with their own cases.
Most of my thermoses sit on a shelf in my study, but some get used. This one always reminds me of the cold, windy day when we filled it with Bloody Marys and took it to the beach on the Cape.
knitting a life 