Junk Love Monday: Typewriter Ribbon Tins

In the Blackbird house, there are tins on almost every surface. We've got tea tins, tin recipe boxes, candy tins, tiny tins of assorted types, and, of course, typewriter ribbon tins. The other Blackbird girl has been collecting those forever.

This is another collection with a definite price limit--she never pays more than $5 for a tin, and usually holds out for the $3 deal. If I'm buying tins for gifts, the price bracket can be a little higher, but even then, no typewriter ribbon tin priced more than $9 has crossed our threshold.

We both love them, which means that I can live vicariously through her collection (we do this a lot for each other). She has a special love for tins from the 1930s, and I have a soft spot for anything with a really graphic color combination, like the orange and black Herald Square tin.

Before Christmas, I happened to look online for typewriter ribbon tins (I do this periodically, but with very little luck finding tins that fit into the price bracket). I really didn't expect anything to catch my eye, but I ended up hitting the mother lode. It's kind of like our hat experience from a couple of weeks ago--I found 4 tins, and then  2 more, and then another one. Over a period of 4 days, I got 8 typewriter ribbon tins...for a grand total of $15 (including shipping). That made for quite a junk buzz, plus I got to relive it all when we opened Christmas presents.
 

Right now, the collection is corralled in a vintage optic glass punchbowl, with an additional reservoir in a coordinating optic glass vase. They periodically get stirred around a bit to rotate different tins to the top.  There are a few repeats, but you must have figured out by now that the Blackbird girls love multiples. We're fairly positive that nobody else can love it as much as we can, so we might as well keep them all....

 
And it's not technically for typewriters, but we love this Kee Lox adding machine ribbon tin. 

Junk Love Monday: Love Cuts Like A...

Paper cutter. I know we've written about office junk before, but I recently acquired my third and fourth vintage paper cutters (and we know that makes the collection official!), and I'm still feeling the buzz of infatuation. I love the look of them, plus I actually cut paper fairly often, so they are functional. There's nothing quite like gripping that handle, lining up that piece of paper, and savagely lowering the blade to make that delicious swishy-cutting sound....And that moment of suspense, when you barely have time to wonder if you remembered to move your thumb completely out of the way? Priceless.

So, here is my ode to paper cutters. They look great sitting on a shelf, they make fantastic risers for other junk, and they earn their keep anytime I need to cut 500 business cards (yes, this has happened).

Oh, paper cutter--I love your stripes!

From RootedInVintage on Etsy

I have a miniature Kodak cutter, and so can you!

From MidCenturyProps

I have two sizes of green paper cutters (they match!). There's nothing like stacked paper cutters in graduated sizes....

This one sold on Etsy

This label is from a letterpress paper cutter. I don't have one, but I'm a sucker for office equipment made in Chicago. Don't ask me why--I've never even been to Chicago.

www.boxcarpress.com

My Ingento cutter might be my favorite. It cuts the best, and the logo is cool.

This one sold on Etsy

Milton Bradley made board games--and paper cutters!

From aniandrose on Etsy

And next on my list--a roll paper cutter. I want to cut big striped paper!

But this one sold on Etsy already:(