Third in a series of everyday encounters, iPhone in hand, with items that elicit a steampunk’d reaction. A celebration of materials, honest mechanics, longevity, and a tactile attraction… The antithesis of disposably-priced, short-lived, flimsily-manufactured, and blindly-operated “stuff.”
Today’s subject is a simple hand-held houseplant humidifying device (not a brass “plant”, mister…): refillable, thumb-pumped, all-brass construction, task-oriented and obviously with a few years under its screw cap. The metal patinas over the years; the piston cylinder tips a bit from the pressure of many a thrust; the sides gain a dent or two – but it keeps going. If it leaks or stops spraying, it can be repaired. If it’s not needed for the moment, it sits in repose, gleaming in the sunlight with its handle and nozzle arcing gracefully as the houseplants it dutifully services. A paen, no doubt, to utilitarianism but a pleasingly simple and effective example. It’s not that hard to do things well. What are your preferences?
Fuller Steam Division 