So I’ve been looking for an anglepoise for my desk. Yes, yes, Emma, Bankers Lamp. I know :)
I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for anglepoisen, my dad’s one adorns our bedroom despite being somewhat battered (and I think it’s a knock-off, original to the 1960s though). Anyhow, I started off planning to get another one of the ikea ones, but really, I’m not terribly impressed with the underlying quality of the steel. It’s a bit thin.
So then I thought, hell, they can’t be that hard to find, I’ll get a second hand one. So I started scanning local charity shops. Then I upped it to actively looking in local charity shops. Then I tried e-bay, and noticed that almost everything on there is a brand anglepoise, and is also not just a scabby old second hand ‘poise. And then I realised that even the few scabby old ‘poises don’t go cheap.
And then it happened. I started to rather fancy a real ‘poise. Specifically either the 1228:
or the 1227:
But after trying to catch a few of the rattier ones going past (1227s, there’s no hope of me winning a 1228 auction because everyone knows they’re worth a fortune), trying misspelled auction (there was one, I got outbid by a couple of quid) I started to think carefully. We want to move to Canada, do we really need more stuff? Do we want to be collecting period furniture now. After lots of careful consideration and poking myself with the ‘you shouldn’t spend money anyway’ stick I gave in and removed the multiple watched auctions…
I found a couple of the far less my style Anglepoise type 90s, and stuck a couple of bids on them, and resigned myself to probably landing up with an ikea lamp.
And then I showed them to Kathryn. And she commented that the price I’d been considering as too ‘spensive wasn’t really ‘spensive for a decent lamp. And that she rather liked them. And all that carefully constructed faux decision making collapsed.
And I’m back hunting for a nice 1227. Well, actually, a ratty 1227 that in a few years time I can clean up and make niceynicey. Not winning though… However, I’ve one bid on a far less exciting knock-off anglepoise, which was my concession to financial good sense. I doubt I’ll win, but hey, let’s see.
I don’t expect to win the other thing I’m after. I found an old Heathkit valve* amplifier. I’m very much wanting it, but I don’t think I can really bid as much as I expect it’ll go for. I had a moment of thinking ‘hey, I’ve probably got the circuit diagram, I could just buy the parts and build a new one’… And then checked my collection of most heathkit circuit layouts…. and it’s oddly absent.
Feh.
* tube
