Remember these?
I was charmed to find one just like the burgundy at a car boot sale this weekend, and amazed to find no-one had written in it. Wow, I thought. Imagine being part of a family for, what? at least twenty five years – pre-mobile phones, pre-online address books – and never being used. I ignored the funny looks from my in-laws and bought it, because it reminded me of one we had at home when I was a child. And retro is so in now, right?
This morning, I went down to my local newsagents / stationary store to look for a cartridge pen to replace the one I seem to have cracked (nothing fancy, just the cheap plastic ones you can find in any WHSmiths, Tesco or Woolworths in the UK). I couldn’t see any, and when I asked the lady behind the counter, she looked puzzled for a minute, then said she didn’t think they were made anymore.
Then I saw the neat stack of teledexes on the shelf behind her. They were exactly the same as the eighties-style one I’d bought at the car boot sale. No, this isn’t a dusty old supply shore, it’s a fresh, modern newsgagency / stationers. They were going for $18 – clearly, a key item in any Australian SOHO.
At least I only paid $2 for my teledex… but I’m still looking for a cartridge pen.
