Looking at the automobile page in the Sunday April 7
th
New York times, I read an article by Jim Koscs about how a 1966 Cadillac was
left to a 17 year old boy named Ray Knox in 1976 by an elderly lady who he
helped in life and who in return treated him like an adopted grandson. He still
has it, it is in great shape, and he obviously loves it deeply.
I am sure it reminds him of wonderful times
and a wonderful woman.
My wife and I are reminded of past pleasures by objects, and
seem to have surrounded ourselves with them.
My shop is full of old hand tools I don’t use, my office with things I
have collected in various travels, and my basement with products that I no
longer use, but that have served me well, or that I am fond of for other
reasons.
This photograph is of a couple
of Apple computers I used to use, that I keep because they are visually
interesting.
I don’t have any fond
memories of using them.
But today’s
computers although elegant in appearance, are not very interesting in
appearance.
These two were, and are, fun
to look at, although I will never use them again.
Some of these
pleasures are vicarious. The photo below is os a 1975
Alfa Romeo that was my oldest
son’s first major purchase upon graduating from college, and then became the entree to my wife's sport car period. I have
never driven it much because I don't really fit into it but it is fun, and I keep it because it reminds me of my son’s happiness to be on his own
in Colorado with a new job and of my wife’s pleasure at zipping around in something Italian with the top down. Beside, it will make a great car for a
grandkid some day—maybe for the daughter of the very same son.
Nostalgia for products can definitely cause one to fill up a
lot of space. But there are advantages
to doing so. Old products definitely
remind one of past good times and experiences, which are usually even better in
memory than they were when experienced. My
yard full of
tractors is an example (one to the left). It reminds me of the pleasure of growing up
on a farm, even though I obviously didn’t want to be a farmer. To stay with vehicles
as an example, older products also can furnish old-time luxury (the 1966
Cadillac), thrills (my 1970’s motorcycles), novelty (there is a similarity
among modern automobiles), a culture (collectors of antique cars), and even be
good investments (my XKE Jaguar if I restored it).
But in order for products to produce nostalgia, they must be
of noteworthy quality. One tends to bond
with such products over long periods of time, during which they serve one and one
serves them. Many products I am
nostalgic about both required maintenance, and were straightforward to
maintain. My first car was a 1941
Chevrolet, and I drove it for many years, during which I repaired it many
times. We became one, I loved it, and I should have kept it.
I do not feel strongly about throw-away products. I am not nostalgic about computers for instance. I don’t keep them long enough to become
attached to them, and hate them when they cease working and I can’t fix them or
they are no longer competitive and become e-trash (except for the two above). But I still use the hammer I used to put an
addition on my parent’s house while in high school, and have lovingly replaced
the handle and de-rusted it several times.
Recent Comments