OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

44028 Martin Gardner <mwgardner@w...> 1998‑05‑28 de-lurkage
My name is Martin and I'm a collector....

I actually started collecting tools around 1970.  I was visiting my
friend Ryan in Bowling Green, Ohio and we went to some kind of flea
market.  I innocently picked up a handmade wooden smoother with a tote,
and it _exactly_ fit _my_ hand.  Never mind that it had cracked, been
pegged, resoled, and cracked again, and was entirely unusable.  It was
sculpture.

I joined MWTC, went to a few meetings, but I needed money so I relocated
to start a career, then went into remission for a couple decades.

Here I am, back on the slope, thanks to Andy Anderson's Santa Monica Old
Tools store and his gol darn quarterly get-together tailgating and now,
alas, auctions. Joe Huld, the fiend, answered my question about
subscribing to the oldtools list.

Between the list and auction previews, I no longer make anything.
Actually, I never made much.  I did make a rowboat once.  Took me seven
years, no kidding.  Came out nice, though.  It's sometimes used in
commercials (if you see an Audi Station Wagon ad, look very closely).

I am definitely a bottom-feeder newbie around you guys, but I aspire to
Galoot ideals, whatever they are....  Seriously, I am amazed at the
civilized way you all behave.  Thanks, Joe.

Martin Gardner
Venice, CA



Recent Bios FAQ