The Cost of Memory

The cost of memory ... who should pay?
As well as in the mind, Teske's clearly states in Rules of Media that "All memories reside someplace" and that location can be a physical object or what David W. Teske  called   "media" ... stuff.

 Beattie Jet Lighter

This un-used Beattie Jet lighter came from my father top draw after he pasted.  He, with other people of course, actually made it at the Waterbury Lock and Specialty Company in Milford, Connecticut.  He was foreman in the buffing room for over fifty years.

The Waterbury Lock made locks, rulers (steel tape), box cutters , and among the specialty items my favorite ... the "Gilhoolie" jar opener.  But is was the Beattie Jet Lighter was the top of the line coming out of "the Lock." With in house engineering, tool and die making, plating,  fabrication ... the skill it took to manufacture the Beattie lighter was world class and represented the best of "Made in the U.S.A." A premium was placed on finished inventory of lighter because of the value, even then in the fifties, and investment in labor the Company that paid to make it.

I've been selling this stuff on eBay or other places.  Whether pleasant or painful, whether for profit or loss, it appears I am selling my attachment to the memory within the stuff  rather than the stuff itself.

All the stuff (an affectionate George Carlan term for possessions) that I sell on eBay I photograph but not true of memory possessions I sell at a flea market or a garage sale like the "He Died" sale I had for John Coventry.

Some sold things and memory have already accrued their value completely.  Selling my 16 mm Bell & Howell swivel dual lens movie camera for $15 at the Eldorado, NM group yard sale. That camera shot the Beatles' in 1964 at Shea Stadium. The footage was used for a college credit movie I made. That movie sorta led to a job at CBS in NYC; that led the band NGC 4594 and the undergroud years; that led to the rest of my live