Redecorating: If I Had a Hammer

Welcome to Heritage Associates.

"Well, I got a hammer..." and I used it all morning. Plus, the drill was humming, the dust was falling, the nails were flying, and the hanging took place. The walls are decorated!

Dee's new office has two rooms, and we finally have the study room all put together. The project room has some final tweaking, but Dee should be back at his perfectly organized desk by tomorrow.

Collections

Dee is an eclectic collector. We displayed just a few of his collections:

• World War II army medals. (He once had a woman ask if he had won all his medals. He said, "Yes. I fought valiantly on both sides.")
  
• German currency from the 30's (when inflation was so bad the money was printed daily, and it took a wheelbarrow load to buy groceries.)
  
• Old letters and postcards with beautiful stamps.
  
• Anything depicting Paris, or London, or Europe in general.
  
• Marbled paper.
• Books with fine bindings or end-papers.

World War I Collectibles

This gold box is called a Mary Box. Princess Mary (the 17-year-old daughter of King George and Queen Mary) sent them to the British soldiers for Christmas in 1914, with a Christmas card, some chocolate, cigarettes and a pencil. I think Dee got his while fighting in the trenches.

Vintage Map

While hanging several maps, we decided to hang a yellow model biplane from the ceiling with fishing line. Balancing the airplane took mathematical skills we don't have. Balancing ourselves was a challenge, too.

Passport Collection

Doesn't this little rack look ideal for a display of old passports? We thought so, until we realized we were trying to hang it upside down. With a little ingenuity we redesigned the shelf and gave it a purpose. (With all the practice nail holes, it went from being a new shelf to a vintage shelf in just one afternoon.)

Heritage Associate Publications

This is a collection of the books Dee has written. Most of them have been privately commissioned for specific clients, with printings of 100-500 copies, so they aren't sold in bookstores. They are, however, in a few lucky libraries.

Heritage Associates does a lot of research and writing that is used for other purposes (legal documentation, museum displays, brochures, PR, historic architecture, monuments, archives, etc.) But Dee's desk has been the birthplace of over seventy publications! I'm so impressed I think I'll put up a plaque. (Now where's that hammer?)