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1. Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 13:07:00 UTC Bernie

   Mario, a long-time family friend, restores (and sometimes makes) all sorts of antiquities.

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 13:10:45 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     He made this stone table out of scrap tiles from his bathrooms and floors.

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 13:38:17 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     This GBC clock sticks to the wall with a suction cup.

     G.B.C. Elettronica was founded in Milan in 1930 and closed in the '80s, when the price of electronics dropped on the global markets:
     https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.B.C.

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 15:36:59 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     We had one of these lamps when I was a kid. I liked the shadows it projected on my desk and on the walls.

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 15:43:45 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     This desk lamp switches off automatically when folded. Not sure if it's an Italian design.

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 15:49:59 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     Geloso G.268 tape recorder.

     Made by Magnetofoni Castelli, another historic Italian electronic firm closed in 1989:
     https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetofoni_Castelli

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 16:06:11 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     Mario made these lamps by cutting open used PET bottles. Nice idea.

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 19:24:37 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     Mario also owns this vintage 8 mm movie camera powered by a... spring! Yes. You recharge it by winding the knob on the side. Not sure how long the film spool will last.

     This consumer product was designed by Revere, an American company which was acquired by 3M in 1960:
     https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revere_Camera_Company

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 19:26:32 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     • Patrick Georgi

     @patrick Ohh, thank you! How did you manage to look it up?

   • Patrick Georgi (patrick@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 19:26:33 UTC Patrick Georgi

     in reply to

     @codewiz https://www.catawiki.com/de/l/74527857-yamada-shomei-tronconi-lampe-2-manon says Japanese Design (Yamada Shomei), built in Italy under license by Tronconi Illuminazione

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 20:04:52 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     I found some info on the Revere Model 153 Power Zoom:
     http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/movie/other/roundup_revere-wollensak.html

     This is presumed to be a 1962 model, oddly 2 years after Revere ceased to exist as an independent brand.

     This model sold for $168, equivalent to $1700 today. According to the US Census, family income averaged to about $6000 in 1962, making this minimalist movie camera affordable for the middle class.

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 20:16:41 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     Mario and his wife still use this mechanical kitchen scale.

     The label says it was built by Santo Stefano S.p.A. in Varese. There isn't a lot of information online about this presumably defunct company. How old is this thing? How much did it cost?

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 20:30:00 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     Next to the scale, I notice this hand-made wine dispenser.

     Mario lifts the wooden box, revealing an air-tight bag designed to prevent oxidation.

     I've seen similar containers sold in Tuscan supermarkets, where table wine is cheap and ubiquitous. #Italy #chianti #wine

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 20:38:23 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     Mario seems unaware that Mario is a stereotypical Italian name, but when I mentioned Nintendo's Mario Bros., he pulled out these dolls... an ironic birthday gift from his daughter.

     He *does* wear a mustache, but rather than a plumber, he was a barista. Rather than a princess, he married an accountant... and they lived happily ever after... at least it seems so to me 😂

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 20:44:55 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     Aha! Mario's castle hides a secret location!

     Found no magic mushrooms and gold coins inside... only brooms and cleaning supplies 🍄

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 21:03:20 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     On christmas 1981, Mario bought his son a VIC 20, and started teaching himself and us BASIC from the included user manual.

     #commodore #VIC20 #retrocomputing #BASIC

   • Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 21:21:14 UTC Bernie

     in reply to

     Programming in #BASIC was fun and easy, and I got hooked to it for life 🤓

     I asked Mario if he still has that #VIC20, but... NO! He gave it away, or sold it. DAMMIT. I would have been so happy to see again that particular piece of vintage electronics 😢

     Some pages of the #Commodore User's Manual are permanently burnt into my brain. This short booklet went quite deep into the hardware internals, and invited the reader to tweak the sample programs to see what happens. Mind blowing.

   • Patrick Georgi (patrick@retro.social)'s status on Monday, 12-Feb-2024 21:49:17 UTC Patrick Georgi

     in reply to

     @codewiz You know, stuff like that is the perfect nerd-sniping instrument for me (it's fun, so nevermind 🙂 )

     The company is mentioned in an EU anti-dumping duty proposal for weighing scales in 1993: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:51993PC0087&from=GA refers to "Santo Stefano S.p.a., Cassano Magnago, Italy"

     https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/atto/parte_seconda/caricaDettaglioAtto/originario?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=1991-04-08&atto.codiceRedazionale=M-4102 shows a company with its offices in Cassano Magnago but registered in Milano.

     They moved their main office to Binasco in 1991: https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/atto/parte_seconda/caricaDettaglioAtto/originario?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=1991-08-07&atto.codiceRedazionale=M-7867 (move), https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/atto/parte_seconda/caricaDettaglioAtto/originario?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=1994-04-14&atto.codiceRedazionale=M-3783 (new official residence)

     The chairman of the board merged it with two other companies he controlled in 1994: https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/1994/11/14/M-8799/p2

     In 1995 it was renamed to "Dataprocess Industria" (https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/atto/parte_seconda/caricaDettaglioAtto/originario?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=1995-02-27&atto.codiceRedazionale=M-802), which still exists under that name.

     https://www.catawiki.com/en/l/32790233-santo-stefano-varese-balance-or-scale-1-glass-iron-cast-wrought claims that the scale was produced in the 70s/80s.