We have been hard at work getting products restocked during a time when many raw materials are hard to find. How bad is it? The company that makes our coffee mugs by hand put it this way:
“We’re running out of clay.”
“Wait. There’s a shortage of… wait…. dirt?”
“Yes.”
So I’m going to say this but once. If there’s something in our store that you want for Christmas, please don’t wait to buy it. We are trying to maintain our stock just like we always have since 2007, but it is rough out there. Here’s some good news: Last week, we had a wave of things arrive at the warehouse. More good news: We have a second wave coming in this week.
Here’s the first wave.
Lost Art Press Handmade Coffee Mugs
Gosh we love these mugs. They’re handmade by an artists’ collective in the Midwest, so each one is just a wee bit different. They are a fantastic value at $35 each. The first run sold out in hours. We re-ordered as many as the collective could handle (before they ran out of dirt), so I wouldn’t tarry on these.
Lost Art Press Caps from Ebbets Field
We hope to stock these hats for a long time. Made in the USA, these hats are cotton and are built to last a long time. If you own a cap from Ebbets then you already know how great they are. If you don’t, I think you’ll be impressed by the build quality and detail. These are the nicest ball caps I’ve ever seen.
Lost Art Press Pencils
Yes, our pencils are back in stock. These pencils are made to our specifications in the USA. They are thicker than normal pencils, have a beefier lead and are perfect for the shop. We put all the money into the wood and lead, and none into a silly eraser. We use these pencils every day at the bench.
Now that it is finally getting cooler, I am looking forward to wearing my moleskin work vest. These are made by Sew Valley here in Cincinnati and we now have stock on all the sizes. Also, we have a few Crucible dividers in stock with another batch arriving this week.
Sorry for all the sales talk. Man, I need a shower now.
— Christopher Schwarz
I hate branded stuff. Nearly every cap I own was free, some not bad. I cannot believe that I would drop $65 plus tax and shipping on a baseball cap. I did with the black wool one and love it. I wear it all the time. People compliment the cap. There’s nothing about this over sixty guy that looks good enough for a compliment! Who buys books from a specialist publisher? I ordered the blue cap this morning. Tip one for anarchy!
Should you still be working?
Being out of clay means we’re out of everything. And it doesn’t even burn, flood, or be disarranged by wind.
“Sorry for all the sales talk. Man, I need a shower now”: 2 hail marys and a dovetail joint.
So … no beer steins in a foreseeable future, or?!
Cheers (or not, as it might be!),
Mattias
We hope to see those shortly.
Well, cheers!!! I’d rather looked forward to those, so am glad indeed to hear the clay had not run out that bad … 🙂
Am also looking forward to the autumnal re-donning of the work vest – I wore mine (almost) every single day last autumn, winter and early spring!
As already stated, cheers,
Mattias
Coffee is plasma to me – I need to know the dimensions of the mugs to ensure an acceptable refill frequency – it’s all about efficiency man!
12 ounces.
Coffee mugs could double as pencil cup for lost art pencils!
I hope the moles are not effected by Covid. We will need more of their skins for the vests!! I love mine and highly recommend it to anyone thinking of getting one.
I know you probably answer this question many times already but is there a way to buy those in Europe? Especially the clothes.
Love your books, and if your others items are up to par with your print quality they are very enviable!
Raphael,
I’m in Belgium, and have regularly bought stuff directly from LAP/Crucible Tool, either when I didn’t want to wait for one of the European retailers ([Classic Hand Tools[(https://www.classichandtools.com), Dictum or Rubank Verktygs AB) to stock something, or when whatever it was (that work vest, f’rinstance) was not carried by (or even available to) said European retailers.
The way to do it is through an escrow/forwarding service. They give you an address inside the USA, to which you have your LAP stuff delivered, and they then send it on to you. I use a company in Florida called MyUS, with which I have been very satisfied, but I believe there are others, if you want to look/shop around.
Advantages: you can shop directly from LAP (and any other US vendor that also doesn’t ship outside the US), and so far my experience have been one of fast and secure onward deliveries.
Disadvantages: you have to pay for postage twice, first from LAP to the forwarding company, and then from them to you. (The good news is that they’re big customers, and so get better than average rates from UPS, DHL etc.)
And of course you have to pay customs fees and duties plus your local VAT when the stuff arrives in your country. But that would be the same, also if LAP did deliver abroad.
Hoipe this helps,
Mattias
Even ‘Big Clay’ is getting in on the fun? I’m so glad I am relatively immune to conspiracy theories.