Got any fires to put out? We hope not.

Oh yes, gentle readers, we devoutly hope that you don't have any fires to extinguish ... notwithstanding this week's Collector's Item:



They are, indeed, antique fire extinguishers! How awesome is that?! Just look at them! They're so cool! I am seriously losing my mind about how elegant these are. You never see elegant fire extinguishers nowadays! These are $60.00 apiece, and they probably won't actually work for putting out fires, but look at this great close-up on one of them:



A different kind of fire is ignited in this week's Affordable and Interesting item:



Neil Gaiman is a talented science fiction and fantasy writer; he's not my personal favorite, though he's achieved a lot of commercial success. Still, some of his books are just beautiful, and Stardust is one of them. It's a fairy tale and a love story about a star-maiden who falls to earth, and it was even made into a movie. As always, though, the book is better, and you can buy our copy for $6.50.

Finally, this week's Favorites are ... kind of all over the map. Is there a metaphor for fire here? Probably. See, I found this really great, incredibly diverse stack of 1920s-1930s magazines:



.



.



.



.

1920s home and garden! 1920s fashion! Somewhat racist and Orientalist 1920s magazines about Asia! (Articles about "Peking Playhouses" and "Forbidden Afghanistan" are par for the course here, as are ridiculous assertions about how hot climates make people barbaric.) And then, just to round it all off, in the same pile I found ... memoirs of a solar observatory. Why not? These items are each either $10 or $20, and they're in pretty decent condition. Anytime you want to read about the latest in Art Deco, you know where to find us.

Can you believe the weather, gentle readers? I sure can't. Now I shall go frolic in my t-shirt, in March, and talk to you again soon ....