The Levenger Catalog

The Levenger Catalog
I haven’t received one of these in over a year. I’d suggest I missed it, but I no longer have any of their products. Don’t get me wrong, the items I’ve received from their catalogs, over the years, the products have been as outstanding as the catalog purports the items to be, fine-grain cowhide, delicately tooled items that seem to evoke an Old World charm.

To me, these are hand toys, tools that are built to withstand the test of time, and like fine leather, only get better with age.

But they are toys, and while I like my toys, hand-crafted, well-appointed, air of quality about them(1), they are still, ultimately, toys.

One author I read waxed poetic about the Levenger catalog, and the products. While I agree that the products are excellent, there’s still the problem with my own work flow. I have a couple of computers. Tablet, laptop, iPad, &c. I have a special, sentimental mug I put pens, pencils, and reading glasses in, but other than that, books, assorted note taking pieces of paper, that’s about it for desktop clutter.

The catalog is interesting to look at, engaging, colorful, thoughtful, but I still don’t need anything it offers.

I held onto the catalog, occasionally pursing it in idle moments, wondering if an -X- product would enrich my life. For pens, pencils, and paper, I tend to a few Moleskin notebooks and either cheap mechanical pencils, or a few Mount Blanc pens. One of those belonged to my father, while another one, I bought myself. It’s close to 25 years old, too.

While it is intellectually engaging, ultimately, this represents nothing that I need. Even on the balance of “want” versus “need” equation, there’s still little lust left. Cool stuff, but ultimately, unnecessary — all the way around. The numbers look like this, I think, “want/need.”

(1) Probably mass-produced in a third world sweat shop.