Amongst the many, many things I can't resist when I spot them are these yellow folding rulers. You don't see them around much in the UK any more. I've got 4 or 5 now: a 1 metre, a few 2 metre rulers and a powerful 3 metre version. All bought, for just a few euros, in French supermarkets during holidays or, more often, booze runs from Leicestershire, via the Chunnel (do people still call it that?). Unfortunately, now I'm in NI such runs are a thing of the past.
These rulers are wonderfully tactile and playful: the measurements are slightly embossed into the wood and the whole thing clatters together nicely. I can spend hours just arranging them into zig zag patterns (the winter nights fly by). Amaze the kids by unfolding them to their remarkable and mighty lengths!
Sad but true, I even had a dream about these things last week.
My Dad is an electrician and always had a couple of these around that I love to play with as a kid. It's not like they didn't already have tape measures then, so I don't know why these seem to have been phased out. I haven't seen then in a long time.
Posted by: Anthony | 08 January 2007 at 07:14 PM
have you seen this one?
http://www.libraryshop.org/historybymeter.html
Posted by: lucy | 08 January 2007 at 10:17 PM
Brilliant!
Posted by: Richard | 08 January 2007 at 11:28 PM
See these everywhere over here in Germany, where tape measures are more exotic. You can get them printed relatively cheap, if you want 500 or so with your logo on.
Still, you don't get that satisfying zip-thwunk you get when spooling in a tape measure.
Posted by: Tim | 12 January 2007 at 05:48 PM