I admire 'Bakers who produce a string of complex social inventions with a heavy reading load, whereas I'm increasingly limited to gadgets, such as this one.

It's based on a sideways look at the Book Bar [use search] idea and is intended for households full of borrowed reading matter, usually spread all over the place generating fines or annoying friends.

My "BookBar" is a rack of steel [one inch by an eighth?" strips strong enough and with suitable supports, standing out from the wall an appropriate distance and spacing.

The strips are set edge-upward so you can open books, magazines, newspapers, of any size, at the middles and hang them over the strips.

Smaller libraries often use rods in a similar way for newspapers.

In that form the idea is well-baked; my novel element is to use BookBar in the home, located by an exterior door, designed to be good-looking, and to hold a variety of reading matter of all shapes and sizes.

A very niche market item, but I hae met many people over the years, making useful incomes from similar gadgets.

I might add that my several attempts to make similar income have failed dismally
-- rayfo, May 31 2001

Nothing wrong with gadgets, some of them will actually WORK, highly unlike all of the social 'inventions'...

I'd use wood, instead. You've described a dull knife, and while it would work perfectly for the books, first time Junior walked into it and put out an eye, it'd be all over.
-- StarChaser, May 31 2001


Wood. Of course. [Thumps side of head and tries to kick cat.]
-- rayfo, Jun 01 2001


If these ever get to market, I bet they'll mostly be installed in the bathroom by the toilet.
-- ejs, Jun 01 2001


Hey! Don't kick that cat...We've got a strong union, and you wouldn't want to know what happens...

Wood wouldn't be as strong when that thin, but it'd be less flexible, and less likely to bend and dump your reading material on the floor. Would make an amusing sort of bookshelf, if difficult to read the titles, though.

I wooden kid you, wood I?
-- StarChaser, Jun 02 2001


Completely off topic StarChaser, but an ancient grandfather's-knee piece of word-play goes like this :

"I had a wooden whistle but it wooden whistle, so I bought a steel whistle, but it steel wooden whistle. Then I bought a tin whistle ... and now I tin whistle."
-- rayfo, Jun 03 2001


<laughs!> I hadn't heard that one...
-- StarChaser, Jun 03 2001


Our library used a cane that was similar in appearance (I guess, I'd post a link to the one used for flogging in Singapore if I knew of a picture) to what is described as a corporal punishment cane. Long, 1/8 inch strips of wood bound at the handle and inserted through periodicals. The free ends were secured with a sturdy gum "o" ring. These were super for controlling the movement and organization of the periodicals.

You could make these any size you like from wire, and use a twisted end to be hung off of a suitable restraint. A fishing stringer comes to mind, but use your imagination.
-- reensure, Jun 03 2001


These aren't quite the same. I remember them from an old school library as well...Newspapers were threaded into the slats, but you had to carry the whole kendo-sword looking thing around with you...

Magazines were armored in a clear plastic folder sort of thing with a thin metal slat <we have come full circle> down the center.
-- StarChaser, Jun 03 2001



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