I sit typing at a table, facing a big, open-faced, analog, clock. It looks like a clock that used to sit in a factory, or a warehouse, maybe in the front office, or even, possibly, in the executive suite. It is old-world cool. Big, well-made, heavy, bounded by shiny, thick steel. It looks like an artifact from another era, think late 50's or early 60's America.
Besides the hard beauty of the clock, it does look like the official oracle "father-time," counting out our minutes and hours. Siting right below the number "12" on the dial, is a little orangish lightning bolt, and just below that in bold all-caps letters: SHINOLA. Below that is the word in small type: DETROIT.
What is Shinola? It started as a shoe-polish company in 1877. Read the wikipedia and I realize all my assumptions about this clock are most assuredly wrong. This clock was probably made in Europe, China, Thailand. Maybe in the 2000's? Or, maybe not. I mean who knows? Is it old-world, or faux-old-world? I have no way of knowing.
I do love typing in the shadow of this clock, every morning, I grab a cup of coffee, fire up the computer, and type. And, inevitably, these words never fail to rise up in my head, like an insistent, humbling mantra:
"You don't know Shit from Shinola." What is real? What is faux-real?
Indeed. A head-scratcher. Not a bad way to start the day in our little capitalistic playground. Keep your eyes peeled, keep an open mind. A good default mode: I know nothing, but I'd like to know… something…
Post-Update - Oh well, this afternoon I thought: "I have to know more about this clock," so I picked it up; hefty, solid, and substantial. Yes, indeed, it is well made. I flipped it over and laid it on the table before me. There is a GE logo in gray, embossed on the back, and there are these words "Built in the United States." But then smaller type, not embossed, "Made in USA from Imported Parts." Ha. So, the answer to it's origin is Yes, and, No. There's a serial number too. I checked it, it tells me that this clock was "manufactured" in 2001. Ha. So it is old, but not as old as I originally thought. It is sort of American made, and sort of not. It does seem like authentic Shinola but not the authentic Shinola I thought it was. It's not shit. Very much not shit. But it's a complicated artifact with a back-story.
