Illustration - Cigar Box of Vacuum Tubes

            Pen and ink illustration depicting an old cigar box of vacuum tubes. 

Copyright © 2012 by Ian J MacDonald. Permission required for any use. All rights reserved

This piece is original design - not a drawing of a still life. 

I don't know why but I love old things. I love going through old boxes of obsolete stuff and wondering what the times were like when these were relevant. I once worked in a non-profit, socially and environmentally based architectural salvage and green demolition company.  I must confess I always enjoyed opening and going through old boxes of donated things and finding cans of screws or boxes of bolts or ...or cigar boxes of vacuum tubes.

With regards to vacuum tubes, they are absolutely fascinating devices. Their fascinating physics aside, I have always thought they have a wonderful artistic quality. Perhaps the amount of intricate detail encapsulated in them. It is sort of like a ship in a bottle. 

I also remember going to the A&P with my dad and testing tubes from the old TV. There was a big board with dozens of sockets and a couple of analog displays showing voltages and such. 

Lastly my Grandfather had a gazillion cigar boxes in his house. everything from sewing stuff to old photos was stored in them. To think how many cigars that added up to is unimaginable! Gramps was a wonderful person whom I'll always miss, and whenever I see cigar boxes they remind of Gramps. 

Drawing this picture conjured all those memories and thoughts.

Taken in: United States / New York / Buffalo (show map)

Taken on: May 5, 2012

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