Dear Readers,
Creating this Blog is dream come true.
Believe me, i wouldn't have, in my wildest dreams, thought to ever find the relatives of the manufacturers i cherish, let alone meeting some of them. Nor to find so many artifacts, articles, magazines, leaflets, patents, archives... and machines. Nor would i have thought i would meet charismatic people out there that i now treasure to be my friends.
I remember very well the day i got told, by someone wiser than me: "I know the answer, but i won't tell you", to which my wife added: "me too". This "smart" remark led to the personal motto of this Blog nearly 2 years ago: I didn't know a thing and was well prepared to tell it to the world.
My passion for these manufacturers caused many many sleepless nights. Retrospectively, it would be dishonest not to admit that both my interest, my eager and ever growing ability to find information exceed what some might say is the norm. In my defence: Not in a lifetime was i to think there was so much to be found on the subject. It has been a treat, a gift of life: being able to write the Blog one would have wished to find right at the start, that's plain luxury, an amateur's dream.
All things considered though, I am convinced anyone - with a minimum of interest - could have done this research. This is not false modesty. It is so obvious to me that no reliable information was to be found back then, because nobody tried and/or cared. If i can make an advise here to people who wish to research the history of the coffee machine they collect, just dare ask and never look back! There is always a way. It can be done: i am the living proof. You will never regret it. Probably the biggest challenge i have faced was to learn to ignore the insults of a few persons who think they own the monopoly on what they call the "truth". No worries though: The highest you climb the mountain, the less you'll hear the goats baa in the valley.
I take this occasion today to thank all the cooperative, patient, kind and willing families - Delle Vedove, Sassoon, Simon, Stern, Robbiati & Tarditi -, open-hearted friends, passionate collectors (If i can name three: the legendary Lucio Del Piccolo, the enthusiast Monsieur "A", and reputable Sébastien Delprat), interested local journalists, conscientious museum employees, meticulous patent officers, precise commerce chamber employees, helpful mayors, professional librarians and motivated taxi-drivers for their time and altruism... and all the online auction websites users who, realising my fascination in their items, sent me extra information, a scan, a photo... all little pieces of information without which i couldn't have quenched my thirst for knowledge, fuelled my curiosity. I am very well aware that the Blog would not have been what it is without every single of the individuals involved.
Love, Peace, Harmony,
& be curious!!!
Sincerely,
Mik "Knatterton" Janvier
35.10.73
VI.7I.W3
EVER TRIED,
EVER FAILED,
NO MATTER,
TRY AGAIN,
FAIL AGAIN,
FAIL BETTER.
VI.7I.W3
EVER TRIED,
EVER FAILED,
NO MATTER,
TRY AGAIN,
FAIL AGAIN,
FAIL BETTER.
(Samuel Beckett)
It is better to fail in originality,
than to succeed in imitation.
(Herman Melville)
