There are few things that reflect our collective pioneer spirit better than the hogscraper candlestick. At least that's what I feel whenever I look at one. Plain, hard-working, simple, sturdy, acquiring a mellowness with age, - like our settler ancestors. The hogscraper is quintessentially American. Every colonial household had several. But very few were made here, and none before 1850. Almost all of the antique ones to be found were made in Birmingham, England, and ship

We all spend an incredible amount of time reading stuff: newspapers, virtual newspapers, emails, instruction sheets, surfing the net and occasionally reading an actual book. And we write a lot, too, even if it is using just our thumbs to pound out a message in lower case and full of abbreviations. Once in a while we may also write a long hand thank you note, too. So much has changed about the way we communicate with each other in just the last 20 years. I began to wonder wh