{"product_id":"stansberry-construction-advertising-memo-roll-dispenser-enameled-steel-with-chrome-fittings-reno-nevada-c-1965-1975","title":"Stansberry Construction Advertising Memo Roll Dispenser, Enameled Steel with Chrome Fittings, Reno Nevada, c. 1965–1975","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eA desktop memo dispenser in pressed steel, finished in the deep avocado enamel that dates it precisely to its decade. The body is a shallow tray with a hinged upper flap; a chrome-plated bar spans the back on two riveted ears to carry the paper roll, and a knurled chrome thumbscrew at the side sets the drag. Lift the flap and you find the working end of it — a black rubber feed roller riding a polished steel shaft, and a long tear slot cut into the base plate. Paper came off the roll, under the roller, out through the slot, and you snapped it off against the lip.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe enamel is glossy and largely unblemished, the chrome bright, the rubber roller still supple. It's a small object with an unusual amount of engineering in it: everything is riveted, nothing is molded, and the whole mechanism works exactly as designed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eAcross the front flap, in the tight sans serif of a printer's advertising specialty run:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSTANSBERRY CONSTRUCTION · 755 Forrest St. — Reno, Nevada · Phone 322-—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eAdvertising specialties like this were the mid-century contractor's business card: ordered by the gross, imprinted with a name and a telephone number, and left on the desks of architects, suppliers, and clients who would look at that name every time they wrote a note. The dispenser was chosen because it earned its place — a roll of paper is more useful than a calendar, and it stayed on the desk for years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe imprint dates it on its own. The number is given as a prefix and four digits with no area code, the convention in Reno before area-code dialing became standard, and the avocado enamel belongs squarely to the late 1960s and early 1970s. 755 Forrest Street sits on Reno's west side, a few blocks off the river — a working contractor's address rather than a showroom one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eStansberry Construction left no monument to itself. What survives is this, in a shop in the city it was built for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003cthead\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"col\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"col\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/thead\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eDesktop advertising memo roll dispenser\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eOrigin\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eReno, Nevada — advertising specialty for Stansberry Construction, 755 Forrest Street\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePressed-steel tray with hinged flap, chrome roll bar on riveted ears, knurled tension screw, rubber feed roller, tear-off slot\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eEnameled pressed steel, chrome-plated steel, rubber, riveted construction\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprinted \"STANSBERRY CONSTRUCTION · 755 Forrest St. — Reno, Nevada · Phone 322-—\"\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ec. 1965–1975\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eExcellent working order. Flap opens and closes cleanly, roller turns freely, thumbscrew engages. Original avocado enamel with high gloss and only minor handling marks; chrome bright throughout; rubber roller supple. Paper roll not included. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eLocal advertising is the most honest record a city keeps of itself. A building gets torn down, a company folds, a phone exchange is retired — and the only thing left carrying the name is the object somebody thought was too well made to throw away.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eOn a desk it does what it always did: it holds a roll of paper and it looks like something. The avocado reads beautifully against walnut, brass, and warm white, and the chrome keeps it from going soft. Pair it with an onyx pen set and a leather blotter and the whole surface starts to feel considered rather than assembled. For anyone with Reno history — or anyone who simply likes objects that were built to be used every day for twenty years — this is a small, specific, entirely unrepeatable piece of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eIt also still works. Load a roll of adding-machine tape and it will take notes for you the way it did in 1970.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47998650253417,"sku":null,"price":88.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/IMG_3341.jpg?v=1788515960","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/stansberry-construction-advertising-memo-roll-dispenser-enameled-steel-with-chrome-fittings-reno-nevada-c-1965-1975","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}