My Holiday Backlog

The cufflinks have become so popular - I stopped listing them on Etsy because I have such a large backlog! I want to make sure everyone gets their order in time for the holidays.

I am still listing custom earrings and bracelets for the next week. They are not as time consuming as the cufflinks and I can ship them in time for the 24th.

Here's a photo of my backlog of cufflinks and earrings as of December 3 (this doesn't include the bracelets in the works). If you ordered from Haute Keys after November 23rd, chances are your initials are shown here. :-)

What's That Sound?

Ding!

What's with the bell on the old typewriters?

When a typist filled a line with words, she had to know when she was getting close to the edge of the paper. If she did not return the carriage (the round thing that looks like a rolling pin), her words would go to the very edge of the paper - or off the paper altogether!

The typist had to set the right margin tab - when her typing got close to the margin, the typewriter's bell would ring. This would let her know to finish up the final word of the line, then hit the carriage return lever.

And I mean hit! She had to push the carriage from left to right to start typing a new line.

The Margin Release Key - very popular for my vintage jewelry, by the way - allowed the typist to go past the stop, hopefully for just a few letters.