Author Archives: John Moon

AnOldFashioned.com has been on-line for approximately one full year now. I wanted to do something to mark that occasion and to let you all know that I haven’t died or forgotten about the website or anything. So here’s a short video I shot as a look back on all the posts of 2012. There’s much more to come in 2013 so get ready! Thanks for watching.

While at the Lone Star Roundup in 2012, I shot a lot of video that I hadn’t done anything with until now. I edited a lot of video into this short 5 minute movie that shows off some of the highlights. Let me know what you think.

KA-BAR Knives from Common Machine Prod. on Vimeo. I’ve been looking at American-made products for quite a while now, and one item that kept popping up on my “must-have-it list” is a Ka-Bar knife. Ka-Bar is a famous knife company that has been making marine combat knife since the early 1900s. However, KA-BAR of Olean, New York has been making knives and razors in one form or another since the 1800s. On to the knife I bought, the Becker Companion BK2. The knife has a 5.5-inch 1/4 inch thick drop … More

I am going to preface this entire post with the following statement: “I absolutely love Craftsman tools.” With that out-of-the-way, I have had a recent problem with the iconic tool-maker. Many of their tools are carried exclusively by Sears; which is going the way of the Dodo Bird. There’s just not many of them left. This means that, while Craftsman has the ultimate “you break it, we’ll replace it” warranty, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to trade those broken tools in. With that in mind, I decided to check … More

One of my favorite things to do is a good road trip to places most people never think to visit. The out of the way old fashioned places still tucked into the small towns that most people drive right through. My most recent trip took me 1,000 miles through the beautiful wide open expanse that is the state of Texas.View Larger Map The route I decided upon would take me from Houston through San Antonio, back through Houston, then on to Waco, West, Hico, Dublin, Strawn, Austin and finally back … More

When you need fire there is no substitute for a good lighter. I’m not talking about one of the cheap-o Bic rip offs at the C-store, I mean an honest to goodness quality made lighter. For my money, I can’t think of a better source of flame than a Zippo. Zippo began in the early 1930s, at the Bradford Country Club in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Mr. Blaisdell, the company’s founder watched a friend awkwardly using a cumbersome Austrian-made lighter. The lighter worked well enough, but its appearance was utilitarian, it required … More

In six days God made the heavens and the earth. On the seventh day he rested. When he got up on Monday, he drank some coffee. Coffee is a longstanding American tradition all on its own. In the middle 1700s, tea and coffee were equally favored in America and many taverns doubled as coffee houses. This all changed as a result of the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773, when a large shipment of tea was dumped into Boston harbor to protest the British tax on tea. Thereafter some viewed … More

As an attorney and amateur writer, I spend a good chunk of my time scribbling down notes. In keeping with the quality over quantity theme of this site, I decided I would purchase a high quality pen that made writing down information a much more enjoyable experience. I came across a lot of the typical gold and silver fountain pens which can be found in the pockets of a lot of well-heeled individuals. However, many of these types of pens are not practical for daily use. They are meant to … More

It just is!

Not too long ago I posted about one of my favorite shops in Houston called The Reserve Supply Company and you should all go check it out. Reserve Supply just turned 1 which, in this economy, is something to be seriously proud of. To celebrate, the guys over at Reserve threw a party which included music from The Luxurious Panthers, free beer, and lots and lots of very nice motorcycles. Not too much to say other than I had a great time listening to good music in a great environment … More