This site is not an online museum and all items are (or were) for sale. Instead Edd goes in search of iconic, rare, unique and sometimes just fascinating pieces that help to tell the story of the global Technology and Electronics Revolution of the last century or so. It is a story that combines science and design with social history, and we are happy to sell far older pieces when they help tell the story of what came after. The simple aim is to help uncover and preserve the material pieces that matter, and put them in the hands of the people who will appreciate them the most.
Aimed primarily at the discerning collector and institution, Edd is relentlessly foraging for new and interesting items to offer. Each piece is backed up with a level of academic and historical accuracy (as well as market understanding) that we feel make them great social and economic investments. We recognise that our expertise is young and growing and we can only hope to succeed with your patronage and advice.
Our buying policy will always be one of quality over quantity, and in all instances age and financial value are not the defining virtue for our stock but cultural relevance. This is because the extremely fast pace of technological change has made some inventions (even from just a few years ago) seem positively archaic, while others appear timeless.
Edd has over a decade of experience working within the antiques and collectables field in the UK as a highly respected dealer, writer and story teller of ‘stuff’. He has been trading under the name of eddintheclouds antiques and has been an avid collector of many varied and eclectic fields since childhood.
While it would be lovely to say Edd spent his youth recoding computers and tinkering with engines, that sadly is not the case. Instead as a child of the 1980s and 90s he grew up in the heady world of the Electronics boom, experiencing first-hand how these products were influencing us the excited consumer. And that is probably where his primary interest in this fascinating field lies- their importance as cultural relics (and sometimes as mighty fun toys too!).
In the beginning we had rocks. Rocks to cut, and hammer and shape and even to tap out a beat when the melody called. Over time we honed those tools in wood and metal until they became the signature of how future generations would view us.
By the mid 20th Century we had realised that one particular rock (silicon) could act as a semi-conductor and we honed that too till it had fashioned new tools and toys powered by an electrical pulse. And this is where we are today, surrounded by a sea of electrical tools some of which are so universal they transcend language and culture itself: ‘walkman’, ‘iphone’, ‘xbox’ to name just a few are words that are recognised in almost any tongue.
In the period of just one lifespan humans have created a world ruled and defined by its electronic signature. It is a story worth telling, collecting and properly preserving while it is all still fresh and accurate. But in truth the history of early and vintage electronics is more than just a catalogue of successful brands and technical gadgetry. As tools for daily life, the wider story is really about the multitude of forgotten people who designed and built these inventions, as well as the consumers who chose to embrace them with such zeal. It is a tale about the successes and important milestones, but also a celebration of the inevitable failures and near-misses that have occurred along the way.
…Click Here for a short piece about why now is a great time to invest in Vintage Tech!