Hello! I’m John, Speedball’s CFO and self-appointed historian. I have always been fascinated by how things are made, and especially things without electronics or from the early days of electronics.
Over the years, I have collected a wide variety of items- film cameras, hand tools, financial calculators, and more. I have been around Speedball since it left Hunt Manufacturing and became an independent company in 1997. I had found a few vintage Speedball items at yard sales and consignment shops, but my collecting of Hunt/Speedball items has really taken off in the last few years.
When I officially joined the Speedball team in 2020, I was told by our marketing department that I couldn’t be a bland accountant and have a bland office, and that I should find some artwork to hang up. Those might not be the exact words used, but I’m sure it was along those lines. Picking out a couple prints from the company collection turned into buying a few, then a few dozen, and then more.
When we first started planning the 25th edition of The Speedball Textbook, I began looking back at the older editions in our archive and realized that we were missing many of them. It became my personal mission to find the missing editions. I started watching Ebay and bought every one that I could find, though we are still missing editions 1-5. The Ebay algorithm started filling my feed with other Speedball items and my collecting grew to include discontinued products, older versions of product packaging, displays, signage, advertisements, etc. Lately I have been focused on pen nibs, and I am trying to find every style that Hunt ever made.
As the collection has grown, I have been wanting to share it beyond the people who visit our facility. Our new website’s revitalized blog section is a great place to do that. If you have any vintage Hunt or Speedball items, we’d love to hear from you! Whether you’d like to donate an item or just share a photo or story, reach out to us at History@speedballart.mom!
