A treasure trove of 60,000 vintage tin boxes

Yvette Dardenne, 83, has accumulated almost 60,000 vintage tin boxes from all over the world since starting her collection some 30 years ago.

The collection, which now occupies four houses, all began with a Cote d’Or chocolate box illustrated with a painting of a blonde girl in a blue hat, Dardenne told Reuters, standing amid the carefully arranged tin boxes in the medieval watermill she owns next to her home.

“I haven’t been anywhere. People still think I have travelled a lot. It quickly became known (that I collected boxes),” she explained. She lives in Grand-Hallet, in Belgium’s Liege province, and sometimes people who came to know about her collection would show up to her house with a unique tin as a present.

Banana tree planted in large pothole on road

A banana tree was planted in a pothole in the middle of a Florida road in an apparent act of protest to draw attention to the condition of the pavement.

Two men were seen tending to the tree in the middle of Honda Drive, in Fort Myers, after planting it in the large pothole in the middle of the roadway. The road is fraught with potholes that have caused damage to cars that failed to swerve around them. The tree makes the pothole easier to spot, but it hasn’t solved the road’s problems.

Lee County officials said the road is privately owned, so the potholes won’t be repaired by county crews. They said it is up to the road’s owners to have the pavement repaired.

Teen creates prosthetic hand from 3D printer

A 14-year-old aspiring engineer in New Jersey used a 3D printer to create a prosthetic hand for a friend who is missing multiple fingers on one hand.

Sammy Salvano said he spent most of the summer designing and 3D printing the prosthetic hand for his friend, Ewan Kirby. Kirby said Salvano’s invention allowed him to pick up his mother’s car keys for the first time.

The homemade device offered a low-cost alternative to commercial prosthetics, which can cost between $3,000 and $30,000.

Sharon Salvano, Sammy’s mother, said the boy has always had an inventive streak.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 25th, 2021