You may not really need that hickory-handled hatchet or those mason jar coffee mugs wrapped in leather cozies. But who said rigid pragmatism was the point? To browse the shelves at Oakland Supply Co. is to revel in the beauty of handcrafted wares, some more practical than others, all produced in the United States. The curator-in-chief is Angela Tsay, who also owns the civic-minded retailer Oaklandish. She extends her geographic reach with urban-cool items that range from gold bangles banged out in Austin to beer soap shaped in Kalamazoo. That neon-colored slingshot with separately sold bag of acorns? It was made in San Francisco, and its purpose is subject to interpretation. But there’s no doubting the function of a steel beard comb with a built-in bottle opener. As Dustin Case, the artisan who forged it, puts it, “You do your do, then you pop your brew.”
You may not really need that hickory-handled hatchet or those mason jar coffee mugs wrapped in leather cozies. But who said rigid pragmatism was the point? To browse the shelves at Oakland Supply Co. is to revel in the beauty of handcrafted wares, some more practical than others, all produced in the United States. The curator-in-chief is Angela Tsay, who also owns the civic-minded retailer Oaklandish. She extends her geographic reach with urban-cool items that range from gold bangles banged out in Austin to beer soap shaped in Kalamazoo. That neon-colored slingshot with separately sold bag of acorns? It was made in San Francisco, and its purpose is subject to interpretation. But there’s no doubting the function of a steel beard comb with a built-in bottle opener. As Dustin Case, the artisan who forged it, puts it, “You do your do, then you pop your brew.”
