---
type: "article"
title: "My weird collection of email hooks"
newsletter: "EveryDeveloper"
newsletter_handle: "everydeveloper"
newsletter_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/everydeveloper"
author: "Adam DuVander (@adamd)"
published: "2026-07-15T12:55:00.000Z"
canonical_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/everydeveloper/a/my-weird-collection-of-email-hooks"
markdown_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/everydeveloper/a/my-weird-collection-of-email-hooks.md"
chat_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/everydeveloper/a/my-weird-collection-of-email-hooks/chat"
source_url: "https://duvinci-inc.kit.com/posts/my-weird-collection-of-email-hooks"
body_source: "imported"
likes: 0
replies: 0
body_words: 333
---

# My weird collection of email hooks

Hey Reader,

There’s a small pile of things on my desk that probably wouldn’t mean much to most people.

![](https://cdn.zappy.app/bc8fc987a8e5d9d0522dfde88bc611e0.png)

*​*

A pen. A decoder badge. A pencil. A stack of narrow notepads.

Knowing something exists doesn’t mean I have to own it. And yet there I am, trolling eBay at odd hours for a small object that means far more than its size suggests.

Each one ended up here because it sparked a [developer trust memo](https://everydeveloper.com/memo/). If you’ve been around for a while, some of these might look familiar:

- A **Fisher Space Pen**, which I first heard about from John Musser, founder of ProgrammableWeb, who picked it up from an old Marc Andreessen blog post. I [debunked a common myth](https://everydeveloper.com/memo/space-pencil/) about it along the way.
- An **Orphan Annie Secret Society Decoder Badge** — the original 1935 badge. Ralphie had a 1940 in A Christmas Story, but I wanted the first one. Turns out [Ralphie wasn’t the only one getting played](https://everydeveloper.com/memo/ovaltine/). I even built an [encoding/decoding site](https://adamd.github.io/orphan-annie-decoder/) around it.
- A **Blackwing 602 pencil**, a favorite of animators. Expensive and coveted on eBay. I’ve stuck with the reproduction — it looks just as nice, sharpens to a satisfying long point, and has that skinny eraser. Animators would swear they’re not the same, but [the real reason they’re obsessed](https://everydeveloper.com/memo/expensive-pencil) has nothing to do with the eraser.
- A stack of **Reporter’s Notebooks**. Not an eBay find — at $2-3 each, the long, narrow pad fits in a jacket or shirt pocket. There’s a reason [every professional storyteller keeps one nearby](https://everydeveloper.com/memo/journalist-paper/).

In case you think I buy every object I write about, I do not own:

- A [Teddy Ruxpin](https://everydeveloper.com/memo/teddy-ruxpin/)​
- A [torpedo bat](https://everydeveloper.com/memo/torpedo-bats/)​
- Whatever was [“free” on Craigslist](https://everydeveloper.com/memo/craigslist-free/)​

Developer lessons are everywhere — even in the things already sitting on your desk. If you’re having trouble spotting them in your own product, that’s exactly what we help with. [Reach out to us](https://everydeveloper.com/services/).

Adam

P.S. That’s right, Ralphie, it’s a crummy commercial.

***

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