Hi everyone, After seeing all the great cuttings you guys received from them, I jumped on the bandwagon and ordered 2: Duke and Lani. I placed the order from their website on Oct 9, 2012. After 2 weeks and nothing happened, I emailed inquiring order status on Oct 23. I got a reply from them on Oct 29 saying "we are preparing your order which will be shipped shortly. Tracking will be emailed once parcel is ready for pickup." Today is Dec 12, 2012 and I still haven't received anything from them. I have sent out another email inquiring my order status on Nov 25. It's been a frustrating experience for me. I thought they're done shipping for the season but their 30-day listings on eBay just got renewed earlier this month. I also tried calling the number they list on their eBay auction but it's been disconnected. Has anyone bought from them since October and received their orders? If you guys, especially those who have gotten their orders shipped in the past, do you have any of their contact info? I think I'm being ripped off here. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Kenny

Nich. Mullers & Sons. 1887 Copyrigthed # 870. Here Is The Picture Of My Figuring Note Nicholas Muller actually spelled the word copyright wrong on my statue. NICHOLAS MULLER NICHOLAS MULLER�S SONS In 1849 Charles Muller received the first gold medal for sculpture that had been given by France prior to Napoleon. Charles or as he was more known a Carl Muller was a sculptor whose works had won for him fame through-out the continent. Nicholas was his brother and partner. It was therefore in the nature of things, when the Revolution in France caused the active emigration to America, that the brothers would go together. So when Nicholas Muller emigrated to America he carried with him the urgings of his brother, who was fired with the love of his art, to start with the highest aspirations and achievements, relying upon the consummate artistic education of the people rather than upon educating them to appreciation of art. Nicholas and Carl Muller came to America in 1849, and started the bronze industry in America in a factory on Staten Island. Almost all the first models were the work of the latter gentleman. The brothers soon discovered that the plane upon which they set their work was too high for the Americans. Carl Muller returned to Europe in 1851. Nicholas continued the business until his death in 1872. The business moved to Cortland St. next door to Frances Krober�s clock business. One of Nicholas Muller�s sons married the daughter of Mr. Krober so many of the movements in Muller�s clocks were Krober. Nicholas Muller has three sons to carry on the business as Nicholas Muller�s Sons. Herman was the eldest and worked with his brothers until Otto left New York to open a location in Chicago. Their work was still too high of quality to compete with the clocks being produced in America and the firm filed for bankruptcy by 1890. Nicholas Muller clocks are some of the highest quality cases in the world. The attention to detail is unparalleled.

I think the writer you are thinking of is the late Lilian Beckwith who wrote The Hills is Lonely and several other humorous books about the Hebrides. mariannese, the Norsemen/Vikings landed first on the Shetland and Orkney Isles, to the North of Scotland (the Hebrides are on the West coast) they were remarkable sea-men. Even to this day the Shetlanders see themselves as quite distinct from the Scots . . . no pipes, reels, tartans etc although they became part of Scotland in about 1450 as they made up part of the dowry of a Norwegian Princess when she was bethrothed to the King of Scotland. As children we used to stay on Unst, the most northerly of the islands in the days before oil was discovered in the North Sea. A fascinating, remote area, really wild Shetland ponies, almost as wild sheep, sea-birds that would attack humans at nesting times, very laid-back but independent people and the most incredible clear air free of nearly all pollution. Sorry I sound like a 'travelogue' :-) "And so as the sun sets on the Holm of Vatsland, we say farewell to Shetland" Here is a link that might be useful: Lilian Beckwuth

Also, just digging around the 'Net, I found these comments about the lamp: "...the web material is extremely high in VOCs. It's a very environmentally unfriendly method, which is why Howard (sic) Miller abandoned the process." "i had always read that HM had discontinued them due to a lack of demand. The VOC's would make sense though - considering I have a Cigar and Saucer and they still smell after several years (not strong, but I can smell them)!" "I’ve had the Cigar Nelson lamp from Modernica for 4 years now, I love everything about it except it’s smells like plastic. It’s hangs in my powder room and there is no window to open. Any idea how to get rid of the smell? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated." "Ours smells like band aids. Called an electrician because I thought it was old wiring that was about to start a fire."