Give the best gift this Father’s Day with booze books. Bender Bound, a Bushwick-based company, is making books hollowed out to fit a glass flask (booze not included). The company has launched a Kickstarter campaign to make all new booze books originally designed. Hoping to raise $7,500 by July 2, the first title will be The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Kevin Potere started the company in 2011 by repurposing old law books from his shop/studio on Troutman Street. He carved out everything from federal reporters, pilot manuals, medical books and even first-year parenting guides.
“I was searching for groomsmen gifts and I couldn’t find anything I really liked so I looked into making my own gifts by cutting old books by hand and hiding flasks inside,” said Kevin. “My friends are furniture makers in Bushwick and they helped me make the first few books. From there we started getting requests for more books and after our first Kickstarter campaign, the idea just took off.”
At around the time of their first launch in 2011, Bender Books received a ton of press – including a shout-out on the TODAY Show. But demand surpassed production and the makers at Bender Bound were not able to continue making books in time.
“When we first started in 2011, we were a bit overwhelmed with all the orders we received and we used a lot of our Kickstarter funds experimenting with ways to repurpose the books more efficiently. We also had to rely on books written and designed by others, which limited our creative input. Now we are having newly designed Booze Books made just for us, which will allow us to reach a much larger audience,” Kevin explains.
Now shifting to a larger scale, Bender Books has partnered with graphic designer Jude Landry to design 100% original book covers. No longer repurposing law books, the decision to make Sherlock Holmes its first ‘new’ came fairly easy for Kevin.
“When we first started out, I thought concentrating on books geared toward particular professions like law might be fun especially because there were so many law libraries getting rid of their old books. But as we got going, we also got a lot of requests for the classics and Sherlock Holmes is one of my favorite literary characters, so it just made sense to start the next chapter of Bender Bound with him. Plus who better to represent mystery and hidden secrets than Mr. Holmes?”
If Bender Bounds reaches its initial campaign goal, the company will start offering new titles. They’re currently considering Moby Dick, Crime and Punishment, and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
Contribute to Bender Bound’s Kickstarter campaign here
