The Vintage Life

Neon Light Splendor

2012-01-07T15:07:00.022-06:00

We were fortunate in 2011 to take several driving trips and when we do I am always on the lookout for old or cool neon signs. We saw some great ones this year culminating in a real gem for Zimmerman Ford in St. Charles, IL. (last photo)

On our trip to Ft. Lauderdale in February, we ran across these two great signs. We did a drive by the Tropical Acres and it had a great MCM exterior design.

We went to a vintage car show in Omro, WI in May. We snapped this shot along the main thoroughfare in Omro.

This awesome sign was in Jefferson, WI. It is for their drive-in theater. We watched a movie from our lawn chairs on a cool August evening. We even had the requisite old style speaker by our car. It was great fun.

To me the best time to take a picture of a neon sign is right around dusk. We ran across this sign just at the sun was setting in Rockford, IL.

Our Thanksgiving trip had us driving from Tulsa, OK to Duncan, OK. We pulled off for a bite to eat in Stroud, OK and came across this sign. It sits on old Route 66. The vertical nature of this sign is just fantastic. For the first time ever, I saw a small plaque at the bottom of the sign and it marked the maker of the sign, Tuny Monday. I did a quick search and found that Tuny Monday was a competitive body builder back in the day as well as a neon sign maker. He is now in his 80's but is still associated with neon as the owner of Electrical Displays in Oklahoma City.

We drove down the main drag of Stroud and came across this sign. I have never seen a neon sign for an ATM like this. I really wish we could have seen this one at night.

In September, we went to the Kane County Overnight Flea Market. On the drive through St. Charles, IL, we passed this sign for Zimmerman Ford. What a fantastic sign. I just love the starburst with the multi colored neon points. I am curious what the insignia is in the middle. If anyone knows, please let me know.

2011 was a great year to view some new neon signs, I look forward to seeing what 2012 brings!

Rebecca

1946 Decorating Advice

2011-11-01T13:48:00.034-05:00

I ran across this decorating book in an antique store in Steven's Point, WI. It is from the Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet Co., Yonkers, NY. It is dated 1946. A brief search on the internet uncovers the business was started in the mid 1800's and that part of the mill is still standing. It is considered the largest intact mill site in the Hudson valley. Another interesting tidbit, Alexander Smith ran for congress at the age of 60 and died suddenly on the evening he was elected.

This brochure is titled Clara Dudley's Color Idea Book. Clara's title is Color Scheme Consultant for Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet Co.

What makes it unique is that they take one type of carpet and show you three different room variations by having a cutout in each picture. The rug is fully on the 3rd page of three pages and the two preceding pages have cutouts in them so you can see through to the rug on the third page.

The color, furniture and stylings are just beautiful.

Here is an excerpt from the first page:

Each year thousands of women write to me about their decorating problems and ask my advice on color schemes and arrangements. Now, the wonderful new B.H.F (Basic Home Furnishings) Color Coordination Plan gives us all an easy, practical answer to almost every color problem. This plan, launched by the Home Furnishings Style Council and supported by Alexander Smith and Sons is a heavenly idea that will make it easier for you to find colors that really do go together in your home because the different manufacturers planned it that way. Here, in actual room settings you will see these colors used in effective, different color schemes.

There are nine B.H.F. colors and their group names. Each comes in a wide range of values from very light to very dark intensities:
Tan - Alamo Group
Rose - Grand Canyon Group
Burgundy - Adirondack Group
Mauve - Prairie Group
Green - Shenandoah Group
Beige - Cape Cod Group
Blue - Great Lakes Group
Cedar - Santa Fe Group
Grey - Great Smokey Group

This is the "Colorcade of America"
Follow the guide posts of these color names on the labels of everything you buy and you will always be sure your room colors are harmonious.

The picture below is titled "Color Contrast for a Family Room"
Text is:
In this room burgundy (B.H.F. Adirondack) is used in sharp contrast to the distinctive cool Shenandoah green of Alexander Smith's Floor Plan Rug. Green is the predominant color of this room; burgundy is second in importance; and Alamo tan and sharp white are used for accent. Much better than using each color in equal quantity. Now look at the next two pictures and see how the same Shenandoah green rug can form the basis of a new color scheme for two entirely different rooms. These might easily be adjoining rooms in your home, with the rug setting the theme for a coordinated color scheme throughout the house.

The picture below is titled "One Color for a Formal Look"
Text is:
This room shows you how you can use a whole symphony of the light and dark values of any one of the B.H.F. colors to create a room of quiet dignity and elegance. The effect is the exact opposite of that obtained with the contrasting colors used on the previous room. Furnishings now seem to blend into the walls, expanding the size of the room and creating a restful harmony. Sparkling mirrors and the interesting shadow box add to the spacious effect and give the room a jewel-like quality.

The picture below is titled "Blending Colors for the Modern Trend"
Text is:
On the walls of the room serene Great Lakes blue blends with the Shenandoah green from the same leaf-patterned rug shown in the preceding rooms. Draperies almost one with the wall color, highlight the window grouping - the room's most interesting feature. Blending colors are another way of making a small room appear more spacious and they can make a large furniture piece seem to melt right into the wall. If you are planning color schemes for adjoining rooms, do consider combining your colors in this way: one room in contrast, one in a single color and a third in blending tones. Thus your entire home will be in pleasant harmony

The picture below is titled "Prairie Mauve for an Intimate Air"
Text is:
The delicate roses of the patterned wallpaper in this room reflect the feeling and motif of the carpet design, with the fragile, full length white ruffled curtains are hung straight to break the movement of the rose pattern. These and the crystal lamps and dressing table mirror all add to the room's charm.

The picture below is titled "Striking Effects for Drama"
Text is:
Every color in the carpet has been used in this room. The convenient conversational grouping of the furniture creates a friendly air, while the boldly striped wallpaper, the solid color of the fireplace panel,and the important window treatment, all contribute to the dramatic effect.

The picture below is titled "Coordination for Harmony"
Text is:
This might be an adjoining room to the previous room. The wall to wall carpet which stretches right out into the hall and up the stairs in a luxurious expression of color. Often, a solid color carpet repeating one of the colors of your patterned carpet may be used in an adjoining room . . . thus making your home a veritable symphony of coordinated colors.

Rebecca

Love those vintage motel signs

2011-10-08T22:17:00.003-05:00

I would love to travel down the road and come across a great vintage motel with vintage furnishings and a great vintage bathroom. That is the stuff that dreams are made of. But for now I will just enjoy this awesome vintage neon sign from a hotel in Montello, WI.

Yellow and Jade Green Vintage Bathroom

2011-09-16T20:56:00.008-05:00

We love our beautiful vintage bathrooms. Earlier in the blog, I featured our Pink and Green bathroom. This is what we consider the master bathroom though it is not directly connected to the master bedroom. The key color combination in the bathroom is yellow and jade green. All the woodwork is a great blonde color.

The floor is original with various size tiles and the tiles have yellow in darker and lighter shades with a dark grout.

The tub, sink and toilet are jade green. The tile is a nice light shade of yellow.

We have a spacious built-in medicine cabinet that looks as new as the day it was installed. It has three shelves to place items and is very convenient. The lighting is great and is provided by the two lights on the side. The base cabinet has six drawers and is great for storage.

The sink with the hundee ring is in great condition.

Of all the rooms in a vintage home, I am just really drawn to original baths and kitchens. There is no mistaking a 50's bathroom. The color combinations are fun and the workmanship is off the charts. Our tile seems like it is brand new.

Rebecca

Italian Food a la 50's Style

2011-07-24T23:15:00.015-05:00

We were bumming around Oshkosh, WI looking for treasure and were getting hungry. Across from the antique store we were shopping at was a cool vintage sign for Red's Pizza. We thought we would give it a whirl.

It was a step back in time. I would imagine they opened in the 50's. There were also some decorations added along the way from the 60's and 70's. As you can see in the picture, great neon sign, nice architecture and beautiful stone on the outside of the building.

After ordering, I went to the powder room. Now when most folks talk about a restaurant, they focus on the food or the atmosphere but a true 50's design fan is going to not only take notice of but document the cool 50's bathroom that was found. I can't help myself!

I immediately saw the 50's pink 4x4 tile. A light pink field tile with a darker bullnose.

Then there was this cool laminate stall. I have never seen this type of laminate before. It is a blond Formica type laminate for the stall and stall door.

Even after all these years, the original sticker for the stall was still there. I would say that is some sticker!

Then my favorite was the floor tile. I like how the very small tiles sit upon the little bit larger tile that sit upon the single largest tile. This design is then alternated with a single large tile. I have not see this design before.

In addition to a cool bathroom there was interior stone work, some groovy hanging lights and of course the wall of fame.

I am a big fan of interior stone work. This design connects the interior stone to the exterior stone.

They had several of these funky late 60's/early 70's lights hanging from the ceiling. We were there during the day but I am sure they offer just the right ambiance at night.

Like any great vintage restaurant, you have your wall of fame.

After enjoying all the vintageness of the restaurant, the final payoff was delivered to our table. A delicious dish of spaghetti and meat sauce. It was very good.

My favorite part of visiting other places is finding remnants of days gone by. Our visit to Red's Pizza was a delicious pit stop in our travels.

Rebecca

Buffet for Formica Dining Table - FOUND!

2011-07-03T12:27:00.008-05:00

Like many MCM fans, I love a good chrome and formica Dining table. We have several and find it hard to pass one up when we see them. I always wondered if they ever made matching formica and chrome buffets to match the tables. I was browsing through an old House Beautiful from October of 1956 and I finally found a matching buffet. Isn't this set stunning? It really is a more dressed up version of the chrome and formica table. I just love the style of the matching buffet and the backs of the chairs.

This past Sunday we went to Elkhorn, WI which has a huge fleamarket several times a year and lo and behold in this really atomic booth was a formica buffet. I immediately fell in love with it. It has two upper shelves and then inside the doors is another shelf.

The formica is kind of a beige/green. It is a hard color to pin down. Overall it is in very good shape. The inside shelf has a more 70's green contact paper so I am going to change that out with some aqua contact paper I picked up along the way.

This fits perfectly on the wall in the dining room. Our current formica table has a black top so I am going to be on the look out for a matching table. Wish me luck!

In the upper part of the picture below, you can see a cart that matches our table. We picked that up at Elkhorn last year as well. Too bad they all don't already match. Oh well, the hunt for the table will be a fun one.

I hope everyone is having a great summer and finding/rescuing great vintage items.
Rebecca

Vintage Eats in OKC

2011-05-10T22:55:00.003-05:00

We are always on the lookout for great vintage neon signs. We were visiting OKC and ran across the Charcoal Oven. We were drawn to the sign like moths to a light.

We were hungry so we thought why not!

It is a drive through. We had a cheeseburger and the best cherry limeade I have ever had. After we ate, we drove back through and got another cherry limeade to go.

If you are ever in Oklahoma City, I would suggest making it a must see/eat.

Rebecca

Vintage Vacation

2011-04-03T11:48:00.022-05:00

For my birthday this year, we decided to go back to where I was born, Miami, FL. We lived in Miami until I was 7 years old. I believe my love of MCM came from my time in Miami. The climate was conducive to great indoor/outdoor living and the area was growing. Even today you can drive around and see wonderful examples of MCM architecture.

Our home was a modest late 50's home. But my parents thought it was a castle. After years of apartment living, they had three bedrooms and two baths and a wonderful yard. Here is a picture of it in the early 60's.

Here is a picture of how it looks today.

We decided to visit tourist spots that were part of Florida back in the 1950's and 1960's. We even hit one spot that I went to as a small child.

Thirty miles south of Miami in Homestead, FL is a place called Coral Castle. A man named Ed Leedskalnin moved here from Latvia. He had asked a young lady he called "Sweet Sixteen" to marry him in his home country but she turned him down. So he moved to the United States and spent the rest of his life building a home for her made completely out of coral. The bulk of what he built was in the 1920's and 1930's. He was a very slight man and it was always a mystery how we could move these huge coral pieces that weighed up to several tons by himself. I visited the Coral Castle back in 1964 with my family. Below are some pictures from the 1964 visit and our 2011 visit.

Within the grounds of the Coral Castle, Ed built the necessities of daily living and he also built pieces that showed his interest in the stars. Here is his crescent moon and planets. In the older picture my Dad is sitting in the base of the Crescent Moon and I am sitting in a chair he built under that.

Ed built these three chairs so that he would be able to read by sunlight no matter the time of day. The first chair was for the morning light, the second chair my Dad is in is for mid day and the third chair I am in is for evening reading.

Dave is sitting in the same chair my Dad sat in. He thought it was pretty comfortable considering it is made out of coral.

For my birthday dinner we went to the Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale. It is a tiki themed restaurant and show. It opened in December of 1956. When we looked at old postcards of the Mai-Kai it seemed like it was out in the middle of no where. Now it is this oasis right in the middle of a busy shopping area.

They have a Polynesian show right after dinner. It is complete with beautiful dancers and of course some fire dancing. They also have a neat Tiki themed garden you can walk around after dinner.

I love pink flamingos, so it seemed appropriate for us to visit Flamingo Gardens. We spent our lunch just sitting and watching the flamingos. They can be extremely graceful as they walk around and then just as extremely clumsy when they try to run or kinda fly. It was very cool to watch.

I always wanted to go on an airboat ride in the everglades. I remember watching a tv show when I was a kid and being amazed at how the airboats glided so smoothly across the water. We went to the Everglades Holiday Park. We took an airboat tour of the everglades and even saw some alligators along the way. The airboat was as cool as I was hoping it would be.

I snapped this photo as I was sitting by the pool as the sun set on my birthday. There is just something about Palm trees that invoke tranquility for me. It was truly a wonderful birthday and a great vintage vacation.

MCM Architecture in Oklahoma

2011-02-19T07:53:00.014-06:00

We were visiting Duncan, OK last November and ran across some great MCM buildings in and near the downtown area. I love travelling to other cities and looking for MCM buildings. You never know what you will find.

Below is an electric company's office. I believe in front you could drive up and pay your bill.

This was a most unusual building. The block pattern on the sides of the building ran all the way up through the overhang. It almost seemed like scored concrete.

This was a building right off the main street. I just love the old planters and the glass case in front. I have always wanted to open up a MCM shop and have some great glass cases out front to highlight some super cool vintage furniture.

This building had so many cool things about it. Cool planter out front, an unfinished type terrazzo trim, wavy glass and metal vertical shutters.

This trim was very interesting. It was not shiny and smooth like terrazzo. It was very rough to the touch but it really reminded me of terrazzo.

This is a shot through the front window into the office area.

These are the metal vertical shutters.

I love this type of iron work. This was at the entrance to what I would guess to be an old grocery store.

I can't wait for spring to come so we can get back out on the road and see what other MCM jewels are out there.

Hope you are staying warm!
Rebecca

Our Madison Home on the Modernism Magazine Color Blog

2011-01-20T23:08:00.009-06:00

We have been contemplating painting our Madison home for quite some time. The current color scheme was painted by previous owners. While browsing the Modernism Magazine website I noticed they had a color blog and you could write in for advice. So I did and I got some great feedback. Check it out.

Here's the Link

Our Vintage Pink Bathroom

2011-01-15T15:41:00.015-06:00

We are very lucky in our home in Madison that we have three vintage, original 50's bathrooms. One is jade green and yellow, one is pink and minty green and the half bath is brown and a peachy, pink color. When we moved in all the bathrooms were in very good condition.

For the pink and green bathroom, the only thing we did was pick a minty green color to complement the green tile. I had curtains made of pink chenille and hung them on a tension rod as the windows are more narrow than wide. I had the curtains made to hang inside the windows so that the beautiful blonde woodwork around the windows would show.

Today I have pictures of the pink and green bathroom. It is a full bathroom with a tub and a water closet for the toilet. The people that built the house had 4 children and their father had moved in with them so the bathrooms needed to do double and triple duty.

The second family that owned the house had a teenage daughter and I am assuming she is the one that added the funky 70's wallpaper to the bathroom.

The base cabinet has great storage and there are double sinks. It has the original ameoba formica in pinks and greys

I have it decorated in a theme called Ooh La La. It is a set of bathroom accessories I found at Kmart. It is fun and I think fits very well in this vintage bathroom.

I have been collecting California Pottery for about 15 years. My favorite is Hedi Schoop pieces. I have this pink wicker piece I picked up at a California flea market many years ago. It fits perfectly here. The bottom holds incidentals and the top is perfect for displaying my "ladies".

There was a towel bar where the pink wicker piece sits but since we use this as a guest bathroom we can spare it. I found this great pole towel bar. It has three plastic rings on it that will hold the smaller towels.

As I mentioned it has a water closet. The door shuts for privacy if you have someone else in the bathroom with you.

I put a small pink wicker shelf in here to hold a few more ceramics. Here you can see the 70's wallpaper.

The floor is original as well. I believe this is called a basketweave pattern. It is in very good condition.

One of the reasons we bought this house was for the absolute awesome vintage bathrooms. Nothing gets my blood flowing like an original, vintage bathroom. =-)

Rebecca

Amazing Shopping Mall in the 60's

2011-01-01T10:07:00.005-06:00

I was travelling through Ohio and stopped at a small antique store. I was looking through the postcards and came across the most amazing shopping mall postcards. I found two of them for the Chris-Town mall in Phoenix, Arizona. Check out the installation of Nelson bubble lights!!

I did a little research and it was the first air conditioned mall in Phoenix. It opened in August of 1961. If you have a few minutes there is a great website devoted to the Mall in it's heyday with some excellent photos and history. If only there was time travel! I would be suiting up to make a visit to Chris-Town mall in the 60's. Enjoy!

Check out this link: http://www.barbarastew-art.com/christown.html

On the back of the top postcard:
West Mall
The spacious, enclosed Mall. 1,000 feet long, offers a constant comfortable temperature winter and summer. Park-style benches and lush landscaping afford the shoppers rest and relaxation during their visits to the Center.

On the back of the bottom postcard:
Court of Flowers
Ferdinand the Bull rests in a paradise of blossoms and tropical plants in this east courtyard. A sidewalk cafe adds an old-world touch to the advanced architectural styling.

Our New House on the Home Tour

2010-12-17T17:34:00.072-06:00

Late last year, we had the great fortune to find and purchase a wonderful home in North Central Wisconsin. It was designed by Russell Barr Williamson. Russell Barr worked for Frank Lloyd Wright as his chief designer from 1914 to 1917. After he left Frank Lloyd Wright’s employment, Russell Barr started his own firm based in Milwaukee and built homes in Fox Point, River Hills, Mequon, Beaver Dam and the surrounding areas.

The home was built in 1952 by the Diedrichs. We were told that Mrs. Diedrich was the one that wanted an open concept contemporary home. From the stories told, the Diedrichs loved to entertain and the home certainly lends itself to that with a wonderful great room and good overall flow.

The home stayed in the Diedrich family until 2009. We are the second owners and have always wanted to own a home designed by Russell Barr Williamson. We searched throughout Wisconsin for several years and were very excited to find this home. The home has many Russell Barr trademarks including exterior Pecky cypress wood, soaring windows, many built ins and an extensive use of interior wood and stone. The house is in very good original condition. The bathrooms and kitchen are original except for the oven and frig in the kitchen.

We put our home on the city Tour of Homes earlier this month (December 2010). We decorated the house in late 50’s/early 60s period appropriate decor including an aluminum Christmas tree of course! We also displayed a large collection of 1950’s/1960’s antique and vintage Christmas items. We tried to stage the house as if you were walking into it on Christmas eve in the late 50's or early 60s.

We really love our new home and find it to be such a serene and peaceful place to be. The house has so many different angles and lines to it but they all work in symphony some how. Our home is one of Russell Barr's smaller homes at about 1900 sq feet. Many of his homes that we looked at were more in the 3500 plus square footage.

Join me for a blog tour of our home as it was setup for the Home Tour

This is our front door adorned with a vintage plastic Santa and plastic wreath.

This is a view of the great room from the dining room. The dining room is a few steps up from the great room.

The party wouldn't be complete without a card table setup for a game of bridge. The card table is vintage from Dave's grandmother. The place mats are plastic and just so cute. There are even vintage playing cards in a vintage card dispenser on the table.

We got this great little bar in California at least six years ago. We have finally found the perfect spot for it. Two nice stools for the ladies to perch on while the man of the house makes them a Whiskey Sour.

The house has an amazing amount of built-ins, perfect for displaying a collection of vintage Christmas items. I love the little sleighs, Santas, ladies and angels. They are very cute and whimsical.

The house has 4 built-in desks. I believe there was one in the master as well but it is no longer there. This is in the corner of the great room. I could see the Mom sitting there and gazing out the windows as she went through her Christmas card list and wrote out her cards.

Here are three perspectives on the great room with the sofa as the centerpiece. We found this sofa at an estate sale. We were there at 4:45pm and the sale was closing at 5pm, reopening the next morning at 8am with everything half price. The sofa was covered in a very 70's flowery pattern but I could tell the lines on the sofa were more 50's/60s. I unzipped the flowery cover and saw a beautiful dusty pink frieze fabric underneath. So with some apprehension, we decided to wait until the next morning and see if the couch was still there. I got there right before 8am and headed straight to the basement as soon as it opened. I was thrilled to see it was still there and bought it on the spot. We took it right home and in the driveway started to rip off the old fabric holding our breath as each cushion was revealed with the fabric intact. The couch and fabric were in amazing condition and we got it all for half price!

This is the view from the couch. We placed our six foot aluminum tree there due to a lower ceiling height, otherwise we felt it would be lost in the high ceiling of the rest of the great room. More built-ins!

The local grocery store gave each homeowner on the tour a flower arrangement. The florist had never been in the house so I tried to explain to her that is was a bit atomic. I think she did a good job with making the arrangement complement the house.

The fireplace can be viewed from both the dining room and the great room. I found these vintage, homemade felt stockings at an estate sale. I just love them. One has skis on it and a cup of hot chocolate, another has a martini glass.

This is the dining room. If you are sitting on the sofa with your back to the pictures above the sofa, the dining room is straight in front of you. We set the table with Dave's mother's good china she got for her wedding in 1954. It is called Platinum. In the upper left corner of the picture you can see another built in. There is a close up picture of it below. In the upper right corner of the picture is this great three level, blond wood tea cart I picked up at a church sale. It fits perfectly there and holds a small lit ceramic Christmas tree.

Here is a close up of the top of the tea cart.

Here is a close up of the dining room built in.

This is the kitchen.

I staged a little baking setup with a vintage stand mixer, cookbook, spices, lard box, vintage cookie cutters and aluminum Santa cake pan.

On the other side of this is the dining room and fireplace. It is nice you can hide the mess of making dinner but can still chat with folks in the dining or great room. A great design for 1952!

This is the master bedroom. It is a wonderful size with a nice reading spot under the window. The vintage TV belonged to Dave's grandmother.

The sweater was knitted by my grandmother Lucille.

This is the master/main bath. (There is a half bath off the hallway near the great room.) The master bath is huge. There is a door for it right off the master and one off the hallway. The small chair is original to the house.

The lady of the house has her spot for her makeup and beauty regimen.

This is the hallway/lounge. We have the original blueprints for the house and this area is called the lounge. The hallway runs from the front door to the back bedrooms with this wider area for the lounge. We used some of our vintage rattan furniture for this area. The daybed is Heywood Wakefield. We found it at a local antique shop. The chair set is from England with reversible cushions. I have some amazing black, red and chartreuse, with an oriental design, vintage barkcloth that I am going to have pinch pleat curtains made out of. I think this will finish off the lounge quite nicely. We got the lamps at an auction in the mid 90's and the large picture of the oriental lady at the Route 66 rummage sale this past June. This is truly the fun part of collecting, when you get to put it all together.

I love vintage Christmas cards. There is just something about the colors and designs. Here is a great little Santa card holder.

I created some interactive Hot Spots for the tour. These where spots where people could pick things up and look at them. Here were some old magazines and a Christmas catalogue for them to peruse. The folks on the tour really seemed to enjoy the Hot Spots!

This is the back bedroom. I decorated it as a teenage girl's room with lots of pink. It had flamingos, movie idol magazines, Barbie and Ken and of course a small aluminum Christmas tree with pink ornaments.

The last stop on our blog tour is the family room. You could use this room as a bedroom as well if needed. This was the spot where the family kicked back and relaxed. There was a vintage puzzle you could work on or you could take a peek in the Viewmaster at Santa and Rudolph (a Hot Spot for the tour). Again wonderful built ins and there is even a spot for Mom to do her sewing or Sally to do her homework.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour. We really enjoyed getting the house setup and sharing it with everyone on the tour. We got some wonderful comments and the best ones were when people said it took them back to when they were little or at their grandmother's house.

We never thought we would find such a wonderful home but our persistence paid off. They are out there just sometimes hard to find. If you are on the hunt for your perfect home, hang in there. We did and the payoff was more than we could have imagined.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope 2011 is all that you want it to be.

Rebecca

Vintage Sightings in IL

2010-10-08T12:10:00.016-05:00

This past June we headed to the Route 66 garage sale that was based around Lincoln, IL. There is a lot of Route 66 down that way and each year they have a big citywide garage sale. It was a hot day but we really had a blast. We passed this old neon sign many times going back and forth from the hotel. I don't remember the building being very cool but I do love the sign.

Here is an old donut shop from the 50's. Mel-O-Creme. By the time we got there they were closed but I was able to get a shot of the great little sitting area where you could sit back and enjoy your creme donut and a cup of joe. The top is formica with a white base and gold flecks in it. There were a couple little holders by each seat. It looked like napkins and maybe sweetner where in there.

On the drive home, we made a stop in Bloomington, IL. The first thing we saw was their amazing City Hall building. It was Saturday so we could not go in but I was able to get some great exterior shots. I have tried to research who designed the building but have not been able to find anything. The building is more beautiful in person and in great shape. There is a police station across the parking lot that is of similar design but not nearly as cool.

Notice the driveup window in the picture below.

As we continued to drive around town we ran across the high school. WOW is all I could say. I would never leave this school if I went there.

The last cool thing we ran across was this awesome vintage sign. The plaza itself had been redone but it looks like they keep the original sign.

We really enjoyed our trip into the heartland of IL and came away with some great memories and photos.

Rebecca

MCM Outdoor Touches

2010-07-08T23:56:00.013-05:00

Whenever we drive around or walk around, I am always on the lookout for MCM homes and MCM outdoor items. This past week, as we walked the dogs, I noticed several MCM outdoor items in our neighborhood and I thought I would share them on the blog.

I am always on the lookout at rummages and estate sales for outdoor lighting. I love the old styles of lighting. It just seems like they don't make fun designs anymore. Here is a great outdoor light. It even has a place for the flagpole.

Here are three examples of some vintage screen doors. I just love the aluminium leaf one.

I think garage doors back in the day were much more interesting. Here is one that has some small diamonds on them. Just enough to be tasteful and totally retro.

Next time you take a ride or a walk make sure to check out any MCM touches in your neighborhood. I would love to hear about what you find.

Rebecca

Heavenly Living Room Set

2010-06-25T10:26:00.003-05:00

My husband collects vintage postcards and occasionally when we look for cards we run across furniture store post cards. This is one of the nicest furniture sets I have ever seen on a postcard. To me it looks like they used a hotel room for the backdrop. The colors are aqua and coral with a light ash finish.

The postcard is for Sun City Furniture based in St. Petersburg, Fl. It says on the back "Florida's most beautiful furniture for luxury, comfort and distinctive style". I can say this would have been a set I would have proudly displayed in my home. What a heavenly set!

Vintage Lightingpalooza

2010-04-03T19:07:00.008-05:00

One of the things I really love about collecting and living vintage is the fun and cool lighting of the time. Last weekend we had a lightingpalooza. We found a set of great lamps and an awesome single lamp both at the same dealer on the same day. He had so many great lamps it was hard to choose but we managed to get down to these three.

The pair of lamps we got have figural bottoms and nice barrel fiberglass shades. This set in in excellent condition. They were made by the Continental Art company. They are black and white with small dots of pink and aqua on them. Could they be any more fifties? We have placed these in the living room along with our pink frieze couch and planter based glass tables. We have some pictures for the wall that I think will work and will fill in the space once we get them up.

The second find was this awesome bullet planter type lamp. I have never seen one like it. I love bullet planters so this light was a real find. The fiberglass is white and in good shape. The legs and finial are wood painted black. We put this in the corner on our Heywood Wakefield corner bookcase. The lighting it throws is great especially with it being in the corner.

Happy Hunting!

Rebecca

Rockin $80 Couch

2010-03-15T23:58:00.004-05:00

The excitement has been building as the weather has improved just enough and the ads for estate sales and garage sales start to pick up. In the Madison area, it seems many of the church sales start in March and April. I have been to a couple and boy they were crowded and busy.

I want to feature two recent finds. One I got at the church sale. It is an awesome vintage Thermador space heater. It is in great condition and works. I picked it up for $2.50. It had the original price sticker on it. It sold for $13.95.

The second wonderful find was at a thrift store. It is this great vintage couch. It is green and chocolate brown. The original fabric is in wonderful condition. The cushions will need new foam but it is great and very comfortable. It has a nice high back which is great for us tall folks. I really like how the fabric is presented on the back of the couch. I am not sure I have seen that before. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a matching chair!!

There is just nothing like a great find at a great price. The blood is pumping and the excitement builds. Then when you get it home and just love it, that is the icing on the cake.

I wish everyone a successful hunting season . . . on your mark, get set, go!

Rebecca

Crazy Atomic Car

2010-02-27T23:23:00.013-06:00

Cabin fever has hit us here in Madison, so Dave and I played the "Where are we going" game today. To play the game I listed the numbers 1-10 on a sheet of paper. Then I had him pick numbers from one to ten in random order but he could only use each number once. Then he had to pick a direction, left, right or straight to go after each number. What we ended up with was a road map and we really don't know where we were going. For example, we had to turn right from our street, drive 3 miles, turn left, drive 6 miles turn right, etc. It was quite fun and we saw some nice sites along the way.

We ended up driving mostly through WI farmland but did drive through a small town called Belleville. We saw a great old Ford Neon sign there.

We passed some very pretty snowy sites on a sunny day.

But best of all we ran across this crazy atomic car. It was just around a bend on the side of an outbuilding. From what we can tell it was drivable at some point. There was one seat in the front and a steering wheel. They painted the tires silver to match the car. I love the antenna on top. It looks like you have to enter it from the top. Could it be based on a Camaro? The steering wheel and the front end might suggest that. Notice the funky lights on it as well. Hopefully some day we can find out more about this crazy atomic car.

Our road map lead us to our final destination which put us in Oregon, WI. We found this great little mod beauty shop. I really love the lines on this building.

We had such a great day and saw such unexpected things. What fun!
Rebecca

Vintage Motel Signs

2010-02-16T09:36:00.011-06:00

This past Sunday we took a trip up to the Wisconsin Dells. The Dells is a tourist area about one hour north of Madison. It has some beautiful natural scenery but also some great Mid Century Modern scenery. There are quite a few motels that are still there that were popular in the 50's/60's. I am sure due to development we have lost many great motels but there are still some to look at and celebrate.

This sign is cool but does not do justice to the really cool motel rooms. See picture below.

There are some regular motel rooms on part of this property but near the main road is this set of rooms. The design is SO cool. Each room has a silhouette of an Indian head behind the room number. It looks like they are redoing the rooms here but we could not really tell in what way.

The international motel was on the edge of town. Unfortunately it is up for sale.

I love the little top on the top of the Gables sign. The doors on this hotel are all the same aqua that is in the sign.

The Top Hat motel is down a side street off the main drag. Again the use of aqua.

This was one of our favorite signs. The condition is wonderful. The motel itself was great. It is made of a beautiful lannon stone - see below. There were these great light fixtures as well. I would say the motel was on at least 3-4 acres. It was very spread out with a pool.

I have more motels to share, so stay tuned!
Rebecca

Kodachrome Slide Website

2010-02-04T10:29:00.003-06:00

There is a guy in California that collects old Kodachrome Slides from the 50s to the 70s. He has a show he does and has actually written a couple of books. If you are familiar with Kodachrome you know the quality can be quite amazing. His name is Charles Phoenix and I would suggest a visit to his website. He also has a slide of the week e-mail list you can get on.

www.charlesphoenix.com

Happy viewing.

Rebecca

Museum of Kitsch

2010-01-28T10:41:00.005-06:00

I ran across a mention of this site in an article about Lily Tomlin in Time.

The site is for Allee Willis and she is truly a queen of kitsch. She was collecting 50's/60's items back when most of us wish we had started collecting it.

The first link is for her museum of kitsch. The second link is an outside shot of her home called the "house of atomic kitsch". WOW is all I have to say. It is awesome.

http://www.alleewillis.com/museumofkitsch/categories.html

http://www.alleewillis.com/press/images/Ots-back-night.html

Final Set of Vintage Furniture Postcards

2010-01-21T10:14:00.006-06:00

Here are the last 4 vintage furniture postcards that I have.

Here is one of those super heavy sofa sleepers. One arm has a large storage compartment for linens. It is covered in high quality mohair blend frieze by Shelton Mills in Grey, Beige or Green. It folds out to a full size bed and was priced at $259.50.

Here is a cute dinette. The ad has the key features of the dinette.
Solid steel legs for grace and strength
Soft foam rubber seats for comfort
Newest style self storing leaf for convenience
Warm knotty pine plastic top for beauty.

It was on sale for $127.50 I am not sure knotty pine and plastic usually go together but it seems to work on this set.

This is one of the more traditional settings for this set of postcards. The tables and lamps are more traditional. There is a nice fringe on the bottom of the davenport and chair. The ad on the back says the cover is Dupont Fiber E in a smart textured pile, trellis pattern. Fiber E is a tried and proven fabric that has excellent wearing qualities and high resilience that keeps it looking fresh and new. It is completely moth-proof and can be washed or dry cleaned with ease. It came in French Grey, spruce green or persimmon red. It was on sale for $199.50. I a curious what the difference is between a davenport and a sofa. Anyone know?

Despite the beautiful sofa and chairs in the this postcard the ad on the back is for the tables. It is a great assortment of tables. You have one stepped, one corner, and then two matching tables but on different sides of the room. The corner table was priced at $27.50 and the rest were $18.95. It says they are skillfully made of fine oak in a limed finish with smart, new set-back tops. The red chairs in front are amazing and it is interesting to see they mixed a more contemporary lamp with a more traditional lamp.

I hope you have enjoyed these postcards. I thought they were a real find and have enjoyed sharing them. I think it would be so cool to have been able to walk into a furniture store in the 50's and see row after row of these cool furniture sets all brandy new and shiny.

Rebecca

Vintage Furniture Postcards Cont . .

2010-01-16T10:25:00.006-06:00

First off I want to welcome the folks that have stopped by after reading about this blog on Atomic Addiction. Brian is the one who inspired me to start a blog so I appreciate the mention on his site.

Here is a great forest green sofa and chair. The sofa back folds down and you can use it as a bed. There is a hidden compartment that holds your bedding. The fabric is a nubby tweed and it came in forest green, rose or beige. It sold for $94.50

There is some great accessory detail in this postcard. If you look at the picture above the sofa it has two oriental shelf sitters with some sort of background to the shadowbox. Each table has a pretty bird ceramic and it looks like there are a few ashtrays laying around as well. The curved supports on the tables are very cool. The blond feet on the sofa and chair go very well with the tables.

Here is a great bedroom set. The postcard describes it as being made of fine grain oak with an easy to care for Limed Oak finish. The chest and double dresser are fully dust proof. I wonder what that means. All pieces were available as a set for $199.75. They don't mention separate nightstands so I am thinking the nightstands are built in. What do you all think? Interesting there is no hardware on the chest or dresser.

What beautiful slipper chairs. We have quite a collection of mismatched but cool chairs. When we run across them it is just so hard to pass them by especially if they are $1-$5.

The postcard describes these as expertly crafted of fine quality material by master craftsmen. They have a back post for extra support. The fabric is a modern nubby tweed flecked with gold Lurex. They came in two colors persimmon and dark green. They suggest you buy them as one or a pair for the many useful purposes around the house - by a corner window, by your picture window, in the front hall, in your sewing or amusement room, as a host chair or for televiewing. I am not sure I have ever heard a room described as an amusement room or the term televiewing. You could purchase one of these beauties for $38.50.

Stay tuned, I have one more set of postcards to post.

Rebecca

Vintage Furniture Postcards Cont . . .

2010-01-12T00:22:00.007-06:00

Here is a great sofa and chair set. The deep forest green makes the blond wood work of the tables really pop. It looks like they reused some of the accessories in these postcards. The curtains for this set are the same curtains for the yellow dinette set in the previous post. I also think the picture in this and the next postcard are the same.

The cost of this set was a regular $249.50 value but with this postcard it was only $199.50. I wonder if the person that got these postcards ever used one to get a discount. This set came in green, beige and red. It is a mohair frieze material and had premium steel coil springs throughout. No wonder these sofas are so heavy when you find one and try to load it in the car.

This desk was marketed as a Bright Idea for Mother's Day. It has a fine grain lime oak finish, trim set back front styling and modern polished brass handles. The desk was $87.50 and the chair was $12.75. The curtains in this photo are the same curtains from the gray Permalux set in the previous post.

More to come!

Rebecca

Vintage Furniture Store Postcards

2010-01-10T11:56:00.011-06:00

There was this great antique store in Columbus, WI (no longer there) that had lots of great of paper products for a pretty good price. We found vintage magazines (I am trying to collect all Better Homes and Gardens from 1/50 - 12/59) and postcards etc. We found these great old furniture store postcards there. They are from Ted Brening Furniture and Appliances in La Crosse, Kansas. I googled the name of the store and could not find anything so I have to assume they are no longer in business.

The concept was that you would get one of these postcards each month and if you collected all 12 for the year you could bring them in for a 10% discount. I love these because they are just very well put together furniture sets and they are in color. Great vivid color. They are from the mid 50's - 1954 and 1955. They are a great representation of that time. I have 13 of these cards and will spread them over a few posts. Take a moment and really take a look at them. They give us some great info on rugs, wallpaper and various accessories to the furniture itself. Enjoy!

This postcard was for Christmas. It has one of my favorite color schemes, dark green, chartreuse and red. The wall treatment on the fireplace wall is very interesting. The back of the card lists some of the prices for items. The most expensive is the platform rocker at $69.50. The tables run from $13.95 - $19.95 and the mirror is priced at $19.95. The furniture arrangement is interesting. The coffee table is just out in the middle of things. I love the hassock but maybe just a bit to close to the fireplace.

Here is a beautiful sofa and chair. The description on the front says it is a new mohair blend frieze and comes in olive, green, beige and gray and you can get a contrasting black outline if you like. The set was priced at $279.50. The base springs were guaranteed to never, never break. There is a great shared table in the corner with very cool hairpin legs. The lamp is very unusual with the wire frame around the base. There is an interesting pop of color in the lamp shade.

I really LOVE this postcard. Look at that wallpaper. This is titled Shaded Palomino Mahogany. They mention it is an exciting new wood finish which will give your bedroom a feeling of newness and freshness. I had a similar hand me down set of this when I was growing up. I would love to have the set today but my parents painted it white and then gave it away.

The last postcard for today is this great yellow dinette set. They describe it as a popular size drop leaf table and modern chairs. It was regularly $119.75 but on sale in the month of July with this postcard for $99.75. I love the flaired legs of the table. Oh and how shiny is that chrome. We all know the sets we see and would love to have this type of chrome still in tact. The rest of the description says it is stain and heat resistant, the chairs have the newest design with nubby Duran seats and backs that is easily washable. It also carries the Good Housekeeping seal of approval.

Stay tuned, I will be posting more postcards very soon.

Rebecca

Julius Shulman Film in Madison

2010-01-05T14:26:00.002-06:00

I just found out the Julius Shulman film will be shown in Madison, WI for free!

Thursday, 2/25 from 7 - 8:30. The link is below.

http://www.mononaterrace.com/community/all-programs/category/frank_lloyd_wright_architecture_programs#wright_lecture_series

Spoke to Soon

2010-01-03T00:22:00.012-06:00

Well if I am going to post a "final" 2009 Vintage Christmas post, I should probably wait until I have completed my after Christmas Antique Mall shopping. We headed down today to the Rockford, IL area. We have a few antique shops down that way we like to hit around Christmas. I found a few items that I don't want to wait another 12 months to share.

The first find of the day was not a Christmas item. It is a cool green tv lamp (in the back in this picture). I made it a bit more Christmasy by adding some vintage plastic flowers that I found later in the day. I picked up a plastic sleigh for the plastic room, some neat little snowmen, a ceramic snow lady with a muff, a plastic cutout ornament for the aluminum tree, a pretty silver ornament for the white tree, a terrific Howard Holt Santa and a Japan Santa decanter.

The Santa decanter was a great find. His hat has a cork base and comes off. It is in perfect condition. He has four small mugs that have hooks on his side to rest on. Everything was in great condition and I see this piece finding a nice home on our vintage bar. In the background you can see some corrugated "brick" paper. There was a booth with several rolls. I grabbed 4 rolls. They were a $1 each and then I got a 10% discount when I check out. I would have picked up a couple more rolls had I known that.
This Howard Holt piece caught my eye in one of the mall cases. He was low and I could have easily missed him. He is very cool. You can put two candles in the red parts on his hat and then there is also a place to put flowers in the middle of his hat. I love HH pieces. They are truly the most whimsical.
Since I was doing another Christmas post, I thought I would add this as well. As I mentioned in a previous post, I feel in love with beaded ornaments this year. So I searched Ebay and found two NOS kits. I thought I would try my hand at putting one together. So this shot is of the outside of the kit and what the ornament should look like. Below is what I completed. I am pretty happy with it. I did not add the bow as I just did not think I could make that happen.

Well we are heading to Milwaukee on Monday to scour the Malls for some great Christmas items. If I purchase anything that is noteworthy I will post it. Then maybe we can really call it a final post.

Rebecca

Final 2009 Vintage Christmas Post

2009-12-27T22:08:00.015-06:00

I thought I would wrap up my 2009 Vintage Christmas with shots of some of my favorite pieces. The real standout that I picked up in 2009 was a pair that has a little boy on the phone with Santa and then the other piece is one of Santa on the other end of the line. I think this is just one of the most precious sets I have seen. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to sharing my 2010 finds next year.

I just love these ceramic Christmas trees. My stepfather gave me a white one with red bulbs in 2008. I picked this one up at an Estate sale for $5 and I have a much smaller one that is white with pink bulbs. This one is neat because of the "snow" on the branches. I love the purple bulbs as well.

I have a pair of these Howard Holt pieces. I got them in a box lot at an auction. They are so cute with the separate "traffic light" that they look up at.

I also have a pair of these angels. You just slip them over the candle. I put them in the same spot every year because I just love the way they look.

If you see this piece in person, his nose is a red bulb. I am not sure why it came out looking so yellow.

This is the pair I referenced earlier. So cute!

This was a great 2008 find. I got him at the Elkhorn, WI flea market from a guy who sells some really neat vintage Christmas items. He is musical as well. You just give Santa a couple of turns and he plays Christmas music.

Here's to a great vintage 2010
Rebecca

2009 Vintage Christmas Cont . . .

2009-12-23T20:19:00.009-06:00

I love all the whimsical Christmas figures that were created in the fifties and have collected quite a few. The little ladies are so cute with their hats, muffs and pretty dresses. I have a smaller room divider in my landing and it is the perfect spot for my collections of Christmas ladies. I also have a small collection of Christmas card index boxes. I believe you tracked addresses and who sent you cards. They fit perfectly on the bottom shelf.

Yes, there is still more to come . . .
Rebecca

2009 Vintage Christmas Cont . . .

2009-12-20T11:04:00.012-06:00

Here are some more items from my Vintage Christmas collection.

These are plastic Santas I have picked up along the way. The tallest one by the light was one I had growing up as a kid. I think he needs a shirt. He cracks me up because he seems a bit like a disco santa with no shirt on. I have a couple pieces that are still in their original wrapper. I am torn in terms of taking them out of the plastic to display so this year they are being displayed in their original wrapper.

Here are some more items from the "Christmas Plastic" room. One of my favorites is the plastic Nativity scene. I got this at the Long Beach Flea Market in California. It is a great Flea Market and I tend to find some great 50's/60's items when I go.

In my search for vintage Christmas items, I have run across some great satin spun type of items. I don't know exactly what you call them but they are really neat. I picked up these two snow men this year at the Elkhorn, WI flea market. They were only $2. They are one of my favorite finds in 2009. I am not sure they could be any cuter and they are in great shape. I have the original box as well.

More to come, stay tuned . . .

Rebecca

2009 Vintage Christmas Cont . . .

2009-12-17T21:23:00.007-06:00

In more recent years, I have started picking up vintage plastic Christmas pieces. There are some pieces that are just so cute. Our family room has been designated the "plastic" room for our Christmas decorating. Here are some of our pieces.

We have this great shadow box. I bought it in an antique mall in Springfield, IL. This year I put many of my elf pieces on it as they seemed like a good fit. You can see the reflection of the Christmas tree in it.

Stay tuned . . . more to come!

Rebecca

2009 Vintage Christmas Continued

2009-12-14T19:54:00.011-06:00

I have quite a few ceramic Christmas collectibles from the 50's and 60's. Here is our Heywood Wakefield Room divider with many of the pieces. It is nice because each part of the room divider can be a small grouping of different pieces. I have Santa's, Snowmen, Mr and Mrs Claus, Noel and various pieces.

2009 Vintage Christmas

2009-12-13T13:27:00.032-06:00

Here are some pictures of our 2009 Vintage Christmas in Madison, WI. Our white tree is not vintage but most of the ornaments on the tree are.

This year I have really started collecting vintage handmade items. I picked up this great wall hanging for $1 at a rummage. It has the 12 days of Christmas on it.

I got these crazy cool wisemen for free at an estate sale. The lady was so happy I took them out of the free box. Their heads are made with covered toliet paper rolls. Felt is used for their facial features. They have some really nice pieces of vintage jewelry on them. I love the "puffed" head pieces.

Like so many of my collections, it starts with one good deal on a group of items and just grows from there. I got a bag of vintage beaded ornaments at SVdP for $1.50. I was hooked. So I have started picking up beaded ornaments where I can. I also picked up a NOS kit and plan to try to make one over this holiday season from the kit. Wish me luck!

Here is a close up of some of the beaded ornaments.

Stay tuned . . . I will be posting more pics from our 2009 Vintage Christmas.

Rebecca

Adventures in Vintage Camping

2009-08-16T20:02:00.009-05:00

We are going to kick off our blog with Aqua Betty, our vintage camper. Aqua Betty started her life with us as Ugly Betty. We got her on eBay from a couple in PA in 2007. We live in WI so we had to travel about 900 miles to pick her up.

She is a 1968 Ken Craft and is 26ft long. She has had a pretty interesting life. She spent a good portion of her early years traveling throughout Mexico and the Southwest as home to a preacher and his family. They lived in her 24/7. She was then sold to the couple in PA and they used her as a weekend camper for many years.

When we got her she had a big brown stripe and horrible green indoor/outdoor carpet. The biggest issue was that the wife of the couple decided the camper smelled musty and put an entire box of moth balls in her about 2 days before we picked her. Then shut her up tight as a drum. She even went as far as to crush the mothballs and sprinkle them in every conceivable place in the camper. When we went to pick her up we about choked on the smell. The husband said that he told his wife "not to do it". We wish she would have listened to him. They told us everything worked so we took her to the camp ground near their home and camped in her that very first night.

Our first evening of camping in her was not a pleasant experience. First off, things did not work as they told us. We could not get running water, the toilet didn't work and the smell, oh the smell. Luckily there are windows by each of the twin beds so we both slept with our noses pressed against the window screens just to get through the night. The next morning we called ahead to our next stop and made hotel reservations.

We had her stripe painted aqua, replaced the floor, got new mattresses, new foam and fabric on the benches, new window treatments, a new toilet installed, and all her plumbing redone. But most importantly we removed every stinking bit and piece of the moth balls. They were everywhere. We had to rip out all of the insulation because it was full of moth balls. Honestly it took us almost a year to get all the smell out. It seemed to finally go away when we ripped up the old vinyl floor and installed the new floor.

Now she is Aqua Betty. We took her to the Vintage Trailer show in Montello, WI last year. It was fun to drive in and hear the positive comments. It was a real treat to visit with other enthusiasts and to show her off.

We still have work to do on her. She does not have the original Aqua frig so we want to get one that we can make look vintage. We need to fix a couple of spots in the wood that got wet and damaged before we got her and we want to have her white part repainted. But for now she is one sassy vintage camper and we enjoy camping in her very much.

Livin' the vintage life in our vintage camper

Rebecca