Something New Today and . . .

. . . things will be back to normal in a week or so. I'm wrapping up some loose ends involved with the road trip and pretty soon I'll be back in Florida blogging on endlessly about boring things like china cabinets and thrift stores. Thrift stores? Did I say thrift stores? News about a new one coming soon.

In the mean time - Remember this?

The African Queen, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn.

Ever wonder what happened to the boat - the African Queen. I know what happened to it, and if you want to know and see what it looks like today I suppose you'll have to come on in and read more.

Earl Scruggs, 1924 - 2012

Earl Scruggs died yesterday and the world has lost an extraordinary musician. If you're not a bluegrass, or banjo aficionado you might not think you know who Earl is, but I'll bet you've heard his music.

If you've ever seen the movie Bonnie & Clyde you've heard this next piece of music. If you haven't seen that movie, no sweat, I bet you've heard the theme song to The Beverly Hillbillies. Earl did that too.

Nothing I can say will do justice to this legendary performer. Just watch the video and appreciate how skillful this musician was.

Love ya, Earl. Rest in peace.

1951 Magnavox Console Television

I've had this old television for quite a while. Somehow it never seems to quite reach the top of the fix it list. There is some allure to having this 50s television sitting amidst my other 50s pieces in kind of a throwback 1950s tableau. Come on in and see what you think.

Finding A Deal In Vegas

When I'm not singing to the ladies at my part-time gig downtown, or mixing up the best drinks in the desert, I might be sneaking through a thrift shop to see if I can add some early days elements to my pad.

Here's a quick peek at what you might see on our first date.

This is the Liberace Museum and Lounge. I'll meet you here for a quick drink.

Introducing Bob "Solid State, Baby" Oster, The Dave's MidCentury Stuff Las Vegas Correspondent

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Bob "Solid State, Baby" Oster.

Bob in his kitchen.

I've known Bob a long time. We go way back, and share a lot of common interests. We met Bob in Vegas. He was performing off the strip in an "old vegas" club. He saw us in the audience, and after the show came over to our table and started laying some pretty smooth lines on Wonder Woman. They might have worked too, except Wonder Woman is pretty close to six feet tall, and Bob is . . . well, . . . vertically challenged.

Come on in and read the rest of the story.

Stuff That Didn't Get Its Own Post, Issue #2

Sometimes I'm sitting here late at night. Nobody's up except me. It's quiet. It's dark. The only illumination is the glow coming off of my computer screen. And since that's directed right into my face I'm blind as to the rest of the space around me.

One night I felt something at my leg. Must be one of our mini Schnauzers. I reach down to do an ear scratch and I feel the edge of something hard. I turn the monitor around to shine some light toward whatever this is, and I see several little thrift store finds standing on the floor next to me. Some of them are carrying signs saying "We Want A Post". Some of them are carrying torches and pitchforks. Well, okay they're carrying matches and Taco Bell sporks, but from up here it looks like torches and pitch forks.

Their leader steps forward, it's Winter from the new set of MetalCraft Four Seasons wall hangings. He says to me "Hey, Mack, we're tired of sitting around wrapped up in newspapers and plastic bags. We want an article written about us and we want it now". When he called me "Mack" I thought he sounded a little bit like one of those gangsters from the old Black and White, Adventures of Superman TV show.

We negotiated a while. Here's their article. Issue #2 of stuff that didn't get its own post.

This is Winter, the spokesman spokesfind who called me "Mack"

Let's Identify: These Odds and Ends

Fridays have traditionally been about identifying something unknown to me. Might as well continue the tradition. Today it's not just one piece, more like a few. A diverse few. So without further ado.

It looks like it should "be" something. Is it?

Let there be more light.

I'm not afraid to say it. I am a lamp addict. I have desk lamps, table lamps, floor lamps, pole lamps, pull down lamps, pendant lamps, TV lamps, 50s lamps, 60s lamps, danish modern lamps, a George Nelson designed lamp, and now I have my first sconce.

This posting is all about the three newest lamps in my collection. I'm fond of saying if you have at least three of something it ceases being clutter and becomes a collection. What does it become when you have about forty of something? Collection just doesn't seem to be a strong enough word for that much of anything.

This baby just came in from an ebay purchase. Come on in and have a look at my new lamp stuff.

Philosophical Yin & Yang, Biomorphism, or Cool Dish. You make the call.

The center of the Korean flag, the symbol for Yin and Yang, Bio-morphism. All of that is outside of  my of particular education. I'm a simple man. I have simple tastes. And I break things down into the simplest terms.

The shape of the object below could be interpreted in any number of ways. But here in Dave's world of mid century madness this is just a cool candy dish. With a lid.

Yin and Yang? Temporary lodging for Milk Duds? You make the call.

The One That Almost Got Away Didn't

One week ago today I ran a post called I hope this isn't the one that got away.

It was about a cool old danish modern china cabinet I found in a thrift store just outside of Orlando at the beginning of my road trip. It was stuck in a narrow aisle and I couldn't get any full on pix of it. I've solved the not getting any full on pix problem. Come in and see how.

Stuff We're Working On

Good Monday morning to you.

Long story short. Several weeks ago I found an interesting lamp on ebay. It had only one picture, and only a two word headline. It looked like this:    

The ad read:                  RAM LAMP         and that was it.

It just seemed so mysterious, so interesting, I had to do something. So I bought it. Find out more inside.

Something for the Car Guys or Car Girls

It's Sunday, and I don't work too hard on Sundays, especially after the exhaustion of the road trip finally set in.

The road trip is over. I will be spending the next few months up north. My posts may thin out a little, but I'll try and keep up as best I can.

I spent yesterday in Saint Louis, and in the company of Mr. Modtomic and Nick Armadillo of Mid-Century Midwest. Great couple of guys. And for those of you who follow Mr. Modtomic pretty closely, I also got to meet The Girlfriend, and Frank - the car. Thanks to all of you for your hospitality and generosity.

I also did a little business with Rocket Century in St Louis, and in the process met Kristina and Michael, the proprietors of Rocket Century, and Pluto the Dober Doodle. A Dober Doodle is a cross between a doberman and labradoodle. Nice people, and a great dog.

So now on to something for you car people. We ran across a vintage car warehouse store and I snapped a few pictures. I'm a little rusty on my classic car identification, but I give it a shot. This won't be on the list of top 10 posts, but the car people should like it. See you next week.

'63 or '64 Coupe DeVille

Old Albums. Where's the value - Music or Cover Art?

Before I left home last Monday for the current road trip I did a little yard sale thrifting. I'm not crazy about yard and garage sales. You have to wade through lots and lots of yards and garages to find one or two treasures. But I did find a stack of albums that I picked through. Every one of these albums has either decent (to me) music or cool cover art.

I have a couple of old stereo consoles with record players. I'll try some of these to see how they sound, but really and truly I think displaying them as art and having people thumb through them is the real value.

Gee, do you think the space program of the late 50s early 60s was big?

Road Trip Day 4 - The Mother Load part 2

Since these words don't write themselves I suppose I better get busy.

It's day 4 of this road trip. It's 8:00 pm as I'm sitting here. I have a big day planned for tomorrow, I have some decent posts coming in the next week or so about other things that have happened on this trip, and I'm going to spend the weekend in St Louis, home of some very famous midcentury bloggers.

Yesterday I showed you half the pictures I took at the Springfield Antique Center in Springfield, OH. Today you get the remainder.

Somewhere around 36 more photos inside.

Road Trip Day 3 - The Mother Load

As I write this it's Wednesday evening about 10:30 Florida time.

Spent the night in Columbus, OH Tuesday night. Headed out about 10:30 Wednesday morning and only made it about 40 miles before I saw a huge 750 dealer antique mall.

Full disclosure time: I dislike antique malls. In general stuff is overpriced, there seems to be a lack of what I'm looking for, and the individual owners of the stuff for sale are generally absent. The only people available are the mall owners and staff. You can't strike as good a deal with an intermediary. But I stopped anyway. Good thing. Great googly boogledy. You should have seen all the stuff.

This is Springfield Antique Center in Springfield, OH. It's just west of Columbus. I recommend it. There is about two and a half acres of floor space in here. I saw most of it. I took about eighty pictures. Here's the first half.

Cool kitchen table and chairs and stuff.

I bought a couple of things, but those pictures are for another post. This post is pretty much just mid century modern objet d'lust. Thirty nine more pictures inside.

Road trip day 2 - the pickings are slim

It's a good thing I don't work with Mike and Frank, the American Pickers. Two reasons actually.

1. I'd probably punch Mike in the face everyday 'cause I really don't like him.

2. I suck at free style picking.

To be fair to me, I think most people would like to punch Mike in the face. Especially Frank and Danielle. And I'm not really free style picking. I'm just stopping every time I see a thrift store sign. And once you get on the interstate highway there aren't many thrift stores.

Been on the road two days. Long distance driving just wears on you, doesn't it? I finally picked up my ebay purchases in far eastern Ohio, and now we're all resting at the Red Roof in Columbus, OH.

Pictures inside.

I hope this isn't the one that got away.

This might be the shortest post in my short blogging history.

Let's see, if today is Tuesday I've been on the road for about 24 hours. I'm a road warrior for the next few days. Taking a road trip to pick up some purchases I made on ebay that I didn't want delivered. It's 11:20 pm as I'm writing this and I'm beat. Tomorrow I hit it hard again.

Of course I've already hit five thrift stores. Purchases come later. Today's post is about what I didn't buy. As I said, I hope it wasn't something great that I let get away from me.

DIY Project - How to turn a pendant lamp shade into a functioning lamp

Remember this shade from the George Nelson Bubble Lamp shade post a couple of days ago?

George Nelson Bubble Saucer Lamp Reproduction shade.

Follow along and watch it get turned into a functioning lamp. I'll list all the parts and tools you'll need.  DIY project inside. Come on in, I'll wait.

Stuff That Didn't Get Its Own Post, Issue #1

When you go out thrifting multiple times per week you tend to bring home a lot of stuff that's not worthy of its own post. So you lump all the images together in a folder and drag them out for Sunday. Well, it's Sunday. Guess what. It's time to read issue #1 of Stuff That Didn't Get Its Own Post. Oh, and just because I've written this every Sunday since the beginning -

Hey, it's Sunday and I don't work too hard on Sunday.

Here's issue #1

A little colored glass thingie. Wonder Woman thinks it's Murano. I think not.

J.E. Tramel Dream Tree and P.G. Tiele Painting

Okay, here's how the story goes - as I've read it. Someone named J. E. Tramel was sitting under a tree dreaming of one day having a lot of gold. Apparently this was going on in Baton Rouge, LA.

Fast forward X many years later J. E. Tramel has trademarked "Dream Tree", and someone is producing these neat little trees made of twisted wire with tiny little foil leaves. Kind of reminds me of metal bonsai trees. The Label Reads:

DREAM TREE

It doesn't do anything, just sits there

looking pretty

AN ORIGINAL DREAM TREE

and then a hand written registration number

They look like this. Wonder Woman found this last Wednesday when we were out doing the thrift store thing. There's more. . .

Let's Identify: This Chair

If it's Friday it's time to try and identify something.

Do I have a Dreamy Danish Designer chair or a dud?

A couple of weeks ago I was making my rounds of the major thrift stores and I saw this chair. I could imagine it had potential so I fired off a couple of cell phone pictures to Mr. Modtomic or as I call him, Superman.

A while later Supe got back to me with a "pretty close".

Here is what I sent him:

And here is what he sent back:

This one is spot on in much of the detail. The arms might be a bit different, and this one is a high back, but close enough. This one is for sale by Cain Modern for $795. So of course since the day Mr. Modto Superman got back to me, I've been referring to this frazzled piece of wood and sheep skin as "the 795 chair".

Come on in and see what happens next.

Saarien Tulip Style Knockoff Table

If you'll remember, I was out thrifting one day and found these smoked acrylic tulip style chairs.

I had no illusions that I would ever find more and I figured to flip them. Then I found a table. Hmmm! What to do?

Singer 401A Slant-O-Matic Sewing Machine and Singer #351 Copenhagen Blonde Cabinet

It was the same day that we found the George Nelson Bubble Lamp shade. Man we were on a roll.

And it was the same thrift store where we got the Tulip Style Chairs . You put all that together and you're bound to find something worth writing about. We did.

Sewing Circle people - look at this.

A Singer Cabinet #351 Copenhagen in all its mid century magnificence.

And inside is an Anderson, SC built Singer 401A.

Want to see more?

Collector's Corner - Old Table Radios

I've said it before and it bears repeating - if you have at least three of something it ceases being clutter and becomes a collection.

Today's collection is old tube type table radios.

Come on in, they're not all this old.

From The Desk of Dave: A New Feature For The More Subdued Reader

Hi Readers, Dave here.

Every writer wonders what people think of his/her work (except Steven King, he just writes and writes and writes and cashes checks) But the rest of us do like to get some feedback.

I have done a couple of things to this blog so that you the reader might be more inclined to leave a little feedback. Here is what you may not know:

• You do not have to be a subscriber to this blog to leave a comment
• You may leave your comment anonymously
• You don't have to be a good writer yourself. Just bang out a couple of lines. We'll know what you mean. And remember, it can be anonymous.
• I have the ability to delete comments. If, at a later date, you want a comment you made removed - let me know.

Here's The New Feature:

I've added a "Reactions" section just above the "Comments". This is a place where you can put a check-mark in a box that reflects your basic reaction to the article. It requires very little effort.

The options are: "Cool"   "Interesting"   "Funny"   and   "Dave - You're Amazing"
I don't necessarily expect to see a check-mark in the last one very often, but hey, who knows, it could happen. I'll add more options as I think of them.

I was going to add a "Who Cares" option but I figured that one would get checked more often than not, and I didn't want to set myself up to get my feelings hurt.

So, to recap, please let me know what you think. Even if it's just to put a check mark in a box it'll let me know you're thinking of me.

-Dave

P.S. Just below this article there is a very cool post on a George Nelson Bubble Lamp shade I found. Don't miss it.

George Nelson Bubble Lamp Saucer Pendant Shade

The story you are about to read is true. The names have not been changed to protect anyone.

Fort Myers. A winter vacation destination for some. Year round home for others. People come here to get away from the bad weather up north. They go to the beach, they go to restaurants, and some of them go bargain hunting. Sometimes the bargains are good. Sometimes they're too good to be true. When that happens I go to work. My name's Thrifty, I carry a badge.

Update to Let's Identify: These Evil Looking Lamps

Hey, it's Sunday, and I don't work too hard on Sundays. So here's an update to last Tuesday's Let's Identify : These Evil Looking Lamps

We never did identify them, but now they live at my house

. . . and yet more ceramic dishes

If you came in late and haven't read my past posts - shame on you! On the other hand if you've been following along you've probably put together the fact that I'm kind of a sucker for old ceramic dishes, ashtrays, and the like.

Monday the 27th, Wonder Woman and I hit a couple of thrifts. We didn't bring home a huge haul but there were three ceramic dishes. Here's a preview. Can you spot the animal?

Last Friday's Auction Action

I mentioned a couple of day's ago that we went to an auction last Friday. Auctions are great for buyers when the crowd is kind of thin. Fewer people = fewer bids. I think we got some pretty good deals.

So come on in and see what we bought.

MetalCraft Four Seasons Wall Hangings

Quite popular in the late 50s to early 60s was this set of wall hangings called Four Seasons.

Winter and Summer by Metalcraft in Sage Green

Want to know everything about them that I know?

Davy Jones, 1945 - 2012

Davy Jones died yesterday at age 66.

While he did have a career prior to 1966, it was what he did in 1966 that gave him world-wide stardom. He became a Monkee.

I remember in September of 1966 sitting down and watching the first episode of The Monkees. One of my first 45s was Last Train To Clarksville. For a time I dug The Monkees way more than I did The Beatles.

Would Davy Jones want to be remembered strictly for being a Monkee? Beats me. But since his Monkee-ness is what made him known to me, that's how I'll remember him. The short one, the cute one, the one who made tambourines and maracas instruments of pop music.

I'm sure Marcia Brady will miss him much more than I will, but I still feel a loss.

Rest In Peace, Davy Jones.