The best cure for a hangover

is finding cool stuff at yard sales!

Visiting friends from out of state + the debut of my husband's rock/metal band (a la Kyuss or Black Sabbath) + the first warm night in Maine in ages = a bit of a rocky start to this Saturday.

But relief was found via coffee and success at yard sales.

To wit:

Vintage Dansk enamel casseroles, to be added to the collection:

Stackable heavy metal (this time not as in Kyuss) candlesticks - Dansk I think. And red plastic serving tray - definitely Dansk.

Vintage Viewmaster Reels (including Little Black Sambo) and cool bakelite Deco Box:



Featuring cutout heads - my favorite graphic technique:



Vintage State of Maine shaped barb wire display (who knew?!)



It is stamped on the back "Amos Crouch, Chandler, Oklahoma." A little googling turns up the fact that Mr. Crouch died in 1989 at the age of 67. He was an insurance salesman. Somehow, knowing all that made me cry a little bit.

Danish Modern dollhouse:



Sadly, in the 80's, someone decided to redecorate. But isn't that always true in real life as well?

And last, but definitely not least, this week's mystery piece. A box with a face mask, featuring uber-creepy slashed rubber eyes. The holes in the back of the box make me thing that someone had this hanging in their house. ***shudder***







After this purchase my associate instituted a "No more creepy faces" buying/decorating rule, which I doubt I'll be able to obey. Sorry honey!

Real Life

It's not often that I find a real life application for the knowledge I've accumulated about vintage clothing. But yesterday, I had my chance.

Dad and I were at a local furniture consignment store, Cherished Possessions, aka amongst my friends (or at least amongst one very funny friend), CherPo. My father found an old chopper and hand mixer. He buys (and sells) certain types of things - Ogee mirrors, nail cabinets, old kitchen tools, Shaker pieces - and I have the exact same obsessive compulsive behavior, or, er, shopping sensibility. But that is a whole other blog post.

I found a teak dining room set, but I didn't recognize the name on the bottom, and it was in such great shape that it seemed new. However, there was an extra tag on the bottom, for B. Altman's - the same tag used for B. Altman's clothing from the 60's through the 80's, before going out of business in 1989 (thank you VFG!)


So I bought it.

And here is is, with a rug purchased this past weekend at a NH estate auction, on another outing with my father.

The Stig and Luna approve!

The table is designed, or inspired by Borge Mogensen with very clever extending Dutch leaves that extend its length to about 6 feet. It's the perfect excuse for a big dinner party.

Danish Modern IQ Test

It's a gorgeous example of usable Danish Modern design.

It's a peppermill - desperately needed to replace the horrible modern green plastic thingy that crushes peppercorns with the force of a fluffy kitten.

It's an IQ test, and one that I have failed. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to get the peppercorns into this thing. When the rings on the bottom are configured in a certain way, there's one wee hole, the size of a single peppercorn. I love this thing, but I refuse to feed it one orb at a time.

Ah well, it still looks good.