May 26, 2012
These mushroom shaped salt and pepper shakers are straight out of the mid-1970′s and are in that lovely shade of gag-reflex green that was so popular in kitchen appliances and Volkswagen buses.
The great thing about time is that it marched on, the Volkswagen buses rusted away, the avocado kitchen appliances burnt out and all that remains are cute kitchen knickknacks like these, which evoke a sort of nostalgia for the era, without the actuality of it.
They are also perfect for use in an ultra low maintenance terrarium. The tallest one stands about 5 inches tall.
Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Ceramic, Dishes, GONE! SOLD!, Kitchenware, knickknack, Mid-century, Mid-Century Modern, Vintage |
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May 19, 2012
Before they were old the Golden Girls were youthful dancers. Except Betty White who was too busy practicing her expletives.
Just under 14 inches tall.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 21st century, AVAILABLE!, Contemporary, Kitsch, knickknack, Paper, White elephant, Wood, WTF? |
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May 17, 2012
Barra, a soulless community of glass and aluminium high-rises, is known for its jolly churrascarias – steakhouses that work on a $20, all-you-can-eat system. With waiters bringing a different cut about every three minutes, the trick is to hold off until the better beef arrives. Try: Baby-Beef Paes Mendonca (1510 Avenida das Americas; 399-2187) New York Times WHAT’S DOING IN; Rio de Janeiro, May 24, 1992
And if the beef isn’t to your liking feel free to take the salt and pepper shaker, some table linens or perhaps a waiter as a souvenir of the unforgettable experience of consuming Brazilian Beef (“Amazonian Fresh, with the rainforest goodness you’ve come to expect”).
3 1/4 inches tall.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Ceramic, Dishes, Eclectic, Kitchenware, Seemed like a good idea . . . |
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May 15, 2012
Summer is coming and with it the need for cold drinks and ice cubes to do the job. Just pull the lever and you’ll hear one of the quintessential sounds of modern summertime, the cracking of ice in an ice-cube tray.
We have four regular trays and one double tray, they are in great condition and are just over 11 inches long. They’re made from aluminum so we can be assured that they are BPA free too.
The single trays are $5 each and the double is $10.
Nunc est bibendum!
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Posted in $1 to $5, $6-$10, 20th century, GONE! SOLD!, Kitchenware, Metal, Vintage |
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May 8, 2012
Have incredible window washing bills.
The carved wooden elephant ($5) is 3 3/4 inches tall and about 6 3/4 inches long. The glass house is 8 3/4 inches long, 5 1/4 inches tall a 9 3/4 inches high (with roof, without it is about 5 inches tall; $20).
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Posted in $1 to $5, $16-$20, 20th century, 21st century, Glass, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Wood |
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May 8, 2012
But then they grow up and the next thing you know they’re hurtling through space from the main belt, or the Kuiper belt or the Washington Beltway intent on malevolent planetary destruction.
Maybe if you get your pet rock when its still small and trainable (1 1/2 by 1 1/4 inches, like this one) it won’t grow up to be an asteroid-hole.
Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Other Natural Materials, Otherwise useful, Vintage, White elephant |
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May 7, 2012
Unlike the last pair of vintage dancer figures we had these dancers were made with their hands solidly attached to their gowns.
As such they are intact and undamaged.
They stand about 7 inches tall and are unmarked.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Ceramic, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Vintage |
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May 2, 2012
We’ve had these silver plated presidential spoons before. They were made by William Rogers and are just under six inches long. I can’t recall which ones we had then but this time we have the first three presidents.
The other slightly worn and much loved silver plate spoon is by Old Company Plate and feature the famous fictional dog Huckleberrry Hound. It measures just over six inches long and would be good for cereal, soup, presidential table service and stuff like that there.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, GONE! SOLD!, Metal, Silverware / silverplate, Vintage |
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April 25, 2012
A small old perfume bottle from Lazell’s of New York.
Lazell’s was founded in 1870 and was a prominent perfume house into the 20th century. My understanding is that they were later taken over by Max Factor, possibly in the late 1920′s.
They produced a variety of scents with some wonderful names (for a partial list see here). We don’t know what came in this wonderful little bottle. The bottle itself was made in a two piece mold but the neck and lip were hand-made so we can tell that it dates to the late 19th century. Overall it is in good condition 3 3/4 inches tall with the stopper, 2 5/8 inches without. Approximately 1 1/4 inches in diameter
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Posted in $1 to $5, 19th century, Antique, Glass, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Otherwise useful |
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April 13, 2012
Alas it’s for Elizabeth the Second rather than for her famous progenitor. As a result we know it is about 60 years old since this is the Diamond Jubilee year.
This silver plated spoon is 5 3/8 inches long.
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* Elizabeth I was crowned on January 15, 1559. Luckily for use she posed for a coronation portrait but unfortunately we don’t know what the flatware looked like at the coronation supper.
Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Metal, Silverware / silverplate, Vintage |
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April 11, 2012
Dear Mr. Modern Movie Director / Producer,
Please, please for the love of all that is in film and cartoons, read this book BEFORE remaking yet another classic and utterly ruining it.
Heck, read it before making any film, you might get some good pointers.
How To Make Good Movies by the Eastman Kodak Company. It’s undated but there are some example of shots that show 1951 and 1952 in them and this seems like a pretty reasonable guess for when it was printed.
Interestingly a fair number of old pictures made it into the book, including a film marquee advertising The Great Gambini starring Akim Tamiroff which was released in 1937.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Artistic wonder, Book(s) & bookends, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, Mid-century, Mid-Century Modern, Otherwise useful, Paper, Vintage |
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April 9, 2012
The Multnomah Hotel was opened with much fanfare in 1912 and was Portland’s largest hotel until 1961. In addition to the accommodations it hosted famed restaurants such as the Arcadian Grill and the Stirrup Room until it closed in 1963. For the next 30 years or so it was the seat of ignominious use as a center for government offices until they too left in 1992. The current owners bought the building in 1995 and renovated it and it is now the Embassy Suites Portland.
I’d guess then that this was ‘acquired’ sometime before 1963, possibly as a souvenir of a venerable institution or perhaps as a parting gift that one of the employees gave to themselves. As you can see in the pictures it is a drinks stirrer with bottle opener on the other end. The spoon has a floral embossed pattern and the Hotel Multnomah name is prominently featured. The reverse side of the handle also has a pattern and bears the mark of the original manufacturer, Vaughn of Chicago.
It is 7 3/4 inches long and in great condition.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Glassware / barware, GONE! SOLD!, Metal, Otherwise useful, Vintage |
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March 26, 2012
My Dad used to say that the number of keys you carried was directly correlated to the responsibilities you had. He always had two big key rings, one each in his left and right front pockets (they had to be balanced or else he would have spent his last 40 years walking in a circle).
I’m not sure at this stage how many of those keys reflected real cares in the world and how many of them were talismans of past concerns.
What if though you had few responsibilities but they were REALLY, REALLY important ones? Would you then get only a few keys, but big ones to remind you of the significance of your burden?
These big keys could do the trick for such a case. Never mind that the lock for the biggest one could be picked by a 17-year old with a screwdriver, it exudes weight and influence. The ‘smaller’ key goes to a slightly more complicated lock but would still make a statement of comparative importance if you were to wear it on a chain around your neck for the next City Club luncheon.
You may not be a member, but they’d listen to your comment during the question session regardless.
The bigger key is 7 1/2 inches long and the ‘smaller’ one is 5 1/4 inches long.
If these were ever used at the household level they probably went with something like the large German storage trunk we had last May.
Posted in $1 to $5, 19th century, 20th century, Antique, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, Metal, Otherwise useful, Vintage |
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March 24, 2012
Unfortunately it was the “smooth-textured sausage of minced beef or pork usually smoked” rather than the mathematician and founder of cybernetics, Norbert Wiener, who was way more fun than a giant wheeled sausage.
Oh well.
Another in our recent series of Wallyware items, this time featuring Wally, a tube-meat shaped car (there’s a bit of symbolism for ya’) and a possibly illicit government grant.
Next time: Wally and the Beaver.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Ceramic, Contemporary, Dishes, Drawing / Illustration, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Seemed like a good idea . . . |
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March 23, 2012
Unlike deciduous ducks it doesn’t ‘leave’ in the fall.
5 1/2 inches long.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Crafter's delight, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Other Natural Materials, Other Unnatural Materials, Sculpture, Vintage, White elephant, WTF? |
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March 21, 2012
By Appointment Perfumers To The Prince Of Wales 1921-1936.
This of course is Edward who would have been king (Edward the eighth I am!) if he hadn’t thrown the crown over for the American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Which is probably one of the better notes of history. Noel Coward suggested that statues of Wallis Simpson should be erected across Britain “in gratitude for having saved Britain from Edward VIII.”
This talc tin probably post dates the end of Edward’s holding of place as heir apparent to the English crown and predates his exposure as a closet sympathizer with the enemies of civilization. As such I suspect it is from the late 1930′s, before the war kicked off (or made it to this side of the pond) and the price of European fascism became blue and gold stars in the windows of American homes.
It is approximately 5 inches tall and is made of aluminum with a brass top.
Other than use as an instructional aid for how commerce cares not for ideology providing there’s money to be made, I don’t know what one could use this for. I suppose it could be refilled with invisible talc and you could wander the city streets at night, cloaked in a mantle of unseeing and using this power for good . . . or ill.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Metal, Otherwise useful, Vintage |
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March 19, 2012
It seems Professor Red-bow is surprised by how the dice are rolling and it’s not adding up to a win…. Luckily the dice are now long gone and only the cup remains.
This isn’t the type of thing most stores would advertise, but we’re proudly abnormal.
The cup is about 3 1/4 inches tall and would still work wonderfully for its intended purpose, for dice rolling in “the fun game that makes thinking fun!” It could easily be re-purposed into a pen holder, container for mini surprise spring snakes or almost a million (we counted and boy are my fingers tired) other uses.
Yahtzee!
Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, Otherwise useful, Paper, Toy!, Vintage |
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March 15, 2012
You know when you take your glasses off at night and set them on the nightstand? Inevitably the end up lens side down or the cat decides to play with them at 3 am. If not then you fish around for them when you hear that weird noise at 4:30 and they fall onto the floor and you can’t find them.
Problems solved.
This little guard dog will keep watch over them when you’re asleep or wearing your contacts. You just take your glasses off and set them in the contoured recesses and they’ll be there when you need them next. Because of his shape the lenses will be protected from scratches and as a dog he’ll keep most cats at bay.
He’s ceramic and about 4 1/4 inches wide and 3 1/4 inches tall.
Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Ceramic, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Otherwise useful, Vintage |
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March 13, 2012
It all started innocuously enough, there was the theft of a chicken and a nice meal, followed by a little nap. But then after waking up Reynard decided to take a nice, leisurely stroll.
His promenade, theft, and relaxed countenance apparently upset every dog in the world (and a cat).
As loyal cousins of Isengrim and Hersent the Wolves (whom he’d wronged so many times) they decided (like they had so many times before) that this time he must pay. The cat came along just because it was a contrarian (and might have been looking to sell the inevitable movie rights).
En masse they sprang after him and after a long and involved pursuit the dragnet finally culminated on the sheer precipice of a snow-clad cliff, just upstream of the Reichenbach Falls.
Since this started off as an innocent and slightly sleepy-eyed after dinner stroll Reynard had neglected to bring along his usual bag of escape tricks (including a second-hand parachute stolen from Her Majesties Secret Service). Normally this would be a serious and fatal oversight.
However Reynard is as cunning and quick as befits a legendary literary fox so in the moment he used the best tool at hand, his brain.
”WAIT! Just listen to me a moment!”
The pack stopped and grew hushed.
Like a politician stepping out of a clown car of third-rate presidential primary candidates Reynard turned to present his best 3/4 profile.
“My fellow canids, we’ve had a long, hard race. It seems like we’ve come to an inevitable impasse that will only result in us tearing each other apart like a pack of dogs (at which the crowd begins to growl). I mean, we have certain differences that we must set aside for the sake of the party. Among you I am not the 1%, I’m a regular 99% working canid like yourselves, you know with a castle and friends who own chariot racing teams (more growling). Um. . .Yes, I urge you to set aside our petty differences and quit this race in favor of me, the obvious best-candidate. Besides, you’re a bunch of domesticated floppy eared curs and I am not!”
They surged forward, with the light glinting like budget-cutting knives on their teeth and the smell of anticipated highway fund ear-mark blood in their noses.
“Hey, I know what we can join behind! A common enemy! Look! It’s a CAT!”
It was a close save but can he do it again in Florida? Have politics gone to the dogs?
If so and you’re looking for a dog of a candidate we can help you out with this great collection of figurines. Most are $3 or $4.
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Posted in $1 to $5, $6-$10, 20th century, AVAILABLE!, knickknack, Metal, Other Natural Materials, Seemed like a good idea . . ., Vintage |
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March 9, 2012
Most just give up eating, or sleeping or having a job (or combinations thereof).
These dancers have apparently decided that fingers and even a hand are luxuries they can do without. They’re so dedicated that they keep smiling, even through the pain.
Circa the 1950′s these figures have obvious flaws but could be just right for that surreal photo project you’re working on.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Ceramic, Crafter's delight, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Sculpture, Vintage |
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March 4, 2012
All the other fellas are going to be soooo jealous when they see the size of this nut! Yeah and it’s mine all mine, now to carry it to my nest in the top of that there Douglas fir . . . the . . . top . . . Doug fir . . . aw #$%^#$!!!
Umm . . . guy’s could anyone give me a hand here?
Guys?
Guys?
Squirrels make great handles for nut bowls and when you add an oversized nut for the bowl itself then it’s not just useful but cunningly clever too. Somehow they always look a bit demented, drunk in the glory of greatness, rather like a senator with insider stock info.
The bowl is 7 1/2 inches tall and 6 inches long. One of the squirrel’s ears is chipped but sometimes you have to make small sacrifices for greatness.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Ceramic, Dishes, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Otherwise useful, Vintage |
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February 14, 2012
On the windswept grasslands of the Orkney Islands the restive spirit of James Leonard still wanders his family’s ancient farmstead. He was unjustly evicted from his home and then banished from the land by his landlord, the descendent of the original thief who stole his land through feudalism.
His crime was to stand tall and proud and testify against the practices of forcing people to the very worst lands in the district, while raising rents to unbearable levels, all so that the best lands could be used for grazing sheep and hunting fowl.
He was damned because he said “I will not be cowed down by landlordism” and for supporting the testimony of others “We are telling only the truth.” The collective testimony would eventually lead to the
Crofters’ Holdings Act of 1886 which granted tenure to the residents of the land, but also opened the floodgates to armed repression by the landlords.
Who wouldn’t lose their head in such a situation?
Although the ghost is somewhat disturbing to see on dark nights the present neighbors and occupants of the farm are relieved that Mr. Leonard did lose his head. At least then he can’t blow his bagpipes and keep them up at night. Years ago they
erected a plaque in his honor, an attempt to calm his uneasy spirit, but a headless ghost can’t read.
Now if they could only figure out how to keep him from getting stuck in the closet every now and again.
This is the lower portion of a vintage Scotch decanter made for the Swank Mens Product Company in the 1950′s. Headless it stands 9 inches tall.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Ceramic, Eclectic, Glassware / barware, GONE! SOLD!, Seemed like a good idea . . . |
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February 13, 2012
The first moment that Angry Beaver’s oldest retainers, the Peeps, knew things were worse than they thought was the first moment they met their replacements.
It was a situation not unlike that of the original guards of the Eastern Roman emperor on meeting the Varangians. Somedays you’re just outclassed.
So, they did what anyone on the outs with a powerful tyrant does, they genuflected, laughed at his jokes and hoped to keep their heads.
They needn’t have worried. Reynard has his own plans for a nice pair of giant fowl. He only needs to find a big oven, two large pans and a sale on stuffing bread.
Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Angry Beaver, Ceramic, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Vintage |
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February 9, 2012
When I was doing archaeological field work there were two broad categories of things which we didn’t know what to call. Natural objects fell into the category of love stones* and human modified ones were typically called ceremonial objects.
Since I don’t know what this is, but since it has obviously made by a person let’s call it a ceremonial object. It is a section of bone (probably bovine) that is just under 6 inches tall and bears five lizard-like designs upon it. One end has been close with some sort of compound and the other is open.
As we’ve seen before in the Yoruba chairs we had some time ago: “the lizard is can be interpreted as a symbol of power and status and represents the Monitor Lizard (Awonrivon or Awonriwon). Part of the allure of the Monitor Lizard is that it is at home both on land and in water, it’s very nature is transcendent. As a result it is used, spiritually and medicinally, to protect against evil influences and manipulation.”
Given the importance and long use of the lizard symbology in Africa I presume that’s where this is from too.
I fully accept that this may have been made for the tourist trade and is not actually a ceremonial object, except in the sense of making tourists part with their spending money.
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*Love stones are oddly shaped stones produced by natural activity. Crew bosses usually used the term with newer crew members. The typical dialogue went like this,
New Crew Person: “What’s this funny looking pebble?
Crew Boss (Using their best you just found something really really cool voice): ”Why it’s a Love Stone!”
“What’s a Love Stone?”
“It’s just another F——g rock, now get back to work.”
Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Artistic wonder, Eclectic, GONE! SOLD!, knickknack, Other Natural Materials, Otherwise useful |
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February 5, 2012
Vintage but unused Fire King “Copper Tint” pie pan, probably 1950′s vintage. It was guaranteed against breakage for two years by Good Housekeeping which one might still be able to make a case for since it was never used.
Approximately 9 inches in diameter.
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Posted in $1 to $5, 20th century, Glass, GONE! SOLD!, Kitchenware, Vintage |
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