After busting me pawing at the computer screen a few weeks ago, Valery cast aside her notions of good taste and honored my pleas for this: an anniversary gift delivered several months early! Admittedly, we had no idea about the Red Skull's after-hours predilections, though we weren't surprised in the least bit. Steven Weissman—a cartoonist whose works (such as Yikes) should be familiar to all—really captured Herr Schmidt's joie de vivre, we think.
This illustration ran in Seattle's The Stranger a while back, and we're grateful to Mr. Weissman for cutting it loose. We're also especially thankful that he honored ourembellishment requests when he personalized this piece. What will our Mexican and Korean mothers think of this one?
Here's a quick post to tide y'all over for the week.
Just welcomed two blue ceramic critters into our ever-increasing herd. The Bitossi cat (designed by Aldo Londi) came to us via a UK dealer. The Bennington hippo bank (designed by David Gil) was a present Valery received from our pal Mike. We had never seen one in this color before, and we were quite pleased when this surprise arrived a few weeks ago. Thanks again, Mike!
Valery recently had a premonition about finding good stuff, so we planned accordingly and hit up several of our favorite shops this weekend—little did we know that we'd be turning up an elusive mid-century icon, and a longstanding item on our wantlist!
Designed by Eero Aarnio in 1967, the Pastil Chairhas become synonymous with space-age design. We had seen them photographed in countless books and magazines, but up until today, we'd never actually seen one in person. This one's an original and shows all of the wear and tear you would associate with a 45 year old chair; however, after about an hours' worth of scrubbing, we got it looking a lot nicer, and we're not complaining, as it cost a fraction of what a newly issued one would've set us back. Needless to say, we're glad that it has taken up permanent residence in our great room!
We hadn't been to Scarlett Loves Rhettro in quite a while, so we decided to stop in since we were having a late lunch nearby. Our pal Darlene had this fantastic hourglass planter for sale, and we have an almost identical one (photographed elsewhere), which meant we had to bring this one home, too. So far, we've only seen two examples of this planter with its distinctive spaghetti pattern. This one will undoubtedly end up in our home office once we get started on that renovation.
Our collection of teeth continues! We were excited when we spotted this stool today because we knew that it would make a perfect addition to our record room. We're constantly amazed by the amount of tooth-related merchandise we come across, and we're slowly building a pretty considerable collection.
Here's another molar that Valery's had for a few years, and it's one of our favorite items in the master bedroom. We're not 100% sure about the origins of this lamp, but we certainly do love it just the same!
Our buddy Justin has once again delivered the goods! This 26 inch Brutalist Dodo was recently discovered at an estate sale in North Carolina, alongside a batch of other, similar mid-century wares. Justin had a ton of great items on offer this time out, but we were instantly drawn to this handsome fowl—and we were consequently rendered powerless by its gaze ...and its enormous paunch. Thanks again, Justin!! If any of our readers are in the area, we highly recommend dropping by Highland Row Antiques and checking out the shop and the rest of Justin's sale items. Don't really know much about this beer-bellied beast, outside of the word Moss etched into one of its tail feathers. Any additional info would be much appreciated!
Many thanks to our pal and loyal reader, Marc, who recently directed us to some vintage hangers which bear a striking resemblance—actually, they appear to be manufactured by the same anonymous German company—to the two we picked up locally (and showcased here) a while back.
Tina, Susi and Sabine are slated for permanent display in Valery's dressing room, but we're still working on that one, so we snapped these quick pics in the guest bedroom instead. Thanks again for all of your help, Marc!
Just in case you forgot, here are the two nameless models we picked up a few months ago.
In a weird coincidence, Valery and I found these locally (and at the same store, even!) earlier this month. We were pretty stunned when we saw Bill, Brian and Keith immortalized in 60s mod hanger form! Sadly, the dealer who bought these was unable to get the original owner to sell her Mick—apparently, he was the only one deemed irreplaceable! We're hopeful that we'll somehow get Mick and Charlie (if his exists?) some day, but seeing as how these are (again) German, and most definitely unlicensed, it seems pretty unlikely. Help?
Just a quick Valentine's Day update to let y'all know about the li'l bundle of joy the stork brought us. Now, this isn't our first one of these—my buddy CV gave me Boris a few years back and Glendora was an anniversary gift I gave Valery—but this is our first Kustom Kat. Circa 1968, Kustom had these specialty critters produced to promote their exclusive amp coverings—and you can differentiate 'em from yer typical Nauga by the presence of glittery Naugahyde and googly eyes.
We're real happy to have Rémy on board, and we'd like to thank Justin (again) for hipping us to the battered display case this poor guy had been stuffed in.
Today's my birthday and Tony surprised me at midnight with these three presents. I'm so excited, I had to post them immediately!
Tony asked our friend Hidehisa to help him find this out-of-print Ryohei Yanagihara book, and Hidehisa ended up finding the book AND my most desired piece of vintageRyohei merchandise. I can't believe we finally have this viking in our collection! Thank you so much, Hidehisa and Tony!!
Another one off my want list and this copy's in perfect shape! I could listen to Epicycle's You're Not Gonna Get It all day! So far, my birthday is off to a great start, and I'm really looking forward to spending the weekend with my family and friends and visiting the local animal safari.
January found us visiting Arizona and our friends and family for the first time in over a year. Pickens were surprisingly slim this time out, and we rolled into Tucson an hour after those recent shootings, so that only augmented the palpable bleakness I've come to know and expect from my beloved home state. Despite these shortcomings, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves: hanging with loved ones, stuffing ourselves with my mama's fine Mexican cuisine, snagging one of Valery's top wants and purchasing some additional trinkets on the veritable cheap.
The Parker Palm Springs has this horned fellow on prominent display at its reception desk, and Valery has long been one of his admirers. You can only imagine how elated she was when she spotted this bronze, strigiform scuplture by Ernesto Gonzalez-Jerez in one of the Phoenix antique stores our pal Mike took us to! Definitely one of those pieces we never expected to capture in the wild.
The same shop yielded this complete, six piece demi-tasse set, which bears the distinction of having been designed by LaGardo Tackett. Admittedly, we were—and remain—much more into the original packaging. The rippled Italian decanter was a gift from my parents—they bought it in the 60s and left it sitting near a fireplace for the past 45 years. Yoink!
We turned up this vintage ice bucket at the same shop, and the complementary yellow planters + custom Dream Pet from Sambo's were (even more) gifts from Mike.
We don't normally go out of our way for new toys, but we made an exception for these recent examples. The Eyezon figure by Mark Nagata has the multi-ocular look we really appreciate in ourKaiju, and we knew the pink elephant by Amanda Visell would occupy a specific empty slot in our kitchen.
Since we're always in the mood to pick up unnecessary flair, we couldn't pass up these vintage buttons—the Be My Slurp badge being the nearest and dearest to our hearts, of course.
It should come as no surprise that domestic and international punk and indie records bind much of our collective aesthetic. For the past year or so, we've been populating our Flickrphotostreamwith examples of our favorite releases from this bygone era. Since we just completed Porky Prime Cuts moments ago, it seemed fitting to hip y'all to the tasty items contained therein. Enjoy! PS: If you feel that your favorite Punk or New Wave outfit has been slighted by our omission, please feel free to remit (clean) copies of their vinyl releases for further study and evaluation. Submitted materials will not be returned.
PPS: This offer extends especially to Australians.
Given our recent tardiness, I guess it shouldn't come as any surprise that this Christmas update is nearly a month late. Our heartfelt apologies, but school and work schedules kept us down, and we were out of town for two weeks ...more on that later. For now, content yourselves with viewing the bountiful gift supply received in ye olde Yuletide tradition.
Our sincerest thanks to our friend Darrell for saving last year's Christmas! Darrell fiercely navigated French auction sites and classified ads in an attempt to locate both Ariel cigarettes advertising birds (left) from the 60s, thereby ensuring that Valery's gifts would come as a complete surprise. You, sir, are a true gentleman! Unfortunately, our efforts to secure a Pipiou in time went unrewarded; however, we did succeed in acquiring an example of the li'l critter a few weeks later. Here's Pipiou in action below:
Again, many thanks to Darrell for everything, including the Drumbo keychain he so generously provided. Our pal Mike sent along the Viking hors d'oeuvres set featured in the photograph. Thanks, man! Lastly, our warmest regards and thanks toCrazeekidand Crazeegirlfor turning us on to Pipiou and the Ariel birds in the first place. Merci!
The Klutz, manufactured by Executive Games Inc in 1971, was another gift we received from Mike. It'll undoubtedly make an excellent addition to the record room—once we figure out where to hang it from! The Pop Art puzzle (in a can) from '68 was a gift for Valery, and the demented Shudder Pig wind-up toy from the early '70s was my gift to myself. Some of the other stocking stuffers we gave to each other are featured below:
Anything with bulging eyeballs (see Shudder Pig) is granted an instant pass into the collection. Same goes for all items reminiscent of Basil Wolverton.
A beefeater and a wifebeater (with criminal progeny).
Two more weirdo Batman knockoff toys from the 60s—these bearing an uncanny resemblance to Alfred E. Neuman! Three novelty items from the 60s: some MAD novelty matches (matchbooks included), and two gag boxes w/ appropriately ghastly imagery.
Our friends Mikki and Atsushi are keeping us well-stocked with Ryohei Yanagihara merch piped direct from Japan! Included are some Torys mugs, Torys Highball t-shirts and four cloisonné pins. Thank you, you guys are the best! My foray into collecting the works of noted fetish artists Gene Bilbrew and Eric Stanton (and the occasional Bill Alexander, Bill Ward or weirdie) continues. Many thanks to Mike for the three books at top. Also, thanks go to Mike for the tumescent nudenik in the middle—the best example of a Kreiss Psycho ceramic we have ever seen!
Some other smut trickled its way into our Christmas reserve: a bawdy collection of the bay area's red-light highlights and a 1971 calendar featuring all manner of supernumerary mammaries. Thanks to Jay and Ryan for these two! Proof that you should always be suspicious when someone asks you which Transformer was your favorite. Of course, the response is a total no-brainer: Jetfire (based on Robotech's VF-1S Super Valkyrie Fighter) featured the best product design, hands-down. Thanks again, Mike!
Our pal Mike continued to outdo himself by giving Valery the Olivetti Valentine typewriter designed by Ettore Sottsass and Perry King in 1969. By sheer coincidence, we'd recently contemplated getting one of these—for logging the guests at our wedding later this year. Nice one, Genz!
Valery picked these two up while shopping for Christmas gifts (for others). The candy tin from Barton's Bonbonniere caused a fairly loud squeal when she spied it at a local shop. There's a strong likelihood that the tin was designed by Alvin Lustig.
It's becoming a tradition: getting one of LaGardo Tackett's Eggheads for Christmas. Last year, our buddy Mike sent along the What Again Tonight? ceramic. This year, Valery scored the Happy one for an insanely cheap amount and ended up gifting it to herself. Now we just need one more (of the 12" variety) to complete this ménage à trois.
Valery's love of planters goes unabated and this handsome rosewood specimen was our final gift to each other for Christmas 2010.
Hope it was worth the wait folks, and we have more updates planned for the immediate future. No, really.
See, we weren't kidding about keeping busy for the past few weeks! We've been engaged in some big game hunting lately, so here's an extra large update to satisfy y'all and fill you in on some of our recently bagged trophies.
It isn't often that we're left completely dumbfounded by the objects we excavate. This is one of those rare exceptions. In 1971, Mac Mann Industries laid claim to the dubious distinction of producing the original afro bone comb, known simply as The Bone. Besides its obvious function, the original packaging suggests its potential uses as a wig-holder or stylish bit of flair. Pittsburgh delivers the goods yet again! We found these vintage Dream Pets at one of our favorite haunts over this past weekend and we're hoping their undeniable cuteness softens the blow of such blatant racial disregard.
Pittsburgh also supplied us with some Italian delicacies: a lucite elephant produced by Guzzini and a rhino fashioned from Travertine limestone and designed by Mannelli—identical to the pachyderm we found a few months back (which we subsequently stuffed into this photo).
Pittsburgh's #1 Ol' Moon Stomper supplied us with the above Splash 4 poster gratis—after he busted us salivating over his display copy. Thanks again, Hone!
Unbeknown to us, our buddy Steve shipped us an original press release for the Saints' I'm Stranded LP. Thanks a million, hombre! The glossy is now proudly on display in our picture gallery.
Just to prove that we don't totally hate LPs, here are some of the big records we've picked up lately. The original Ike and Tina on Sue, Les Baxter (so minty!) and Jack Nitzsche albums were scored at the Atlanta record swap; the weirdo exploito Batman LP turned up in Pittsburgh; the MAD,Jonny Quest and Velvet Underground (white label promo—allegedly a different, dryer mix—sounds the same to me) records came from our favorite local record hole. Lastly, our buddy Collin sent us the Jazzbo LP cuz he (rightly) figured we'd dig the cover. Thanks, dude! Did we mention how much we like free stuff? Oops, I almost forgot to mention the op art 12" carrier we just found, too.
Our pal Justin provided these mod plastic hangers that Valery fell instantly in love with. Thanks again! They're a very welcome addition to Valery's dressing room.
Found these stacking Kartell tables a while ago and we're still undecided as to where they're going to end up. The white stool was manufactured in Germany in the 60s and we bought it online for an unbelievable $9.99 (+ shipping, of course). Finally, we couldn't pass up on the space-age heater—which mimics our fireplace so perfectly—when we spied it at a local shop ...in spite of the fact that it'll likely never be used. Nothing screams fire hazard quite like a vintage heating device.
Here's another batch of goodness we've hauled away over the past few weeks. A vintage Bulova clock found at a nearby thrift store for $12; an amazing piece of German enamelware from the 60s; a psychedelic decanter, ice bucket and suitcase; a bizarre people feeder shaped like a bird; an orange pod full of coasters; a PyrexMoon Deco dish; two Gedy containers designed by Makio Hasuike; an atomic era candy dish; a space-age shelving unit and matching mirror. Whew!
We've definitely saved the best for last this time 'round! We couldn't believe it when we glimpsed this beauty at our favorite monthly sale. One of two Broyhill Brasilia pieces that we absolutely had to have, this Gentleman's Chest was our early Christmas present to ourselves. It makes a nice perch for our freshly acquired donut phone and mid-century feline, too.
It's been awfully quiet 'round GG&S lately, though that doesn't mean we've been slacking off—it just means that we've been too busy to fill y'all in on many of our recent scores. So, without further ado, here are the 45s we've dug up in the past few months. We should also mention that we've picked up some LPs here and there, but long-players don't really thrill us, so we're just going to focus on the singles for now. Enjoy!
All manner of rodent represented. Two 45s from Satan's Rats and Mouse and the Traps' Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice 45—which includes two of the most blistering guitar solos ever committed to wax.
Here we have a French copy of the Saints' Know Your Product single with a unique & handsome PS. Also included are Jet Staxx and Jetsons 45s procured for us by our pals Mike and Justin. Thanks, dudes!
Justin's been supplying us with the goods (a lot) lately. Here are two more: a rare Alan Vega 45 from his Collision Drive LP and the withdrawn sleeve for the Cramps' UK Garbage Man 45. So dark!
Here're three glam recs that Valery snagged recently. We decided to obscure the Zappo graphic and save y'all the misfortune of having to see it. Not even remotely close to good/bad.
More UK punk from the Favourites, Sham 69's finest hour and one of (two?) XS Energy's 45s. Thanks, Deez!
Here's the 1979 release by Decatur, Georgia's Razor Boys / XYZ—we can't tell you how proud we are that these guys are from our own backyard! A copy of the New York Dolls' Who Are the Mystery Girls 45 turned up at the last Atlanta record swap (period appropriate Mercury sleeve needed, plz), and the Verge record from Albany's been a tough one to turn up for cheap ...until recently.
We found this mysterious bubblegum single by the Panda Peeple in Pittsburgh, which features their cover of the song made (mildly) famous by the Middle of the Road. Percy and the Gaolbirds' Who Can Help Me is one of the bossest German Beat tracks, and we've been able to track down one more EP by our favorite Belgian chanteuse, Chantal Kelly.
Lastly, we were happy to finally land the US pressing of the Creation's How Does It Feel to Feel 45. Strangely enough, the domestic pressing contains a tougher, shorter and better alternate version that's displaced the UK recording on every subsequent retrospective. What's even better is that we lucked out and got the stock version of this single, which was reputedly non-existent. Bunker Hill's Red Ridin' Hood and the Wolf is another screamer whose arrival has really thrilled us. Joey Levine's Come On My Baby rounds out the post with another bubblegum classic!
After busting me pawing at the computer screen a few weeks ago, Valery cast aside her notions of good taste and honored my pleas for this: an anniversary gift delivered several months early! Admittedly, we had no idea about the Red Skull's after-hours predilections, though we weren't surprised in the least bit. Steven Weissman—a cartoonist whose works (such as Yikes) should be familiar to all—really captured Herr Schmidt's joie de vivre, we think. 
