Out Of Order

Howdy folks! Just a quick note to let y'all know that we're working on updating the blog's appearance, and we should be done in the next few days—we finally got fed up with the tiny photographs we were forced to use before. Our sincerest apologies to anyone who's been caught off guard by the change ...or who lucked out and saw some of the horrible revisions that took place this morning. Ideally, we would make these alterations behind the scenes, but Blogger doesn't really allow much room for that sorta thing.

In the meantime, enjoy this brief post showcasing two recent acquisitions that had been on Valery's wantlist for a long time: an original Giano-Giano-Vano side table produced by Artemide and designed by Schweinberger (1966), and two Twiggy -esque mannequin heads produced in  France. Thanks again, Marc and Genz!

Wired Up

With work, school and wedding planning conspiring to eat up all of our free time, we haven't had much of a chance to keep up with records. Here are the meager offerings we've got to show for the past few months.

Here's a promo copy of Hector's Wired Up 45 w/ a three-page press-kit! Valery had been looking for this one for a while, so she was really happy to get a pristine copy with this uncommon li'l extra.

Finally scored a copy of Sanford Clark's menacing It's Nothing to Me—and all it set me back was $5 off a set sale list. Hands-down one of my favorite 45s outta my native copper state. This copy of The Zoo gets us that much closer to sewing up our Mickey Lee Lane collection ...anyone have a copy of Hey Sah-Lo-Nay up for grabs? Oh, and that mint, stock copy of the Malibu's' Cry came from our buddy Jason as his half of a trade we made last year ...that I'd completely forgotten about. Needless to say, I could use a few more pleasant surprises of that caliber. Thanks again, Jason!

Finally got Andrew Klimek's Felt Hammer EP for the nice price, and the Monte Carmont single was a punky slice (not much dancing) from 1980 that I'd never heard of prior to spying it at my pal Ryan's Ryebread Rodeo. Excellent and recommended!

Lastly, I turned up this copy of the Dils' I Hate the Rich single recently for $5. Easily one of the best record swap scores in recent memory, as it's a first-press copy with the distinctive Oils sleeve. Somehow, I'd never managed to find one of these the entire time I lived in Los Angeles. Our buddy Mike found this copy of Starshooter's debut 45 in a Phoenix antique store. A few months of persistent, friendly reminders resulted in him passing it along gratis. Thanks again, Mike!

That's it for now!

***Update: Looks like I misspoke earlier, as our French Flickr buddy Laurent sent along a package containing all manner of Starshooter records ...for FREE! Merci!

Smashed Blocked

Valery and I have been together for nearly two years, so in keeping with the anniversary gift she gave me a few weeks ago, I returned the favor with the following: the original art for a Florida highway safety ad from the 60s. This whopper measures 28 x 40 and is hand-painted with tempera paints. Info on the artist, Maggie Wesley, is nowhere to be found. Of course, anyone with additional information is strongly encouraged to drop us a line. Please!

We had spotted this painting a while back, and even though we both really liked it, its condition left a lot to be desired. I kept it in the back of my mind and took a chance—luckily, the art framed up pretty well, with the exception of the small chunk missing at the top right-hand corner. Ideally, we'd love to get it restored to something closer to its former glory, but this will have to do for now.

Here it is on permanent display—it now serves as a warning to all those brave souls entering the downstairs record room!

Rico Amor

Mexicans. We love 'em. I am one. Valery insists on picking these up every chance she gets because they allegedly remind her of me. How could anyone deny the majesty of the following trio: an Italian shoe brush, a bandido with rope arms and a butt-plug sombrero or the splendor that is Hans Bolling's Señor Kahlua? No further explanation needed.

Valery recently purchased these sal y pimienta shakers from Phoney Fresh. We don't know anything about 'em, other than the fact that they're excellent examples of 60s ad merch. Do you?

Lights Out

We've had a pretty good run at turning up vintage space age lamps and light fixtures lately and we figured it was time to update y'all to our progress. The fixture above was purchased at the same store where we picked up our Umbos last year, and it sure was nice to return to the shop after an extended absence and walk out with something yet again. Details are scant, other than the fact that it was made in Switzerland. Any additional information is most welcome.

This was the eyesore we were determined to replace.

Here's the new and improved hallway.

A healthy portion of Valery's workday is spent slogging through photographs, and she couldn't believe it when she saw a vintage Lightolier lamp lurking in the background of a photo she was proofing. A few frantic text messages and a favor from Valery's friend Kim got this one hand-delivered to us in under three days. Not bad ...especially when you consider that the lamp was originally for sale in Charlotte. Thanks again, Kim!

We scored this one a few months back, though we've refrained from posting it until now. Here's a Dalu lamp by Artemide that we found it at a local antique store for $30. It appeared unused and still had the original tags attached! Oh, and that glowing orange orb in the background is another fixture we've picked up, but we're saving that for the dressing room renovation exclusive Valery's got in queue.

An Italian Knight-light from the same line as our Viking from a few entries ago? Yes! A very fine topper for this installment.

I Can See You But You Don't Know

Here's another longstanding want that's finally materialized for us. Valery and I spotted this fiberglass chair a few years back, and we'd always check up on it when we stopped in at one of our favorite antique haunts—knowing full well that it would still be there, since it was stored overhead and was buried under a giant display mask. A few weeks ago, we finally mustered up the courage and asked the shop owner for a price ...the figure he quoted us was way too good to pass up.

We've only been able to find one other example of this floor-hugger online, and we don't really have much to go on—except for the fact that it was produced by Asko, the same Finnish company responsible for manufacturing Eero Aarnio's designs. Any information regarding its designer or production date would be much appreciated!

You can expect its reappearance once we wrap up our ongoing project: the home office renovation. Until then, this'un's headed straight back into deep storage.

***Update: The kind folks at Asko just provided the following info regarding our mystery chair:

The chair You asked about is called Valkoinen Kissa which translates as The White Cat. Markku Kosonen designed it for Asko in 1968. It first appeared in the sales catalogues in 1970.

Many thanks to Hannele for passing along the Asko contact address, and Päivi for supplying the much needed information.

All The Time In The World

We'd been battling a large, empty plot of wall space in our great room for the better part of two years. We struggled with possibilities, tormenting each other with a long list of potential candidates—suggestions never failing to fall short and the spot remaining vexingly vacant. Up until a few weeks ago, we figured we'd never find the big item needed to get this room closer to completion.

That is, until we happened upon this Peter Pepper clock, and then there was no doubt that we'd finally found that elusive object! There was also no denying that this (nearly) 5 foot beast is a perfect fit!

Despite the fact that the clock was manufactured in 1960, we feel that it displays a forward-thinking sense of design that's conceptually aligned with the space age items in the room. Don't you agree?

Beat Beat Beat

We've had some recent recruits climb aboard lately, and we figured we'd showcase 'em this time out. All manner of unpalatable miscreant has found a new home here—a nice cross-selection from the most hirsute, pigeon-chested, diminutive, and sylvan.

The larger member of this pair has been kicking around here for a while, so we were glad to finally turn up his sidekick. Their knowing glances belie some lonely, starless nights.

The guy on the right is an Italian lamp from the late 60s or early 70s that washed ashore in Florida, and we're thrilled he found his way over. Many thanks to our new buddy Joe who's the first reader to approach us outta the blue with something he knew we'd want. Again, we're grateful to you for setting such a good example! No doubt that the other furball's ruddy complexion is due to too much mead.

Future Shock

OK folks, we don't mean to build your expectations up unfairly with this abnormal spate of productivity, but this will be our last post for the next few weeks—consequently, we figured we'd pack a real humdinger to keep y'all satisfied for a while. It shouldn't surprise most of you that space age electronics are one of the many things we enjoy stockpiling, so here we have a nice sampling of the (mostly) portable pieces that are currently gathering dust on our shelves.

Here are two JVC Videospheres. As far as we're concerned, these guys represent the pinnacle of space age television design. These were issued in three colors—red, white and black—with black being the toughest of the three to track down. We're hopeful that we'll get a white example, which is the most common, sometime soon! The Bulova clock has been included elsewhere, but we liked how it looked in the spread, so we threw it in anyway.

Panasonic was responsible for creating a ton of swinging mod designs in the late 60s and early 70s, and here are some notables. You may notice that the black cube radio in the middle is slightly different from its peers—that's because its face design varied by region, and it's a Canadian version. The Rolling Tone portable radios in the foreground were produced in several different colors—we're in desperate need of an orange one, and we'd gladly swap our spare red one for it, if anyone's up for it. We're also missing a few of the 8-track players located in the rear. Help?

I vividly remember having a Panasonic Panapet that my aunt gave me when I was a little kid. No idea where that one ended up, sadly. Obviously, the Panapets, Rolling Tones and cube radios came in a variety of vibrant colors (including a rare, albeit unflattering lavender we're not too fond of). The TNT 8-track players located in the background were released in five different colors—we've only seen the white and clear smoked versions a few times ...and we're hoping to get them somewhere down the road. The blue 8-track player manufactured by Emerson was a cool, previously unknown score we made recently.

These are the two Sony portable television sets we just turned up in Pittsburgh, alongside our lonely Planetron 8-track player.

Yet another entry that's received a little attention on the blog already. The Orbitel was Panasonic's response to the race for space age design, despite its being a little more 50s inspired than the other examples showcased here. This set is pretty scarce and finding one without chipping around its visor remains a fairly tall order. The Weltron 8-track player next to it mimics an astronaut's helmet and complements our Videospheres quite nicely. Again, the Weltron was issued in yellow and orange and we're hoping to get those someday, too.

The serpentine Toot a Loop proves itself a fearsome adversary. We're still on the hunt for orange and lime green specimens of this particular model ...available only to those good folks down under. Dearest Aussie pals: please include them with our free Chosen Few and Young Identities EPs. Thanks in advance! A few more portable Panasonic cassette players wouldn't hurt either.

Lastly, we've got a portable record player (by Columbia) which isn't technically a vintage piece per se, but it's capable of playing records while dangling precariously on a wall, so that's just gotta suffice. A Panasonic radio alarm clock and AM/FM headphones manufactured by a Japanese company called Soundlite round out the stash.

We'll eventually get around to photographing the rest of our vintage electronics collection but, until then, dig in!

Mars Bar

Here's another short one for ya, folks. We just got back from a brief stay in Pittsburgh last Sunday and pickens were slimmer than usual—though said fact didn't stop Valery from buying a portable bar and transporting it back to Atlanta on an airplane! We'd spied this space age liquor cart during our last visit, but we picked up so much stuff, we decided to leave it behind. No surprise, it didn't escape our clutches this round.

We got lucky and snagged a mint set of Herb Gardener's Nebbishes coasters from '59, complete in their original packaging. A wind-up dancing monkey manufactured by Knickerbocker and an enormous paperclip (that doubles as a hanger when mounted to a wall) were also found. Lastly, we scored a couple of vintage Sony portable television sets that'll reappear in our next update ...which should be coming up real soon!

Until then, a big thank you to our favorite Pittsburgh folks: Carmela, Hone, Steve and Pogo for making us feel right at home. Some great food and good times were had by all. We miss you guys!

Weekend Nazi

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 our embellishment requests when he personalized this piece. What will our Mexican and Korean mothers think of this one?

Too Animalistic

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!

You Can't Sit Down

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 Chair has 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!

Casting My Spell

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!

Hang Up

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?

Feeling Called Love

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.

Three Wishes

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 vintage Ryohei 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.

Holidays In The Sun

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 our Kaiju, 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.