The Other Newest One

Summer's coming to a close, folks, and we're headed into a hectic schedule that'll undoubtedly result in another fallow period for GG&S. As (a meager) consolation, we've decided to unveil some of the items we've picked up recently.

Here's a Laurel lamp we nabbed earlier this month. As some of you may remember, we picked up a brushed steel example a year or so ago; however, we remained on the lookout for a more colorful specimen, and we were pleased to turn up this green beauty, as it fits our den so perfectly!

Here's another recent addition to our den. Valery loves the Mondrian-inspired wall clock Sunbeam produced in the 60s, but I've always been partial to this'un—which is way more indebted to an Eames or Nelson approach toward modernism. We'd also appreciate any leads on a reasonably priced Mondrian-esque Sunbeam, if anyone knows of any!

Our buddy Darrell sold us this handsome Guzzini tray designed by Ornella Noorda a few months ago. Coincidentally enough, we also found a complementary coffee cup and (matching) ashtray set while we were visiting Pittsburgh ...and later on we also discovered a similar plate produced by Mancioli. Thanks again, Darrell!

Our pal Maxime felt sorry for us and put us on the trail of some NOS Dedalino desk organizers, produced by Idarco and designed by Emma Gismondi Schweinberger. Now we just need to figure out where to put 'em! Thanks, Maxime!

On a final note, we've continued to keep our shelves stocked by picking up another Gonk mascot, a springy red weirdo from Denmark, a ruby-schnozzed drunkard mask from the 60s and a Finnish Fauni bank from the 70s. Lastly, a big thank you to Hannele for the bank—your package ships this week. So sorry for the delay!

Darling, Let's Have Another Baby

In honor of Otis' sixth birthday, we've decided to devote this entry to our favorite feline. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by! It seems like only yesterday that I helped rescue Otis from the mean streets of Cabbagetown. He was so tiny, he could fit in one hand! Happy birthday, li'l buddy! Hope you enjoyed your tuna cake!

Here we find the li'l furball lazing about, engaged in his daily routine. He's truly one dapper fella!

We're also happy to announce the latest addition to our family: Pepito!  We fell instantly in love with this li'l bugger when we were introduced last month. We met when Snap-2 It, an animal rescue organization, sponsored an outreach program at our favorite antique sale at Highland Row. We had been talking about getting another kitten to keep Otis company and thought Pepito was the perfect match!

We've had Pepito for about three weeks now and he's a great playmate for Otis—in spite of the fact that he's only a kitten, Pepito has proven himself a fearless sparring partner!  We couldn't be happier with how these two have become fast friends.

We'd also like to thank Holly from Highland Row for being an amazing foster mom after she rescued Pepito.

Know Your Product

Summer's a great time to catch up on reading, and we figured we'd fill y'all in on the page-turners that're currently absorbing our free moments ...OK, we're obviously lying about leafing through these tomes, but tracking them down certainly boiled down to a lot of hours spent.

I was introduced to these publications when I visited Charles Schneider at his Los Angeles apartment a few years ago. Charles caught me ogling his copy of 101 Things to Make With Human Skin and was more than happy to fill me in on the details. It seemed that the book—actually, just the jacket—was part of a larger series of gag covers manufactured in the 1950s. I couldn't believe that something this patently offensive could've been produced fifty years previous. More importantly, where the hell was I going to find a copy in 2007?

I soon discovered that these jackets were not exactly unknown entities among collectors, and book dealers often assigned them high—and rather unrealistic—price tags. As usual, I was determined to score these on the veritable cheap, so I contacted the company responsible for creating them in 1959! Amazingly, the culprits had managed to stay in business for the past fifty years ...not so surprisingly, they quickly dismissed my inquiries about any unsold stock!

As luck would have it, our buddy Marc found a book dealer who was selling pristine examples at a very reasonable rate. The two tatty jackets I already had, 101 Things and Lynching, were sold before I contacted the seller, but I managed to snag the rest for far less than I'd ever seen listed anywhere else. Thanks again for the tip, Marc! Anyone with upgrade copies of the two aforementioned titles, please get in touch!

These smaller guys were produced by a different company (albeit also in 1959), and aren't nearly as inspired as the top eight. The cover art, subject matter and production values are decidedly inferior, though the Dandruff and Russian Roulette titles remain favorites. I believe there are at least another 5-6 jackets in this series, so if you've got 'em, please let us know!

We're Gonna Get Married

That's right, folks—it's been well over a year in the making, but it's finally happening: we'll be tying the knot this coming Autumn! While we typically stray from posting too much personal stuff on the blog, we couldn't resist sharing Valery's lovely invitation announcing our impending nuptials. We'd also like to take a moment to thank Harry, Hone and Andreas for all of their help. These gentlemen were instrumental in getting the record pressed, creating our label logo and wandering the streets of  Göteborg in search of an obscure company sleeve. And let us not forget Bo, whose song set this ball rolling within days of our engagement. RIP.

In a feat of peculiar, cosmic synchronism, our wedding date will also coincide with the second anniversary of this blog! This curious fact reminds us that we really should applaud all of you fine folks for joining in on the fun thus far. Subsequently, we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to you all ...even the bedwetter who thinks we abuse our fish. Thank you all for your continued support and friendship!

Well Worth Talking About

A reader recently asked us for more information regarding the red stool present in a photo we posted a while back. That question got us thinking—exactly how many of those shorties do we have occupying space around the house? A quick scouring revealed an embarrassing truth: we've got seven of 'em littered throughout our interior!

Manufactured by Kartell in 1969, the Rocchetto stool was designed by brothers Pier Giacomo and Achille Castiglioni. These stools were distributed domestically by George Beylerian, and a few of our seat cushions still have the original Beylerian tags affixed underneath. An Italian design museum even has one featured here.

Unfortunately, we're not sure how many other colors these stools were available in, but we know we've seen at least one orange specimen ...from those lucky bastards in Australia. In that case, our requests for overseas shipping quotes were politely declined. Help? 

The Girl Can't Dance

Two posts in as many days? Believe it! And while you're contemplating how such splendor could possibly exist in this crazy, mixed-up world, feel free to sneak a peek at our latest acquisitions.

Our trip to Pittsburgh this past weekend found us stopping at an unfamiliar shop that yielded one of Valery's top wants: a minty copy of the relentless R&B juggernaut that is Bunker Hill's The Girl Can't Dance! Valery stared in disbelief when she flipped past three records and stumbled across this monster! Without a doubt, one of the finest moments in recorded music, if there ever wuz ...due in no small part to Link Wray's blistered fingers and Bunker's perforated larynx, of course! Dig that intro!

Also, the inner-fanboy in me was pleased to find that Dan Clowes' Death Ray arrived while we were outta town. The steep tag on this one left me kinda skeptical, but there was no way I was passing it up with only 200 extant examples. Thankfully, no expense was spared on this fully-articulated mofo. I should've known that a quality outfit like Presspop (and the Oakland Toy Corp (whoever they may be) would deliver the goods. Recommended and arigato!

A big ol' thank you to our Pittsburgh pals for treating us right, as usual.  We'll eventually get around to posting the rest of our loot ...once it all arrives.

Emergency Cases

Both of us are pretty stoked that we recently scored an example of the PortaDischi 45 carrier Olaf von Bohr designed for Kartell in the early 70s. This'un's been a real pain to pin down, as it was only produced for a few years, and we certainly never imagined we'd turn one up complete with its original packaging! In fact, the whole shebang is just so aesthetically pleasing, we had to take multiple photographs to do this one up right. Enjoy!

Calendar Girl

Well, what do we have here? Seems as though Valery's modeling the enormous (approx. 19 x 19) Italian perpetual calendar we scored earlier this week. Truth is, folks, we'd been wanting one of these ever since we glimpsed it in the pages of L'Utopie du Tout Plastique: 1960 - 1973 years ago. Contrary to what our gut feelings told us, we were lucky enough to score one domestically, in fantastic shape and for far less than we'd anticipated.
The jury is still out as to where we're going to hang this one up. We were initially planning on putting this in the kitchen, but now we're considering displaying it ...in the office! It might be getting too crowded in there though, and we haven't even begun!

Goes Way Out

A long, sordid saga has finally come to an end and it resulted in us getting these tasty paper items for free in the process. This beautifully screened Bottle Shock poster was never used due to an error in the line-up listing—and what a shame that is, given Art Chantry's masterful design aesthetic, his appropriation of OK Soda imagery ...and the inclusion of Dan Pussey and Ed McMahon! Those familiar with MAD Magazine should recognize the swipe used for the Makers' S/T LP. An exercise in understatement. Thanks again for both of these, Art!

The blog's #1 fan hooked us up with a copy of the poster used to promote his li'l band's second lp. Despite any appearances to the contrary, we're certainly not opposed to celebrating items released in the 90s—especially when it involves one of the high-water marks of the era. A true classic! Many thanks again, Greg!

Hip Hip Hooray

Summer's in full swing and we're currently boiling in a hearty stew of work, school and wedding planning ...but that doesn't mean that we can't break away and fill y'all in on the wunnerful early wedding gift our buddy (and future best man) Damian sent along this week. Damian must've been psychically attuned to our home office renovation plans because this teak behemoth occupied the #1 slot on our dream list. Manufactured between 1956-1958, Peter Lovig Nielsen's writing desk is a prime exponent of Danish modern design, and the perfect centerpiece for our revamped room. We'll go into more detail once it's situated in its permanent spot, so you'll just have to content yourselves with this for now.

We've really prided ourselves on being very tight-lipped about the items amassed for this project; however, we couldn't contain our elation this time, and we were both very touched by this gesture—thank you again, Damo! You're the best!

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.