A little lonely

It's starting to feel a little lonely around the Nickarmadillo homestead.

The girlfriend returned home to England last Saturday and our little foster puppy, Henry, went to his new family.  He's a great dog (potty and crate trained at 6 weeks old!) and I'm sure that they'll get along famously.  He even gets to live with one of his litter-mates, which is a big plus!  Puppies always do better with a companion.

Despite the positive news, it's always hard to see them go.  You get really attached, even after just a few weeks or days.

So, here I am, all alone in this old house.  I do have a lot of new retro goodies to keep me company though.

We'll get to those in a bit.  First, lets tie up a few loose ends. 

When I posted about the estate sale where I found the West German Pottery and the brass candelabra, I totally forgot two of the coolest things that I found at the sale.

This fiberglass lampshade really spruced up that lamp (a retro Quartite lamp found at the local Goodwill) in the living room.  As you might remember, I'd paired it with a tacky, ribbed 1980's shade that certainly wasn't  doing it any favors.  Now it's retro-stylin' thanks to Mr. Modtomic's ladyfriend, who set it aside for me after the estate sale employees decided to make me move my car as they opened the doors (Thanks again!).

 I also picked up this Paymaster check protector.  Check protector?  Office equipment?  Sounds pretty boring.

Actually, these things are a hot ticket right now.  Collectors have been hoarding them all, so they're somewhat hard to come by.  We still use them at the office, so I make sure to keep an eye out for them at the thrifts.  

 I really like that red "fish scale" pattern.  Very Mid-Century Modern.

I find it odd that they engraved the price on this one.  Isn't that a little permanent?  Wouldn't it have been easier for them just to put a price sticker on the box or to let the retailer price it?  And, my-oh-my, look at that price.  That's equivalent to over $1100 dollars today!  

It needs a little ink, but still works like new.  Thank goodness we aren't still paying retail for them.

That's all for now, folks.  See you in a few.

  

I'm no Ansel Adams, but at least we have pictures

The office camera is back in my hands for a few days, so I thought I'd start working through my photo backlog.  Please excuse the poor shots.  Whenever I use the flash, the images come out looking terrible.  When I don't, there isn't enough light and they get blurry.  Some day I'll figure this thing out.

I acquired these Lane Acclaim tables over the course of two estate sales.  Oddly, both occured on the same day.  I'd been after a set for a good long while but couldn't find any at a reasonable price.  I even considered paying retail at the local antique mall!  Then, BAM, I was up to my neck in Acclaim (and for practically nothing).

The Acclaim line was designed for Lane by Andre Bus and released in 1963.  It went on to become one of the furniture-makers best sellers.  Take a look at those gorgeous contrasting faux dovetails and you can understand why.  I'd go into a bit more history here, but Jet Set Modern already has it pretty well covered.  They've got a whole page dedicated to Lane Acclaim, so check out the link.

The square coffee table made its way into the sunroom, grouped with the Danish sofa and chairs from the office, while the round one still waits for a home up in the unfinished bedroom. I believe that they are later models, as they have black painted ferrules rather than brass.

The two stepped end tables now sit in the living room.  They really work out great for those with a lot of reading material, as you can load up the bottom level with books and magazines and still have a place to set down your drinks (on a coaster of course), pictures, lamps, etc.

Don't they look great?  You just can't find well-designed, quality furniture like this any more.  And to think, they sold the Acclaim rectangular coffee table in 1963 for the equivalent of $160 today.

All of the pieces are in usable condition, but could use a bit of love.  When I get around to fixing them up, I'll make sure to document the process (If only so that you can learn from my mistakes).

All in all it's just another brick in the wall (unit).

Since the day I had a Broyhill room divider snaked out from under me on Craigslist (The seller promised to hold and I was on my way to pick it up.  Now it's in a certain retro shop down the street from me, listed at an exhorbidant price), I'd been on the look-out for a Danish-style room divider or wall unit.  Something about having all of those shelves and nooks for mid-century chotchkies really excites me.

Well, I'd found one in an estate sale listing for last Saturday, but abandoned it favor of a Sputnik chandelier.  It was a difficult choice and one that I was beginning to regret when I pulled up an hour late and saw everyone walking out with their shell chairs, bubble lamps, and the like.

Either the owners were hoarders or family members had brought their own junk to sell, because this place was PACKED full of mid-century stuff.  The wall unit was there too and it was a beauty: solid rosewood and finished on both sides.  A piece of masking tape with "Danish wall unit" written on it was hanging off the side but there was no price tag, so I assumed that it'd sold.  However, I decided to enquire about it on the way out.  It never hurts to ask.

Still available?!  Must be expensive...

It's super cheap?!  SOLD!

I tore that cash out of my wallet faster than you could bat an eyelid and disassembled the unit with the assistance of the very helpful staff.  They even helped me load it up the next day when I returned with the van.  They're a new company and I'll definitely be frequenting their sales in the future.

With that, my whole budget was blown, so I missed out on a pile of other treasures, a few of which were picked up by Mr. Modtomic.  However, after the Sputnik chandelier and the wall unit, I couldn't complain.

Please excuse the Googled photos below (source: openairmodern.com).  They're of the exact same item, but I don't have a camera at the moment.  I'll try and get some real photos when I set this baby up in the office.

Estate sale madness

Over the years, I've been dragged along to a fair few estate sales, but always came away thinking that they were over-priced and full of junk.  Turns out, it takes a fair amount of dedication, persistence, and sleep deprivation to get the good stuff.

The kind gentleman who sold me the Danish sofa introduced me to estatesales.net and my mind was blown.  All of these years, I'd been relying on Craigslist or Ebay and this site was chock full of mid-century goodness.

I'd spotted the goods.  I'd printed out directions.  I'd arrived early.  I'd brought provisions.  Everything, however, did not go as planned.  It seemed like every week, the piece that I'd waited for was snatched up by a mysterious goateed man.  Coincidentally, or so I thought, the same pieces were appearing on my favorite blog, Mr. Modtomic.  Once this happened a few times, I put two and two together and realized that this WAS Mr. Modtomic!  Talk about salt in the wound.  I'd lose out on all of these great pieces and then have to read about what a great score they were the very next day.

Then came what I thought was my day.  I'd scoped out a Broyhill Brasilia bedroom set on estatesales.net and woken up at the crack of dawn (actually, way before it), but once again I was soundly beaten and left to stare longingly at the now tagless pieces.  If any of you have ever seen Brasilia, you'd know how heartbreaking such an encounter can be.

After that disheartening experience, I thought that I was done with estate sales.  However, on the way home from dropping the girlfriend off at the airport early one morning, I made a last minute decision to stop by a sale where I'd spotted a couple Lane Acclaim coffee tables (another of my favorites).

And there in line, right in front of me, stood Mr. Modtomic.  He'd done it again!  I decided to wait it out anyway, as I was 6th in line and might still be able to grab a few things, but it looked like slim pickings if what could be seen through the windows was anything to go by.

When the doors opened, I watched as the others made a mad dash for the dining room and bedroom.  They were after the Kipp Stewart dining set and the tension pole lamp.  This was my chance!  I quickly made my way to the basement, as I'd seen concrete in the photos, and snatched the tags.

It was a small victory, but victory nonetheless.

Afterwards, I even got a chance to speak with Mr. Modtomic, who seemed like a genuinely nice guy.  He congratulated me on my find and we talked for a while about mid-century design and exchanged emails.  Since then I've tried to forward tips on any pieces that I know he's been looking for or that might interest him in his way.  Maybe there is room in this town for the both of us after all.

Click the link above to check out his blog.