Howelling Good Curbside Find

Back in October while driving home from work, I spotted three chairs put to the curb for trash.  The seats were an awful orange and brown, but I liked the backs and legs, so I threw them in my car and brought them home (my wife is very supportive, or at least tolerant).  As you can see, they were fairly worse for wear.  Someone had even spray-painted a nice purple splotch on the back of this one.

Mix and Match

I've been looking for a mid century desk to host the family pc for a while now.  I kind of knew what I wanted, but just wasn't finding it.  I finally found it in the basement of an estate sale I went to last weekend.  It was the second day of the sale, so it was half price.  I paid $4.  I can't believe no one snatched it up.

Yet Another Coffee Table

I know what you're thinking.  How many coffee tables does this guy need?  Let's just say I drink a lot of coffee.  Plus I can't pass up a steal on a midcentury piece like this.  I found this table at an estate sale about a month ago.  I paid $4 for it.  Unlike most of my finds, it didn't require a full restoration. 

The feet were fairly corroded.

Midcentury Coffee Table

Earlier this Summer, my wife and I attended the garage sale of a friend of hers.  One of her sisters was selling yet another Mid-century coffee table in less than ideal condition.  It was topped by a matching glass top that was cracked.  We ended up buying the piece for $7.  I brought it home and began restoration.

The first to go was the glass top.  There was nothing I could do with it and I think even if hadn't been cracked, I would have gotten rid of it since I liked the look of the table better without it.

After disassembling the piece, I taped off the white tile inlays (sorry, apparently, I failed to get a picture of the top prior to disassembly!)

A Very Cool Midcentury Estate Sale

Today was the annual Canterbury Place Subdivision sale in Affton.  It's been a tradition to attend it for at least the past 10 years.  While it isn't a grandiose as it once once, it still delivers great finds and today was no exception.  Now to be fair, this estate sale was actually in the subdivision next to Canterbury Place, Saxon Manor.  At one time, Saxon Manor also held it's subdivision-wide sale on the same day and you could spend the entire day roaming the joined neighborhoods.

At one time, garage sales were a good source for midcentury items, but as that generation ages, sadly the best source has become estate sales.  This sale was private, so the prices were reasonable and the crowd was low.  Here are a few of the finds I made (and a few I had to let go).

First up is this fun Danish Modern barware set. Labeled E60 St Park Ave, it features a mixing spoon, a garnish fork, bottle opener and ice tongs.  Oh, and a fine gentleman complete with top hat and cane dru...ahem...sleeping in a rubbish basket.  He was priced at $1.

Rockin' the Mid Century

It's been a month since my last post.  Sometimes life is like that.  Sales have been very slow and what sales there have been just didn't work out with my schedule.  But that changed this past Friday.  I was actually off work and my wife and I made a morning of hitting some sales.  The first sale we hit was on Meramec in South City.  We arrived about an hour after opening and I was surprised to see there were very few people there.  Of course, I hit the basement first.  Remember, the good stuff is always in the basement.  I noticed a couple of outdoor rockers in the corner, but after giving a cursory glance, I went on to other things.   It was my wife who brought my attention back to them.  They were clearly mid century, but I was thinking we already had enough porch furniture plus they were marked at $16 each.  She really liked them so I relented and we came home with them.

On the way home, we stopped by TFA on Chippewa and I saw a nearly identical pair set out front.  I asked about them and they were priced at $112.50 each.

Once home, I commenced to cleaning them up.  That's when I noticed the label:

I of course recognized Heywood Wakefield as one of the largest manufacturers of Mid Century Modern furniture during the 1950's and 60's, but I was unfamiliar with the Lloyd branding. 

Marshall Lloyd invented the Lloyd Loom in 1917.  The loom created wicker sheets using kraft paper-wrapped wire which was then used to create furniture.  The furniture was very popular and was used in restaurants, cruise ships and even Zeppelins.  Lloyd Manufacturing was bought out by Hewyood Wakefield in 1921 who used that technology to create their line of wicker furniture.

The chairs are actually very comfortable, contoured just right.  I plan on spending quite a few summer evenings relaxing in them.

"T" is for "Table"

I took my 5-year-old daughter to an estate sale a couple weeks ago.  It was her idea, I swear.  She was mad because I had gone to another estate sale the day before without her.  The garage sale force is strong in this one. 

She found this and had to have it.  It was only $8 and to be honest, I was already eyeing it when she spotted it.  I love the drawings.  It's a "Babee-Tenda" Feed-and-Play Table.  Based on the drawings and the model of C for "Car", I would place it from the '50's.

The incorporation of Halloween was a plus for me

S for Santa...

...and X for Xmas.  Two Christmas references.

The table top insert is reversable and removable.  I wasn't sure what the trap door was for and thought it might  be to convert the chalkboard into an easel.  I was wrong.  More on that later.

I found a reference to a later model over on a similarily-themed blog.  According to that blog, the trap door is removed and becomes a seat for the baby.  I guess I'm missing the seat assembly the baby would sit in.  I found this ad on Retrosnark:

Apparently, they're still in business, but get very poor reviews from BBB and customers.

Shining Light on the Mid Century

I've made mention numerous times on this blog about my quest for Mid Century Modern furniture.  And I've also been asked to explain what "Mid Century" means.  By definition, Mid Century refers to the middle of the Twentienth century, ie: 1950 (or 1951 if you want to argue about when a century begins). When it comes to Mid Century stylings, whether in architecture, furniture, design, etc., it typically refers to the span of years just post World War II to about 1965, although officially the design concepts date back to the 1930's.  I'm no expert by any means and you can read more here, but it's a style I've come to embrace in the past 10 years or so.  Unfortunately, so has a large portion of the public thanks to shows like Mad Men.  I watch and enjoy Mad Men myself, but I was a fan of the era before it made it chique and tuned in because of my interest in the 1960's.  To be honest, when I was younger, I hated Mid Century design.  I thought blonde wood was hideous, maybe because our house was full of it and I considered it outdated by the time I was living with it in the 1970's.  And I was baffled, not unlike Charlie Brown, why anyone would want an aluminum Christmas tree when a real tree could be had.  But after a fascination with the 1880's, a brief stop in Victorian times, and a layover in the 40's, I've currently settled in the early 1960's.  How long the stay will be is anyone's guess.

But back to my quest.  There have been a number of misses at estate sales the past couple of years, some of which I've detailed in this blog.  But this past Friday, I finally made a score at a home in Lemay on Buckley Meadows Drive.  I initially saw this lamp on estatesales.net:

Have a Seat

I've always loved the 50's dinette sets with the vinyl chairs and look longingly at them in antique malls.  My problem is, I like more things than can fit in my house.  But when I saw a lone vinyl dinette chair in my favorite colors for $1, I couldn't pass it up.  It has a cut in the seat, but everything else in very nice and sturdy condition.  The chrome legs still have their original red plastic caps. I'm hoping I can find some material that matches good enough to recover the seat.