Creepy Crispy Critter

One of the things I enjoy about picking up items from garage or estate sales is they may require some fixing up. I feel like I'm preserving the past when I restore something to its former glory.  In fact, I've written here of my many restoration projects.

Today I'm going to share a failure.

I found this 1980's Topstone mask at an estate sale marked for $1.  It was hardened stiff, as these old rubber masks tend to do, but I thought for a buck, I'd give a shot at restoring it.  The pictures below show the form it was hardened in.  It doesn't appear that way because it's laying flat. You could pick it up and it retained this shape.

Truetone Restoration

I found this 1941 Truetone radio at a rummage sale a couple weekends back.  It was pretty rough looking and missing knobs, but it was only $5 and I wanted to save it.

Frozen

I picked up this Panasonic model RD-7433 at an estate sale for $3 a few years ago.  I tested it and found the turntable didn't work, but I thought I could tinker with it and get it going.  I liked the size of it and wanted to use it in my re-purposed mid century stereo console.

 It's probably from the late '60's and is made in Japan.

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.

Curbside TVs

A few weeks back on my morning drive to work on Laclede Station Road in Webster Groves, I spotted these sitting at the curb ready for the trash man.  Of course I had to stop and save them.

1950's Cupboard

I spotted this cupboard at the same estate sale where I found the Hartland horses.  On the first day of the sale it was marked $35.  I held out for the last day of the sale and went back for it.  It was still there and now 75% off, so I bought it for $8.75.

Curbside Dinette

Driving home last week, I found this 1940's dinette table in pieces and put out for trash at the curb of a home in Webster Groves.  It was in the same neighborhood where I found these curbside treasures.  The legs were already off, so it fit fairly easily into my hatchback.  Not that I needed a table, I just couldn't stand to see it go to the trash.

Sunburst Clock

I have a habit of rotating things out of my collection when I find the next version of the object.  For example, coffee pots come and go as do toasters.  

A while back I found this mid century sunburst clock at an estate sale. It was pretty dirty and I made my best effort to restore it.

Last week, I came across another mid century starburst clock.  This one was labeled $5 "as is".

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.

Commodore Stereo-Matic-Sound

While driving around looking for garage sales this past weekend, my wife and I stumbled on an unadvertised estate sale where I found this Commodore Stereo-Matic-Sound radio for $5.  I would guess it dates from the early to mid 1960's.

Brother, What a Repair

One of the aspects of garage saling I enjoy is the opportunity to bring new use or life back to castoff objects.  That may mean refinishing abused furniture or a little tinkering on mechanical or electrical items to get them back to 100% (or close) operation.

The Brother stereo I bought last year fell into that category.  

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 New Vista

I went to an estate sale in Affton with a specific piece in mind.  I've been looking for a Midcentury Modern piece which I could convert into an audio/video component cabinet.  I saw this picture on estatesales.net 

Motor-molda TV

A week ago Friday, I went to an estate sale in Affton on Valbrook Lane.  Some of the photos from the sale featured items in the basement which appeared to be mold-covered -- never a good sign.  I've been in some pretty bad sales where the basement is almost intolerably moldy to the point of making me sick.  But it was close enough on my lunch hour and had some promise, so I gave it a chance.

I had seen this on the posting for the sale:

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: