Remember the Pineapple Lamp?

Do you remember the pineapple lamp?  I bought it at one of the first estate sales I ever went to, back in the summer of 2011, and I rescued it from the landfill, I'm sure.  It had a ruined cord and was so dirty and gross that the estate dealer was amazed that I even wanted it.  After it was cleaned up and rewired, it was a treasure!

Well, a lady found it on my blog and wanted to know if it was still available.  When I replied and told her I still had it, she wanted to know how much I would sell it for...  I still owe her a reply.  She was so nice about it and it's really a nice feeling to have someone contact you about an item in the blog -- I feel bad that I haven't answered her yet (Goldie, if you're reading this, read on!)  The problem is, I don't know if I want to sell it!

I've gotten quite attached to it.  Besides the fact that it's an awesome teal and a great mid-century design, it was also one of my first restoration projects when I started going to estate sales.  I also use it -- it sits next to my laptop on the counter in the basement that I use as a work-station for selling.  So, I could always tell myself that I need to keep it.

On the other hand, I'm supposed to be selling the stuff I find and fix up -- right?  It's not as though I can't find another lamp...

What do you think?  Should I keep it or sell it?

First Post of 2013

This is my first post of the new year -- it's hard to believe that we're already 3 weeks into it.  In fact, this is also my first post since Halloween night -- almost 3 months ago!

 My hand and wrist are MUCH better -- no more constant pain from my finger tips all the way into my shoulder. All I get now are pins and needles & tingling when I type too much or forget and use a mouse right-handed.  I know that still doesn't sound great, but it's a big improvement.

I was off of work for part of November and all of December and off 'work' at home, too.  My Etsy shop just limped along, with new listings consisting of lots of cut-and-pastes and copies of my other listings wherever possible, so I only had to edit a little.  I began (trying) to organize the stuff in the basement (aka 'hoarder's paradise') but didn't get as far with that as I wanted to.  I read many books and watched lots of TV.   Let me just say that daytime TV is pretty dismal...I'm thankful that the entire Law & Order franchise is in syndication!

It's amazing how much web-surfing a person can do with just a mouse!  I left-hand-clicked my way through lots of blogs and much too much Pinterest.  All the great pins I saw led me to think of even more really interesting projects I want to get done and things I want to make -- sometimes all it takes to get creative is the germ of an idea from something someone else has done.   Unfortunately, now that my hand is better and I'm able to do all those projects, I'm also able to go back to my day job, so I don't have time. It's just not fair!

I didn't do much shopping, either -- more on that later.  I've picked up some fun things over the last 2 1/2 months and will be sharing some pictures soon.  Anyway, if you'd stopped visiting Kitschy Vintage because it was always the same post, you might want to start checking in again. There will be new posts coming in the future!

Shop, Kitschy Vintage, Shop!

I might not be posting much for a while.  Or if I do, my posts will look like the pages of the old Dick and Jane books -- lots of pictures with very few words.  

Dick, Jane & Sally

My job at the church is 95% computer work and I do a lot of computer work at home.   I knew it would catch up with me eventually... I'm suffering right now from really painful carpal tunnel in my right hand and can only use my left hand for mousing and typing.  That doesn't make for very efficient (or fast) blogging!

I'm on drugs and wearing a splint and am hopeful that a few weeks of hand-rest will allow it to subside.   In the meantime:

 See Kitschy Vintage.
See Kitschy Vintage shop.
Shop, Kitschy Vintage, shop.

California Pottery and Metlox Poppytrail

Lately, I've been buying a lot of California pottery -- Bauer, Franciscan & Metlox.  Two of the more recent pieces I've gotten were a swordfish vase & two swirl candlesticks by Metlox, and they made me want to know more about their history.

Sailfish vase & swirl candlsticks

Over the years I've become pretty familiar with the whole whole West Virginia/Ohio/Pennsylvania pottery industry (including the factory tour at Homer Laughlin -- a must-do, if you ever get the chance).  I didn't know much about California pottery, though, so I did what any so-last-century person does:  got a book out of the library!

This is a great book by Carl Gibbs Jr. -- all the information (and book pictures) in this blog post come from this book & he gets full credit!

1920s:  Metlox was started by TC Prouty & his son, Willis.  They'd moved from Michigan to California and began working in tile in 1920.  They started Metlox in Manhattan Beach, CA in 1927 & made outdoor signs and insulators for neon tubes.  The name Metlox is a combination of Metal and Oxide, which refers to the pigments in their glazes.  In 1931, Willis took over when his dad passed away and, after seeing what Bauer was doing with pottery dinnerware & how popular it was, he started the pottery lines we're familiar with now.

Their dinneware was equally colorful and pretty as Homer Laughlin's Fiesta line!

1930s:  In 1934, he had the '200 series' or Poppytrail line (my swirl candlesticks), followed by the artware line in 1935 (my swordfish vase -- which I found out is really a sailfish).  My sailfish was designed and signed by Carl Romanelli.  That was followed by Pintoria, Yorkshire and Mission Bell.  All of these were solid color pottery pieces.

1940s:  They stopped production during WWII and Prouty sold to Evan Shaw in 1946.  Shaw hired Bob Allen and Mel Shaw (no relation), who were animators & created lots of animal lines for Metlox.  They started doing painted pieces, like this California Ivy relish dish.  The hand-decorated lines were their most popular and rivaled Franciscan's Desert Rose line.

Vernon Kilns plaid salt & pepper and a California Ivy relish dish

1950s:  They bought Vernon Kilns (of the Blair plaids, like this salt and pepper and painted pot) and started using their molds & patterns.  This is the same way Homer Laughlin continued to produce pieces for companies they bought out in the midwest.

Blair handpainted decorative pot

1954 Free Form gravy boat -- I love this line, with its atomic-era shapes!

My newest find at the antique mall -- a large (13") Free Form platter!

1960s:  This was the high point for Metlox -- by then, their only main competitor was Franciscan.  They sold lots of their lines to department stores.

1970s:  Hand-decorated and open-stock dishes went out of style and people wanted boxed sets.  Metlox couldn't compete with foreign manufacturers (mainly Japan).  They still had the little animal line, though, and some planters called 'Poppets' that were designed by Helen Slater & which were very popular.

1989:  Metlox closed its doors for good.  They were the last California pottery works to go out of business. This is all that's left of the Manhattan Beach factory.

The old Metlox sign -- all that's left at Manhattan Beach

Here are some other California pottery pieces:

Franciscan Autumn Leaves divided dish

Franciscan ceramic tray, Gladding McBean (Franciscan) butter dish and Patio line salt & pepper

Franciscan condiment set

That's what I love about buying, selling & collecting vintage:  no matter how much I know, there's always something new to learn about!

Soggy Friday Sales

Last week, I took Thursday night off, which really means that I didn't get anything ready to take to the mall.  Instead of fluffing the booth, I hit a few sales to the south of our town.  It was a chilly, rainy day and the yard sales are almost all gone, so it was lots of windshield time with very little shopping.  I went to an estate sale where everything was super-high, except for the unpriced stuff in the basement (always a good place to dig).

A great old camera -- lovely for display

I filled up a bin with Christmas stuff from several piles in a corner.  The sellers priced the whole bin at $5!  I was pretty happy then, but even happier when I put this little beauty together at home:

This is a 'Crystal Pine' tree from the 1940s.  It's layers of clear plastic 'boughs' separated by plastic tube dividers.  It's wonderful!  

Next stop was a Craigslist sale about a 1/2 hour away.  It was a woman (in her 50s) and her mother (70s) who had a very interesting ad. The opening lines were about how they were both avid collectors and were having a sale so that they wouldn't be on TV in an upcoming episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive.  I can relate.

They had 3 portable car-port tents in their tiny front yard with everything sorted by category & organized (nice), but most of what they had was priced like an antique mall (not nice).  There were a few goodies that just jumped out at me, though:

 This sweet set of Royal Sealy kitties, Made in Japan, from the 1950s:

This Made in Japan Santa.  I love his happy look, but can't figure out what he was made for.  He has slits all around his back and sides and little holes in his hat (like salt & pepper shaker holes).  Not enough room underneath for a light bulb and no place for the cord and too big a hole in the bottom for a stopper.  He  almost looks like one of those napkin lady dolls, but that doesn't make sense on a Santa.  Any ideas?

This was under a table in the kitchen tent -- I was so excited and did the happy dance through the raindrops all the way to the car!

A Pyrex red with gold holly.  AND the serving rack  AND a lid!
I'd seen these in books, but not in person -- I'll definitely be keeping this one!

I had thought these were casseroles -- it's actually a 404 bowl.  

Last stop was Treasure Mart in Ann Arbor, an 3-story resale shop that has really fast turnover and usually has great items.  I was disappointed to see that their prices are getting higher -- almost as high as mall prices.   they have a 10% discount per month on anything over $5, but there were very few things therethat were even one month old.  I did find a few good buys, though:

A custard glass plate with ruffled edge

Metlox Californial Ivy divided relish and a Vernon Kilns salt & pepper set

A Monmouth Pottery Western Stoneware bean pot.  I really had to dig to find out about this one.  Monmouth Pottery was in Illinois and Western Stoneware was one of their main lines.  I like its art deco look.

I've been picking up so much more American pottery than I used to (Franciscan, Vernon Kilns, Metlox, Monmouth, Paden City).  I'm going to have to learn more about it!

My Etsy-versary Sale!

I've been so busy this month that I forgot to post this!

October marks my two-year Etsy-versary!  I didn't really get into the swing of it until last year, but two years it has been -- the time has just flown by!

I'm celebrating by having a sale.  Just enter the coupon code HAPPYETSYVERSARY at checkout and receive 10% off of anything you buy that's $10 or more.

You can visit my shop here.   Even if you don't want to shop, I hope you'll just stop by to visit!   Blog-friends are the best!

In the Mail Today: Mid-Century Clip-On Bird Ornaments!

Look what came in the mail today -- these 1950s clip-on bird ornaments.  These aren't classy and beautiful like their mercury glass 'elder sisters' from the early 1900s, but are totally kitschy plastic birds!  They have a spring inside and they open and close like a clothespin.  People used to put them on their Chrstmas trees in winter and their outside trees & bushes in the summer.  I saw some on Etsy a while back and that particular lot was priced well beyond my budget, so I've been watching for them ever since.

These little guys definitely need a trip to the bird bath, but other than that, they're great!  I plan to keep some, share some with some special family members (you know who you are -- I hope) and sell the rest.   Mid-century kitsch is so much fun!