vintage — Page 27

A Nostalgic Find That’s Making Me Smile

July 24, 2013 at 8:25 am by Claudia

Detroit, the city of my birth, is the home of Vernors Ginger Ale. It originated there. If you aren’t familiar with this uniquely Midwestern soda, I understand. But those of us who grew up drinking Vernors are spoiled and refuse to drink any other ‘supposed’ ginger ale on the market. At one time, I lived just down the street from Vernors’ headquarters.

However, it is a regional delight and I haven’t been able to find it out here in the East. A couple of years ago, I was working in Wisconsin and I discovered that a local store stocked it. I was in heaven. I even wrote a post about it.

If I was visiting my home state right now, you may be sure that I would be stockpiling some Vernors to bring back to the cottage. It’s that good. Years ago, I found some in San Diego, of all places, and when my parents were visiting, my dad made Boston Coolers for us from Vernors and vanilla ice cream. A friend of mine who moved to Ithaca, New York, bought several cases and stored them in his bathtub. We love our Vernors.

I get it. If I had an extra bathtub, I might do the very same thing.

So….the other day I was browsing in a local antique mall. And what did I see? (For pennies, my friends, for pennies.)

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This. An oh-my-goodness, incredibly wonderful, calling-my-name vintage Vernors soda crate.

I’ve never encountered one out in this neck of the woods. I had to get it.

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Mustardy yellow and red. A nicely battered patina.

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Everything else that was on the table? Moved to a new home. Except for Riley’s Dish Garden. That stays.

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The other side advertises Squirt.

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It’s on the inside of the crate as well. So is the Vernors logo.

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My bakelite flatware seems to be made for the crate.

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I love it. It’s perfect for our kitchen. After trying all sorts of things on this table, I think I’ve finally found the right mix. Rustic, nostalgic, bright but faded paint and a memory of my childhood – could anything be better?

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I’m thinking I need to put some flowers in that vintage Ball jar.

I can see it from my blogging chair in the den and it makes me smile. We love graphics here at the cottage. This may be my best find yet.

I was born in Detroit, Michigan. I lived in the metropolitan Detroit area for 30 years. My parents grew up and attended school in Detroit. This post is a tribute to something that is uniquely Detroit. I must say that my heart is aching for Detroit as this once-proud and thriving city goes through a terrible ordeal. I lived on the edge of downtown Detroit for several years in an area called Lafayette Park and my friend who still lives there assures me that businesses are moving back to the city, young people are renting and buying apartments downtown, theater, the symphony and the opera are thriving, lots of urban farming is happening and that Detroit is far from dead.

I’m banking on it.

Happy Wednesday.

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Adding A Dash Of The Unexpected In Your Home

November 27, 2012 at 9:25 am by Claudia

Not long after Don and I moved into the cottage, we went to a local auction. We saw this:

A wonderfully vintage and battered display rack for, of all things, chains. Both of us are drawn to things with interesting graphics and a touch of the industrial.

This large piece had graphics, all right. We looked at each other and bid on it. Why? Who knows. No one else was bidding on it with any degree of enthusiasm. We had no idea what the heck we would do with it. It was one of those moments where we threw caution to the winds. We got it for $20.

Immediately, my mind started whirring. What could we do with it? We had to do something.

I call my decorating style Christmas in Connecticut for a reason. I like vintage, eclectic, overstuffed and cozy, just like the furnishings in all those wonderful old 1940s-era movies. But, to be perfectly accurate, it is Christmas in Connecticut – with a dash of funky.

I like surprises in my home. The unexpected. I want visitors to think they’ve figured it all out and then discover something totally offbeat.

I had an idea. I trotted off to the store, bought a length of wooden dowel. I measured. I cut. Couldn’t have been simpler, really.

Then I added these:

And we had our funky paper towel holder.

Here it is in the kitchen. Now, I understand it is not everyone’s cup of tea. But we like it a lot. And we use it all the time.

These two photos show it in the context of the whole kitchen. I love the contrast between the cream colored table, the wooden chairs, the white of the hutch, red shades, doily swag lamp and the metal/industrial look of the paper towel holder.

It’s a surprise. A cozy cottage kitchen with a sudden dash of hard-edged/metal/industrial. And, I don’t know about you, but I love a happy surprise. I like to be kept on my toes.

Have you added a dash of the unexpected in your home?

Happy Tuesday.

Making Music on a Chalkboard

November 16, 2012 at 8:53 am by Claudia

Early morning. I’m in that stage where I’m just beginning to ease out of sleep into wakefulness. And what flashes through my foggy mind? Being in music class as a kid and wishing I could use the cool chalk holder thingy that the teacher employed to draw the musical staff on the chalkboard. Remember those? They were wire contraptions attached to a wooden handle and there were 5 holders for chalk. The teacher would glide the chalk across the board and suddenly there was a musical staff. The next thing to appear would be the treble clef, then notes, measures, sharps and flats.

I wanted one. Or rather, I wanted to be able to walk up to the front of the classroom, take that holder in my hands and make a muscial staff magically appear. (I was that kind of kid – always wanted to write on the chalkboard, be class monitor, that kind of thing,)

I hadn’t thought of them in years and assumed they were no longer in use. Because I now think that anything used in my childhood must be vintage and retro nowadays. (If I see one more item from my childhood labeled “Antique” on Craigslist, I am going to scream.) Surely there must be some new high-tech way of drawing a staff?

So, hoping to find a photo of one, I googled ‘musical staff chalk’ and found lots of them available. New ones. On eBay, on Amazon, everywhere. Teachers are still using them. Sigh of happiness.

This one is made by Quartet. It’s officially called a Wood Music Staff Liner.

I want one. I could use it on my chalkboard.

I could pretend I was the Music Teacher. I could compose a little melody.

But even better? Finding a vintage liner. I could hang it on my wall. Wouldn’t that be cool? I suppose if I can’t find a vintage liner, I could ‘age’ a new one. But I like vintage, as you know.

One sleepy thought = a search and a Friday post.

Thanks for all the wonderful tips on getting back to sleep. It looks like I am in good company. So many of us struggle with this. And I can’t blame it on menopause because that particular pain-in-the-tush is over, thank goodness. In fact, next Wednesday is my birthday and it’s rather a big one.

How can that be? I’m still around 39 in my head and heart.

I’m wearing black that day.

I’ll be back at 8:00 EST with A Favorite Thing.

Happy Friday.

A Nostalgic Find That’s Making Me Smile

Adding A Dash Of The Unexpected In Your Home

Making Music on a Chalkboard

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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