The Vintage Chair
The Vintage Chair
The vintage chair. It’s been interesting watching this old chair be overgrown and draped with vines and flowers, a contrast of youthful exuberance and aged sturdy strength.
Playing around with the filters on my smartphone again, this one is called “vintage”.
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Reis and Zucker Canister
Canisters
They just look like a couple, though I wonder where the rest of the family might be. The stamp on the bottom was unclear, but apparently these two kitchen partners emigrated along with their human family though I’m not sure when. Germans settled in Pennsylvania very early in this country’s history, especially in eastern Pennsylvania where we hear of the “Pennsylvania Dutch” who were not Dutch but German, but along with the Scots and Irish moved west to this area. I’m not sure if Reis and Zucker are that old, and the motifs don’t appear to be so. But it’s nice to see these well-made porcelain and gold plate canisters have survived the years. The little bunny below apparently thinks its great. You just never know what you’ll find in a vintage shop.
Dancing Bunny
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.
Waiting
Waiting
A row of antique bentwood chairs awaits the long-dead members of the Capt. Thos. Espy Post in the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall; these quiet chairs in somber light speak of lives past.
The chairs, the quarter-sawn oak panels, glass-front bookcases holding books that chronicle the Civil War are all authentic, left behind from the members of this post room, opened in 1906. The carpet is a printed replica that resembles the scraps of carpet surviving around the edges of the room. Once there were over 7,000 posts for members of the Grand Army of the Republic all over the country, now there are only six, and this one is possibly the most intact, and lovingly restored to its original dignified grandeur.
Every so often I get to visit the room and photograph the room and its contents. See other photos of the Capt. Thos. Espy Post and related Civil War activities at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Antique and Vintage
Antique and Vintage
A violinist laid down her antique instrument on a vintage oak table just long enough for me to get at least one interesting photo. She was performing in the orchestra for the Pittsburgh Savoyards’s production of Princess Ida in the Music Hall at at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie. The performance was excellent, such incredible voices and such an intimate Hall, and Gilbert & Sullivan may seem silly and frilly but hear live they never cease to amaze me with the depth of their lyrics and themes. The table is one of the original tables installed when the Library & Music Hall opened in 1901.
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On a related note, literally, I watched a brief video about people in Paraguay who live on and make their living from a garbage dump who create musical instruments from garbage and formed an orchestra.
“The world generates about a billion tons of garbage a year. Those who live with it and from it are the poor – like the people of Cateura, Paraguay. And here they are transforming it into beauty. Landfill Harmonic follows the orchestra as it takes its inspiring spectacle of trash-into-music around the world….”
Please visit the website for Landfillharmonic, watch the video and read about these amazing people making beauty with garbage.
I will never complain about lacking materials or creative space again.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Window Into the Past
Window Into the Past
Faded paint, faded wood, faded glass even, dusty with years of grime, so much that this image looks nearly monochromatic, the only coloring offered by the iron oxide from the old nails.
It’s that old carriage house in my neighbor’s back yard again. There’s just something I always find so inspiring in its details and it often becomes the subject or the backdrop of photos; it’s on my walk from my home to Main Street so I see it nearly every day. Here’s a view of the Black and White Barn and in Bird on a Fence.
Vintage Pattern
Don’t look at this vintage cast-iron grate for too long, or your eyes will hurt as much as mine. It’s found covering an air duct in the Victorian-era Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie.
Grandmother’s Garden
Grandmother’s Garden
Made by hand with very careful stitches, all those little patches of color are sewn together and carefully bound in yellow, then quilted, all made out of scraps from house dresses and curtains, one woman’s legacy from years ago. I can picture the eras the fabrics came from, and the garments.
1946 Wurlitzer Jukebox, 2011
1946 Wurlitzer “Bubbler” Jukebox 1015
This is an authentic, refurbished, fully-functional 1946 Wurlitzer Bubbler Jukebox 1015, complete with lava-lamp bubbles flowing through the tubes that circle around the front.
I stopped in D&J Records on Main Street in Carnegie where they specialize in vinyl recordings, 45s and LPs, and “oldies” depending on your era (a caller was asking for oldies from the 80s when I was in there, that’s not quite what the shop has in mind), and used recordings on vinyl, cassette and CD in all musical genres. I always find something on CD that I used to have on vinyl or cassette that I can add to my collection. They also have a lot of cool vintage stuff of a musical nature as well as advertising and household items.
Someone had actually purchased this and stopped in to see it and plan on how to move it—it’s heavier than a refrigerator—and to choose the music to go into it. It’s sold with 300 reissued 45s; it was originally meant to play 78s, but when they had it reconditioned it they had it converted to play 45s.
As they had posted with the jukebox:
In 1946, after the end of World War II, Wurlitzer introduced it’s Model 1015 Jukebox. Building supplies had become available again, and it was the “1015- Bubbler” that brought the near- bankrupt Wurlitzer Company great success.The “1015-Bubbler”, is without a doubt the most popular jukebox of all time.
The 1015 Wurlitzer actually was influenced from more of an art deco style, with its illuminated, color-changing pillars, 8 bubble tubes, shiny chrome and domed top
Even though the Wurlitzer Model 1015 was produced from 1946 to 1947, it was the popularity of this jukebox model that kept many of them still bopping along right into the 50’s. It’s this longevity, that is responsible for the “Bubbler” being associated with the romanticized 1950’s sock-hop era.
45-RPM records were becoming so popular that by 1954 the Wurlitzer factory had to introduce a conversion kit for the 1015- Bubbler, just so they could play 45s.
I truly love the details of things manufactured in those years, the crossover from the decorative details of the Art Deco era to the post-war minimalism of “modern” design, that mix of chrome and sunbursts, wood and glass.
And inside, as if to promote the idea of the fantasy dance band, behind the turntable and “stack” of records is a stage with an imitation cardboard stage curtain.
The Wurlitzer and the shop are both gone now…
Inside the jukebox.
Old Wood
Barn Floor
I visit a shop and have merchandise in an old barn, unheated and uninsulated, the sun streaming in through the occasional windows and the narrowing boards of the walls. Here the sun shines on hand-hewn oak worn to a sheen with age.
Window Into the Past
Window Into the Past
Faded paint, faded wood, faded glass even, dusty with years of grime, so much that this image looks nearly monochromatic, the only coloring offered by the iron oxide from the old nails.
It’s that old carriage house in my neighbor’s back yard again. There’s just something I always find so inspiring in its details and it often becomes the subject or the backdrop of photos; it’s on my walk from my home to Main Street so I see it nearly every day. Here’s a view of the Black and White Barn and in Bird on a Fence.
Antique Afghan
Grandmother's Garden
Made by hand with very careful stitches, all those little patches of color are sewn together and carefully bound in yellow, then quilted, all made out of scraps from house dresses and curtains, one woman’s legacy from years ago.
1946 Wurlitzer Jukebox
1946 Wurlitzer "Bubbler" Jukebox 1015
This is an authentic, refurbished, fully-functional 1946 Wurlitzer Bubbler Jukebox 1015, complete with lava-lamp bubbles flowing through the tubes that circle around the front.
I stopped in D&J Records on Main Street in Carnegie where they specialize in vinyl recordings, 45s and LPs, and “oldies” depending on your era (a caller was asking for oldies from the 80s when I was in there, that’s not quite what the shop has in mind), and used recordings on vinyl, cassette and CD in all musical genres. I always find something on CD that I used to have on vinyl or cassette that I can add to my collection. They also have a lot of cool vintage stuff of a musical nature as well as advertising and household items.
Someone had actually purchased this and stopped in to see it and plan on how to move it—it’s heavier than a refrigerator—and to choose the music to go into it. It’s sold with 300 reissued 45s; it was originally meant to play 78s, but when they had it reconditioned it they had it converted to play 45s.
As they had posted with the jukebox:
In 1946, after the end of World War II, Wurlitzer introduced it’s Model 1015 Jukebox. Building supplies had become available again, and it was the “1015- Bubbler” that brought the near- bankrupt Wurlitzer Company great success.The “1015-Bubbler”, is without a doubt the most popular jukebox of all time.
The 1015 Wurlitzer actually was influenced from more of an art deco style, with its illuminated, color-changing pillars, 8 bubble tubes, shiny chrome and domed top
Even though the Wurlitzer Model 1015 was produced from 1946 to 1947, it was the popularity of this jukebox model that kept many of them still bopping along right into the 50’s. It’s this longevity, that is responsible for the “Bubbler” being associated with the romanticized 1950’s sock-hop era.
45-RPM records were becoming so popular that by 1954 the Wurlitzer factory had to introduce a conversion kit for the 1015- Bubbler, just so they could play 45s.
I truly love the details of things manufactured in those years, the crossover from the decorative details of the Art Deco era to the post-war minimalism of “modern” design, that mix of chrome and sunbursts, wood and glass.
And inside, as if to promote the idea of the fantasy dance band, behind the turntable and “stack” of records is a stage with an imitation cardboard stage curtain.
Inside the jukebox.
Things From Yesterday
Things From Yesterday
Sometimes I look at the things people used in the past and am amazed at what we expect of our “stuff” today. These are three totally manual, non-electronic things, and yet they worked okay.
The icebox was made of solid oak with thick doors that closed tightly, very well engineered to do the job of keeping food cold, a huge innovation for the time and probably saving lives by keeping food from spoiling and saving time by enabling people to stock up a little bit and keeping foods fresh or frozen.
And those toys—a scooter that has to be pushed! And whatever that other thing is supposed to be…actually, it’s not supposed to do anything, just supposed to be visually entertaining for a young child who can experiment directly with seeing the results of their actions: push, things turn around, machine moves forward, it plays a little tune or just makes plinky noises.
I’m glad I live with many of today’s conveniences and even electronic gadgets and such; even though I don’t use most of them, it’s nice to know they are there. It wasn’t so long ago, my childhood, in fact, that toys like this were modern and innovative, and my parents’ childhoods when iceboxes were new. Amazing.
Today 