Just scored a set of five of these ceramic switch plates. They look like 1950's ashtrays and are marked Pat. Pend on the bottom.

1959 TWA Souvenir Package from the first transcontinental flight of a TWA Boeing 707 from San Francisco to Idlewild in New York. March 20, 1959

Open publication - Free publishing - More 1959

San Francisco International Airport Brochure from 1963

Open publication - Free publishing - More 1960s

New addition to the family

New Addition to the Household. Meet Joan.

Joan is a vintage "plus size" mannequin from the 1980's or earlier. She resided in a plus size clothing store in Rockridge for many years. I was very happy to get her. She was hanging around a garage sale in Oakland last weekend "in the buff". I came riding in on my white horse and rescued her from an uncertain fate. She is now properly dressed in a kind, smoke-free home. Welcome home Joan!

Continental Arts Comma Lamp #2---Wow!

You can see that with the right bulb this thing puts out a super warm glow. Hey, who put that Philco Predicta Siesta in the shot?

Continental Arts Comma Lamps---Wow!

This is one amazing lamp from the Continental Arts lamp company. The shade is shaped like a giant comma and stands over 3 feet tall. I have never seen another like it. Oh, the radio is a Telefunken Sonata in mint working condition.

Retro Atomic pulldown light with wall mount

I inherited a pair of these from my Aunt Georgie who passed away in 2007 at the age of 93. She had the best rattan furniture done up in leopard fabric and some Nelson bubble lamps and these babies. Thanks Auntie!

UFO Flying Saucer Lamp

This pull down light fixture is super bithin'. I has a switch to only turn on the down firing cone or the main light or both. Really unique and BIG. It is about 22" in diameter.

Amazing triple head ceiling lamp from the 1950's

This lamp hung in my grandparents house for about 45 -50 years. After they passed on I took every light fixture from their house and put them in my house. They make me feel good and put out a nice warm glow.

Amazing Atomic Ceiling Fixture

This is a really neat fixture I picked up at Modernaire in Berkeley. I bout the shade and the finial with no internal workings ie: sockets etc...$6 worth of parts from Orchard Supply and I was in business.

Majestic Z Lamps

I have a pretty decent set of original Majestic Z lamps with original shades and lacing. 

Majestic Lamp

This is one of the best Majestic Lamps I have ever seen and I own a pair!

Fair Warning from May 1983 on TV 20 Dance Party

 My Friend Ryan Roxie's Band Fair Warning from May 1983 on TV 20 Dance Party. He Shreds.

 

Original Doggie Diner hot dog wrapper from the 1960's.

This is a mega rare item that I picked up at an estate sale in Oakland. I couldn't resist! This chain went out of business in the late '80's or early '90's and were based in the San Francisco Bay Area. There were two in Hayward. One was on Hesperian at Lewelling and the other was in downtown Hayward but I don't remember the exact location. Each restaurant had a sign with a giant dachshund head wearing the chef's hat as pictured in the logo art. You can see one of these heads at Streetlight Records located on Bascom Avenue in San Jose .

RCA Atomic style advertising clock from the 1950's

RCA Tubes 1950's advertising clock in incredible atomic retro style. I had been looking for one of these for years and finally found this on eBay. It is about 20 inches in diameter and is made of plastic except for the red portion which is made of metal. This clock keeps perfect time and look great on my wall.

Fashions that Follow the Sun News of the Day Newsreel

Here is a nice vintage, fashion newsreel featuring model Joan Kemp called: Fashions that Follow the Sun from 1961. This film features Joan and several other ladies modeling the latest in swimsuits, swim hats and lounge wear from the lounge era. Great stuff from Joan's personal collection.

Budweiser "Pick a Pair" TV Commercial #2 featuring Joan Kemp

Here is the second Budweiser TV spot featuring the late model Joan Kemp. She made several commercials for Budweiser, Vaseline, Max Factor and Salem Cigarettes to name a few.

Budweiser "Pick a Pair" TV Commercial featuring Joan Kemp

Here is another great vintage TV commercial featuring fifties supermodel Joan Kemp. Joan was featured in hundreds of ads between 1950 and 1965. Here is the first of four Budweiser commercials she was in.

1958 Detroit Auto Show featuring Joan Kemp and the Dale Anderson "Wells Fargo" Buick

Clip of the 1958 Detroit Auto Show featuring the Dale Anderson Wells Fargo Buick Convertible and fashion icon Joan Kemp.

Mattel 1967 Toy Catalog Featuring Major Matt Mason

Major Matt Mason was my favorite toy when I was a kid.

Open publication - Free publishing - More man in space

Things go better with Coke! Advertising Clock

I was really lucky to find this clock. I was shopping in Orange with my wife last month and I stumbled upon this clock. Someone had cut the power cord off and it was missing the bulb so I couldn't test it out. I paid a paltry $45 plus tax and it was mine. When I got it home I wire in a new AC cord and purchased a new bulb and low and behold it started running and the light came on. The only other thing is that it should have a second hand and this one does not. Still...it looks great on my kitchen wall. This is why the 7-up clock must go.

7-Up Atomic Style electric wall clock from the 1950's

These clocks are wicked cool and just ooze with fifties atomicness. There was a similar Pepsi clock as well. Just thought I would share this.  These are pretty hard to come by. I found this one at Alameda Point Antique Fair about 2 years ago. Alas, I am selling it on eBay...too many clocks and too little time! I think that was a pun.

The metal is brass and the face is silkscreened Formica. Keeps great time. I hate to give it up.

Nice vintage General Electric "Triple Whip" portable mixer

You don't see one of these every day. I picked this up at a sale in Oakland a few weeks ago and think it is one of the coolest mixers I've ever seen! What is neat about this is that you can take the mixer off the stand and hand held commando with it AND it has THREE beaters!

The GE Portable Mixer in all its' splendor

Even came with the original recipe book and manual

I have never seen a mixer with THREE beaters!

Train Clip circa 1940

Here is a clip extracted from my Golden Gate Expo movie of some trains arriving and departing in either Berkeley or Albany in 1940. I added the train sound effects and the music was added when I had the film transferred to DVD. Enjoy!

Today I met Susan Olsen from the Brady Bunch

Darlene and I went to the Time Tunnel "Super Toy" show this morning in San Jose. This is a pretty amazing toy and collectible show that happens 2-3 times per year. I went today because Cindy Brady aka Susan Olsen was making an appearance to sign autographs. We got there at 11:15AM..it opened at 11 and waited in line for over 30 minutes to get in the door. When we got to the door we realized that not only was Susan Olsen at the show but Richard Kiel aka Jaws from James Bond was also there signing. We met Susan Olsen and she was very nice. All the money from the signing was going to an organization called Paws...they rescue animals. Saw lots of cool toys that brought back a lot of memories. I almost grabbed a Major Matt Mason Space Station in the box but got a hold of myself and didn't buy it.

After the Toy show we got a soda and headed over to Guitar Showcase...nothing there today.

Next we went over to West San Carlos Street and hit the antique stores...I found a Life magazine with The Beatles on the cover for $5 as well as an issue from 1966 all about the discoteque scene in the USA. Also found a copy of The Torch Has Passed about the JFK Assassination and funeral but this copy is special in that it has the dust jacket. I have never seen this book with a just jacket and didn't know it existed. A sweet grab for $5.

This is about all for today..tomorrow's another day on the hunt with Alameda Point and the White Elephant sale. I report later about how I did.  Just found out that Alameda Point has been cancelled due to the rain....shit!










   

Golden Gate Expo Movie Part 2

Here is part 2 of my movie taken at the 1940 Golden Gate Exposition at Treasure Island. Enjoy.

Golden Gate Expo Movie Part 1

This weekend's bounty

Space Age floor lamp.

I found this today out at Alameda Point. It is very heavy.

JFK Rocking Chair Toy from 1963

Peggers Pants Store Display Standups

 

This is a really cool pair of store display stand-ups from the late 1950's. They have easel backs ans are in great condition.

1950's Soda Fountain Milk Shake Maker. Made by Hamilton Beach.

 

I bought this at Alameda Point today. I have always loved these.

New York 1939 Times Square and Broadway

This is from a great set of 35mm negatives I acquired this weekend at an estate sale. There are about 200 negatives in this set and I am still going through them to see what I have. These jumped right out and bit me. Times Square, new York City from 1939. How cool is that! They are even exposed properly. Enjoy!

1939 Golden Gate Expo Poster Restoration Project

This is an original poster created for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition at Treasure Island in San Francisco. This poster was printed by Schmidt Litho in San Francisco and is dated copyright 1937. I purchased this poster from Cathy Pimpan at T.E.L. in Berkeley, CA for a song but it was in really sad condition as you can see from the first photo. I asked around about poster restoration and mounting services and was referred to this company in Escondido, CA called Poster Mountain where they performed an absolute miracle restoration on this rare poster. You can see more of this process along with descriptions here. 

The last two images are the final stages of restoration. These folks at Poster Mountain are true artists that are providing a tremendous service to preservationists and collectors alike. I highly recommend them.

Some new stuff from last weekend's Estate Sailing

The first item here is a neat little hanging pot holder made from brass wire. It has those great Atomic style ends on the top and bottom. The influence that this style had on everyday household items never ceases to amaze me.

Next we have a really cool danish modern, starburst clock. The wood is either teak or rosewood and the arms are brass with painted plastic ball ends. This is a wind up clock. It ticks really loud tic...tic...tic...

Finally, we have this magnificent Heywood Wakefield utility headboard in the 82" King-Size variety. A wonderful lady from Reno was nice enough to bring it down to me. These are pretty hard to come by as not many folks had King beds back in the '50's. I am pretty stoked!

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