We purchased this set from an east coast auction house a while back. We are always on the hunt for Frederic Weinberg (FW) pieces. FW pieces have a timeless design and when they are hung and lit they just pop!
We were able to find the two above images of the pieces in what we think are the original color schemes. I liked the white, red, light green and dark green color option and restored the pieces to that color scheme.
We just put them up today. We still need to have our electrician wire in the bluetooth outlets.
We are really happy the way they turned out. I think if we had kept them white they would have lacked definition.
I have been wanting to get my hands on one of these clocks for a while now. I was cruising on the internet and came across one on Mercari that wasn’t outrageous but needed work, something I’m not afraid of.
Once this item arrived the first thing I noticed upon unpacking is that it appears somebody had painted this whole thing with house paint. It appears they never even took it apart they painted all the figures and even the base. They did a very sloppy job but at the end of the day it didn’t matter because I was going to strip it and repaint it.
I dismantled the whole unit and applied stripper and scrub them clean. It was quite a job but I’m really happy with the results!
Fortunately, the clock actually works. That requires no maintenance so that’s a plus!
The bottom of the platform was stamped with 810 so I’m assuming this is the original platform.
The clock faces in really good condition
This piece came right out of Jersey City New Jersey!
The base cleaned up really nice. Once I was able to get all the paint removed I’d like sanded it applied a little bit of stain and then put a satin clearcoat on it or polyurethane. I’m really happy with a clean finish.
What’s the paint was removed there was no way to just leave the finished it was under the paint it was in pretty sad condition. I have this really cool gold paint that I use regularly and I think it just makes the whole thing come together.
Our cabin up in Canyon Lake will display a large collection of Roy Rogers and this will just be another piece in that collection. I love bringing an ugly duckling back to life! On to the next project!!!
Ever since we purchased our cabin near Canyon Lake I’ve been working overtime trying to find decor that would be worthy of the Native American history in the area. I was cruising eBay when I came across this interesting vintage Native American bust. I knew I could make it look cooler so I bought it and waited for it to arrive!
I knew I wanted to create an aged face. If you’ve ever seen those antique black-and-white photos of Native American chiefs, their faces are heavy with wrinkles and lines. I wanted to try and somehow capture that on and create dimension this flat surface of a face.
After hours of detailed painting, I got to the point of applying war paint. I wanted to do something simple and without any real meaning. I decided on the simple design that would still allow a good portion of his aged face to be displayed. The way the lines look on the face, it kind of has a comic book feel to it. I don’t know if that makes sense?
I also wanted to make sure the aging carried onto his neck. Once the other part of the warpaint is done he should be finished!!!
I’m really happy with the way it turned out. It might be hard to tell but this bust has glass eyes which help add to the realistic appearance. Unfortunately, there’s no makers mark, but I can tell from the look of it that this thing is probably pretty old. We just picked up a vintage Ranch Oak Hutch and this will sit on top of it!!!
This isn’t a vintage headdress, it’s a reproduction. It’s been reproduced very well with real feathers and what I assume is real fur. Onto the next project!
While I was searching for a cool vintage Heathkit audio set up I stumbled across this really cool “the Voice of Music” set up which includes an amp, tuner, record player and reel to reel. As you may remember this is not our first product from “The Voice of Music”. We also have a Tri-O-Matic Model 560A.
These units are in really good shape. I was hesitant to purchase them because the amp did not have all its original knobs. After a short search on eBay I managed to find some knobs that should look very close to original.
These units are completely functional and the tuner is very strong and clear pulling in stations easily. It’s crazy how tight they pack the units into their cases. When these old tuners and amps run the tubes can get so dang hot. Most folks take the cases off so the electronics can breathe.
It’s hard to believe how little info there is online about these units.
The outside cases have some kind of durable textured finish that seems pretty bullet proof.
This is the record player that came with this ‘the Voice of Music” lot. This was taken out of a stereo counsel. The gentleman I purchased it from actually did a good job building a wood platform base for it. I need to have a power cord installed and audio jacks so I can run it through the amplifier.
My purchase also included a small reel to reel that I got for free. It isn’t functional. I prefer the larger reel to reels and will be looking for one. I also want to locate some “the Voice of Music” speakers to complete the set. If you got any let me know!!! This will all be dealt with once we get down to Texas. I can not wait!!!!
As I mentioned earlier I have always wanted to assemble a really cool vintage audio component system. It took some time and some money but I was able to do it. After pouring over all the options out there and what looked the most atomic I decided on Heathkit. The four components I was able to find were the Heathkit AJ-30 Tuner, AA-100 Amplifier, AA-11 Pre-Amplifier & AC-11 Multiplex Adaptor. I am in no way an audio aficionado. I am gonna have to figure this out as I go. Of course since these are vintage I need to get them completely checked out before I seriously start to use them. It is kind of hard to know an exact date these were produced. Searching online I have seen folks say 1961 and as late as 1963???
What I dig about these are the saddle colored cases, chrome tapered bezel and of course how the displays light up!
As usual with newly acquired vintage electronics they will need work. It appears the pre-amplifier lighted display isn’t working. Once I get these all dialed in it will be something to see!
The next thing I want to locate is a Heathkit record player, Heathkit reel to reel (AD-22) and also some matching Heathkit speakers (Heathkit/Altec Legato).
Heath was one of those companies that help started the kit business. Ed Heath founded the company in 1926 with, of all things, an airplane kit. He died in a test flight in one in 1935, but Howard Anthony kept the company going. Right after World War II, he bought a batch of electronic surplus. Out of that came one of the first successful kits, a small oscilloscope for $50, which was a real achievement in its time. With that success came many new products. Heathkit most notable product is their ham radios. Tragedy struck yet again in 1954 when Howard Anthony was also killed in an plane crash.
Edward Heath
Howard Anthony
Products Heathkit produced over the decades have included electronic test equipment, high fidelity home audio equipment, television receivers, amateur radio equipment, robots, electronic ignition conversion modules for early model cars with point style ignitions, and the influential Heath H-8, H-89, and H-11 hobbyist computers, which were sold in kit form for assembly by the purchaser.
What was great about Heathkit is folks could either order a kit to assemble these products or order them already assembled. Heathkit manufactured electronic kits from 1947 until 1992. After closing that business, the Heath Company continued with its products for education, and motion-sensor lighting controls. The lighting control business was sold around 2000.
I can’t recall where I read it but it appears Heathkit is back making kits and if that’s so I am sure there are a lot of folks out there who would love to get their hands on one of those kits. Once we get down to Texas I will have these tuned up and hopefully be well on my way to finding the other items mentioned above. If you have a line on any of the items I mentioned above feel free to reach out to me.
I stumbled across one of these while I was cruising eBay. I had never heard of these before and was fascinated by the design and the idea of it. For the next few months I searched for them on auction sites and luckily managed to secure two of them for our collection. What’s crazy is one of these lamps was produced in 1943, that’s only 2 years after the Pearl Harbor attacks (the other lamp has no info on the bottom). With World War 2 occurring, did that influence the style of these lamps? Who knows, but they are cool!
The ones I ended up purchasing had different bases. One was cream like the body color and the other was a gold color.
These are in found condition and I plan to restore the cases and make them both have the gold bottoms.
The shades I put on these units are not original. The original shades were kind of lame and to me did not compliment the lamps. I’m not sure what lamps these came off of (maybe Majestic), but I like the look they give these Lumitone lamps. They look more Atomic.
It’s crazy how expensive things become over time. It’s cool to see ads with the original price.
The all cream Lumitone unit had all its tags on the bottom. The other one seems to be missing all that info.
With us moving to Texas in the next few months, I plan to create a music/audiophile room. These are the perfect pieces to compliment that set up.
One of the hardest things to find in good condition are vintage textiles. They could be curtains, sheets, blankets, and yes, even beach towels. You have to remember when these things were made they were nothing special to folks back then. It’s only now we look back at them and admire the imagery and design. Many of these towels were actually travel souvenirs. Folks wanted something to remind themselves of where they had visited. It’s really amazing what some of these beach towels go for now! Here is a large sampling of towels I came across cruising the internet (please excuse the graininess, images are printed on Terry cloth so not a crisp image)…
I love the vibe of these beach towels!
They really try to capture the sub culture of that time.
Hey Ho Daddy-O!
Here’s an unhappy bongo player! How is this possible?
Mel and I just picked up the following two. They are NOS (New Old Stock) from Australia. No tags or artists name.
Some of the artists you might come across if you search for vintage beach towels are the following: Phillis Morgan, Landau, Anticio, Peter Max, Gilmour, Cannon, Londraville, Ralph Hulett, Vernon, Lady Galt, Vera Neumann and sooo many others. Some went by their full name, while others went by their last name.
This one must have been produced during all the US space missions!
Great vibrant colors on this one!
There’s a super creepy “Peeping Tom” in the background.
Some of the more common beach towel manufacterers that produced these vibrant towels were as follows: Royal Terry, Terry Treasure of CA, St.Mary, NEMS, Cannon, Dryfast and many more.
I dig this one, Love the Peek-A-Boo!!!
Riding a dolphin! Lucky!
Is that her locker combination?…Nope, her measurements!
Obviously, bathing beauties were a very common theme.
This is one classic beach towel! Based on the TV series “Laugh In”, this bikini babe is surrounded by sayings from the show-very cool!
Take me to your leader!
Great one for Valentines Day!
These are fun looking. Who wouldn’t want to shake your tail feathers?
There were some really cool fish scenes on the beach towels.
This would be fantastic as wallpaper.
This is a really fun image.
Love it!
There really is no shortage of pinup women towels.
I never catch anything fishing, this would be a whopper of a tale!
Here’s a cute Mermaid.
This one is very vibrant.
This looks like a real classic pinup image.
I love the “Daddy-O” shorts guy!
The loss of innocence.
He looks like a real lady killer.
I think this fella is walking on sunshine!
These are some cool cats!
I’m not sure if this is the ESSO cat.
This was the ESSO oil mascot.
This little fella has the right idea!
As you might have guessed, this one is the one to get. There are two other beetle towel styles I have seen, but this is my favorite. It seems anything Beatles has crazy value attached to it. I like the Beatles, but I am more of a Rolling Stones Man!
All these towels are just a small sampling of what’s out there. It’s cool how expressive these towels are and how well they capture the era. These terry cloth dreams would be a great addition to anyone who collects items from this time period.
At one point Mel and I had a house in Sacramento and an apartment in San Jose. This was required because of Mel’s work. It was just easier for Mel to stay in San Jose during the week for work, and then come home to Sacramento during the weekends. As somebody who loves to decorate, I saw her apartment as an opportunity to decorate in space-age decor. When we decided to go “all in” in the bay area and buy a house, we didn’t want to get rid of all the space-age furniture. We ended up deciding to devote one of our rooms in our house to 70’s space-age.
I would of loved to have been able to find some super large vintage lava lamps but I don’t trust them.
These two really large lava lamps were purchased online from Wal*Mart.
While I really do enjoy decorating with atomic Mid Century decor, it’s nice to explore a different genre. Decorating in a different style can really get your creative juices flowing.
We purchased two of these lava glaze lamps at an antique shop up in Paradise CA.
I’m not sure if that shop is still around after the major fire they had up there.
We would hit Paradise all the time when we were on the hunt for cool stuff. I hope they come back from that tragedy.
The real issue was going from decorating a full apartment to decorating just one room. It came down to a battle for space. We had so many cool pieces in her apartment, but they coudn’t all fit in one room. We tried to keep the coolest items from that collection.
I am big into music. I wanted to create a room to hang out in and listen to records and cassettes. I think I’m one of the few out there who are still listening to their cassette tapes. LOL! I remember the first cassette I ever bought was the “Black Celebration” album by Depeche Mode. I was raised on 80s music, but listen to everything! This is our wall of cassettes! I also use this wall to display some choice records.
We were able to keep Mel’s Seeburg Olympian 160 jukebox. Because I was a kid raised in the 80s, we loaded this sucker up with all 80s music! Since space is an issue, I took the closet doors off and created a cove for the jukebox. I also had an electrician come out and wire an outlet into the closet so I didn’t have extension cords hanging out.
We have a few space-age radios and TVs, and the shelves in the closet above the jukebox are great for displaying those.
I’m not sure who the maker of this red chair is, but we also had this one reupholstered. It is so comfortable to sit on.
This corner table is really unique. We came across it at an antique mall, and I knew it would be a great addition to the space-age decor. The bottom is a terrarium and I was able to put some of my favorite artificial cacti in there.
I suppose this table could also have been used as an aquarium. I’m not sure if that would work, but it might be a cool idea.
These vintage concert posters are all original prints. We purchased them from a dealer at Midway Antique Mall. The story behind them is that an elderly lady living in the bay area back in the 60s would see these posters on telephone poles and light poles. She would take them down and save them not really knowing that they’d be worth so much later. Anyway, the house she lived in was being demolished and I’m assuming she had passed away or moved on. A couple of observant ladies were walking by the dumpster that was being used and noticed a bunch of papers rolled up. Since they were being thrown away, they grab them. When they got home it was a massive collection of original concert posters from that era. They went to Midway Antique Mall and sold quite a few of them to that dealer. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure!
This is my whole set of these natives. The only marking on the bottom is “Japan”. If anyone knows who the maker is reach out!
These novelty figures were made during 40’s & 50’s. This kind of Black Americana or blackmoor collecting is sometimes uncomfortable for folks. Obviously it was a different time from now. During the last century a lot of races were depicted by stereotypes & in unfair ways that by today’s standards would be unacceptable. My goal with my blog is to share our collection and this is part of it. I don’t share it to make people feel bad or uncomfortable, I share it to show what existed during that time.
This one appears to have the original spear.
This one has seen better days. It’s going to be a small restoration project.
These are about twice as large as the “Happy Cannibals”
This native has a bow and arrow. I am missing the string and arrows.
I have been collecting these figures for sometime. For all of us who really enjoy the tiki/tribal feel, we try to create microcosms in our collection. It is not enough to just have a tiki cup on a shelf, you have to layer your collection to make it more interesting. I am always looking for a new way to add layers to our collection.
Obviously, this one is missing his weapon. A toothpick will have to suffice for now
I am not sure if I am missing anything or if this native is just praying
This was the first one I ever purchased
As you can see these figures were painted with bright color accents and sometimes things like skirts, bows, spears and even earrings were added.
It might be a little hard to tell from this photo but this is a native fishing. It appears this native hooked an alligator! I am missing the pole and string.
Gilner, an American ceramics company who was known more for its pottery and pixie figures produce something called “Happy Cannibals”. They would adorn planters with small tribal figures and also created standalone figures. NAPCO also produced tribal figures.
I see plenty of the “Happy Cannibals” while cruising the antique shops. I have not seen the guy in the cooking pot before.
Most of these figures were mass produced from Japan and were more than likely travel trinkets tourists would pick up to remember trips to far off & exotic places. People were always bringing back trinkets from their trips, sometimes it was a souvenir tablecloth, souvenir spoon, salt and pepper shakers and even these figures.
This was one of the first Gilner tribal planters we purchased
I like to use fake succulents to fill all my planters. I suck at gardening.
As you can see, some of them are missing their earrings.
This is another one that still needs to be restored.
This is one of my favorite Gilner planters
This tribal figure had no paint when I got it. A quick touchup fixed that.
This is a pretty common one.
This little lady looks kind of shifty.
I have not had a chance to plant all these yet. There are too many
This is one I have not seen before
I purchased a sample set of model paint and touched all these up
Our collection is elaborate and diverse. Things that were once normalized in the past are looked at with different insight today. Though some may be offended by these figures and might even feel it perpetuates the stereotypes, I promise you that is not my intention. In the end my only mission is to share my collection.
I remember the first time we saw one of these strange, but cool instruments. Mel and I were visiting our friend Christina and she asked if we were interested in this ukulele. She explained to me that these were pretty popular in the 60s. She said surfers would play them and when a righteous wave would come up, they’d turn them upside down, stick their heads in the sand, grab their board, and hit the waves! This explains the long neck of most of the ukuleles.
These ukuleles were considered novelty ukuleles and usually just ended up hanging on peoples walls as wood art. They definitely have a style to them.
They were created by Ancil Swagerty (1911-1991). These were produced by the Swagerty Specialties Company in San Clemente California in the 1960s. The firm ceased trading in the early 1970’s. These pieces of wall hanging art eventually became to be known as pretty good sounding ukuleles. With their exaggerated shape and bright colors they were real eye catchers.
The ukuleles that were produced by Swaggerty were the following 3 models…
The Tripartite-soundhole Treholipee (originally sold for $ 19.95)
Treholipee – The Treholipee is 47″ long and they can be in yellow, orange or green. You might wonder where the name came from for this instrument? It appears the “Tre” is for three. The “Holi” is for holes. I’m not sure what the “pee” stands for.
The Kook-a-la-lee (Originally sold for $12.95)
The Kook-a-La-Lee seems to have been a close relation to the Treholipee. The main differences are that it was two inches shorter (at 45″) and the headstock was straight and not curved. Another difference is that the Kook-a-La-Lee has a heart-shaped sound hole and not the three music note holes sported by the Treholipee.
And finally the Surf-a-lele (originally sold for $13.95)
The Surf-a-Lele was like a compact version of the Kook-a-La-Lee. The idea was that there was a need for a smaller version so that you could play it in tighter areas.
These unique ukuleles were endorsed by musician, comedian & writer Steve Allen. These were proclaimed to be “a new sound for a new generation”. These Kooky-ukes were sold In department stores and west coast music stores. They were promoted as part of the California surfing lifestyle.
Some of the Swaggerty ukuleles have a “Murf The Surf” character decal on them designed by famous artist Rick Griffin! Only some of the ukuleles have this decal making those ukuleles more desirable.
Out of the four we own, only the Surf-A-Lele had this decal by artist Rick Griffin.
These instruments are made of beech ply. They are quite thin in the body like a Travel Ukulele and apparently, people are surprised with how good they sound. It appears that there was also a 3 string strumstick kind of Kooky Uke and a double neck version, (that was supposedly never sold commercially but just given to Swagerty’s friends?)
Double-neck Kook-a-La-Lee – Apparently, there was a variation of the Kook-a-La-Lee that had two necks!! These were made specially for friends and were never marketed to the general public. Besides having two necks, they are also different from the standard Kook-a-La-Lee in that the sound holes are round and not heart-shaped. The decal on the body also just says Kook-a-La-Lee. For me this is the holy grail ukulele, maybe one day we will find one!
The Polk-a-Lay-Lee was not part of this series. They are knock offs made by the Petersen Co. of Ohio in the early 60’s. It was given away as part of an advertising campaign for the Polk Bros. furniture and electrical goods company. It has a plastic fretboard, tuners and saddle, and comes in different colours (both the Ukulele and the plastic work). On the box they came in they are called Wander-a-lay-lee though the headstock says Polk-a-lay-lee.
Polk-a-lay-lee
The “Little Guitar” is also not part of the “Kooky Ukes” series but it was made by Swagerty as kind of the follow up. It wasn’t as popular and I don’t think Swagerty designed anymore Ukuleles after this.
Little Guitar – This instrument is the rarest in the Kooky-Ukes line. These made their appearance somewhere between 1964 and 1968.
Ancil was granted a patent for the Treholipee in 1966. There was believed to be roughly 60,000 of these manufactured. The Treholipee flagship for Swagerty’s Kooky Ukes line of instruments. Both the Treholipee and the Kook-a-Lele had long headstocks and the idea was the surfers could stick the instruments upside-down in the sand when it was time for surfin’.
Here is the companion book to these Kooky Ukes. This is pretty hard to find as well. If anyone out there has one reach out cuz I am on the hunt!
Here is an original tag that would have been hanging from one of these fantastic ukuleles. I don’t imagine many of these are laying around.
Here is Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy, posing with a Kook-a-la-lee! I am just guessing it was tied to “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'”.
These pieces are great pieces of beach culture and I am sure many have not seen one of these in the flesh. Since I have started collecting them I plan to try and learn how to play a little. Off to the next thing!
Hepcats Haven 