Your Wednesday Morning Wakeup Call!
In my very limited knowledge of classical guitar, I rank this as the greatest song of all time. How often do you feel like you're "rocking out" to classical guitar? Not very often I suppose. With this one, I just wanna mosh.
Categories: Wednesday Morning Wakeup.
I should have hated this estate sale. There are three things that basically annoy me about estate sales. First, when they're overpriced. If I wanted to shop at an antique mall, I would go to an antique mall. Second, I can't stand it when estate sales have a bunch of hipsters there. Not that there's anything wrong with hipsters. Hipsters are great. It just means that all the good stuff is going to be gone by the time you get there. Third, when the person running the estate sale uses the house as their own personal showroom. This is the most annoying thing you'll see at estate sales. If you see display cases, you know that's what's going on. Again, if I wanted to go to your shop, I would go to your shop. I want to buy old junk from someone's house. It kinda comes across as devious to me, actually.
This sale had all three, of course. And yet, I can't help but sorta kind liking this particular sale. You see, I found a set of vintage lockers there. For super cheap. Sarah and I have been looking at lockers on craigslist for probably a month or so. We need somewhere to store all of our winter coats. Lockers on craigslist can be quite expensive. These puppies cost us $35. I held onto the kids while Sarah ran upstairs and paid for them. Right in front of her was hipster girl asking about them. "I want them but I don't have a way to get them home!" Oh man, hipster girl, you mean they won't fit into the basket on your single speed bicycle? Ha ha! Your trendy earth saving ways are my gain!
Categories: Estate Sale Hunting, Vintage Finds, you need one.
I was browsing Etsy the other day when I came across a really cool shop, Junkyardfinds. It was filled with retro swanky clocks from the 70s, car ephemera, and very surprising but completely neat, two sets of Fleer 1988 baseball cards. Not what you'd expect on Etsy, and probably not a big seller, but the definition of nostalgic for me.
Much to my surprise, this sweet shop is curated by a dude. And what a cool dude he is. So I reached out to him and asked him some questions about his shop, collecting vintage items, and Etsy selling in general. He responded. Thus is the power of the internets. I hope to make this sort of thing a regular column here on manlyvintage.
Jayson: How long have you been into vintage? Is this a recent thing, or is it something you've been doing for a while?
Junkyardfinds: I started loving vintage things at a young age but really got into the last 4 years when I moved into my own house. It's how I have filled every inch of our home. Inside and outside. And garage.
Jayson: How would you describe your style?
Junkyardfinds: I like things from a lot of different eras. I guess I haven’t really put a lot of thought into defining my style.
Jayson: You're from Olympia? What are some good spots to find stuff in that area?
Junkyardfinds: Olympia is a fabulous place to find vintage treasures. Estate sales are my favorite places to pick up these items but I often thrift and garage sale. I mostly got to the Goodwills in the Southsound area. I go with my girlfriend often. We like different things so it’s nice to have another person to spot the goods. We go every weekend and sometimes on the week nights as well. St. Vincent De Paul is one of the best places in the world to thrift also.
Jayson: I see you have a lot of cameras and clocks in your shop.
Junkyardfinds: Old clocks and cameras have always caught my attention. I think its vintage electronics in general. It’s amazing to see how technology progresses and its fun to hold onto the obsolete. I feel like vintage things have a lot more style and class than current mass produced items.
Jayson: How did you get into selling on etsy?
Junkyardfinds: I first heard of Etsy from some roommates awhile ago but jumped into selling when my girlfriend's shop got bigger. Her shop is AubieJeanVintage, please check it out. She has cameras all over the house and most have not even been listed yet.
Jayson: So what's the coolest thing you've found?
Junkyardfinds: Man, there have been so many, but one that pops into my head immediately are the really rare Polaroids I have come across. I have also found some gnomes that I have in my yard. My favorite items, however, are old Volkswagen memorabilia.
Jayson: So do you think the demand for vintage polaraoids are going to go up, now that they've announced they're going to put out new film? Personally, I'm going to stock up.
Junkyardfinds: I have been anticipating the rise in interest of the Polaroids once the film comes out and have STOCKED UP! I look forward to being able to offer a large variety of them and am going to also offer international shipping.
Jayson: They're pretty hard to find in Chicago. I found one at an estate sale for 3.50 in the original box and with 10 shot of unopened film. Sold RIGHT away.
Junkyardfinds: That is a great deal. My favorite thing is to find items with their original package, manual, and tags.
Jayson: I have to say that my favorite item in your store is the baseball cards. They remind me of being a kid so much I almost bought them! Tell me about those.
Junkyardfinds: I'm glad you like them. I found these at an estate sale, it was three generations worth of belongings and these were in the attic. My dad and I collected baseball cards when I was a boy so I have always kept my eye out for them. When I found these, I was really excited that they were unopened and still had the sticker seal. I couldn't keep myself from opening one of the boxes! I am not sure that Etsy is the place for baseball cards yet...
Jayson: I agree. There are some things you can put in your shop that look cool but without the thought that they’ll sell. But with a 20 cent listing fee, “Hey, Why not!?”
Junkyardfinds: I agree with that 100% It makes things interesting and I love having variety! I have found that diversifying your shop broadens your customer base.
Jayson: what are your thoughts about pricing on etsy? I have had arguments with my friends about this. Some people say that if you price things too low, people will think they're cheap.
Junkyardfinds: I agree with that. I think that pricing our items is a tricky thing. You have to be able to know what value other people will put on the item. It seems like some Etsy sellers are biased by their own love for the item so the prices are much higher than the average person would be willing to pay. But I guess thats the beauty of having your own business. Sometimes I find a really great deal on an item on Etsy and I am so excited to get a great deal. With most things, I don't see the item as being cheap or less quality just because of the price. I think it also depends on what you are shopping for. Like with clothes or jewelry, customers would probably be more likely to shop with the more expensive place in an effort to go with the higher quality merchandise.
Categories: Interviews, Moment of Manly Zen, Style is not Emasculating, etsy store finds.
I was born in '85, so I wasn't "there" man, but the Bulls heyday which I was here for is not quite vintage, nonetheless!! witness the pounding Chicago's defense dealt out to cheesy metal.
Categories: Uncategorized.
The Maxwell Street Market was one of the most important cultural events in the city of Chicago. Started by European Jews in the 1870s, it was a collection of crowds, noises, smells, sounds, and open air haggling. Every weekend, people of almost every ethnicity gathered in this open air market to exchange goods and services, and be a part of the crowd. What was really, cool, though, as I understand it, was the live street performing. There were your average fare like clowns and juggelers, but then there were the truly unique. There was this guy, "Chicken Man", who performed with a live chicken sitting on his head. And then of course there were the blues legends. It sounds amazing, but for free, you could listen to greats such as John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Robert Nighthawk, and Eddie Boyd!
Can you imagine the thrifiting that would have gone on at this place? Today, the Maxwell Street Market has been relocated, and still exists in a modified yet less glorious form. I haven't been to the "New Maxwell Street Market, so I can't say how it is. Signs point to it being very yuppified. The city moved it in order to expand the campus of UIC. I guess they placated a few of the regulars by putting up a statue "commemorating" the original market. It seems hardly fitting to move such a living statue of diversity, only to replace it with Caribou Coffee and a parking garage, and flanked by a bronze, forgettable, and unnoticed statue of a Jewish man selling his wares.
update: Okay I'm going to be visiting the market asap. The reviews on yelp have made me feel as if I don't know anything about Chicago and need to get out more. It still may be awesome. I will update asap.
Categories: Rants, you need one.
Alright then, let's take a look-see.
Old school trucker cap $5
For 3 bucks who doesn't want to be a top 100 operator.
Every guy needs a small collection of lumberjack flannels. $11
Nothing gets me more riled up about the cold front coming in than knowing I can wear my vintage outdoor vest everyday till spring comes around. Keeps that ol' middle area warm, makes ya look tough, and provides to huge front pockets for all your goods. $10
One pair of black jeans. Keep it simple stupid. $30
So it says Larry on it?? Just stay south of Diversey and west of Damen and nobody will get the wrong idea. unless........$5
In high school I wore some Chucks, wool socks, and plastic bags on my feet and I kid you not, a warmer combination you couldn't find in $200 boots. $8
Sorry no Chucks. These boots won't set you back a bit, coming in a $20. Hand stitched to perfection.
If you're not keeping track we are at $92. Shockingly I could not find any used, vintage underwear. I mean who wouldn't want some nicely worn in........anyways. Well I found a pattern for boxers that will bring us in for a quiet landing on $100. Get the wife to whip up some of these badboys and you're good to go. peace.
Categories: Vintage Finds, etsy store finds.
Your Wednesday Morning Wakeup!
Oh man I fell in love with Radical Face. Apparently this entire album was made in a tool shed. I'm not exactly sure if that's true, but the Wikipedia says so.
Categories: Uncategorized.
Function does not have to be a slave to form. But form in our case, is super important. We have three very busy and often messy children. So almost all of our design choices have “kid proof” in mind. We own a home in Oak Park on the measly salary of one teacher and a part time babysitting super mom, so cheap and affordable are important for us as well. We shop craigslist because it allows us to be thrifty as well as satisfy our style needs. Because of these monetary restrictions, craigslist is our Room and Board.
Our couch was a sweet recent find. While not vintage, it is definately modern. For $50 dollars we got a used but in great condition Jasper couch from Room and Board. It was hard parting with our billowing brown leather couch that previously sat in its home, but our tastes have evolved, and its Pottery Barn feel didn’t quite fit the rest of the room. We decided that we couldn’t part with it, and it will find a new home in our basement.
Our TV stand is an IKEA standard; the industrial and bright red metal cabinet. I like that it LOCKS and I can keep the kids out of the television equipment. To the right of it is a vintage valet we snagged off of craigslist for 25 dollars. To me, a well designed valet is the epitome of manly vintageness. It was designed for working men. I can’t think of anything more iconic than a man preparing his suite the night before, and the valet has room for all of its parts. I love that piece!
The coffee table was a hundred dollar craigslist find. It was bought from a woman who lost her job and supplements her husband’s salary by scouring estate sales for mid-century pieces. The kids have literally taken bites out of a few of its parts, but it is wood, and can be refinished if necessary. We were looking for a coffee table for MONTHS before we decided on this piece. The rug underneath it is the ultimate kid friendly rug. Carpet squares by Flor are insanely easy to clean. I’ve already thrown a few in the washer when the kids have spilled milk or other crap on them. $120 for 18 20? by 20? tiles.
The drapes were made by my wife from IKEA fabric. At first we thought they were garish and balloon like, but they’ve grown on us, especially after we purchased four Eames knock offs from Wisconsin. They match perfectly, and are in great shape. There’s nothing you can’t clean off of those fiberglass bad boys.
Flanking the fake Eames shell chair are two brown and chrome office chairs from the seventies. We purchased them from the Salvation Army for twenty dollars each. They smell a little bit like cat, but we’re hoping they’ll air out one day!
The IKEA lamp at the end of the couch will eventually make way for something better. Hopefully a nice end table and a nicer ceramic lamp when we find one that fits our fancy.
Overall, I love what we’ve done to the room. Its fun working together as a team and arguing over lamp shades. Its good for your marriage, you know.
Categories: Estate Sale Hunting, Howto, Moment of Manly Zen, Style is not Emasculating, The Vintage Family Man, Vintage Finds, you need one.
The Good
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The Bad
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Whenever I see a that a sale on estatesales.net is a sale by Colleen, of Colleen's Estate Sales, I know its going to be a great sale. According to her website, her company has "over 25 years experience conducting, organizing, appraising and selling antiques & collectibles." All of those years have not been in vain. Her sales staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and courteous. Just yesterday I was looking at a red Rainbow Hawkeye Camera. I knew it was a camera but had no idea how it worked. Colleen's assistant knew exactly how it worked and showed me how to open it, how it took pictures, and how to put in the film. The other two times I've been at her sales, her employees have answered all of my questions promptly and with a smile. This friendly attitude fits her prices. There's nothing worse than going to an estate sale and feeling like you're stepping into an antique mall. If I wanted to pay antique mall prices, I'd go to an antique mall. Not at Colleen's. Prices are very fair. There are definite bargains to be had. It is typical for her last day to drop everything to 50% off. When I asked "Are we at 50% off right now?!" yesterday, she hollered back, "No we're at 80!" Another customer gasped. "I guess you haven't been to any of my sales before!", she joked back. Those last hours usually drop to 80%. That may not always be the case, as "It depends on what the seller wants" one of her employees told me. By the time that the sale has dropped to 80% off, its going to be picked over of course, but I've found some great things for really good prices at that point.
PricesI've seen very few overpriced things at her sales. Bargains abound. |
4 |
TreasuresObviously they have to get what they can get, but she usually has my favorite type of estate sale: filled to the brim with piles and piles of stuff. |
3 |
ServiceThe best. Never makes you feel stupid or silly. Very courteous and no stupid rules that some sales tend to have. |
4 |
Total |
3.67 |
Categories: Reviews.
This comes from a pattern book that I picked up at an estate sale today. I'm not sure which guy is cooler, the one with the pipe on the top left, or the nerdish guy on the bottom right. Oh wait the nerdish guy is nerdish AND he has a pipe. He wins.
You can consider this your moment of manly zen.
Categories: Moment of Manly Zen, Style is not Emasculating, The Vintage Family Man, Vintage Finds.
This is one of my all time favorite movies and I was excited to see some sweet mint green eames shell chairs in the scene where Egon puts a married couple through the classic, "delaying the meeting" experiment.
Categories: Design on the Screen.
Welcome the first of many installments called, "Story Time With Morgan". I will briefly read a seemingly random excerpt from a manly vintage or antique book in a deep, calming, fatherly voice.
We start off with a well known classic, "Training the Hunting Dog for the Field and Field Trials." by B. Waters. Published in 1908. He is also the author of "Modern Training" and "Fetch and Carry".
"Dogs, fighting in packs, perform at their best in securing their prey. Two dogs, fighting conjointly, making common cause against an animal, are relatively far more destructive than they are fighting singly, for while one engages the enemy in front the other has a comparatively unhindered opportunity to bite and maim the rear. Several dogs in a pack therefore are exceedingly formidable when battling against other animals. They time and direct their efforts most intelligently in support and in defense of each other.
In the concerted action of all in the attack on a large animal, each may perform quite a distinct part, yet all their efforts are directed to the attainment of the same end. Some may engage the animal in a sham attack in front while others, behind, hamstring it, or tear its flanks. Turn as it may, the attack is incessantly maintained, and every vulnerable point is seized and injured till the animal weakens. At the proper juncture the pack closes in on it and then the end soon comes."
Categories: Story Time With Morgan.
Your Wednesday Morning Wakeup
You've all heard this song before. Maybe you're a fan of Tarentino, or maybe you're a kiddie who has jammed to the Black Eyed Peas. Either way, this tune is beyond vintage, and beyond manly.
Categories: Wednesday Morning Wakeup.
This company has some seriously sweet vintage designs.
Every vintage loving house needs at least one of these baddass westclox clocks. They're ubiquitous and awesome all at the same time.
If you want to know more about how to search for some really cool vintage but albeit spage age clocks check this article on backgarage.
There are tons to find on ebay, but I found all of these suckers on Etsy:
Westclox vintage clocks on etsy
1. Vintage 50s Red Electric Wall Clock by Westclox
2. Retro Electric Alarm Clock by Westclox
3. Westclox Time and Date Flip Clock
Categories: Vintage Finds, etsy store finds.
While I think nobody wishes for the uninformed, big tobacco, heyday of yester-year....that's actually a myth..but lets run with it anyway, we can all agree ashtrays for cigars and cigarettes before the anti-smoking craze oozed coolness. Take a look.
The first one is from my small personal collection, it is a Viking Art Glass Orb Ashtray. It is quite valuable and I scored it at an estate sale for $2. That is not for sale.
The rest are from etsy shops(ahem... one mine). If you are shopping for antique/vintage ashtrays, etsy is the place for you. Hundreds of ashtrays for a fraction of the price you might pay at a collectors site. For $100 you can have yourself a great start of a collection. Enjoy the hunt!!
Categories: Moment of Manly Zen, Vintage Finds, etsy store finds, you need one.
This is the rise, where I learned to love IKEA, when I learned about it in Fight Club:
I know that this clip was supposed to be set up as emasculating and the opposite of manliness (hence the theme of fight club), but honestly, I thought their design looked great. And what did I know? I had never even thought about design before. To me they were fresh, foreign, and friendly. I loved them and touted their wonderfüülness to all those that would listen. That is until I started buying from them regularly. Since the start of my love affair, I've purchased 6 broken chairs (LITERALLY!), one broken dresser, and now finally this broken lamp (which I thought I had fixed with a manly dose of lock-tite). And so this is the fall, where I learn to hate it, when I actually use the stuff thats in that beautiful catalog.
I will never buy anything serious for my home from IKEA again. I will go there for the meatballs and the free babysitting but I will not shop there for anything other than cups and kitchen timers and fabric. They are the Wal-Mart for urbanites. Low prices and crappy faux modern design stolen from people who make real furniture. They actually have a sign up in their store that says something like, "we don't sacrifice quality in order to achieve low prices". Shah. As if. Tell that to my six broken chairs, the broken dresser, and my sad little lamp.
Categories: Design on the Screen, Rants.
What should be the title for my next Etsy listing?
Total Voters: 18
Loading ...These would be for our kitchen.
I like the look of the greenish tree ones. They remind me of a happy 1940s pre-war home. But maybe they're a tad bit too cartoonish and too grandmaish. The modern design of the second fabric is more mid century, for sure.
Which do you prefer?
Categories: Ask the Readers.
Like most lovers of metal, my first was Master of Puppets, and like most, a couple times a year it is the only album I listen to for days on end. I'm in the middle of one of those binges right now and let me tell ya its one crazy ride. At 3:15ish you will enter metal heaven. Enjoy!!
Categories: Friday Night Jams.
Two make a collection, right?
It was in ridiculous shape when I bought it from the estate sale. I put a good hour into washing, cleaning, and adjusting it. I used some steel wool to clean about 30 years of rust off of the blade, cage, and base. That was the long and tedious part. I opened up the insides, cleaned out the guts with some compressed air, and wiped the entire thing down with a magic eraser.
The thing runs like a champ with minimum rattle. I love it.
The best part about old vintage fans is how STRONG the flow of air is. No modern table fan can beat the power of this thing. THey don't make 'em like they used to, eh?
Categories: Estate Sale Hunting, Vintage Finds.
Meet lou9753. 
I don't know if Lou is the gentlemen in the above picture or not. Probably none of this qualifies as vintage...maybe the rock. Nonetheless!! This here is the bravest, most resourceful man on Etsy.
Categories: etsy store finds, you need one.
Twenty hearts. 20!
Proving once again that etsy is a shop mainly for women, this HIDEOUS "tube scarf/cowl" actually made it to the front page of etsy. Why? Who wears this crap? Who? I'll tell you who. If you're out an about and you're wearing this scarf, I'm for sure I could beat your ass. I'm a small guy, and I have no doubt that the guys who wear this would be crushed under my small and disgusted fists. Not that I'm the violent type. But I do think that I might actually get in a fight with any man who I see wearing this as I will be forced to rip it off of his swarthy five o'clock shadow neck.
Real Vintage French mail bag Beige Huge Wide Tube scarf/ Cowl
Categories: etsy store finds.
listening to The Ghost Inside by Broken Bells on @Grooveshark: http://tinysong.com/rLiK #musicmonday #nowplaying
Vintage Beehive Seltzer Bottle by vintageonthemake on Etsy http://bit.ly/almSIA General Electric Flip Clock Radio by vintageonthemake on Etsy http://bit.ly/aJKbrU Bell and Howell Filmo Auto Load 16mm Circa by vintageonthemake http://bit.ly/aGu0Tt
