One of the first things I did was post about it on one of the MCM groups I'm a member of. This particular group was originally started for education about mid century modern design in architecture, furniture, pottery textiles, etc. No kitsch... no clown paintings or chalkware fish and bubbles for the bathroom wall. There was a separate group for that, but I got kicked off of it for, apparently, offending the moderators. I know I didn't break any rules.
Be that as it may, over the months, the MCM design group has seen more and more people join (it has over 20,000 members now) posting more often about their garage sale/curbside/dumpster finds (and some of those finds are quite spectacular ... it's amazing what some people think are junk and will throw away)... Still, I didn't know if these folks were violating the group's guidelines, or whether the group's very magnanimous moderator was being accommodating. So I issued a disclaimer to the moderators and shared my find:
DC, I beg forgiveness in advance. I'm throwing myself on your mercy, 'cause I'm knowingly and on purpose gonna break the rules of this group. I promise I'll never do it again.
LOOK WHAT I BOUGHT YESTERDAY! An authentic, genuine VLADIMIR KAGAN 1950s china hutch! For FIFTY DOLLARS! Just look at those shapely Kagan legs! Have you ever seen any furniture legs so beautiful?
Okay, so I'm joking about Kagan. And it wasn't made in Denmark or anywhere else in Scandinavia. It's a Stanley, made by hicks and rednecks in North Carolina. I don't care. I myself am a hick-slash-redneck (and proud of it) from a long line of Blue Ridge hillbillies, and I love this little hutch! I've wanted one of these for soooo long; but the only ones I ever found were either (a) too expensive or (b) too big. This puppy is just right! I am soooo excited!
This bad boy really was only $50. It's just 3 feet wide and 5 feet tall and will fit nicely in my small dining room. Has some dings in the veneer, but otherwise the finish appears to be in remarkably good shape and will probably need only minimal restoring. The whole thing is very dusty -- I think it has been stored for a while.Got some great responses from other group members. I guess I'm a better comedienne than I thought!
A corner of one glass door is broken, meaning I'll probably have to replace both of them. Darn. The area in front of the shelves is too small to serve as a sideboard, so I'll have to get something smallish to use as a console/cedenza. Darn again. But that's just life in MCM obsession-ville.
And those may not be Kagan legs, but they're still awful cute. I can't wait to get it all cleaned and fixed up so I can put my Confederate flag plates and tumblers and my collection of rebel soldier figurines on display ....
JUST JOKIN'!
I don't have any Confederate flag plates and tumblers or a collection of rebel soldier figurines. I'm gonna put my mama's china in it -- not Franciscan Starburst, alas, Syracuse china Old Ivory Nimbus Platinum which is very beautiful and ought to look like dynamite behind those glass doors...
Did I mention that I'm SOOOO excited?!!?
This is an Old Ivory Nimbus Platinum dinner plate.You really can't tell how beautiful it is from this picture.Here are some more pieces of this beautiful pattern at Replacements: Old Ivory Nimbus Platinum
I have eight place settings of this stuff, and several serving pieces. My mama bought it with S&H Green Stamps in the 50s and 60s. It's mid-century, but not modern. Not like Franciscan Starburst. But it is beautiful and it was my mama's....
I'll be putting Mama's crystal on display in the hutch, too. Fostoria American. I have quite a collection of this -- which she also purchased with Green Stamps. I'm not sure why she chose such a heavy, antique crystal to go with her delicate china... but somehow, on her table, it worked!
As for the Confederate figurines, plates, and such, I'm thinking I need to buy some and put them, along with books and plants, in shadow boxes in my writing room... like this, but smaller...
Houses, furniture, textiles, even cars, were so much cooler and more fun back in the day. The two decades or so following WWII were times of optimism. People had something positive to look forward to in the future, unlike today, where the future looks bleak and in decline, for as far as the eye can see...
No comments:
Post a Comment