Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Moby Dick Typed On Toilet Paper
According to the all caps eBay listing, this copy of Herman Melville's Moby Dick was typed onto six rolls of 2-ply Cottonelle toilet paper for the noblest of reasons: to win a bet.
But ours is really, really not to wonder why, just to wonder.
Moby Dick on toilet paper, opening bid 399.95 $999.95, auction ends Jan. 29 [ebay]
Monday, January 16, 2012
The Europallet By Bunker Hill
Swedish architect Daniel Franzen conceived of this low table, made of high-grade Swedish pine in the exact dimensions of a shipping pallet, a couple of years ago, while working on a pine-clad hipster store in Stockholm.
Supposedly, it finally went into production last year, but I can't find any evidence of it. So I guess we are all left to make our own. Maybe make a stack of them, because that's a pretty low table.
Europallet: Low table in Swedish pine [bunkerhill.se]
Saturday, January 14, 2012
1950s Mobil Coin-Operated Pegasus Ride
While Mobil's friendly full-service men are busy filling your tank, cleaning the windows, checking the tires and sweeping your car's floor with a hand-sized whisk broom, you're free to stretch your legs, purchase cigarettes and enjoy hot coffee in a paper cup, complimentary at the cashier. If you're traveling with a little one, why not treat him or her to a ride on the famous Mobilgas winged Pegasus!
Yeah, is this beautiful or what? Reportedly only five were ever made. Saturday, January 07, 2012
1956 Mobil Station, Anaheim, Calif.
The Mobil gas station that was once located across the street from Disneyland was a marvel of mid-century design by Whitney Smith and Wayne Williams. With the giant floating canopies balanced precariously on spindles, underneath a fire-engine red flying Pegasus, the station was an eye-catching roadside masterpiece - even catching the eye of famed architectural photographer Julius Shulman. Do we need to even mention that it's long gone now?
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Immaculate Frank Lloyd Wright House for $578,500
Well, if you just bought an Echo Park fixer, this should leave you with an upset stomach. An extraordinary - but modest in scale - FLW house sold for $578,500.
Striking design created with modest materials and modest craftsmanship. Those visible screw holes filled with putty makes me feel better and worse about everything I have ever built.
At Wright's (via Wallpaper*)
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Fuji Pavilion Bank
The pavilions in Osaka's Expo '70 were toyishly futuristic enough without being turned into actual toys.
Here's a little plastic bank in the shape of Fuji Bank's pavilion, which was made from sixteen 4m x 72m pneumatic tubes, lashed together with 50cm-wide webbing, designed by Yutaka Murata and engineered by Mamoru Kawaguchi.
富士グループパビリオン/富士銀行貯金箱 [yahoo jp auctions]
Expo 70 Fuji Group Pavilion [tensinet.com]
Friday, December 23, 2011
Wood Prototype of Airplane Engine
Does it have valves? Compression? Are the spark plugs threaded in? Was it a true functional prototype to test some aspect of performance or is it (more likely) a teacher's model?
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Aluminum British [?] Officer's Furniture
yeah, "some" scratches. I'd call that hammered aluminum, but still:
Lot 451"Officer's Armoire and Bed"? Officer of what awesome aluminum army? [via skinner auctions]
Officer's Armoire and Bed
Aluminum
England, first half 20th century
Rectangular form armoire with cut corners and single door, interior fitted with a clothing pole, Bakelite handle; rectangular head and footboard with bed rails; some scratches and dents; ht. 71 3/4, 36 1/2, wd. 39 1/8, 57 1/4, armoire dp. 18, rail spacing 52 1/4 in.
Estimate $1,200-1,800
Sold for $3,437
Friday, December 16, 2011
Sign Painter Movie
As an aficionado of hand lettering, I am extremely interested in Faythe's new sign painter documentary. Having known a number of sign painters, they are categorically an interesting bunch and should make for an interesting documentary.
John Downer with his sandwich board Halloween costume, which, is pretty cool and all, but look at that $15 a hour sign behind him. My goodness.
Whew. That is serious work.
Doc Guthrie's class at LA Trade Tech makes me feel better about the world.
Follow the movie's progress
Support the film and order a shirt here
Support Your Local Sign Painter
As an aficionado of hand lettering, I am extremely interested in Faythe's new sign painter documentary. Having known a number of sign painters, they are categorically an interesting bunch and should make for an interesting documentary.
John Downer with his sandwich board Halloween costume, which, is pretty cool and all, but look at that $15 a hour sign behind him. My goodness.
Whew. That is serious work.
Doc Guthrie's class at LA Trade Tech makes me feel better about the world.
Follow the movie's progress
Support the film and order a shirt here
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Alec Baldwin Kicked Off Plane; Carrying J. Spade
I believe that Alec Baldwin and I carry the same bag. Beyond that, other coincidences? Maybe.
From Spade
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
House for Hermès
I am so pleased with this collaboration that I welled up. Seriously, I am so proud of our boys from Delaware.
Mickey Drexler noted in his New Yorker profile, Hermès was the only brand that he could think of that delivered on the luxury promise. Hermès is one of my favorite brands even though I don't own a single item from their storied line. And crazypants House is a perfect fit. Who else would Hermès Japan pick to work with?
Interestingly, lots of current House collaborations seem to be Japan based. To risk a cultural stereotype, I truly believe that the Japanese have a handle on understanding the core value of products and brands.
Often, companies embarrass themselves when they do a retro take and miss the point. It ends up being a pastiche and points out in Technicolor that they never understood the value in the first place. It is a risk they probably don't understand. They could have done an original bad design and the only harm would have been bad design. Not a crime as there is plenty of bad design. I'm guilty of bad design.
But, to mess with a classic and get it wrong, that harms their company and throws mud on the original. Sure, that Saarinen chair is perfect and untouchable in a pure world, but you can only see so many knock-offs without influencing the original.
Hermès has the daunting job of redefining their own classics. They have over a hundred and fifty years of superlative taste and exquisite craftsmanship. And when the Japanese store needs the best, they get the best. That's why I am so proud of my brothers at House.
"...when we make and sell something in Japan, it has to be REAL, or else the buyer isn't truly satisfied." -- James Jebbia, founder SupremeHouse for Hermès
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
A-Frame Doll House
A perfect gift for the cool kids on your Christmas list: a miniature mountain lodge you can build yourself! From Sunset Magazine, December 1961.
Both sides of the roof open out flat on the floor, and fold up for easy storage.
Built of 1/4" plywood, and pine molding, with a sheet of heavy clear plastic for the windows. The roof is painted with one thin coat of brick-red paint, and the shingles are simply drawn in with soft pencil and a T-square. So easy!Thursday, December 08, 2011
Gingerbread Geodesic Dome
LA design firm Scout Regalia has whipped up a sweet diversion for those of us who like to play with our food. This spin on the traditional gingerbread house is built using a pre-cut template. If Hansel and Gretel had a planetarium, this would be it.
Monday, December 05, 2011
President Eisenhower's Partio Kitchen/BBQ Cart
As if the General Electric Partio wasn't awesome enough for having a portable stove, oven, rotisserie, and charcoal BBQ grill, all in one convenient cart; this one comes from the Palm Springs home of President Eisenhower, who called it "the most fantastic thing you ever saw."
Lot 351: General Electric "Partio Kitchen/BBQ" Cart, est. $5,000-7,000 [lamodern.com]
The Cottage the Eisenhowers Called Home [palmspringslife.com]
more shots of another Partio, NOS, sold [1stdibs.com]
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Western Soundscape Archive
Want to get away from it all, right this very minute?
Digital Archivists Jeff Rice and Kenning Arlitsch, of the University of Utah, are recording the disappearing sounds of the West. Their vast, and still growing, audio collection shares an astounding variety of natural soundscapes, including nature's most endangered sound- silence.
Among my many favorite sounds: Arctic ice cracking, and luxurious -and lengthy- recordings of the Pointe Reyes seashore, and the Hoh River in Olympic National Park. Stunning!
Western Soundscape ArchiveTuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Malcolm Forbes' Queen Victoria Toilet Brush Holder
Maybe the Guardian is focused on the late Malcolm Forbes' framed assortment of Queen Victoria's stockings and bloomers because Queen Victoria-shaped toilet brush holders are commonplace, the country house water closet equivalent of garden gnomes. It's all news to me.
But I will bet you two shillings and a bob for the driver that those bloomers did not always stay in the frame, if you know what I'm sayin'.
Queen Victoria's bloomers up for auction [guardian]
Lot 418
NOVELTY EARTHENWARE TOILET BRUSH HOLDER moulded in the form of a seated Queen Victoria, Estimate £100-150 [lyonandturnbull.com]
PDF - Sale 338: The Forbes Collection at Old Battersea House [lyonandturnbull.com]
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Handlebar Chandelier By Wilfrid Wood
I know it's been really quiet around here lately, but when someone goes to the trouble of making an awesome chandelier out of three bicycle handlebars, what can I do but post it?
Wilfrid Wood's handlebar chandelier was one of many pieces made from everyday stuff in an exhibit at KK Outlet titled Object Abuse. As pretty much the sweetest project there, this one probably sold, for the benefit of some local London school. [via an ambitious project collapsing]
KK Outlet's Object Abuse flickr photoset [flickr]
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Singing Bird Pistols
I have absolutely no idea what's going on here, but apparently, singing bird pistols are the rarest and most complicated examples of musical watchmaking automaton duelling instruments in history? $5.8 million for the only known pair at Christie's Hong Kong last month.
The Only Pair of Matching Singing Bird Pistols, Attributed to Frères Rochat [christies.com via my stepfather spence]
Dutch State House Style Bon-Bons
While investigating the sudden, massive budget cuts that could decimate the Dutch art community, I have become kind of fascinated by the new Rijkshuisstijl, the Central Government Visual Identity.
The Netherlands government has a new logo and corporate identity, with unified style guides for over 125 different agencies, foundations, and organizations. 
These images, of State Gum and bon-bons from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and
Food Quality, are from a gallery of examples of correctly executed swag.
Temco Aircraft Corporation Salesman Sample of Anti-Radiation Missle
At auction with a modest estimate of $300-$500.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Garage Sale Report - June 4th, 2011
In time, your projects grow larger. Not just more refined or sophisticated, but also physically larger. Size translates to epic. Therefore, an interest in material handling becomes more than just passing interest. The lever and the wheel as well as the work multiplying gear and pulley.
 |
| 419 E Third - Former home of M.E. Canfield |
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| Per Google, the last home of M.E. Canfield |
Intense desire for strip malls and apartment buildings have made it difficult for specialists in dollies and conveyors to compete in this world of 'highest and best use' real estate prices. Sure, we can moan and groan about it, but when it comes time to sell your property, you too will want El Pollo Loco land lease prices not fork lift storage or retail nursery prices.
Monday, June 06, 2011
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