New To The Shop This Week

Lots of new stuff in this week!

As always it's a variety, have a look and tell me your favourite/s.

 

Super-fine hand blown glass perfume bottle.

 

It has a very unusual motif on it, I wonder if any of you have seen one like this before?

Fantastic 60s serving platter, complete with cocktail picks.

1920s quick cooker by Grimwades-apparently a valuable item these days, see below

I love the instructions all over the lid!

 

My latest favourite 50s dress. It has the original belt intact but we covered it with this wide piece of 50s ribbon for better colour contrast.

Fabric close-up.

The weather has really turned in the last couple of weeks (todays high temp on the Mountain was only 19, which here is considered practically freezing) so I took a few furs up. this is a super-snuggly fake fur coat.

 

This is real though, musquash with squirrel tails, quite unusual.

 

Rare Art Deco solid brass dinner gong with red bakelite in the base, pardon my reflection in the chime there!

I have yet to find a retro dinner gong but I really want one. If you have one, please show and tell!

Assorted Vintage Pretties

Hello my lovelies!

As usual I've had my eye on lots of goodies lately, sometimes I'm looking to buy, sometimes I'm looking to see what things are worth and sometimes I look at a piece over and over again just because it's so beautiful.

I keep lots of pictures for reference, here are some of my favourites from the last few months.

 

1920s wool swimsuit with all original bakelite buttons

Bakelite bangle which contains a compact - see below

Most of these items were out of my price range on any level, but isn't it nice to sometimes window-shop just for the sake of learning and inspiration?

I'm determined to get one of these big 50s American lamps one day!

Taxidermy purse with the body of a frog...let's all say it together now, EWWW!

 

Blue monkey fur coat, apparently very rare.

 

Such gorgeous colours, I know not all my readers like or approve of fur but I love it and wear it as much as I can.

 

Spectacular lucite box purse with inset flowers to the domed lid.

Fantastic Art Deco lamp base, etched satin glass. One day...!

Huge collection of midcentury Arabia finel enamelware.

 

Tiger print fur bag with lucite handles and frame, an excellent-ly fun piece.

Art Deco mirror with piecrust edges and little shelf. I'm dying to get one of these but I don't know where I'd put it.

Yet another lamp, it doesn't look too flash like this but look below, when it's lit up.

 

How cool is that!

Bakelite & Xylonite Restoration - Tutorial

Today I'll show you how to restore vintage plastics...well, bakelite and xylonite anyway. For those not familiar with the name, xylonite is the celluloid that is made to look like ivory. Celluloid is derived from cellulose nitrate, and was invented around 1876. Xylonite came into being not long afterwards but experienced the height of its popularity in the 1920s and 1930s.

I bought this Art Deco bakelite box for resale a little while ago, and while I was pretty happy with it, the top was dirty and dull but the interior still retained its original shine. (I'm very big on original shine with my vintage plastics).

The pic below was taken in full sun held at an angle, so you see how dull it was. (I think it's more noticeable in person though).

First step, to clean it thoroughly. I gave it a quick wipe over with Domestos on a soft sponge. You can use Domestos on most bakelite pieces, but you need to be *quick*. It releases the phenols and dulls the surface so it's a quick wipe and rinse only.

See the dark corner in the picture above? I was so quick that I missed a bit and had to re-do it. Better to do this than be too heavy handed though, as there's no going back.

The corner I missed at another angle. This pic was also taken in full sun- see how much the Domestos bites into the surface.

I then rub this polish in with a clean, soft cotton cloth, using circular motions. This only takes about 3 minutes; nice and quick!

Hey presto, restoration of original shine and completely even colour.

And this is what the interior of the box looks like, which I haven't touched. 

Next piece is a nice 1910s or 20s xylonite tie box. I thought I might be able to clean this up enough to put it on ebay this week, but that turned out not to be the case.

I'm pretty fussy with the vintage plastics I put on ebay now. With xylonite, I like to appeal to the big collectors, and they're getting fussy because they've already bought all the common pieces in average condition.

This view of the side of the box shows the original shine, and this is how the top of the box will look when I've finished with it.

With xylonite you sand back the surface by hand, with this fine steel wool. You need to use grade 0000 only. It comes in this sort of roll. Pull a chunk off and sand along the grain, as if it were timber. It takes quite a bit of work, as this steel wool is very fine and therefore not very strong, but the main thing is that it doesn't scratch into the celluloid.

I then applied the paste polish (above), to restore the shine. This is what I got it back to.

Not good photos as I took them at night, but the remaining spots are more obvious than you can see here.

Overall a great improvement, and if you have a piece thats just a bit stained/dirty this works really well.

New in the Shop This Week

It's been a busy little week for me and I've been a little slack with my blog for the last few days. I've been reading and commenting on all of yours but have just been too tired to post on my own.

I'd like to give new followers a big hello and welcome- please don't be shy to comment, creating community and making new friends is what blogging is all about, so please join in!

I did my regular Thursday in the shop this week and spent lots of time taking pics for you all to see. We sell such a wide variety of stuff it's hard to decide what to show you first...but then I couldn't go past this fab 60s brooch.

It's totally huge, nearly 2 inches long and just in from France. Quite seriously, I only just restrained myself from keeping this one...I think I can feel feel a ladybug THING coming on!!

Vintage cheetah print felt hat, whether it's 50s or 60s I'm not sure, I just think it's a winner.

 

1950s cobalt blue Czechoslovakian hand painted decanter set with original labels. We only stock very selected glassware and this was too pretty to resist. I can imagine someone giving this as a gift for Mothers Day (which is upcoming here).

Bakelite and lucite vanity tray and trinket boxes in mint condition.

 

Bakelite is one of my very favourite things to collect, buy and sell. This set has a strong Art Deco feel to it but I'd say it's 1950s.

 

And this. Possibly the smallest celluloid picture frame ever made!

Can you spot it on this dressing table? Oh yes, and the dressing table is new too, it's a 1930s silky oak childs dresser, great for small apartments.

Although the handles are metal they are original and have fantastic detail to them.

 

1950s Nally Ware picnic set.

Love the original sticker inside (but then I always love having the original sticker or label or box!), the set is complete except for the 2 thermoses which are easily replaced.

And check out the shape of this Art Deco side or smokers table? Apologies for the not-so-great pic...things look really good in person when you're in the shop and sometimes they just don't photo up so well at all because of our strong sun.

 

Do you love this catalin bakelite handle or what?!

 

Ooh and Dolly has a new dress too.

 

It's a late 40s/early 50s fully lined crepe evening gown. Specially made for someone by Gardams, an upmarket Brisbane bridal couturier, I'd say it has never been worn, as it is in mint condition and still has the spare sequins attached in a bag to the RHS shoulder. 

As you might expect, the back closure is an intricate series of press studs (snaps) and hook and eyes over a metal zipper, not unlike the 1940s wedding dress I showed you a little while ago.

Another Art Deco table, this time with inlaid 'tulip pattern' veneer.

 

And more magazines! Yes it's been a virtual magazine fever around me lately...but as I've mentioned before, things come in runs.

I got a whole stack of these 1960s House and Garden mags. They are British overseas editions.

 

No matter which country you live, I'm sure you can relate to one of these currencies...and, like me, wish that these prices were still true!