Warning!

Earlier this year I bought a 50's toaster and in case anyone is inspired enough to look for their own I just wanted to give you a word of caution regarding old toasters.

Old toasters get very hot -they aren't like today's toasters where they have lowered the temperature to reduce the chance of burns and fires from things coming into contact with the hot surface.  What is much more of a concern is asbestos.

I saw my first asbestos toaster today at a thrift shop.  I would recommend if anyone is getting a toaster to do their research or even get their toaster asbestos-tested by a professional.   The toaster I found today was an easy catch as the asbestos was blatant.  The heating coils are wrapped around a pale grey square that looks papery in texture.  I could see the asbestos fibres around the edges.  I took the toaster off the shelf and alerted a store employee.

It's something to be cautious about when buying vintage!  It should always be considered when buying items for your kitchen and even more so when you are buying products that are meant to come into contact with heat.  Old vintage oven mitts are another thing to watch out for.

Stay safe!

Hello There!

 Work has slowed down on the kitchen.  I still have no counter tops but there's a good excuse for that.  We had been on a road trip for a month.  When we got home we walked into the house and the first thing that hit us was the smell.  Since it hadn't been lived in in a month -no humans or dogs to stink up the place- you could smell the wood and plaster.  It smelled old, musty and alive.

With all the fun we had visiting the Wild West on our trip, I didn't forget to bring back some souvenirs for the house.  I found some great stuff, here are a few:

I found this Holt Howard Christmas camel at goodwill.

I got this pair of Norcrest Asian figures for 5 bucks.

I got this Norcrest bluebird ceramic in Idaho Falls from a pair of grandmas who have their own shop.

I never did do any update on the stove hood installation.   It's amazing to me that it was still in it's box after 50 years just waiting for someone like me to use it.  The cupboard is Ikea with our own handle put on it to match the others.  There needs to be a little spacer to fill in the slot between the top cupboard and the wall.  It's not the best picture but I assure you it is level and straight.  It's my photography skills that are to blame.

Hey Good Lookin' Part Two

It's startin' to look more like a kitchen!  I'm so giddy!  Weeeeeeeee!

Top cupboards are in.  Yeah, not much cupboard space but I'll make do with what I have.  There just wasn't enough space to put the other cupboard I have in.  What-not shelves will go on both the left and right side of the window with some extra open shelving built above the fridge.  The large one piece unit is actually suppose to go over the sink area but like I said before, you make do with what you have.  Isn't that what living retro is about?

To the left of the one piece unit there is enough space between it and the wall to build a wine rack - NEED one of those!

The bottom cupboards need to be leveled and attached to the wall still.  I'm also one inch shy of being able to install a bottom cupboard that I got from a friend's kitchen before they renovated it.  It was 50's of course but I'll find another use for it somewhere else.  Instead Cody will have to build something to fill the space and I have extra chrome handles so it should blend in with the rest of the cupboards.

A bit of work is ahead which is sure to be a pain in the ass and I'm hoping "we" can work on counter tops next weekend.  By "we" I mean "Cody".  ;) Every job we've done so far has been split 50/50 but the rest, with all the woodworking, is going to have to be all his responsibility.  And boy, does he have his work cut out for him.

I also neglected to mention that the cupboards came with the original installation manual.  So neat!

  

Hey, Good Lookin'

Whatcha gotta cookin'?  How's about cookin' something up with me?

We (and an extra pair of strong arms) managed to get her up the stairs and squeezed in through the kitchen doorway.  She's just as beautiful as the cars made in the 50's and weighs nearly as much.

To the left on the stove there will be counter top and storage space built.

I found these goodies months ago but thought I'd show them now as I haven't found anything else worthwhile.  The first is a cookbooklet from the 30's with 51 recipes and the other is a portable mixer in the original box with the instructions and warrantee card from '63.  Great deal too!  Seven bucks!

Holy Seat!

It seems my blog entries are getting shorter..... but they sure are sweeter, wouldn't ya say?   I haven't really had the urge to blab on and on about trivial renovation (and life!) calamities and so you've been spared.

I will say this though.  Cody's off to Sweden for a week and the heat wave has made me and the dogs miserable.  Today I was finally able to un-stick myself from the leather couch or my other favourite place during this heat, the basement floor.

I got this step stool last week and decided today I'd get down to re-upholstering it.  The vinyl was repulsive looking and I had some bark cloth-type material lying around.  The chrome was rusty and the steps were missing the rubber that was once glued on.  I neglected to take a  photo of the chair before I started the project, believe me when I say it was worthy of the dumpster bin but here's the nasty vinyl:

And here's a close up of the chrome and steps.  I had already removed the remaining rubber and sanded the first step.  This should give you an idea of what I was working with.

As I took off the old vinyl I was ecstatic to find that they had upholstered OVER the EXISTING vinyl!!  How lucky am I??  Well, that made my job a helluva lot easier.  I scrubbed the dirt out and reassembled the chair.  The grey vinyl will have to be replaced as it's faded and there's a small hole but it'll do for now.  Lookie:

Running Water!

Sweet!!  I no longer wash the dishes in the bathroom sink now that we got the base unit in!  We just need to lug up the 200 tonne stove from the garage and I'll be content for awhile.
 

The rest of the cupboards will go up momentarily but there's no rush.  I need to sand and paint them all and Cody needs to make counter tops with the laminate I found off craigslist.  We got lucky in that the colour goes perfectly with the kitchen.

There are only a few more things on my wish list.  I would love an old table top radio and a clock.  I'm going to make the clock because most of the retro clocks I find are plug-ins and I don't want a long wire hanging down the wall.  If you've seen the flowers I made a month back (I know grandma C and mom haven't), I'm going to make a clock based on those designs.

BYE!

Firsts

Well, Summer finally arrived in Vancouver.  We used it as an excuse to enjoy the weather and slack off, hence the lack of blog entries for weeks and weeks.  But now I'm back so please check back once a week to see what's going on.

There were some first times for me these past few months; first time finishing drywall, first wallpapering job, first window box and tomorrow will be first time laying down a floor.  Do you remember YOUR first time?  ;)   I will remember mine forever.  There is a huge feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction when you complete a project you thought was way over your head.   The feeling will only get better over the next several weeks.

                                                   

                                                    


I wallpapered the switch cover and outlets:

Some finds over the past few weeks:

Aunt Martha's Days of the Week Transfers

Decals for the fridge

shelf paper

Copyright 1955

Copyright 1952

Copyright 1941

Cowboy material.  Not sure what to make with it.

FIRSTS!!

First Menschik-Goldman

First Lefton

First Enesco

Goodies

 Finally something old enough that could have been in a 1941 kitchen; classic art deco font and colours.  This cookbook is excellent.  Dated 1938.

I found MORE Holt Howard.  These cutting board and owl mugs are from the 70's.

Devonware chalkware dancer.

Adorable ceramic Asian couple.

Let's Live It Up!

Housewife's Week

A typical week for the average housewife in the 40's and 50's went a little something like this:

Monday-Washday

Tuesday-Ironing

Wednesday-Sewing

Thursday-Market

Friday-Cleaning

Saturday-Baking

Sunday-Day of rest

You can find all sorts of cute things like embroidered dish towels and cutting boards that recite the weekly chore list.  There are some variations to the schedule but it would seem a lot of time was devoted to laundry. I've always wanted to write out a detailed weekly chores list but have never gotten around to it. The idea pops into my head while I'm busy doing something else and 5 seconds later I've forgotten. I'm going to adapt the weekly to-do list to suit myself which will include a gardening day and a dog grooming day.

What a coincidence that today (Tuesday-ironing day) I found an ironing board. I kinda, sorta wrecked our walnut dining room table ironing on it one day. Even if you don't iron I think an old metal ironing board would look great re-purposed as a place to mix drinks on the patio. You can find them for so cheap and when you need the space they can be put away. You could even glue some fringe or raffia along the edge.

   

And yes, I'm still working on the floor. Actually I've taken a 3 day break from sniffing old glue. I've spent 15 hours scraping the old linoleum backing off the wood floor. This requires pouring boiling water over the spots to soften the glue and if that doesn't work I put my iron on steam and steam the sections 10-20 seconds before the glue softens right up and I can scrape it off. It has been a very tedious task. I have another 3 hours left of that and then it's sanding, filling in any gouges and sealing the wood floor before the linoleum tiles are laid. The subfloor must be smooth before the tiles are laid because any imperfections like bumps and crevasses will show through the new tile work.

Here's a few other vintage finds I've hunted down the past 3 weeks:

Tupperware measuring spoons sitting on a vinyl place mat-

Holt Howard string holder. String holders were pretty common back in the day. The back is hollow to hold a ball of string and you pull the string out through the hole. The cat's bow allows you to keep a small pair of scissors handy for cutting the string. *BRAG ALERT* I got this for $1!! Holt Howard is very expensive. Their designs are amazing-I just love their condiment jars.  I still can't believe I got this for a buck.

Chalkware-

  

Bagel and lox serving plate (you stack the bagels on the dowels)-

Pickin' At It

Just pickin' at things here and there. The old vinyl linoleum doesn't want to let go. It's hanging on for dear life as we're stabbing it and peeling it up with paint scrapers. I imagine I'll be picking at it all week. *sigh*

The thought of all the cool stuff I got these past few weeks cheers me up though.

I got this Danesi chalkware sculpture for $2.




Circa 1958 Tupperware salad tongs. I SO needed these!




Pink Glasbake mug and Fire King ashtray.



This Fire King splash proof mixing bowl and lotus plate belonged to a 99 year old woman who recently went to a nursing home. I got this and some gardening tools all for $5. The folks looking after her estate were hilarious and talked my ears off. They told me that the lady has outlived her children and grandchildren and still has plenty of life left in her. Amazing.




Picked up two creamers but I can't decide which I like best.




Some of you haven't seen the patio chair I refinished. I found it in an alley so I brought it home, sanded it, painted it and made a seat-all from materials I already had lying around. I even used Cody's circular saw to cut the wood. Those things freak me out.













Pictures of the mess I've made, to come shortly.