Hello from the Big Easy

I'm in New Orleans for a conference this week, and on my first day here yesterday I managed to do a little exploring along Magazine Street, home to a lot of antique and artsy shops. I spent a little time talking to the proprietor of a new vintage modern store called Loisel. Vic, the owner, previously was co-owner of Neophobia. Lots of great furniture and lighting and accessories there. All I left with, though, was this wooden tiki mug.

Mr. Modtomic has blogged before about the Magazine Antique Mall, but sadly I didn't see much in the way of mid century there, except for a lot of tiki mugs and glassware, but I thought the pricing on everything in that place was generally steep. Maybe there's been some vendor turnover since Mr. M was last there.

I tried to stop in at Peaches, another vintage mod store on Magazine Street, but the owner was making a delivery and it was locked up.  Looking through the window I could see some nice lamps, chairs, and tables.

I also found some LPs at a couple of other stops.

These two will be great for my record wall next Christmas - the Col. Sanders album must have been a KFC giveaway back in the 1960s, and this Brenda Lee album is one I hadn't seen. Saw lots of others too, but I don't want to haul a ton of things home on the plane, so I was kinda picky. My other purchases were these four LPs for $15 - I think the Honey West album alone made this a good deal.  I've never seen an episode of that show - I'll have to try and find it.

Sorry I don't have more pics, but I was hurrying to cover a lot of ground on foot (no rental car).

Don't forget, if you haven't already entered the Uncle's lamp and magazine rack giveaway, there's still time.

A few recent finds

Here are a few recent things I picked up:

I had this paper mache toucan that sits on a perch and hangs in our tiki-themed screen porch.

And at my last flea market visit, I found two more.

This last one has the mange - not sure how to preserve it or repair it, but the price was great, and they look good hanging from the ceiling beams.

I also picked up some more masks for the tiki porch wall, including this one.

And this carved head.

I had to feed my wrought iron habit when I spotted this wheeled cart for $9.99 in a Salvation Army store in Parkersburg, WV, last weekend.  It cleaned up pretty well, but I plan to prime it and give it another coat of semi gloss black, and lubricate the wheels a bit.

It's a good time of year to pick up vintage Christmas stuff, and when I saw this plastic Santa and reindeer for $8, I bought it.  A little more than I wanted to pay, but also lower than I've seen similar pieces elsewhere.

Now that I have a great record player, I'm looking through stacks of records wherever I go.  This one turned up in the Goodwill store in Parkersburg, WV, for a buck.  I'd love to have the vintage TV and the stand on the album cover.  Never heard of this TV program, but it works with my collection of records from old TV shows.  I can't imagine a TV show today featuring some guy playing tunes on an organ, can you?!

I've found a few old album covers featuring vintage chairs, so when I saw this, it came home with me too.

These teenagers look like they're having fun.  This was probably pre-American Bandstand.

There are several of these Jonah Jones Quartet albums I've picked up recently, and the same two blondes show up on at least three of them.

I'll end with this great Rock Ola juke box I spotted in an antique store in downtown Parkersburg, WV.  It's a real beaut, but at $975, it didn't follow me home.  I have never seen a cheap jukebox, have you?

TV-themed Vinyl Record Albums

I would BEG my parents to let me stay up late to watch the Smothers Brothers TV show back in the day. Usually they said no.  I was too young to understand a lot of their cutting edge cultural humor, but I liked them anyway.

The overriding theme in our basement is classic TV shows from the 1950s and 60s.  They're reflected in many of my vintage lunchboxes, and also in old record album covers.  (I've also got a ton of old Whitman TV books that were aimed at kids in the mid century era, but I haven't figured out a good way to display those yet.)  I did find a good way to display the record albums - plastic hangers shaped like an upside-down "Y" that you nail to the wall then slide the album into. Most of the albums on display reflect TV shows that never got their own lunchbox tie in.  I love the color these add to the room!  Here are a few favorites...

Always wanted to visit Mayberry, and I'd love to have any of the "new" old Fords they had on the show.

We watched All In the Family every Saturday night, along with Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart

Loved Mr. Ed too






I was never a Dark Shadows fan, but I know how much of a cult following the soap opera had

Old Fred and son Lamont are my junk gathering inspiration!

I always liked The Twilight Zone, but was too young to remember 77 Sunset Strip.