Mahogany Console / Dining Table

I am nearing the end of refinished furniture pieces to share from my busy summer of rescuing unwanted vintage pieces.

Today I want to share this Mahogany Console table.  The top of the table looked very much like the top of the unrestored Montgomery Ward console radio that I shared a few days ago.  This little table would be great for someone with limited space in their home.  Unfold the top and reset the legs, and it becomes a beautiful Mahogany dining table.  The top picture shows the table after I had stripped and sanded it down.  I forgot to take before pictures of most of the pieces I worked on this summer.  I was able to use the left over stain and lacquer from restoring the 1946 Majestic Console Radio to finish this table.  Now that it is finished, I am using it to replace the particle board ready-to-assemble computer desk that I used for several years.  It is a little smaller than the desk, but everything fits neatly on top, with the tower sitting on the floor.

Yes, I still use a desktop computer.  I bought a new one this past May.  I just can't justify spending the same amount of money on a laptop that is less powerful than my desktop, especially when I really don't need the portability of a laptop.

Replacement Seats and Backs for Chrome Dinette Sets

 

Have your vinyl dinette chairs seen better days?  I remembered my parents replacing the seats and backs on their dinette set back in the 80's to an ugly brown high-back design that was more stylish for the time.  Curious to see if replacements were still available, I started searching.  What I found is the Seats and Stools website: http://www.seatsandstools.com/classic-&-highback-c-24_15_39.html from which the above photos come.  You can order the seat and back set in a single color, or in the great two tone style shown above.  You can also order the set in a highback style is you so desire, although they only come in a single color.  After playing around with their site for a little bit, I think you can customize your two tone set, so if your kitchen is not some standard color scheme, you can create a chair to go with it.  Looking for blue with yellow inserts?  I think you can do it here.  How about hunter green with dusty rose inserts?  I think you can do it.  Are your chairs rusted so that you need new frames as well?  They have them.  I really enjoyed browsing their site.  You can even order a complete new chair set if you are needing dinette chairs for a table that you have found (like the gray cracked-ice Formica chrome table I got for $3 at a garage sale a while back).

Looks like standard single color seat and back sets are $44.99 and the two-tone sets are $48.99.  Not a bad price to breathe some new life into those vintage sets that we all love so much!  Complete new chair sets are in the $120 - $180 range depending on the style you choose - the dinette chairs range from $120- $125.

The site has many other types of seating available as well, including bar stools.

I haven't had a lot of time to search for other resources for seat and back replacement cushions.  If I find more, I'll post them.  If you know of others, please let me know!

Please note that I have no affiliation with the above website.  I am posting only because I found their products interesting and something that I thought the retro restoration community might be interested in.

Vintage Montgomery Ward Finds

I love Montgomery Ward. Maybe my fascination has something to do with the fact that my father worked for them in their Kansas City location for a short period in the early 1960s. Country boy at heart, he couldn't stand the city and after several months returned to the farm and small town life.

Vintage Men's Hats

Whatever happened to the days where not only women wore hats, but men wore them as well?  I feel like I have missed something important by not living through this period.  Is it possible to long for "the good old days" if you didn't even live through those good old days?

I found these hats several years ago at an estate auction (where most of my finds come from).  The auctioneer couldn't get a bid on them.  The top photo shows a Churchill hat with it's original box.  I really like the feather band around this hat.  The middle picture is a Champ Hats box, which holds the hat in the bottom photo, which is from Saxson.  I didn't take a picture of them together since they really aren't a set.  I really don't know anything else about them.

Have a great Friday!

Try Dr. Pepper Hot

One of my earliest mid-century finds is this "Try Dr. Pepper Hot" carafe.  I stumbled across this at a local flea market.  I had never heard of having Dr. Pepper hot, let alone a carafe like this.  My intrigue with this find won out and it came home with me.  I think I paid somewhere in the $10 - $15 range for it, but I'm not sure.  It has been in my collection for 10 plus years now, and although I don't search for these too often, I haven't stumbled across another carafe.  I have found mugs and advertising for hot Dr. Pepper on the internet though.  I haven't been curious enough to try this yet, as I usually don't enjoy hot drinks, occasionally some hot tea and once in a while hot chocolate or warm milk.  So, if you have tried hot Dr. Pepper, let me know how it is!

Vintage Wallpaper

While doing some searching for mid-century wallpaper a while back I stumbled across designyourwall.com and their collection of "Retro Vintage" wallpaper.  I really liked the above design...I can just picture it in a kitchen with some soft yellow metal cabinets and appliances.  Their prices seem a bit high, in my opinion, but a small bit of wallpaper can really add some style to a space.  Could be a great deal for a small kitchen or other small space, depending on your favorite design.  Anyway, if you are interested, check out the other fun designs on their website (http://www.designyourwall.com/store/Retro-Vintage-wallpaper-c-33.html).

I also really liked this design, which I think would look great with a set of vintage pink appliances.

Please note that I have no affiliation with the above website.  I am posting only because I found their products interesting.

Montgomery Ward Airline Console Radio - Unrestored

Normally I would not post a project that has not been completed.  However, I am making and exception to my rule today after learning of the great dumpster diving victory of fellow blogger Maria from over at Shallow Thoughts from Iowa (http://shallowthoughtsfromiowa.blogspot.com/2009/10/dumpster-diving.html).  Maria and her husband happened across a Capehart Panamuse console radio from 1941 or 1942 in a dumpster and they saved it.  The cabinet is a little rough in places, but it has great potential.  You can see all of her pictures of this great find at her Flickr set (http://www.flickr.com/photos/41733092@N00/sets/72157622580474092/).

I am sharing my radio, pictured above in it's as-found condition, to try to encourage those of you who come across these old pieces to save them.  I stumbled across this radio at the end of my shopping in the fall city-wide garage sale and was able to pick it up for only $5.  Most people looked at it and turned their noses up at it.  The top is covered in scratches, gouges, black marks, and even a place where there is a small piece of the veneer missing.  I love a great challenge!  This is very close to the condition that my 1946 Majestic Console was in when I purchased it early this summer.  I posted the final, restored product in this post.  If you haven't read my post on the Majestic radio, follow the link and read about it.  You have to look past the scratches and flaws to the bones of the cabinet.  These old radios had very attractive cabinets, and if you like the style, it is worth the work and expense of restoring.  When it's finished and sitting in your home, you will definitely have something to be proud of.

If you come across one, or have one that you don't want, don't throw it away!  Advertise it for sale, or donate it to someplace that will resell it.  There are many people who collect these treasures, and they cringe when hearing of these great pieces being thrown away.  Even a radio that is not in a condition to where it can be restored may be of use to someone who might need a part off of it. 

Also, please remember that just because you have an old tube radio does not make it worth a lot of money.  Do some research, there are a lot of factors that go into the value of one of these old pieces.  

One note, if you decide to restore one yourself, just tackle the cabinet.  Unless you have a background in working with electronics, I do not want to encourage you to work on the electrical side.  This is best left to someone familiar with the workings of these classics.

When working with furniture stripper, stain, lacquer, varnish, polyurethane, or whatever you use to restore the cabinet, make sure you work in a well ventilated area and follow the manufacturer's directions exactly.  Take your time and don't rush the project.  You will be pleased with the results if you take it slow and follow all directions.  Plus, if you restore the cabinet yourself, you get the pleasure of showing it to your friends and saying "I did that!"