Barbara Johansen Newman
Barbara Johansen Newman
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The Licensing Nook

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Hot Junk to Get

  • VINTAGE EYEWEAR
    Well, you can go get glasses at the local Lenscrafters, OR you can hunt down some spectacular vintage hand cut frames at your local antique shop and have them fitted with your prescription lenses. Or maybe---do both. I have some very normal, "don'-t-cause trouble" frames, and some "in-your-face" frames I like to wear when I am feeling "con cohones" and have had a drink or two. Better to buy "new old stock", if you are going to invest much in the lenses. It is not good to throw money into old frames in bad shape that will fall off your head or lose an arm and need that proverbial piece of masking tape to keep them together. Unless that is the look you crave--the look of half the boys in my nerdy seventh grade class circa 1965. If so, I have an old briefcase and a pocket pen holder I would like to sell you. I'll throw in the slide rule.
  • Lawn art and ashtrays
    Back when guys stayed home more, listened to the radio and do other things at the same time, they probably labored over homemade lawn art, standing ashtray holders, and door stops. Usually they were made out of plywood, then painted. Look for slightly crackled paint. Many of the best of these were old comic strip characters like Jiggs and Maggie, or the ocasional Disney character. Black cats are plentiful. Also Butlers. You do not have to smoke to appreciate them.
  • old silhouettes
    Many of these come from the 20's and 30's. You can often guess the age of the piece by the dress of the person whose portrait it is. Hung together on a wall, they have a wonderful impact.
  • Old cookbooks by local groups: i.e. Grange cookbooks, church cookbooks, college cookbooks, etc.
  • Tacky Souvenirs from old site seeing locales

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April 12, 2012

1950s Heaven on Earth. Or at least in Brooklyn.

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Bruce Buck for the New York Times

Oh. My. God. I have found nirvana in decorating. Or, perhaps I should say, someone else's decorating. And--he's a yougin' with the instincts of a Boomer.

I am referring to a Mr. Cullen Meyer, who has been collectng the 50s and everything kitschy associated with it, since he was 12. And he does it to the Nth degree, which, if you are going to go whole hog on the 1950s, is the ONLY way to go.

Check out this profile of Mr. Meyer and his style by Steven Kurutz in today's NY Times. And do yourself a BIG Favor: look at the slideshow of the rest of the apartment. It's to die for. Which I guess actually did happen beause it had been in the same family for generations, untouched, so I guess someone really did have to die before Meyer was able to move in, no disrespect intended. Well, at least the spirit of the former occupant can take comfort in knowing that the current resident embraces the period with gusto!

Were I Mr. Meyer, I'd get in touch with Theresa Caputo of Long Island Medium just to find out what the spirit has to say. He or she might even have some decorating tips.


April 12, 2012 at 09:42 AM in Antiques, Art Furniture, Be still my beating artist heart, Collectibles, Color!, Creativity to the MAX, Decorating, Imaginations Running Wild, Interior Spaces, Nostalgia, Past and Present |

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