A Few Things From The Garage

When we moved I had a chance to purge again and while going through items stored in the garage found a few things that I decided might work with the Mid Century decor we planned.

The Eyeball Lamp
First was an 'eyeball' lamp that I had inherited from a roommate when she moved to England back in the late 80's. The lamp was too interesting to throw away so I used in my office for a while and then in the garage while we were at Casa.

Similar to many of the Sonneman eyeball lamps but white instead of the typical chrome, the lamp needed a substantial cleanup after 15 years in the garage. I was struck by the detail of the height adjusters and the number of parts required to connect the shades to the poles. Unlike modern lamps, this one had been 'designed' for ease of use and adjustment not built for a target price point.

3-Arm Eyeball Floor Lamp

Chrome Arms / White Shades and Base

The Napa Doctors Self Portrait
A few years ago I had attended an auction and as a 'mercy' bid of $10 for the auctioneer who was having a difficult time off loading some rather unique works I took home a painting done in the late 1960's of questionable value and taste. It was an oil painting and it had a story but mostly I wanted to thank the auctioneer for taking my low bid, albeit late in the day, on a beautiful California oil from the 1800's. Anyway, I stashed the painting away for a rainy day and during the move thought maybe the colors would work in the new house. I spent a few days getting all the dust and grime off the large 3' x 2' painting, letting loose the bold reds and blues from years of storage.

The story goes, the doctor liked his cocktails and when he decided to quit drinking, he took up painting and one day when speaking to a friend about his transformation his friend let on that as a drunk the good doctor was a bit the blathering fool; Good hearted, but pedantic to say the least and no topic was beyond his domain of knowledge and so to remind himself of his past the doctor painted his self portrait as his friend saw him ...

1960's Self Reflection

The Trimline Phones
Also from my years of living in San Francisco, I had two trimline phones with lighted dials and l-o-n-g curly cables from the base to the handsets. As I pulled them from the box my daughter screamed in delight saying she wanted the orange one for her bedroom.Introduced in 1965, the Trimline phone included a lighted dial and was encased in a sleek, curved plastic housing. .

Western Electric Lighted Trimline Phones