Atomic Amoeba Glass

Bringing a little mid-century modern style and grace to my kids bathroom, I found this Federal Glass Contemporary pattern better known as amoeba, boomerang on drinking glasses, chip & dips and storage jars but was dismayed to find they were usually the key element of some street facing window for the chic Mid-Century shops in the county. This usually meant expensive.

1950's Federal Glass Contemporary Apothecary Jar

But last night I found this lone apothecary jar sitting on the shelf of the the local school thrift and knew immediately it was going home with me. The thrift has been inching up prices over the last few months so I have not been finding much out of that shop but this one came for a cool $3.99 and though not a 'steal' by any stretch was still most agreeable.

This pattern, popularly called, amoeba or boomerang, was actually called Contemporary #4695. Marketed by the Federal Glass Company in the 50's and 60's it was distinctive for a couple of reasons:

• They had 22 Kt gold integrated into their amoeba, boomerang designs.
• They came in turquoise, pink, white, and black.

The white and pink are most difficult to find but this turquoise will match the washroom's still original 1962 color scheme perfectly

Links

Federal Glass History

Tray, Tre Cool

Something in the wind is bringing me TRAYS - Stainless, Glass, and even another Couroc which I had to grab off the bottom shelf at the Goodwill and though faded and with a dull finish, was not scratched so I brought it home - does 2 make a collection? Hmmmm

The Couroc Company in Monterey California produced many different types and shapes of trays, boxes, ashtrays and glassware from 1948 until their closure in the early 1990s and this one is not a cheese tray but a little larger and without the wood cutting board. I loved the use of brass !?o!c!!?oo to indicate the parrots song - so creative!

The finish was dull and gray so I googled how others had cleaned these phenolic plastic works of art and learned that phenolic plastic was first manufactured under the trade name Bakelite after the inventor of the plastic Dr. Leo Hendrik Baekeland.

Seems there are several methods to shine up this early plastic, all of which involve some some combination of a fine rubbing compound (grit) to remove the oxidised layer exposing a new layer of unoxidised resin, and elbow grease!

Metal Polish / Brasso / Simichrome Polish can be used, but are relatively coarse abrasives, we chose the chrome polish method and it seems to work fine for the Couroc trays.

Couroc Makers Mark 

Couroc Cheese Board Tray

Couroc Parrot Tray

Links

Restoring Bakelite

Buying Couroc Trays