Our new warehouse

Driving, driving and driving to pick up a leaf to a dining table and shelf to a sweet looking china cabinet. From the open land of the Cape’s seashore through the rolling landscape of Eastern Massachusetts through small villages, large cities and the occasional strip mall towns…driving. Then the homes and store fronts become older, much older and quaint. “You have arrived at your destination” pipes the GPS. In front of us looms a 5 story red brown brick building that was once a textile mill. Now it’s a warehouse / work space for artists, furniture restorers and collectors. It is clearly over 100 years old. A large wooden door that looks to be as old as the building itself swings open. An older man wearing a Boston Red sox hat holds the door open with one hand and beckons to us with the other. I do not hesitate. I know that this is going to be a dream comes true.
We introduce ourselves to each other as we move inside. I know immediately that I want to be a part of this space. I feel like I deserve this space, this splendid place. I’m excited. The small talk begins. Small talk is an exercise in making us and the space around each of us real. The gentleman, Harry, and I talked for over an hour about regular “stuff” before we talked about the pieces that we came to pick up. He was more than happy to show us around. The windows are easily 4’ wide with sills large enough to sit on and they are 6’to 7’tall. The ceilings were every bit of 15’ away from the floor.
The Floors were random width pine or oak. I couldn’t tell what type of wood because of the 100 year patina on them. The floors had a nice gentle roll that comes with 100 years of settling. “Are there any spaces available?” I ask. “Yes” Responds Harry. “However, the landlord won’t be back until next week.” Well, next week can’t come fast enough. In the mean time I will imagine what it will be like to set up my business in this handsome old building. In my minds eye I already see the streams of sunlight angling down through the large windows washing everything in warm white light.

Well the week and then some has past. And yes we are now new tenants of the old building. Which I now know was a shoe factory since the civil war and by the way 50% of the union army’s boots were produced there. Once the landlord gets his construction permit approved our walls will go up and the electricity run. We decided on two spaces instead of one. In late November we will be working in a space of nearly1000 square feet. We plan on treating one wall for doing photo layouts another area for furniture restoration and because we are 30 minutes from downtown Boston, another area will act as an appointment only showroom.
We have already met quite a few of the tenants. They are furniture makers, artists and furniture restorers and they all are very friendly and helpful. We are already comfortable here but I knew that we would be the moment I stepped out of our truck. We expect only good things from this space; this special place.

Our most recent find

The other day we drove from Falmouth Ma to Greenwich Rhode Island for a sale that had 2 Robsjohn Gibbings mid-century pieces. One was a magazine table and the other was a round coffee table. Both were from 1951, both were bleached walnut and handsome.

There were probably over 100 people there. We were all sizing each other up and second guessing what we were interested in buying. Generally when I see people who are 60 years old and older, and that seems to be the current majority at most of these sales, I know that typically they are buying the “small stuff” to resell at flea markets. Or they are buying sterling silver or coins. They are not buying mid-century modern. They grew up with it and it has become invisible and uninteresting to them. On the other hand when I see 30-somethings and up to 50 plus, I become a little anxious. Quite a few of them like what we like and often times they will over pay for the items that interest them.
However, with this particular group of middle aged suburbanites didn’t know what they were looking at or John made nasty faces at them to keep them away. It was probably John making faces at them. Anyway we bought the two Gibbings pieces and 4 Thonet Bent Plywood Chairs and a totally cool mid-century plant stand with big brass knobs and an ebony finish.
Imagine, all these nice things were carefully thought out, designed by creative thinkers and made available for everyone.
I can’t wait to get back out there and hunt down more of Americas modern yesterdays.

Business and personal lives together

Having this business has changed our lives and how we interact with each other. As you all know by now my boyfriend John, Eli our dog and me do the traveling for our business together. We share so much time with each other; from long driving hours, to eating on the road to sharing our seat with the boy (Eli), to doing things in the house, with the furniture, online, etc. Eli and I have gotten closer, he is so used to me being in the same seat as he is that he falls asleep on my lap or uses me as a pillow/ cushion most of the time (even when we are not in the car).
Our crazy business schedule has forced us to do things like getting up in the middle of the night to be somewhere else by the time the sun rises, to come back home when the sun light is starting to hit the roof of our home, to eat just nuts and chips instead of meals, to make up songs about us going on a road trip just to break up the long hours. Sometimes sitting in heavy traffic breaks up the road time. We’ll look at the other people entertaining themselves while they sit in the traffic stew. Like in that picture of 495: we were supposed to go home and do some cleaning and prepare the things for the next day for SOWA but noooo, we were stuck there for almost an hour and a half and by the time we came back we were so exhausted we didn’t do anything.
When we go on road trips there is a certain excitement in the air, often I catch myself thinking about what would be good for our next trip, how to make it more comfortable, what to eat so we don’t end up at a fast food joint. Or what can we see at the towns and villages so it’s not too much business and more like a mini-vacation.
To be honest it feels like a mini-vacation a great percentage of the time. I get to day dream that we are going to get all the stuff we have planned and then some. And it helps that we thoroughly enjoy each others company. Which makes it easy for us to share our business and personal lives together. And yes that includes Eli our dog.

This is our chance!

John and I are always talking about Mid Century Modern; and how everything from the period seemed to be upbeat and new. I often say that my favorite decades were the 1950’s and -60’s. I just love the way everything was, for starters in the 50’s the economy was good, only one person had to work for a family and you could live comfortably, technology was progressing and giving luxuries to everybody, the fashion was amazing and the people were still able to trust others, there was also a certain innocence that I especially love.
In the 60’s everything continued to be new. Art, fashion and music continued to be innovative. Boundaries on all fronts were stretched and tested including the way government was run. It was a time to dream big, accept yourself and be whoever you wanted to be!
So what happened? It seems that as we moved into the post Vietnam War era we encountered gas lines, inflation, Watergate and record breaking interest rates. Along with these rough spots in our day to day lives we were spoon fed, or was it shoved down our throats, what to listen to, what to wear and in general told what was and wasn’t good for us. The era of the lemming was born and it persists to this day.
However, through the short lived trends in art, fashion and music and our lemming attitudes the qualities of the 50’s and 60’s still stand firm, a bit tarnished and dusty but still standing firm.
I would like to believe that as we come out of this horrible recession that we might return to, in part, the easier life style of the 50’ and 60’s, I firmly believe that this is our chance, this is the perfect time and we need to take advantage of it. Wouldn’t it be nice if your money had real value. And the people and things that you surround yourself with had quality and value too. I bet new artists and designers would be born from this improved age and they would create great design and quality products for everyone one like they did in previous decades.

How Mid Century Modern got started

For everybody this current summer time “Nor Easter” brings wet stormy days but for me it’s inspiration for this blog. While I hear the wind hauling out there and the rain making that relaxing noise when it hits the roof of my home; John and I are talking about what inspired the architects and designers to switch from the traditional lines of furniture, objects and buildings to the ones that began the Modern era. Why didn’t they just leave well enough alone? What inspired the leap into a new direction?
We have done a little bit of research and we know that everything started with some schools and programs to bring more art and design in Europe and around the world. So all the designers and artists who probably were already thinking outside of the box, were now encouraged to bring their ideas and dreams to fruition. Others suggest that with the turmoil of the 1930’s, the new fresh look of modern was a sign of hope. I can imagine it was almost like saying we can create something not war related that will bring happiness to the masses and when we come out of this we will have a chance to go on with our lives.
In regards to furniture and objects; we know that artists and designers brought the idea of stream lined functionality to the pieces by way of new materials and new material processing methods. Such as plastics and bent plywood. These new materials and processes brought costs down which made good design affordable and mainstream. Mainstream translated to more exposure, more interest and more demand. Many incredible works of art, furniture and architecture flourished during the 1930’s to the early 1970’s.
Alas, by the mid 1970’s the modern age became stale, gimmicky, poorly made and over produced. However, the true works of art and quality design never faded. And in 1983 when Cara Greenberg coined the new phrase Mid-Century Modern they all did shine ever brighter.
So cheers to the great people who dare to be different, think outside of the box and created something so great that we can all enjoy now!

SOWA VINTAGE MARKET

SOWA Vintage Market is the coolest place in the south end of Boston. South Boston is fast becoming the historic art and culture center of the city. The vintage market is on 460 Harrison Ave Boston MA. But if you have a GPS you can look for 369 Albany St Boston MA and you will be able to find it easier.
Great vendors come with new and amazing vintage items each Sunday from 10 am to 4ish. The variety is incredible; from Mid Century Modern furniture, to Danish, to simply vintage accessories. Gre-stuff’s spot this week is going to be full of 1950’s items; the accessories are going to add the perfect touch to your home. We are bringing pieces especially to fit the apartment / loft life style from the city. Not to mention the unique touch that will wow your family and friends.
During the weeks we’ve been at the market; it has been popping with people trying to get the best deals, looking for that perfect item that they have to have, dealing and learning from everybody else and of course having a great time.
So you shouldn’t miss it this Sunday August 15th, it is going to be awesome!

Documenting my travels and treasures

Why Mid Century Modern? Someone recently asked! Well I have always liked the look, the period and I thought that selling it would not only be fun but it could also put some money in my pocket. However, I didn’t want to be chained to a traditional store front operation. I wanted to do all of my selling online and I wanted my product line to be different, original.
Some of my friends were already running successful online businesses. They were buying product lines from clothier and jewelry wholesale companies. I didn’t want to be another seller of the same merchandise. I wanted my things to be original or at least limited.
So how did it all start? My boyfriend and I went to a flea market and I bought a very nice Polaroid camera from the 1940’s. Fascinated by the technology of the period I researched it online and saw them going for a reasonable amount of money. I had paid just a few dollars for it so I put it online and sold it and made a modest profit. Needless to say I was hooked to the rush of selling online. I needed to get more vintage cameras from the period. I started looking for other small items too, so I started collecting vintage kitchen appliances like coffee percolators, toasters, canisters and waffle irons and then sold them one by one. Then I added vintage radios, and then vintage fans and none of it was made after 1970. Way to go I thought! I was happy but, yes, there was a big but I wasn’t making any money; it was more like a hobby to fill my days.
So my boyfriend and I started thinking what if we get larger pieces like lamps, chairs, and small tables could we sell them? How do we ship them? And the logistics part came into action; we researched larger pieces and how to make them available to the market. The more we researched the more doable it became. And the more exciting it became. Our inventory collecting now included upholstered furniture, complete vintage bedroom sets, complete vintage dining room sets and complete vintage patio furniture sets and every bid of it sold and shipped on line. The beautiful pieces like Herman Miller, Milo Baughman, Heywood Wakefield, Knoll and Plycraft, just to name a few, now fill our inventory and our home. Eighty percent of our time is devoted to finding more great vintage things and we enjoy every minute of our treasure hunting.

Road Trip to Maine

I can’t believe it! I’m up at 2:30 am. I set the alarm clock for 3:30. I’m too excited to sleep. John my boyfriend is awake too! Ok, this gives us time to have a normal morning and not a rushed one even if it is the middle of the night. Feed and walk the dog, fill up on coffee, grab the GPS and we’re off, on the road again.
The traffic signals are all on flash. There is no traffic, just the newspaper delivery trucks and us. We slide onto the highway without a hitch. This journey will be an estimated 5 hours to Newcastle Maine. That’s just this side of no-where and the far side of too damn far. This trip was mostly on interstates but portions of it included old route one which is one of Americas first Maine to Miami highways. In the dawn light you can still see the architectural skeletons of old motels, diners and gas stations.


As we neared Newcastle the towns became villages and the stores became markets or produce stands on the edge of the roads. And the views became vistas. The morning was cool; the sky was a true blue and the grass greener than in Massachusetts. Up ahead on the left was our destination.
The first thing to do was to find the bathroom. The second thing on the list was to scout the inventory at this sale. We found many wonderful items from the 19th century but they are not what we are interested in. However, perched up on a plastic table was a beautiful “rare” Heywood Wakefield drop leaf table from the late 1930’s and right next to it was a stream lined desk also from the same decade. We purchased them then carried them out to the truck, strapped them down, got the GPS out and started our trip back home.
Traffic was insane, way out in the middle of nowhere, the vacationers where leaving at the same time that we were. There were license plates from Maine, Florida, Texas, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. We moved slowly for the first 6 miles and then it went smoothly and uneventfully. On one of the towns we passed through; we saw long lines of people waiting to order lobster in the little restaurants near the water. Then we found out it was “lobster festival”. We thought about finding a place not so crowded to have our lobster plate but the long lines and heavy traffic dictated otherwise.
We were tired, I was falling asleep in the truck and John had a headache, we needed food. So we stopped, grabbed a bite at a fast food joint and kept on going. We had entered Massachusetts already when we got spitting rain and decided to stop to tarp our load. We then drove until we got home, unloaded the truck and concluded our trip with our winding down routine; walked and fed the dog, took a shower and fell sound sleep on the couch in front of the TV.

Next Inventory trip

We are already planning our next trip to get more inventory. Sometimes we feel like gipsys being in our truck so many ours and traveling anywere from Massachussetts to Pennsylvania to New York to Rhode Island and we mean anywere! It is so exhiting for us when we go treasure hunting for those great pieces that we want to offer and just have to have. You can see more of our great pieces of mid century modern on our Facebook pictures!

Current Inventory

We have great pieces from Heywood Wakefield dining room sets, kitchen appliances, lighting, great accent chairs, radios and other collectibles.

OUR FIRST BLOG

Dear Friends,

We are thrilled about having the opportunity to keep everybody in the loop about what we are doing. We have been selling on line for a while now, mainly on EBay. We post new things every week; there is no stipulated day, it could be any day of the week and a lot of times it depends on the time we have between getting new inventory and cleaning it or getting it ready to be sold. You can see our EBay listings on the link on the right side of the page.

We were also lucky to participate on SOWA Vintage Market on June 20th and 27th and also in July 11th, everyone is so nice we couldn't believe it!

We hope you check our listings soon!

Sowa was a great place to show some of our inventory, meet with some clients and to give people a better idea about what we do and offer.

Here are some pictures of our first week there.