Design – Page 5 – Ephemerascenti

Vintage SENSENICH 72″ Wood Airplane Propeller

Sensenich wooden propeller

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A true symbol of aviation history, this is an authentic 1950s era Sensenich wooden propeller. The prop is all original and still has its Sensenich Propellers Gold Flying Wings decal. The propeller was made in the U.S. of laminated birch wood. It is a 72 model with serial number AC 3823, and also reads 72L x L44. This propeller would be a great prop for television or movies or a coveted gift for any aviation enthusiast. Envision this prop in your home, office, or perhaps a restaurant with an aviation theme. Display worthy, absolutely, but please note this prop is stamped “non-airworthy,” and is intended for display only. This prop is in very good vintage condition, as shown.

VIntage Stainless Steel Tall Lidded Dairy Pail

dairyCan-b-7632
dairy pail
This vintage stainless steel cream pail is in very good vintage condition. Utilitarian, this pail could serve numerous functions in the home while retaining its rural dairy or industrial steel good looks. Approximately 20″ tall and nearly 10″ in diameter, it could make a wonderful container for gathering or displaying gladiolus or other tall specimen flowers. The buckets handle is strong, swivels out of the way and is built to withstand heavy loads when necessary. Given its original purpose, without the lid, it would also be a great receptacle for wet or dry umbrellas next to the door. Nice storage for birdseed one can carry out to the feeders? Storage for kindling next to the fireplace? What about an aesthetic storage container for dog food or cat food? No doubt you will think of other uses for this fine vintage container with lid. No dents, some minute scratches, they are barely discernible masked within the beautiful patina.

Yellow McCoy Pottery Ceramic Flower Vase

This pretty vintage McCoy vase is the perfect size and color for various posies from your garden. Or, it would be lovely gift for someone who has a cutting garden! We purchased it outside of Huntington, West Virginia during the late 80s. It is classically shaped with a leafy motif. The piece is in good vintage condition, the glaze shows no crazing, it has one small chip on the inside of the opening invisible when in use or turned toward the front during display. It is clean, with no discoloration inside from prior use. It has the McCoy maker’s mark on the bottom.

Aqua Blue Pottery Ceramic Flower Vase

This lovely vintage vase has nice classical lines and is the perfect size and color for various posies from your garden. Or, it would be a wonderful gift for someone who has a cutting garden! We purchased it during the late 80s while on one of our many road trips. The piece is in excellent vintage condition, the glaze shows no crazing, no dings, or chips. It is perfectly clean, with no discoloration inside from prior use. It is marked USA 123/- on the bottom.

Vining Floral Motif Pottery Footed Ceramic Flower Planter

This handsome vintage flower planter would be wonderful for forcing paper whites or other bulbs in lieu of springtime! Just the right depth for pebbles and bulbs. And what a stunning color with the foliage! Gardening is just one more of our passions so the collection needs thinning, just like my perennials! This planter is footed which enhances it lines. The vining floral pattern is quite pretty encircling the pot. The vintage condition is very good to excellent with no crazing, or glaze imperfections or chips.

Vintage Detroit Free Press Newspaper Apron

Detroit Free Press Newspaper Apron

Breaking News! “On Guard for 182 Years! This handsome Detroit Free Press newspaper apron is a reminder of the not so distant past when our news not only developed more slowly but was delivered not through the ether but to one’s door or sold at the news stand or street corner. Often referred to as the “Freep,” this is an authentic, gently used apron. The pockets would contain and exchange change for the daily paper. Are you from Detroit? Have ties to the paper and what it symbolizes? Are you a blogger who appreciates the history of the craft? These original aprons are yet one more genre of collectible. This one celebrates the Detroit Free Press not only the newspaper’s role as a social, cultural, and political institution but an iconic historic institution.

Chalkware

dutch girl stringhead

mexican stringhead

Although chalkware is a generic term for the material from which the decorative objects and accessories were made, they are actual made from plaster of Paris. Chalkware first appeared in the U.S. late in the 18th century. Popularized between the 1920s and 1940s, it was viewed as a cheaper alternative to more expensive ceramics and porcelain, chalkware enabled average consumers to purchase affordable copies. The pieces were created by first pouring plaster in to negative or cavity molds. After the plaster was hardened, the mold was removed and the chalky white unfinished piece was then painted by an employed finish “artist” with watercolors or enamel paints. The paint was another characteristic that distinguishes pricier ceramics with applied glazes from the painted chalkware alternative. Piggy banks, wall plaques, statues, smaller figurines, match holders, as well as highly collectible “string heads” were stylistically designed to add to their unique charm. Because of the nature of mold casts and the skill of the individual decorators or finish artists, each piece was idiosyncratic. Some chalkware is known as carnival chalkware, many pieces from this genre were based on characters and icons from popular culture of the times. Some pieces were meant as shelf or cabinet curios, while larger pieces could be displayed on the floor.

The pieces known by collectors as string heads, wall plaques, and wall pockets were always hung on walls. String heads were most often molded in the shape of a human head, their characters may have been based on real or fictional people, or in some cases storybook characters. While they were being made, a wire loop was partially embedded in the back of the plaster. String heads were indispensable prior to tape for securing packages. One would wrap the package in paper and conveniently dispense, cut sections, and knot the string or cord from the string head mounted on the wall. Regardless of their ornamental appeal, the demands of use, particularly true of string heads, meant the piece was frequently removed from the wall to replace the ball of string. Because plaster is inherently fragile, many examples of this type of popular commercial product, now appreciated as a form of folk art, were broken or chipped, showing distinct signs of wear during their use and often discarded.

Our collection of string heads and other chalkware is figural as is most of our folk art collection. The pieces were discovered at flea markets, antique stores and shows, during our travels in the mid 1980s. These, among others, are displayed as a group in the kitchen of our loft studio, guest always congregate in the kitchen and the string heads are always conversation pieces.

Carry on…. Vintage Industrial Aluminum Excelsior and Aladdin Lunch Boxes

industrial aluminum aladdin lunch box
industrial excelsior aluminum lunch box

Back in the day lunches were carried in not by means of carry out. Metal lunch boxes were the mode of transport built to last and protect sandwiches from conditions on the docks, in the mines, or factory lines. Conformity was the norm, shiny aluminum or, more often for office workers than factory workers-black. While some of the earlier lunch boxes resembled metal picnic boxes with two pivoting handles, many lunch boxes were the result of recycling or up-cycling with use of cookie and tobacco tins.

“Make good money $5 a day …” a real working man’s or woman’s lunch boxes from the 1920s to the 1960s is considered a collectible. In the 1970s metal lunch boxes were virtually stamped out. Two of our Aladdin lunch boxes are stamped “MADE IN CANADA.” Originally purchased through an estate sale they appear not to have been used as weapons as was feared by mothers in the state of Florida in the 70s who lobbied to have metal lunch boxes banned. The Aladdin logo is embossed on the lid. The handles are metal with rubberized coating. Their aluminum piano hinges are riveted, connecting top and bottom. There are also hinged thermos holder inside. The hinged closures are in perfect condition securing all contents.

The smaller vintage lunch box has the makings of the perfect lunch mate, and it was, for the original owner R. Fries. Made in the USA by Excelsior in Stamford, Connecticut, it shows the patina of the 5 day a week use it no doubt experienced. Sheared and formed aluminum with half inch diameter aluminum rivets and packaged as a ruggedly handsome, green alternative to its colorful, squishy soft, fabric zipped up cousins. Like the Aladdin models, we purchased the Excelsior through an estate sale. Its riveted all aluminum design is a true statement of early industrial design. Excelsior is de-bossed in the buckle. Like the Aladdin boxes, inside it has a hinged thermos holder, outside secure hinged buckles as closures.

These lunch boxes have a few minor dings, light pitting, and minor scratches, all indicative of light wear, all add to the vintage character. We have seen these polished to perfection, but prefer the authenticity resulting from past use. Durable, these boxes are ideal not only for the function for which they were designed – lunch boxes, but may be re-imagined as clever carry alls, or for decorative use as a storage containers in one’s studio or office. Art student? … perfect for your pastels. Gardener? … store and carry your pruners, dibber, trowel and seed packets. Photo stylist? … never misplace the tricks of your trade.

Girl worker at lunch also absorbing California sunshine

Girl worker at lunch also absorbing California sunshine, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. 1942

Negro shipyard worker leaving his rural home for the shipyards

Negro shipyard worker leaving his rural home for the shipyards with his lunch box. Newport News, Virginia. 1942

Karl Axel Westerberg leaving his home with his lunch box

Karl Axel Westerberg leaving his home with his lunch box for a day’s work in the Ford Motor Company plant in Dearborn.