327 Queen St. East, between Parliament and Berkley streets, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA. 416.778.6608. email: info@ethel20thcenturyliving.com
Hours: Mondays by appointment, Tue - Thurs: 12pm - 6pm, Friday: 2pm - 7pm, Sat: 12 - 6, Sun: 12pm - 5pm

3.11.2010

The future is Plastics!

While the name of the store is Ethel - 20th Century Living, sometimes we look to the future for inspiration. Like the famous scene in the Graduate, the word is "Plastics!"

This lucite chair with a black upholstered seat is probably from the 70's, but would work in a mod space, an art deco room, with glamorous Hollywood Regency pieces, or just as a piece of sculpture. Priced at $295 it would be perfect in the corner of a room, doing double duty as seating and sculpture, especially if it's lit from behind. Or else use it as a vanity chair in your mod bedroom.
Even if you don't have a vinyl collection, this Apollo 860 turntable is a beautiful example of industrial design.

Designed in 1966 and manufactured by Electrohome, in Kitchener, Ontario, this stereo is a good example of a Canadian manufacturer taking a risk on a modern design, resulting in a big success. The future forward design sold over 42,500 units in six years and while the Apollo 860 & 861 spawned many knock offs, it's the original that's still collectible today. This one is in great shape with minor scratches on the plexiglas dome, and comes with the speakers and speaker stands. At $195, it would be perfect for your space age bachelor (or bachelorette) pad. Use it to play those Enoch Light records you bought just for the cover art.

Also pictured here is another Canadian design classic, the Contempra phone, designed by John Tyson for Northern Telecom in 1967. Northern Telecom ended up manufacturing over 7000 of these a week for over twenty years, and shipping to over 15 countries world wide, making it one of the most recognizable examples of contemporary electronic design in the world. This bright red version has a rotary dial, is priced at $65, and would look perfect on that danish teak desk or on that lucite side table.
If you are not quite ready to embrace the plastics revolution, we still have lots of lovely teak.

We just got in this buffet & hutch, which features a felt lined cutlery drawer and sliding tambour pocket doors. This piece was designed and manufactured in Montreal by RS Associated Limited, and is another example of Canadians embracing modern design.
Whether you're visiting from the future or just want to remember the past, we have lots of 20th century.
See you at the store!

3 comments:

  1. Are both top and bottom still available?

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  2. Hi Sabina,
    Yes, the buffet & hutch is still available, so drop by the store and check it out!

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  3. Hello is that apollo turntable still available and do you ship to The Netherlands?

    ReplyDelete