Happy Canada Day!

Ethel is nothing if not patriotic, so we are closing the store tomorrow, Friday July 1st, to celebrate Canada Day. We will be back open on Saturday July 2nd.

Happy Canada Day everyone!

Tiki Party time!

We’re a few days into summer and it still feels like early spring around here. Or maybe October. But we have a way to beat the cool weather...throw a tiki party! Light some bamboo torches, put the Martin Denny on the hifi and get ready to get leid!

First, you’ll need a few mugs.

How about this guy?
Doesn’t he look angry? Angry because you’re not drinking!

UPDATE: Angry tiki mug has sold!

How about these colourful characters?
You’ll be seeing rainbows after having a Zombie or two out of these fellas!

UPDATE: Trio of mugs have sold!

This one even tells you what kind of drink to serve!

(All tiki mugs priced at $15 each)

You’ll need an ice bucket to keep the drinks cold

(Ice bucket priced at $25)

A cocktail shaker or two to show off your mad mixology skillz.

(Shakers priced at $16 each)

You’ll need some swizzle sticks to spear the pineapple and maraschino cherries for your newly concocted tropical drinks.

(Swizzle sticks 10 for 25 cents, coconut mugs are $12 each)

UPDATE: All 3 coconut mugs have sold!

If you want to get a little musical, how about a pair of bongo drums to pound away along with some vintage exotica records or Don Ho.

(Vintage souvineir bongo drums priced at $24)

If you have designated drivers, then you can serve them some Hawaiian punch from this vintage pineapple juice jug and cups!

(Plastic pineapple pitcher & cup set priced at $24)

UPDATE: Pitcher now being sold with set of 6 yellow pineapple cups for $30 and orange & green mugs being sold separately

UPDATE: Pineapple pitcher & 6 matching yellow pineapple cups have sold! Orange & green cups still available

UPDATE: All pineapple cups have sold!

To give your space that “exotic” atmosphere, how about a pair of vintage paint by numbers? Ooooh, scary tribal drummers!

(vintage paint by numbers are $40 each or $75 for the pair)

Or a pair of masks for that politically incorrect “jungle” vibe.

(Masks priced at $20 each)

UPDATE: Both masks have sold!

If there’s one thing to tie it all together, it's an authentic tiki bar!

This one is priced at $1500 for the bar and four stools, and is available for rentals as well.

For more tips on throwing an awesome tiki party or backyard luau, please visit the following websites, all run by friends of Ethel:
http://www.maitaionline.com/
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tipicular-Fixins/100001419652105
http://www.fraternalorderofmoai.org/Ohana/

See you at the store!

Tiki Time!

We're back from our week away and very happy to be back in the store. I think Ethel missed us!

Anyway, we were in upstate New York, in Lake George for the annual Ohana - Luau at the Lake festival. It's a gathering of tikiphiles from across the US and Canada, and we had a blast! We even met some Torontonians that we hope become friends of the store too!

Anyway, we're back with lots of stories so drop by the store and we'll tell some tall Tiki tales!

See you at the store!

Ethel taking a few days off

As circumstance would have it, we're away for a few days and our usual gal is under the weather so Ethel is taking an unscheduled vacation. We hope to have the store open on Saturday and Sunday.

Please accept Ethel's apologies for any inconvenience.

Ethel loves Dads!

Today is Father's Day so go give your dad a hug and tell him how much he means to you. It'll be the best gift he could get.

(chalkboard design done by Dave LeBlanc, our dear sweet hubby and father to our little Isaac the cat!)

See you at the store!

Liz Taylor would approve

We've just added a few more friends to our blogroll that specialize in vintage costume jewellery. We've often thought about starting to sell vintage costume jewellery in the store, but we're not sure if it would fly in Leslieville. Besides, Ethel won't let us sell any of her really nice pieces!

So instead, if you're looking for a bit of vintage bling to wear, please check out our friend Gay Isber's website for her company called The Sugar Factory, and our new friend Barbara Schwarz's company called TruFaux Jewels. Both ladies know their stuff and can help you find that perfect piece to finish off that perfect vintage dress.

See you at the store!

Letting go....

Sometimes it's hard to let go. Sometimes it's easy.

We've had these chrome frame club chairs in the store for longer than we care to remember so it is time to let them go.

We've marked them down to $75 each and we are sooo hoping we don't have to carry them back into the store by the end of the weekend!

Come by and check them out and maybe you'll help us let go.

See you at the store!

Father's Day Fun!

Father’s day is this weekend, and instead of getting him yet another necktie, why not get him something he can really use, like some vintage barware!

Does Dad fancy himself the next Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus? Forget about a tee time! How about a golf themed ice bucket and strainer instead? That way he can make himself a drink to forget about his bad golf score.

Ice bucket is $18, strainer is $8.

If your dad prefers indoor sports instead of being out on the links, then how about a set of vintage bowling glasses? Even if it’s all gutter balls for Daddy-o, he can drown his sorrows with a drink!

Prices as marked

If Pops isn’t much of an athlete, and prefers to watch sports instead of actually participating, then you can’t go wrong with this vintage Plycraft Lounge Chair.

A popular knock off of the Eames Lounge Chair, the big difference is the tilt mechanism, the colour of the leather, and the visible hardware. But for our money, just as comfortable. This version is in terrific shape, with the original brown leather upholstery, and comes with the ottoman.

Chair & ottoman priced at $695.

UPDATE: Plycraft lounger & ottoman has sold!

If he doesn’t even like sports but prefers a good read, then how about a few vintage pulp fiction novels? The covers are better than the story but don’t tell Dad!

Pulp novels are $4 each.

So come by the store and get Dad something fun for Father’s day. He deserves it!

See you at the store!

New Modernism Magazine is here!

Just got in the Summer 2011 issue of Modern Magazine and as usual, it's chock full o' vintage goodies!

Featured in this issue are stories on vintage 60's British fabrics (think Carnaby Street meets Ray & Charles Eames), Saarinen's Miller House, now open to the public, and lots more.

We also still have a few copies of the Summer 2011 issue of Atomic Ranch so if you haven't picked that one up yet, then come by and get both for some poolside reading.

See you at the store!

Ethel has a craving for Danish...Teak

Lovely sunny day here in Leslieville, so we decided to put a few more things out on the sidewalk to see if we could find them homes.

Here we have a pair of Danish teak dining chairs perched on a Danish teak storage cabinet, with a single teak desk chair on the right. The dining chairs are $75 each, or $100 for the pair, the storage cabinet is $100 as well, and the desk chair is $50.

UPDATE: Storage cabinet has sold!

UPDATE: Desk chair has sold!

You remember this pair!

The lovely chrome club chairs with the snappy red upholstery! Well, it's time for them to go so we've marked them down from $250 each to $150 each or $250 for the pair. They are perfect for that smoking room man cave! Between them is the Saarinen style coffee table base (in need of a top). It's priced at $75.

UPDATE: Red chairs have sold!

We also got in a really nice Danish Teak bookshelf with storage below. Priced at $395, it's perfect for your modern space.

UPDATE: Bookshelf has sold!

So if you need some Danish in your life (and not the pastry kind!) come by Ethel.

See you at the store!

From Bare Bulb to Groovy Time!

Do you recognize this?

It’s that basic bare bulb light fixture, most commonly found in laundry rooms, unfinished basements and in bathrooms in cheapo rental apartments.

If you have one of these and you are past the student solution of a trip to chinatown for a paper lantern to disguise it, then you may just want to jazz it up with one of these vintage 1960s spun acrylic “spaghetti” ceiling shades.

These were all the rage in basement rec rooms back in the Brady Bunch days, as you just needed to screw in a light socket mount to hold the shade into the ceiling socket, then screw in a light bulb, and presto, instant grooviness!

We have five in stock right now, two with pink swirls, two with green and one in caramel. We have four of the accompanying socket mounts, so one shade could be repurposed for a table lamp or even a vessel for a dayglo flower arrangement (that’s up to you!)

They’re priced at $45 each and will help you groove up your Blando Calrission laundry room or rec room reno. Greg Brady would approve.

See you at the store!

UPDATE: Three of the fixtures have sold...only one pink and one green one left!

Ethel on Film!

Back in January, we were interviewed by Nicola Waugh, a Ryerson student who was working on her thesis project, entitled "Embodied Artifacts: Memory, Nostalgia and Mid-Century Objects". Well, Nicola is done her thesis film and she sent us a link.

This short film perfectly encapsulates why we love mid-century design, both for it's longevity and it's positivity.

Here's a link.

http://vimeo.com/24285433

(again, you have to cut and paste as we still haven't figured out how to imbed video links from the web).

Check it out and let us know if you agree.

See you at the store!

Hot enough for ya?

We have been complaining about all the wet weather we've been having lately here in Leslieville but it seems summer has finally arrived, with a vengance!

It was not quite 30 degrees here yesterday, but felt closer to 40 with the humidex! We're not complaining as Ethel loves the heat (she's planning to retire to Palm Springs one day).

So with summer time fun in mind, today's weird Wednesday post is about all things barbecue.

If you're planning lots of outdoor dining and don't want to risk the wedding wedgewood on the patio, then you need some vintage melmac.

This miracle material was all the rage in the 50's as the concept of indoor/outdoor living became more popular. Still being made today by companies like Precidio, we love the vintage melmac best, for the variety of shapes, styles and pastel colours. Prices vary, so come by the store to check it out.

UPDATE: Thermos bowls in middle of middle shelf have sold!

If the man in your life is a hardcore griller, then forget the novelty apron and chefs hat, and treat him to one of these vintage Stoyke barbecue themed trays, or the vintage divided ceramic platter.

Small square tray is $25, the large platter is $35 and the ceramic platter is $15.

UPDATE: All three BBQ platters have sold!

If your man is a little too ambitious with the lighter fluid on the charcoal briquettes, you may have to call the fire department!

Or you can just call these two Mr. Sock Monkeys, driving a vintage Fire Chief pedal car. They might not know how to put out the fire, but they'll be the life of the party!

Monkeys are $60 each and the pedal car is $150.

UPDATE: Pedal car has sold!

And if it's still too hot, grab yourself a vintage thermalware bowl and dish up some ice cream.

$15 for the set of 6 thermal ware bowls (seen on the right), and the ice cream is a vintage cardboard cut out.

So stay cool in this heat with some vintage fun!

See you at the store!