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!

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!

Visitor from planet Dansk

This little wooden fellow landed at Ethel a few weeks ago.

At first, we thought it might be a small sculpture by Toronto's Sorel Etrog, or perhaps a little wooden alien from the planet Dansk. Upon further inspection (and a little help from Google images!) we determined he's actually a pepper mill, designed by Jens Quistgaard for Dansk.

He's priced at $35 and would look great in your modern kitchen.

UPDATE: The pepper mill has sold!

See you at the store!

Weird Wednesday - 70s shower time!

Ethel is not just about fabulous vintage furniture, lighting and accessories. Sometimes we get something in that doesn't quite fall into any of these categories, but is so cool/unique/unexpected that we couldn't resist it. Therefore we're starting a new feature here on the blog, and we're calling it Weird Wednesdays.

Every Wednesday we'll feature something in the store that doesn't quite fit the Ethel mold, but we thought it was fun and we hope you do too.

Today's specimen is a matching vintage 1970's shower curtain and window curtain, from Simpson-Sears Ltd in Toronto.

This set features a mod pattern called "Starburst Brown", made up of brown, black , cream and gold circles on an opaque background.

Unfortunately, there's only one shower curtain panel at 34" x 74", but this would still look cool as an accent to a plain opaque curtain underneath. The window curtain has two panels, 34" x 48" each. Neither the shower curtain or window curtain has been used and still have that lovely fresh vinyl smell!

This set would instantly update your tired chocolate brown bathroom fixtures, or give a swingin' 70's vibe to your salle de bain.

We hate to break up the set so we're pricing the pair at $25.

UPDATE: Shower curtain has sold, but window curtain is still available for $10

See you at the store!