MCM on Vacation

If you leave home on vacation you begin to get a little homesick for something Mid-Century Modern. No matter where you go in the United States, if you look hard enough you can inject a little MCM flair into your vacay.

Tom and Stacy recently embarked on baseball road trip that took in ballgames in Denver, Oakland, San Francisco and Seattle. The last stop harbors one of the most iconic structures from the Atomic Age: The Space Needle.

The Atomic Age is a subset of the Mid-Century genre. It encompasses approximately 1940-60, when Americans were both fascinated with the promise nuclear power offered and terrified of what a nuclear war might bring. Even a smaller division of the Atomic Age is the Space Age, beginning with the launch of Sputnik in 1957 until the latter mid-sixties.

Towering 605 feet, the Space Needle was built in 400 days for the 1962 World’s Fair. The top portion, that now hosts an observation deck and a revolving restaurant, was designed to resemble a flying saucer. Even the original colors were space-aged being: orbital olive, astronaut white, re-entry red and galaxy gold.

View from the top

When we venture outside of Lortondale it is always nice to find a spot, structure or other MCM haven to make us feel at home again. If in Seattle don’t miss it, the view of the mountains against the skyline is stunning.

In the Blenko an Eye

The key to living a mid-century lifestyle is to surround yourself in the trappings of the era. While our living/dining room area is nearing completion it is necessary to properly accessorize to create the rich ambiance the time period had to offer. Enter the Blenko Glass company.

Blenko Glass began producing hand-blown glass pieces in 1947 in Milton, West Virginia. Tom is a WV native and grew up around many hand-blown glass factories, even taking a field trip to one in grade school that was so close his class walked to the factory. West Virginia was rife with glass producers during the mid part of the 20th century, mainly due to the cheap natural gas prices in the area; a major production cost for glass manufacturing.

Some of Blenko's Pieces

Most of those factories are now closed, but Blenko continues to produce quality pieces. During the 50s and 60s (and into the early 70s) Blenko was noted for its cutting edge modern design of glassware and was popular with modernist. Recent episodes of the time-period series Mad Men has featured Blenko Glass. Using vibrant colors, the three main designers of Blenko’s heyday were: Winslow Anderson (47-53), Wayne Husted (52-63), Joel Myers (63-70) and John Nickerson (70-74). Blenko glass wares designed by these men are the ones that are sought after by mid-century modernists. Some of the trademarks of a Blenko Glass product of the time are: thick glass, tall pieces, unique colors. Since most are unmarked, the only way to know if you have an authentic Blenko Glass item is to match it in their catalog published for that year (all available online). You would have to match the design and color to pinpoint your piece’s time of manufacture.

The Apple of Tom's Eye

The problem in getting a quality piece? Even though thick, it is hard for a tall or ornate piece of glass to survive 60 plus years. But through searching can turn one up. That is where St. Patrick’s Day 2015 comes in. Not because we are Irish, but because it also happens to be Tom’s birthday. Working in conjunction with the National Security Agency, the FBI and MI6, Stacy located a spectacular, pristine dimpled-globe decanter in olive green. Research revealed its date of birth to be 1964. Just what Tom had been longing for to adorn the cubbyhole in the new hutch which he had reserved for art. And what better art than a hand-blown, modern piece from Tom’s home state? Tom now stays up late at night admiring it. And watching reruns of Mad Men.

Our Blenko on Display

Up on the Roof

The Crew Arrives and Gets Busy

It’s here! It’s here! Like a kid on Christmas morning we were greeted by Santa and his elves. Only Santa was John the roofer and the elves was his merry band of about 10 hispanic helpers. We had been waiting for a few days of weather above 55F. The reason? If you have not had a new roof put on lately, especially a flat roof, there is this stuff that rolls out and is sticky on one side. You just overlap the rolls, it adheres to each other and wa la….new roof. At least for the covering. It is self sealing too, real high tech stuff. It just needs to be somewhat warm to work. This is where the “modern” comes in in Mid-Century Modern.

Beneath the Old Covering

Our roof was old, so it required new decking as well. In addition we had the facia replaced on the roof edges since the old was slowly decaying. Now, next Christmas (we are allowed to say Christmas on a blog aren’t I?) I will need to put new Xmas light hangers. Our home had some appliance modifications over the years as well, and because they were no longer in use we were able to remove 9 pipe penetrations coming out of the roof. Fewer penetrations mean fewer chances for leakage you know. And it was all done in a day. If you live in Tulsa and need a roofer drop me a line.

Gleaming New Roof

Then the irony of it all. The new roof was finished and gleaming by late Monday afternoon. Did I mention that Lortondale, our neighborhood, is in Tulsa? Tulsa, Oklahoma? As in smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley? On Wednesday, the first twister of the season hit. We had cloud rotation directly above us but the real tornado landed a few miles away. We were fortunate as one person was killed about 6 miles away from us. There was a lot of noise during the storm and lots of lightning cracks during high winds. On Thursday morning we found a huge chunk of tree on the roof. The picture does not do it justice. After breaking off some of the larger branches and tossing them into the backyard, it was still too heavy for Tom to lift and he had to roll it off the side.

New Roof Fixtures/Pipes

We think the flat roof of the MCM design saved it. Being flat it was able to dissipate the energy of the tree strike. Had it been a angled roof most of the strike would have been concentrated in one small area and likely caused structural damage. We dodged a bullet with that storm. As they say; it’s better to be lucky than good. Here’s to luck.

The 100 pound branch

"Up on the Roof" by the Drifters. Peaked at #5 in early 1963. A Mid-Century Classic

Mid Century Movie Night #2

One of the best things about the 1952 Academy Award winner for best picture was that it was in color, which was a big deal in those days. And it was really colorful. The Greatest Show on Earth is the story of several intertwining stories embedded in the inner workings of Ringling Brothers circus. It was also long, clocking in at about two and one half hours. Check out our reviews under the MCM Movie Night tab. 

Starsky and Hutch

Ok...just Hutch, or in this case...a hutch. The newest used addition to our MCM home is a early 60s hutch to replace the one we had that was more of a 90s thingamajig. It is in great condition for its age and will hold most of our dining accouterments (that's MCM talk for stuff). 

It is solid wood, not that particle board crap with a cheap, thin veneer. You know the main difference between the two? Moving them. The new particle board type can be moved by a six year-old, the mid-century variety took two grown men and I think Tom slipped a disc getting it in the house. Moving during the middle of the last century separated the men from the boys. 

The dining/living room area is beginning to develop nicely. The table is in full use, new sofa and loveseat will be here shortly, the pole lamp shines brightly in all of its MCM splendor and new artwork is on the way. We will post the before an after photos once it is complete, probably around mid-April.

In the meantime, we have some dishes to move. The hutch is lonely and demands to be filled with our dinnerware. We are on the look out for some Blenko glassware to place in it as well if you happen across any. 

Curtain Call

Before the swingin' shower curtain

As we mentioned before, there are somethings we have no intention of going retro with. A few items really did get better in the future (as viewed from a 1950s perspective). One of those is the bathroom. 

Post MCM touch

In pure mid-century style, we all share one bathroom. Tom survived as a child with four people sharing one bathroom so we can muddle through as well. Scheduling is key. But we had no desire to return the room to its original look. Most bathrooms of the era were somewhat gaudy and had tile that were a mixture of colors that make most people nauseous. Then there was the heater, a contraption of death and mayhem that was just as likely to electrocute you as keep you warm. Bathtubs were small, some had no showers and little in-bathroom storage for towels, etc. Our indoor outhouse looked like it had been remodeled in the 70s or sometime and Stacy had recently renovated it with modern plumbing fixtures that made it very functional. 

Yes, yes...we know...it's awesome

Still, it lacked anything that screamed mid-century modern, and frankly, there were no retro-oriented options. But, we found a shower curtain that had a MCM print on it. It was a simple and somewhat inexpensive touch to give our bathroom a MCM flair without sacrificing the hard work Stacy had put into getting into 21st century acceptability. It didn't have to be particularly cozy. In today's homes nearly everyone has a bathroom. When a family shares one, you get in, do your business and get out. No reading while on the throne. Still, we have time to gaze upon a motif reminiscent of the era. 

Pole Dancing

Every mid-century home should have a pole. A tension-pole lamp that is. You can't slide down it like a fireman, or dance around it like a stripper entertainer, but it does a magnificent job a standing in the corner and providing lots of era-appropriate light. 

It is hard to find any specific information on exactly when tension-pole lamps made the scene. Our research suggests that they appeared in the 50s and were ubiquitous in the 60s and phased out in the early 70s. Unless you have a designer one it is even harder to tell when the one you own was manufactured. 

Some common traits of all include: floor to ceiling contact with the top portion being spring-tensioned like a pogo stick, three adjustable lamps with shades that are coned shaped (cones typically in the 60s and 70s while globes seemed more common in the 50s), and a polished metal or fake wood finish with real wood knobs on the lamps. 

We found one at a retro store a few months back, but it had round wicker globes on it, not the atomic-style, cone-like lamp covers. We made the right decision by holding out until we found the one we need to accentuate our mid-century living room. One nearly identical to the one in Tom's living room in the 60s. You can see it in all of its mid-century, atomic splendor in the photo. One 21st century update though: CFL bulbs....it's for the environment you know.