Mid Century Movie Night

We had our first mid century movie night. It was day actually, it snowed in Oklahoma...a real dumping...all of about 3 inches, which means in Tulsa people reacted like a civil war broke out and most things were closed or cancelled. Stacy got to stay home from work so MCM movie night was held in the afternoon. 

We will review movies of the era, starting with the Academy Award winners for best picture from 1950 to 1965. First up was All About Eve (1951) starring Bette Davis. We will review each movie and give it from 0-5 MCM stars. Stacy will rate it, Tom will rate it and then there will be an averaged rating based on how we find it. You can check out the first and subsequent MCM movie reviews under the MCM movie night tab. 

Dining In

The centerpiece for any home, especially during the mid-twentieth century, was where the family sat around and enjoyed their meal. There were no 24/7 distractions of the internets, smart phones, around-the-clock news, 100 plus TV channels or what not. It was home from school, play in the yard, maybe watch Daniel Boone on the tube in black and white then eat at the dining room table and then wait your turn in the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready for bed. I suppose industrious kids did homework somewhere in the mix. 

It was the meal that brought the entire family together for at least 30 minutes at the end of each day, and the dining table was the apex of that experience. Many of us that lived through it have formica tops emblazoned into our memories, but others had the typical sleek wood slab that we scooped up our vittles from. We wanted to give our place that touch as well. After scouring the several resale shops in Tulsa that specialize in mid-century furnishings we made our find on Craig's List. I know, I know....CL is full of crazies. I know that as well as anyone, but there are also some regular folks just trying to do some business on there...you know, like maybe 10%. 

The best we could find at a resale shop that fit the bill ran about $500-600 and some of those without chairs and in various states of disrepair. We felt fortunate to find a MCM gem with 6 chairs for $350. We had to glue some of the chair braces as the old glue had just worn out, and we refinished the table and chairs using a product called "restore" after a light sanding. The results were pleasing and you can tell from the pictures that it adds something to our Lortondale hideout. The placemats have a distinctive MCM flair with the type of bird print, but they are actually new from IKEA...a good source of newer stuff to accent any MCM home. 

Transistors

We are turning one of the three bedrooms in our MCM into an office. It will still have a trundle bed for guests, but basically an office. We want to give it as much MC flair as possible and are off to a good start with an old mid-century, metal desk. Stacy has claim on the bedroom so think of this as good as a man-cave can get for a mid-century modern abode. That will explain the distinct masculine flair when the before and after picture get posted in the future. 

But for now we need to think of how to give it that MCM ambiance, and in doing so will introduce the first item acquired to go into that room: a Jade 2215 transistor radio. 

The date of manufacture is unknown, but I did find a picture of a kid listening to one in 1968 and many seem to think that 1969 was the date they were sold. Not exactly spot on mid-century but not too much of a stretch. We hope to find a more appropriate radio for the room someday, but this gem was $1.50 at an estate sale so it was worth taking a chance. 

Transistors were a big deal during the day. They replaced tubes which were large, produced lots of heat and had a high failure rate. Transistors "miniaturized" electronics and reduced power requirements. Plus, they last pretty much forever. Tom spent years working on tube-powered radars for the Navy so knows how much trouble they can be. Anything transistorized is known as "solid state." Tubes had gas in them and were far from being solid. Transistors are a hallmark of the late MCM period. They appeared in the 50s but were really mainstream by the mid-sixties. While they were much smaller than tubes, they still were visible and models of radios liked to tout how many were in the radio itself. 

Today, we use integrated circuits, or ICs, on microchips. One microchip might have hundreds of transistors on it that you cannot see with the naked eye. We have come a long way in electronics. The bad news is ICs make it hard to repair electronics at home.

While our Jade 2215 is an AM/FM radio, only the AM works. I think the selector switch is broken but AM only gives if more MCM flair. The volume control is sketchy as well and does not transition smoothly along the volume range. Tom suspects a dirty potentiometer but it is not really worth trying to hunt down the part to fix it. 

In the meantime, until we can find a really atomic-looking radio, AM played a little too loud will reverberate throughout our MCM pad. 

Roof Update

We had a rain since our state-of-the-art temporary repair job on the siding/roof convergence. The tape looked space-aged so I figured it must be state-of-the-art. But it turned about to be about as reliable as the promises made in the State-of-the-Union address. In other words, it did not help. We still have a leaky garage. 

Had a contractor come and look at it and he needed to bring his other guy out that has a ladder to get on top and take a better look. It has to be done before the roof so stay tuned. To make it interesting we are having him take off the Dryvit stucco on that section since it is the back end of the garage. That will give us a clue as to the the condition of the original redwood siding. It could get ugly before it gets better. But, living in the mid-twentieth century meant living with the very real threat of being nuked by the russkies so, this is miniscule in comparison. 

High Flying Electrifying Adventure

Before you start, know that we are getting a new roof in March. All things mentioned below are temporary. Don’t judge.

gap between siding and house

There has been some leaking in our garage for a while, and it has done a number on the ceiling. Since it is actually in the garage and not in the house, it has not been a priority but we wanted to get it fixed as soon as possible. We had a roofer come out and look an estimate. We reluctantly followed with a foray on top of our MCM. As a former mountain climber heights don’t bother me, but as a former safety professional I do know that an inordinate number of home injuries occur from ladder use and that over 50% of falls from greater than 10 feet are fatal. I’d hate to be a statistic. Stacy does have some height issues. There was an incident when she first moved in and got on the roof and then could not get down. She was rescued, thank goodness not by the fire department.

While up on the roof we found the source of the water entry. Previous residents had covered the outside with this thin stucco stuff over a layer of styrofoam insulation. Great for energy savings….bad for keeping the MCM house original. That’s another issue, the problem here is the electrical conduit pole was mounted by someone through that stucco. It has not held well and is pulling back that stucco and the original plank siding underneath. See the photo and you know where our water problem is coming from.

YES! duct tape

This meant another trip to the roof, and another climb up the ladder. With stacy on the ladder cutting and handing me strips of aluminum duct tape we were able to close off the gap fairly well. It won’t hold long but it only has to last until March. Did I mention it was cold and windy up there?

I grew up in West Virginia, and this is what we call “redneck engineering.” But we did prove the universal theory that duct tape can fix anything. The good news is that unless you intend to land on our roof with a helicopter you won’t notice it. Still, we are looking forward to March and a new top on our MCM abode.

The Orangeburg Connection

advertisement for orangeburg piping

Or non-connection I should probably say. Orangeburg is a type of sewer piping used while building many MCM homes. Sometimes known as "Bermico" piping, Orangeburg is a fiber pipe that gets its name from the city in which most of it was manufactured; Orangeburg, New York. It was was a low cost alternative to metal piping and since there was no PVC in that era it was a popular choice for builders. It was touted as being "root proof."

"Root resistant" would have been a better moniker. Orangeburg did have some root issues, but the main problem is that it does not stand up well to the weight of the dirt on top of it. The fiber pipe would sometimes collapse into an egg shape. While it can last 50 years, it has been known to last as little as 10. 

This summer, there was a backup incident in our MCM. Bill the plumber came to the rescue and found....roots. He roto rootered it out and it works fine now, but we all know the time will come soon when there will be another backup. Roots continue to grow you know. The orangeburg had to go. As I said in the beginning of this blog, we will not eschew all things 21st century. Love me some PVC pipe. 

what happens under pressure

the big dig in back yard

So begins our first major project. Replacing the orangeburg with PVC. After the dig began we found out that most of the orangeburg had been replaced with PVC but from the house to about 8 feet out (where the cleanout was) it was the dreaded fiber orangeburg piping. 

The best part about this project? Not a whole lot I can do myself. It had to be hired out to the sewer experts. A day or two later, and a few thousand dollars lighter, our MCM is orangeburg-free and the waste flows a slick as a whistle. Not an improvement that can be noticed visually, but one of those "must do" jobs to keep the place livable. And keeps us out of knee-deep you know what. 

Lortondale

We live in Lortondale. It is a small neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma that was built in 1954 with typical mid-century modern homes. The homes were built in the tract trend of the day and were designed for affordable housing for the booming post-war economy.

While all the rage during its heyday, mid-century modern (MCM) type architecture fell out of favor for post-modernism and other types. As American families prospered and demanded bigger and more elaborate homes, MCM floorplans were replaced with larger and larger homes. With homebuyers seeking the latest and greatest, MCM homes and Lortondale became less attractive and began a slow decline.

aerial view of Lortondale circa mid-fifties

Like many thing (disco music, vinyl records, etc.) what is old comes back in vogue. During the last decade all thing MCM began to attract new fans. With people finally realizing that less is more and downscaling is a good thing, smaller MCM homes became popular again. The resurgence in interest MCM architecture and lifestyle began making homes in Lortondale sought after by a niche group of MCM enthusiast. The homes were cool, modern, right-sized and by comparison affordable. Lortondale homes are being bought by folks, like us, intent on restoring them to the mid-century splendor. 

Several homes have already been restored; some completely and some partially. Most, again like us, are striving to make the homes emanate that MCM flair that make them unique. This blog is dedicated to that effort. We will take you along for the ride as we complete crucial repairs, furnish, decorate and accent our home in a way that would make Ward Cleaver proud.