What do you call it when......

You hear or see something for the very first time. Somehow you've managed to live your life 40+ years and never have encountered this "thing" before. And your mind registers, "This is cool. This is new." Then, usually within a week's time, you encounter this "person/thing/word" AGAIN in a totally different context. Someone mentions it on TV. A friend brings it up. Or you find that you possess something that was written by or designed by that person. Am I making sense? Because this has happened to me throughout my entire life - and I wanna know what to call it...

Here's an example of what I'm talking about (and if you read about it on my Facebook wall, well, here I go again.) We received our latest copy of Modernism magazine last week in the mail last week. We were walking out the door, so I grabbed it and while Jake was driving, I devoured the newest edition. The article on Jens Quistgaard stopped me cold. Now, I'm a fairly recent convert to mid-century modern, and still in the process of learning about its vast array of designers. Quistgaard was new to me (although I'm sure not to many of you.) I pored over the glossy photos of teak salt and pepper shakers and drooled over his enamel cookware. My brain registered "Jens Quistgaard - gotta get me some of his stuff."

A few days earlier, I had been working on cleaning out our basement. We moved into our new home in June of last year. Up until then it was my husband's grandparents home, and had been for the past 59 years. During that time, Grandma had pursued many interests and collections. There wasn't anything Grandma couldn't do. An artist, seamstress, photographer, chef, and gardener with a passion for flower arranging. Over the years she acquired tools of each trade and managed to find a place for it all in their home. Health concerns and the three story layout of the home were no longer compatible and Grandma agreed it was time she and Papa move to be with their daughter. Packing up any home lived in for 59 years is not an easy task, and since Grandma wanted to bring everything with her, it proved especially daunting. Somehow, it was accomplished and the charge of caring for the family homestead was passed to us.   The contents of the basement was ours for the picking, and Grandma had said that we'd have a lot of fun finding out what was down there.

Have you ever watched "American Pickers?" You know, when Mike and Frank open the doors to an "out building" that hasn't seen daylight for years? Welcome to my basement. We still don't know everything that's down there, but it's been a lot of fun finding out. If you've been following the items that I've been listing lately - you guessed it - all from the basement. One corner especially grabbed my interest. Grandma used to enter flower arranging contests and had accumulated every vase known to man. Flower frogs, planters, and a collection of candle holders were all in this corner. Many of these items have now migrated upstairs and have been wonderful additions to our home. But there was one item in particular that I kept picking up....and putting down. A cast iron eight pronged whatchamacallit. I wasn't quite sure what it was, and although interesting, it seemed a little "Goth" for my taste. So when I went online looking for other Quistgaard items, imagine my surprise when a photo of my Goth "whatchamacallit" showed up. Apparently, it's candle holder/trivet. Funnier yet, is that there was another one down there too, slightly different style, which was also confirmed as Quistgaard. The teak tray in my living room, originally thought not to be his, also revealed a very faint DANSK mark. Turns out, I'm surrounded by the guy (and we've only just met!)





Stuff like this happens to me a lot, so I've wondered how to convey how weird it feels when it does. I looked up the word "coincidence" in the dictionary:

1. Coinicidence: A sequence of events that although accidental seems to have been planned or arranged.

Well, I guess that's about right. Somehow, though, it doesn't capture the weirdness and the coolness of the experience....

Smurfs, Pineapples and Plaid

Every now and then, I'll pull out the old photo albums and look through our family pictures.  Do people still do that?  Or has that become another "Remember when..." activity?  Well, I still enjoy it and it can be pretty funny.  Was my hair really THAT big?  (Yes dear, it was the 80's.  Everybody's hair was big.)  How awful was that living room love seat?  (And there were two of them, for twice the hideousness.) 

Looking back, my decor experience  in the 70's seemed to be all about plaid, eagles and nautical type stuff.  Milk cans, they seemed to be big too. It wasn't until I became interested in mid century furnishings that I realized we had had some cool pieces in amongst the plaid.  The round coffee table with the hairpin legs.  The teak lamp with simplistic curves.  And apparently, when I was really little, we had a very sleek Draperesque sofa.  Which sadly, left to make room for the plaid love seats.  Did I mention they were red and black? With lines of blue and yellow?  I have to find that picture.....We later followed up with a black, brown and white plaid couch.  Better, but still not great.



The only picture I could find of the red love seat.(Never mind my brother's feet!)

 That's me on the right.  I told you it was big!

When I was about 12, my mom decided I could choose what the next phase of my room would be.  It had been done in red and white since birth and she was actually going to let me pick out what I wanted.  I was 12, what did I know?  My choice - baby blue walls, with blue and white gingham curtains and bedspread.  It was like a Smurf, or maybe Dorothy, had exploded in my room.    That lasted a couple of years.  Then came the "country" phase, which was repeated in a few different incarnations over the next couple of years.  EVERYTHING  was mauve and wedge wood blue.  This was followed by the famous heart, house, pineapple border that I hand painted on the walls.  Pineapple?  Yeah, I wasn't thinking....

By the time I met my husband (early 90s)  I had been swayed by country music and Southwestern decor.  Not that there's anything wrong that.   But we ended up choosing a beautiful, and now very obscure, song as our wedding song - "Made for Loving You" by Doug Stone.  Never heard of it?  Neither did the COUNTRY station when I called to request it be played on our first anniversary.  So we changed our song to "In My Life" by the Beatles.  Why?  Because it's what we should have picked.  It's beautiful and classic.

It took a long time, and exposure to many other design styles for me to learn this lesson. When decorating, I try to look for items that are well designed - beautiful, or at least interesting.  Timeless and classic, they never go out of style and make looking back that much easier.  Now, about my hair....

Just Looking....

Why is it that when you're determined not to spend money - you're just going to "look" - that the deals of a lifetime always happen?  Case in point, our local historical society was having rummage sale.  Now, we're in small town on Long Island, where mid century modern is not quite the rage.  In fact, most items end up curbside where I happily scoop them up.  So who would've thought that in the basement of the historical society, I would find the score of the year?

There I was, just happily looking, pleased with myself that nothing I had seen thus far had triggered my "gotta have it" reflex.  I was going to keep my word to my husband, I was just going to have a peek.   Some plate caught my eye, minimalist white china with a simple scribble pattern neatly centered.  Why does this look very familiar?   I turned the plate over - and there it was  - designed by Raymond Loewy. 

Now the heart rate goes up.  Raymond Loewy, the famous industrial designer of THE mid century AND the former employer of my husband's beloved grandfather, Andrew Geller.  As this is sinking in, the woman running the sale calls out, "Oh, do you like those?  I'll give you a break on the price - they're $22, but I'll go down to $12."  Poker face - not my strong point.  I am now grinning like a Cheshire cat.  "Okay, but I'll have to clear it with my husband, I'm not supposed to be buying anything."  The woman laughed and then sang out, "You know, those were designed by Raymond Loewy.  If you like those, then you should see these."  Cue the angelic chorus.  White.  Rosenthal.  Plates, cups, coffee pot, creamer, sugar bowl, THE MOST AWESOME GRAVY BOAT......





I run out the car, where my husband has been so patiently waiting with my two girls.  He reads my face, "Oh no.  What did you find?"  Like I said, no poker face skills whatsoever.  "Um, you just have to come and see."   Which he did.  The lovely lady running the sale offered the set for $50.00 and then commenced wrapping everything up.    Did I need more dishes?  No.  Did I have room for more dishes? No, but I made some.  Did I mention I was married to the most wonderful man in the world?