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Post by mach12 on Jul 27, 2015 12:34:36 GMT -5
We're getting closer to tearing out the kitchen and are still digging for ideas and always love seeing one with a Chambers in it. This site has one picture with a B or BZ but it's mostly blocked by the table in the middle of the kitchen. Nice collection of vintage appliances. Here's the link: Vintage Kitchen Ideas Site
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Post by vaporvac on Jul 27, 2015 13:35:27 GMT -5
That's a very handsome kitchen. I really like the old pull cord exhaust fans. Maybe you could answer this question, mach12; do the BZ's also have the pull-down MIL cover?
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Post by mach12 on Jul 27, 2015 14:34:21 GMT -5
My son's house has a wall fan like that except it has a three speed rotary switch. I tried to buy the fan from him since the kitchen has been remodeled and it's clear across the room from where the stove is but he wouldn't budge on it - especially after I put a new switch in it and it now works like a champ. Shot myself in the foot there! Both of my BZ's have the covers which was something we really wanted. One had been removed and the spring was lost but the other was there in two pieces. I took the spring pieces to an industrial hardware supplier and came home with two new springs.
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Post by melissaf on Jul 27, 2015 15:28:42 GMT -5
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Post by evangeline on Jul 27, 2015 16:11:11 GMT -5
Hi, Lurker here. My Chambers (c-model, white) is being worked on by Mr. Doug of Pittsburgh so while I'm waiting I spend my spare time looking at how everyone on this site and the other site have integrated their Chambers into their kitchens. I really like that kitchen, Mach12, because the slightly greenish neutral and the white subways go so well with the wood. It's very restful, and it allows your eye to enjoy the fine details of the vintage appliances. Our house is vintage 1903 & the subways were still in the original master bath. Major broken sanitary line three years ago = expensive redo, but the colors are similar. Here is an image. Which is sideways, why is that? Well, if you click on it, it straightens up. Um, phoo.
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Post by vaporvac on Jul 27, 2015 16:35:41 GMT -5
MelissaF, you're killing me! I'm totally not impulsive, but when i see something I need, want and can use i don't hesitate. if the price is right. Meaning, I just got one for my "annex" kitchen! My main kitchen that houses my Chambers is what I call "traditiona', but the annex is more fun, incorporating a vintage metal hutch and jam cabinet, and decorated with pyrex, sunbeam vacuum pot, a Family scale, aluminum canisters and the Norman Rockwell Dewey/Truman table and chairs. But my exhaust was just an old crappy yellowing plastic bathroom-type fixture. this one will look SO cut as it's really obvious when entering that room. Thank you for the heads up!
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Post by mach12 on Jul 27, 2015 19:31:29 GMT -5
Wow Evangeline! I REALLY like the combinations you used in the bathroom. I have to dig and find pictures since I have no imagination when it comes to decorating. Could be worse though. My son is colorblind so when he paints his first step is to call mom, so now I'm bugging her on our house and, since he just bought an old place the vintage of yours, he's bugging her on his. She'll love your decorating too.
Melissaf - Thanks for the link to the grill covers. Gonna be talking to the boss about them when she gets home from work!
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Post by nana on Jul 27, 2015 19:41:13 GMT -5
Don't feel bad about your picture, Evangeline, mine always come out like that too. Nice to know that I'm not alone.
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Post by evangeline on Jul 28, 2015 7:04:45 GMT -5
Thanks, Nana. Lots of things make a monkey out of me. I guess the forum program prefers a horizontal layout??
Mach12, thanks for your kind words! The cabs are Ikea wall units, gotta paint the doors since that pinkish thing isn't working. Then, distraction. Do other people have as much trouble as I do finishing a job? grrrr.
Last thought. I work with color in my job (exterior) and the thing is, it's light dependent. If you choose a cabinet color and install, then you can test big swatches of color for your walls in the room (I use sections of drywall, better to go big). You can see how it will look in the morning, afternoon and evening, and then under your lights at night. A good color mix will change all day and look good in each phase. I bet that super pale khaki in your image would give you lots of good looks in warm and cool light. This is a pain, but it pays off in the end.
And then the beauty of the Chambers! The elegance of those Silverlights! Wow! Wow!
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Post by pooka on Jul 28, 2015 7:28:49 GMT -5
mach12, those are some beautiful kitchens. Almost too grand for my humble taste. Many of them probably cost more than my modest home, & it's too big for me. But my needs are meager, so I can forgive anyone who has such a kitchen. They just far exceed my expectations for a kitchen. The one with the Chambers 15-B seems like the most homey though. Had I the budget, I'd be hard pressed to pick from those ideas. I like the warm white oak wood tone of the Chambers kitchen's island. I usually don't care for too dark a wood finish, although my 1885 drysink cabinet is pretty dark, but it took 130 years for the poplar wood to get that way. I like my upstairs kitchen, but it needs a few tweaks. It's so small, there isn't a lot that can be done, but new flooring & counter-tops & sink would be high on my list. I've rearranged it a few times trying to find a form that I like, but it's still a work in progress after almost 20 years. I've had at least five different tables in there in two different places & am unsure which suits me best. The way it's laid out, the table is meant to go between the two front windows across from the stove. I've tried it in the one corner, but that give a clear view into the bathroom which for most is a definite no no. I almost never use it though except to make coffee. Here's one iteration of it a few years ago entering from the hall, then looking back from the far end. This shows it with one of my salvaged tables that someone threw away between the widows where it belongs. Those two chairs are the only matching ones I own. They were $8 at Goodwill. I might add that nothing in these pics was bought new except the refrigerator & the toaster, although the KitchenAid toaster was returned merchandise from Sears bought at considerable discount. I have since given it to my brother in favor of a old fashion looking & quirky Krups toaster that was named " The Best Toasters of 2014" by at least one source. The KitchenAid was second on that list. Oh, & the tandem ceiling fan & light that replaced the 30s chandelier a coworker gave me that in turn replace the original dual tube florescent light from 1939. It hummed & drove me crazy. Try to imagine my model 7141 (bellow) & a vintage fridge with a low cabinet between them in place of that Harvest Gold GE stove & black Whirlpool fridge that's there now, & possibly a narrow cabinet at the right end. Put a pressed tin or tile back-splash behind the stove, & remotely possibly a vintage looking Vent-A-Hood above it. Even more remotely possibly either butcher block or soapstone counter-top & vintage style sink. Lastly, new linoleum floor & paint the cabinets an appropriate color. That's pretty much my dream kitchen, except replace the model 7141 with a model 1141 (further bellow), that would be a real dream come true. The only other thing I've contemplated doing is to replace the original cabinet doors with flat panel Shaker style doors that would match the 1885 drysink cabinet doors. A model 6120 or 6140 might suit the small space better, but my heart is set on a model 1141. For now I make due with my crude basement kitchen where almost everything is one or two steps away, including the washer & dryer. Again, nothing new at all. Everything is either salvaged for free, purchased second hand cheap or I built it myself with free lumber. I did buy the hinges, handles & knobs on the half finished cabinet from a discount bin from an old local hardware store that no longer exists. My table is just like my grandmothers that used to set there but was carted off by my cousins when she died. I got it right up the road from me one Saturday morning for $35 minutes before two different people showed up to look at it after it had sat in a front yard for a week. OK, I've already rambled on for way too long once again. evangeline, that bathroom is wonderful. It looks like it's always been there like that, but someone did a great job cleaning it up after 110+ years. I love the warm wood tone contrasting against all the light colored tile. The matching colored wood chair/stool is a nice touch too. I hope when I ever get around to redoing my tiny bathroom that it comes out looking that good. I've been collecting bits & pieces for years as I can find & afford just the right components. That's strange about the picture being turned sideways. I've never had that happen to me in the hundreds of pics I've uploaded until just now when I uploaded the blue & white model 1141 pic to Photobucket. When I went to review it before I posted it, I had to used their editor to turn it 90 degrees to fix it. It must be a new glitch.
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Post by nana on Jul 28, 2015 12:19:15 GMT -5
Pooka, I love all those painted flower plates and platters on the walls. My mom had some of those, and now I do, along with some I've added myself-- wooden bowls, plates, metal, I can't pass it up as long as it has those gorgeous flowers. They have always reminded me of a spanish flamenco dancer's shawl, exotic and a little mysterious. Do you have any idea what that style is called?
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Post by evangeline on Jul 28, 2015 17:06:09 GMT -5
Hey Pooka, that chair in the bathroom reminds me of something you'd pick up on the curb. I found it at a garage sale - it's probably from about 1910 and it's the cat's official chair, she gets a dish of milk while I get ready for work. Those tiles were laid in on a substrate of concrete at least an inch thick and so plumb and straight you wouldn't believe. The craftsmanship from those days was awesome. We had to put the wall cabinets in because some knucklehead back in the 70s installed a harvest-gold plastic jacuzzi in that corner. ! I found the oak cabinet at a fleatique. it was so in keeping with the house's woodwork I couldn't resist, and it replaced an old built-in that couldn't be salvaged. My Perfect Spouse (PF) says 'why not just hang a sign that says No Boys Allowed! Here is an image of a very simple but lovely kitchen that has some of the features you describe for a perfect kitchen. I like it a lot and it would be nice if more old houses still had their simple real wood cabinets that could be cleaned up like this. . . .Now if the stove was really a Chambers. . . This is a link to a PDF, not sure it will work. Cooks Kitchens Master - Other.pdf (78.54 KB) Nana, is that painted tray thing called Tole? I have a few from the 60s but they're screen printed not hand painted. Maybe the sideways problem is because I'm attaching a file from my hard-drive. I can't seem to get it together to maintain a cloud file of photos. I use HOUZZ a lot for ideas and keep images like above in ideabooks. e. PS I like the little half-round table. Clever!
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Post by pooka on Jul 28, 2015 17:49:59 GMT -5
Sorry nana but I don't. It's one of those accidental collections. I got the first & biggest one more than thirty years ago. I would find them now & then at the thrift stores for a dollar or two. I think the most I ever paid was $4. I always assumed they were cheap souvenirs from Mexico. I was always attracted to them because, though a bit primitive, they are hand made & no two are alike. & they have such a strong visual impact. On a practical side, they are great for putting a hot plate on in my lap to eat sitting in my recliner in front of the TV. When I moved into my grandmothers house in 1993, my room mate chose the colors to paint, & they were the perfect inexpensive way to decorate the kitchen. He had a collection of copper molds & pans that he hung on the wall. I had quite a few of those wooden trays. When he move out, cast iron skillets were hung in the same nails he had hung his copper things on. I have since added a few more. One that's hanging in the corner is a metal tray painted in a Pennsylvania Dutch style floral pattern was in the house & compliments those Mexican wooden trays. I have always been attracted to primitive art that local people create to please themselves, as crude as it may seem sometimes. I also have some Mexican paintings that are done on paper made from tree bark. They currently hang in the living room. They use strong primary colors & have a great visual impact. And also they are relatively inexpensive as I do almost all my shopping at thrift stores. I have a quirky taste when it comes to art. There is some things that are considered fine art that I just don't care for. Then there is cheap souvenirs art that is hand crafted that I love. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a Rembrandt as much as the next guy, but I will never be able to own one. I am a incessant collector of that which pleases me. Be it a fine art print that I got cheap to a crude painting some unknown person painted looking at some run down out buildings from their kitchen. I buy what I think is beautiful in my eyes, & not what others tell me is beautiful. Value is in the joy that viewing it gives me, & not in the price in dollars & cents the marketplace put on it. Here's another of my recent acquisitions by some unknown artist. It may seem crude, but it pleases me & was a steal at $4. The platter in front of it is an 1850s English transfer ware that I agonize over getting, but gave into the $4 price. Truly, I would go hungry & be homeless for the sake of beauty. I guess I'm a crazy philosopher who is a starving artist at heart, although I have no particular talent in art myself. This is my greatest buy that I talked the thrift store down from $20 to $10. I was lost in that far away look of that native American maiden wrapped in a blanket seated on the painted pony. It's only a print & not an original, but it's beauty captured me on first sight. I was fractured for days waiting for it not to sell before I made an offer. Call me mad. I just don't care.
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Post by pooka on Jul 28, 2015 20:13:06 GMT -5
evangeline, in fact I have a similar chair/stool that I did pick up at the curb. My palm tree sits on it in the upstairs kitchen for now. Imagine that palm started out in a six inch pot over fifteen years ago. You sound like someone I could get along with famously. We sound like one mind separated into two head when it comes to style. Tell your "Perfect Spouse" that there are boys that like that kind of thing too. It's just that most wouldn't admit to it for fear of diminishing their masculinity. A real man likes what he likes, & doesn't need to justify it to anyone. That "Cooks' Kitchens Master" pic is great. A little lacking in color for my personal taste, but a perfect blank palate for splashes of color here & there. I could live with it happily. That half round table is actually a inexpensive rubber wood round drop leaf table with one leaf down. It's the kind of thing you can buy at Walmart pretty cheap. I found it at the curb with a beat up top & a cracked base. The screws that held the top on were also pulled loose from the base. I repaired the cracks, plugged & re-drilled the tops screw holes & sanded off the dark wood finish on the top & applied some paste wax to finish it off. It is a nice little table, but nothing special. It's a throw away piece to most people, but that seemed like such a waste to me, so I breathed new life into it. I would give it away to anyone who needed it. It was therapeutic to repair it for me. I calculated the perfect table to me for the room would be an oval pedestal that was 28" x 38". Such a thing almost doesn't exist. I did find a antique colonial tavern table that size, but the price was prohibitive for the 200+ year old gem. I figured I'd have to custom make my own, but never went to the trouble. The one that seemed the closest to ideal was a 48" 100 year old table I got off of Craigslist for free from a nearby small town, & led to me cleaning out the lady's 100 year old garage, my 1885 drysink cabinet & all kinds of goodies & scrap metal. I tried it in the middle of the room, but it was just too big. I tried it in the corner, but again it was still too big. I postulated on it for a while & thought I'd try something unconventional. I unscrewed the top & moved half of it over one set of holes & laid the leaf that the lady had found on my last trip up there along the back edge & set the other half of the top vertically against the wall as a sort of backdrop. I kinda liked it, but the whole thing needs work. The base had fallen apart from being in a damp basement & as you can see, it's held together with a furniture strap. It got pulled & stored away for now. I will see if I can come back to it & refine the installation at some future time. Sometimes you just have to think out of the box, & use what you have at hand & make the most of it. It can make for some interesting & surprising pleasing results. Yes that's a 50s desk lamp & chair with a 100 year old table & other two chairs & an abalone shell my mom got when she was single when living in California with a tourist ware wooden Mexican painted tray for some color. So what. I kinda like it. The only thing in that picture that cost me anything was the two chairs were $8, the lamp was a couple of bucks, & the tray was probably a couple of bucks too, but I've had it for so long, I can't remember. The 50s chair was a curb find.
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Post by mach12 on Jul 28, 2015 21:11:38 GMT -5
That's a heck of a selection of treasures Pooka! I'm amazed at some of the stuff people donate or simply toss. When we were in Germany they'd have days where people set stuff out on the curb to be picked up and disposed of and there was some awesome old stuff. I have a really nice curved glass kitchen cabinet that I snagged and sanded and painted for our kitchen there. I brought it home and put it up in the old farmhouse we owned then and couldn't leave it when we sold the house so it has been a laundry room cabinet since. It's a real beauty and my wife plans for me to put it up as part of the kitchen re-do. Both of the kitchens seem like good working arrangements and the color of the upstairs kitchen is just what I recommended to my wife, though she says we need to decide what to do with the ceiling before we can settle on a color. We're kicking around bead board or some kind of a tin ceiling. It's tile right now but I'm taking that up and am putting down engineered hickory flooring. I have the front room finished and most of the dining room but and doing so trim work while I'm at it. The flooring is pretty easy but all of the other stuff that pops up can sure add to it!
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Post by pooka on Jul 29, 2015 6:01:15 GMT -5
mach12, we seem to live at a time where people value the valueless & prize the worthless. Disposability seemingly rules the day. It's a boon for scavengers like me & like minded who make a whole industry of picking the bones of the mindless fools who can afford to throw their money at stuff only to discard it after their brief fascination with it wains. It allows me to live a better & richer life than my income might ordinarily permit. The richer our society has become, the more wasteful we became. It has come back to bite us in the ass by squandering our precious resources in a race to the bottom. In order to make that disposability even easier our industry has shipped more & more production overseas seeking cheaper labor blowing the bottom out of the middle class to a point where we've created a gulf between well off & the nearly poor & destitute. Big money has created a country full of the rich & mega rich who seemingly feed on the poor. They then blame the poor for their poverty. I'm sorry for seemingly preaching the foibles of our present state of affairs. I lament the loss of the idea of craftsmanship & a job well done & the pride of place no matter how lowly your job might be. I see so many who struggle from one day to the next who only want to make a decent living which seems like an insurmountable task. The rich & mega rich glean the benefits of our efforts, but don't want to give any of it back to those that make it possible. We Americans used to be the shining example for the world, but the shine is off the apple & our rotten core is fast overtaking us. We are quickly approaching a tipping point of the point of no return where the bottom echelon will revolt against the upper crust, & it won't be pretty. The top tier of society will come to find that the bottom classes can survive unprecedented degradation of poverty one way or another, but without their efforts, the rich will shrivel on the vine without us. Then maybe they will find it wise to share a bit of the wealth to make a more balanced economy for all. I'm sorry for that screed, but I had to get a bit of it out of my system. I work in the service industry where they throw money away on everything except labor. We are consider yet another throw away commodity. We have just been sold by one investment company to yet another investment company who have decided we can operate on a bit less labor to decrease operating cost, so they can make even more profit. I have carved out a niche for myself by being indispensably good at my job. My pay is nearing an almost livable level, but still meager by any standard. I'm sure I make more than some of the shift managers who are just glorified peons as apposed to us ordinary peons. So you see, I myself am considered a throw away who lives amongst society's throw aways. But I know a secret. There are no throw aways. There are only things & people that others don't value. I see the value that others are blind to. It is that which sustains me & make my meager existence bearable. My treasures give my poverty that glint of joy that make it bearable. OK, That lecture is over, & I apologize for my outburst. mach12, you'll have to give us a pic of that curved glass kitchen cabinet. It sounds like a gem. I'm glad you approve of my two kitchens. I can't take credit for the colors upstairs though. My room mate at the time chose them. Here's a brief confession. He was the love of my life & I don't know what he saw in me, but for a few years I had infinite joy, but it wasn't to last. He had to move on with his life, & I couldn't follow, so there's that. As for your ceiling choice, I'd vote for bead board over a tin ceiling myself. It's much more homey & warm that tin. Stamped tin ceiling are fine in some applications, especially on higher ceilings. But on lower ceiling, I'd think that they seem a bit busy & echoey. Hickory flooring sounds interesting. I'm not real familiar with it much, but I know there's a big variation in it's wood tones & finishes, so it can make for a visually striking & bold appearance. I understand laying any flooring is pretty straightforward, but it's the trim work that can be a bit tedious to get right. All the floors in my house have seen their better days. The whole house has what I thought were solid oak except the kitchen & bathroom. I've tried to keep them up, but they all need replacing. I thought I might be able to sand them, but I discovered in pulling up the furnace cold air return grills that it's a thin 3/8' tongue & groove that wouldn't withstand a sanding. There wouldn't be much left of it if I tried. I toyed with the idea of replacing it with a toasted bamboo because I like the warm rich brown color, but that's just an idea for now. My kitchen flooring was originally was linoleum, but had a vinyl floor glued over it some year in the early 80's & has not held up so well. Moving refrigerators & & stoves around on it has torn the surface in spots & my brothers two dogs managed to dig their teeth into one area when they were puppies, peeling parts of it back exposing the old linoleum below. I've laid commercial carpeted mats down to cover the damage, but it all needs to come up at some point & replaced with something. I toyed with the idea of scraping the vinyl floor off of the linoleum, but it's too old & brittle after seventy five years. I wouldn't mind putting down new linoleum because it's Eco-friendly, has antibacterial properties because of the linseed oil it contains & wears like iron, but again, that's just an idea for now. My bathroom could use a facelift too. I've collected many of the bits & pieces over the years with the long view of redoing it eventually. I've got a high end faucet for one fifth of what it would have cost new & a porcelain vessel sink that closely resembles a Victorian wash basin & old vintage nickel plated sink brackets to hold up a wall hung surface for the sink. I was hoping to make that out of some old 100+ year old bald cypress timbers I've got, but they need to be planed before I can glue them up to fabricate it. I also built a new medicine cabinet to fit into the existing opening & found an antique oak framed mirror the perfect size to fit it, but it's still a work in progress. This is a mockup I've done to preview it to get a visual of it. This is some tile I got from that 1885 house garage that I hoped I could use on the floor, but it needs to be bleached & washed & get some more matching tile to have enough. This is another great find for that project that I looked for seemingly forever. It's a Case model 1000 from the 50s that was considered the best you could buy at the time. They invented this low profile design in the 30's & this is their third improved version. I wanted the previous version model A, but this one will do. You see I've got so many balls in the air, It's a wonder my mind can function at all. nana, I researched those flowery Mexican wood trays & found this description of one for sale that give a short history of them. "This antique Mexican decorative platter, or batea, made of carved solid wood is a beautiful example of the indigenous painted lacquerware technique. Using the traditional technique of Quiroga, Michoacán, these bateas have been made in this village for over 450 years. The wooden platters were used for offerings, marriages, dance dramas, processions, parades, and for decoration. These bateas were hollowed out by way of meticulous carvings with small woodworking tools and lacquered with a mixture of vegetable oil, powdered pigments and melted tar. Floral and foliate designs typically ornate these antique bateas. This piece was carved during the mid-twentieth century, 1930's-1960's.
The lacquerware tradition in Mexico predates the arrival of the Spanish and is believed to date back more than 2000 years. The production of these lacquered trays continued in central and southern Mexico in the Colonial era as did the production of very decorative pieces for European markets. This insured the survival of the indigenous techniques and designs in the remaining lacquerware centers of Patzcuaro and Quiroga, Michoacán, Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas and Olinala, Guerrero."I've got nine round ones of various sizes & an oval & a rectangular ones. I like them because they are both beautiful & useful.
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Post by evangeline on Jul 29, 2015 6:22:56 GMT -5
Pooka, one thought about your floor issue. In England some people use brown hardboard board. Is that what it's called? The stuff they make pegboard out of, but without the holes. They seal it and paint it and lay it in sheets for a floor surface. Painted in a checkerboard or other solid with good floor or porch paint. . . I've seen pictures of very beautiful installations. And the articles say it wears well. Not the same as good hardwood or bamboo, but it could be a way to tide you over until you find a whopping great batch of bamboo flooring in someone's barn.
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Post by nana on Jul 29, 2015 9:02:34 GMT -5
Thanks for the info on the flower plates, Pooka. Maybe I wasn't so far off with the flamenco idea after all.
Martin Luther King said in this country we have socialism for the rich and rugged indivdualism for the poor. Whenever someone tries to level the playing field for the poor, they scream "socialism" and get people all worked up and confuse the issue. The deck IS stacked against us, because money talks and that is what the politicians (of either stripe) listen to. And we don't have enough money to matter. That's why I'm feeling the Bern.
I never get rid of things if they can still be useful just because they're old. Case in point: our predecessors on this land must have really, really,really loved croquet, because we must have found about 8 or 9 croquet sets in varying states of repair in the barn. When the kids were teens they used to play cut-throat extreme croquet, but they hadn't been used for a while and my son-in-law was making fun of me for hanging on to them. He was grateful though, when my daughter was yelling at him for dragging the hose over her newly planted seedlings and I went and stuck the end posts into the ground as guides. I said "See? That's why I save things. So I can pull your chestnuts out of the fire!"
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Post by mach12 on Jul 29, 2015 12:47:23 GMT -5
I remodeled the laundry room and moved the cabinet to the garage wall for the time being so it's not in a very flattering environment (and there's stuff stacked all around it) but here's a picture:
I need to redo the finish on the wood of the doors before I rehang it and I have new locks and keyhole trim that I found at the Kennedy Hardware website when I was looking for a new tambour door for our Hoosier. We're certainly like minded with the love of bringing back the neglected and abandoned. I love the feeling when I complete one of my many waiting projects and stand back and look at it. You don't get that when you buy something that just came out of a factory, mass produced to meet a quota and no pride built into it. Your you and your roommate did a really nice job on the kitchen. I'm sorry for your loss. His, too.
On the floors, we selected the hickory for a couple of reasons. We like the look of it and hickory is really hard wood and holds up a lot better than many others. Looking at the pictures of your floor reminds me of a 30's vintage house we had with similar floors. On the parts that had old floor glued to them it turned out that the glue was soluble with rubbing alcohol and came up and cleaned up fairly easy. Took some time with a putty knife and a stack of old newspaper to wipe the glue off the putty knife but wasn't too bad. I rented one of those big floor sanders and sanded off the old finish and refinished it, darkened areas from stains that wouldn't bleach out and all. There were still dents and creases here and there but the urethane finish that I used pretty much filled and leveled everything. It turned out real nice and the imperfections added to the character. Kind of like me, I hope.
We're leaning towards bead board ceilings too. Our ceilings are low and a tin ceiling would have to be just the right pattern to work. Right now our kitchen has soffits and I hate that wasted space so I'll be ripping out the soffits and putting in new drywall. Digging out all of the blown-in insulation before I can take down the soffits will be the worst of it in my mind.
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Post by evangeline on Jul 29, 2015 20:23:37 GMT -5
Well, we seem to go from the particular to the universal. Nana and Pooka, you've made me think. . . .I've worked side by side with men from Mexico who labored under the hot sun until they were sick and sent their paychecks back home to the family they seldom saw, and I've sat down to dinner with CEOs of national companies. Have worked with ex-military, single moms, PhD geniuses and a whole bunch of wonderful people in five industries, in six states, in almost 45 years of work life. . . .and to me, we're seeing the end game of what started in the 70s, the difference between the rich and the rest, destructive of the fabric of society. Frightens me frequently. But it's heartening to see the spirit of creativity, re-use, and resilience among you on this site. Carry on! Pooka, so glad you still have the color of your walls to remind you of your great and good friend. What a color, saturated with your memories. Mach12, can't wait to see what y'all come up with. Sure it will be freaky great.
PS: that toilet is awesome.
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Post by pooka on Jul 30, 2015 12:36:54 GMT -5
First I'll touch on the politics & social issues briefly, but try not to vent too much, for this is the kind of thing that I understand blew up the other forum, & fractured it's members & created this forum with bruised feelings on both side that still haven't healed. In this country the right took control starting with Reagan & had their run through the last Bush. It has led to more pain & sacrifice for the little guy & have led to giving all the keys to the economy to the the rich & privileged through sweetheart deals & tax giveaways, allowing them to nearly destroy our economy in the closing chapters of their reign in the White House. We waged more senseless wars that further filled the coffers of the well off, & only pain & suffering for us common men with very little to show for us other than to tarnish our prestige on the world stage & exploded the national debt. When Obama took the reigns, we had a system that was so broken, even FDR would have been hard pressed to fix it. Yet the right & big money called him everything from Hitler, Stalin or worst yet the Antichrist that was mostly cover to hide the fact that he was not only a Democrat, but a BLACK Democrat, which must have seemed like the end-times to the mostly southern religious right. They dug their heel in to continue their sway in pouring cash into the already bulging pocket of the rich & pressing boot heels on the necks of the already squeezed little guy, as Obama did his best to try to turn the tide for justice & fairness for all. It's amazing he's gotten as much done as he has, yet we still have far to go. As demonstrated by the present potential field of White House candidates, the right is so busy shooting each other in their collected feet, they will never take that office back without a MAJOR change in attitude. Unfortunately with gerrymandering & voter suppression, they will have strong influence in congress for years to come, making swinging the pendulum back toward a more balanced & fair economy for all a real challenge. We can only hope. For those of us that have little or nothing to look forward to, hope is all we can cling to. Growing up with parents that survived the Great Depression, I know we can come back from the brink if we work together for the benefit of all, even the rich. Being rich is not inherently evil, but it is if it's at the expense of the common man. That's the very definition of tyranny, & tyrants never end pleasantly. I'd hate to see this end in anything approaching the reign of terror in the French revolution, but we were headed down that same road. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. That's not as brief as I meant to be, but when I get on a roll, I can't stop. I blame my parents for that. But it's heartening to see the spirit of creativity, re-use, and resilience among you on this site. Carry on! That's what we're all about here. It starts with our stoves, but continues with anything you can think of. As I've said before, most of my best stuff was old before I was born, but is still just as useful. It just makes good economic sense. Why blow money repeatedly on something when if you spend wisely in the first place. It's cheaper & more interesting in the long run. PS: that toilet is awesome. Yeah, It's cool, isn't it. I chose it because of it's low profile to reduce the overall mass of objects that intrude into the space in my small bathroom along with using a wall hung sink counter to make it seem more spacious. Case started making toilet like it in 1925 & continued with different models, changing names to Briggs along the way until the 80s. I wanted the first model A Case toilet that was produced from October 1934 - September 1935, but they are all hard to come by. I found this one in Buffalo, NY Habitat for Humanities thrift shop for $20 when I was visiting my sister when she was still living up there. I've got another pink one that I got in Indianapolis, IN before it because I was getting frustrated in not being able to find what I wanted. One strange feature of them is the seat is mounted though the tank except on the first model A, which is why I wanted one of them. On it, the seat is mounted though the deck like all other toilets. This makes replacing the seat on all the rest almost imposable unless you can find a salvaged seat somewhere. There are reproduction ones made for the model 1000 like mine, but they are very expensive. Surprisingly enough, there are still replacement part available for the mechanic of most all of them still today from more than one source, so if something goes bad, you don't have to replace the whole toilet. My pink one has the original seat, but the white one has a reproduction replacement that are made a little differently. Here's a link that shows some pics & info at a site that sells parts for them. Case Toilet Model InformationHere's some old period ads for them. This first ad says they were available in twenty six different colors. The second & third ad says thirty two colors. I think that was long before most other brands were. They must have been quite expensive when new. They even made a wall mounted version.
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Post by Chuckie on Jul 30, 2015 14:35:05 GMT -5
First I'll touch on the politics & social issues briefly, but try not to vent too much, for this is the kind of thing that I understand blew up the other forum, & fractured it's members & created this forum with bruised feelings on both side that still haven't healed. I agree. My sainted Father always said that when you're in a PUB, you should NEVER discuss religion or politics! LOL, I made that policy a rule @ MY bar, and I don't believe we had but maybe FIVE fights there in that many years!! LOL, maybe we oughta abide by the same rule on the FORUMS--but it IS still a free country I suppose-- PRAISE GOD for that!! Another line from my "Greatest Generation" Father was "I may not AGREE with what you have to SAY, but I'll defend to the death your right to SAY it!" I think we're a pretty good pack of 'mongrels' here--Agnostic, Catholic, Democrats, Independents, Jewish, Pagans, Protestant, Republicans, Vegans, Wiccans, Wackos, etc, et al. I rather like the mix we all are---a TRUE panorama of Americanism to be sure!!!! CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by mach12 on Jul 30, 2015 14:36:48 GMT -5
I worked for a trucking company that had the wall mounted version of the Case toilet and I remember them having issues getting seats with the right mounts. Are they marked with the production date in the tank like regular toilets? That used to be a good way to come up with a ballpark on the age of a house but with all of the efforts to convert to low-volume toilets that doesn't work so well anymore.
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Post by mach12 on Jul 30, 2015 14:47:15 GMT -5
I'm in total agreement! There's real strength in our differences. Kind of like how you mix metals together to get alloys. Working so much of my career all over the globe and especially when working in the Middle East and North Africa I really had to stretch my old brain around a lot of different ideas and customs. And I learned a lot. (Edit - now why did it remove the body of the quote? The quote should include the following: I think we're a pretty good pack of 'mongrels' here--Agnostic, Catholic, Democrats, Independents, Jewish, Pagans, Protestant, Republicans, Vegans, Wiccans, Wackos, etc, et al. I rather like the mix we all are---a TRUE panorama of Americanism to be sure!!!! )
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Post by pooka on Jul 30, 2015 15:03:35 GMT -5
Chuckie, I generally agree with you, & have nothing personal against politics of any stripe, but the right seems to have been taken over by the lunatic fringe, & they seem to be trying to outdo one another on how extreme their views are in order to get noticed. Both sides used to be able to hold different views & still compromise in friendly competition & get things done. In this day & age, it seems to have turned into a blood sport of mortal enemies in a struggle to the death. This is plain wrong for all sides & the adults in the room need to put their feet down & get back to cooperative friendly discourse. It does no one any good to continue like it is now, much like our two website forums.
mach12, yeah they are marked just like any other brand of toilet.
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Post by nana on Jul 31, 2015 6:35:58 GMT -5
Hard to believe that dame in the chiffon and taffeta even uses a toilet, yet she looks like she's overcome with joy just thinking about it. And that, my friends, is the magic of advertising!
I agree with the general consensus that it takes all kinds to make things work, but you have to be able to talk and compromise. Too far to the right is no good, and too far to the left is equally no good. Somewhere in the middle is about where we should be, but aren't. The love of money is the root of all evil. Greed is what is ruining this country. If we could get the money out of politics we could get back to actually working together!
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Post by pooka on Jul 31, 2015 9:18:49 GMT -5
It's funny sometimes when things show up at just when you need it. I was going over to my brothers to pick my sister up to take her to a hair appointment. As I turned off the main road into the neighborhood I had to yield to a road obstruction that we used to never have to deal with even though I didn't want to. After I dropped her off, I thought I hit the thrift store just up the road while I was out there. I found this piece of marble that's just the perfect size to sit on my griddle. I walked in the back where they have appliances & furniture & found this. My old chair was getting a little grubby, so I snapped it up after making sure everything worked & it was comfortable. As I wheeled to the front to pay I scanned the shelves one last time & this caught my eye. It was again perfect because it was a non sectarian version the serenity prayer since I'm not a person of any particular faith. While I was driving home, I got a call from work to ask me to come in an hour early if I'd liked to, which is always a bad sign. When I got there, it was pandemonium. It was apparently national lasagna day & there was hours of work waiting for me in addition to what would be added through the night. It was truly a nightmare to try to even keep up, much less, catch up. I ended up working almost two hour over to finally finish, but that's the lot for us wage slaves in the service industry for the pittance they pay us. Thank goodness I had changed the almost empty sanitizer chemical the night before at the end of the night, or nothing would have been sanitized. I'm the only one who ever notices when the dishwasher chemical run out, otherwise nothing would get properly washed & sanitized. The night before when I got there I asked the manager to go to the shed to get the sanitizer because it was almost out. He said he was too busy to do it. Luckily there was enough to last me through the night. Think about that the next time you go out to eat in a very busy restaurant, & hope there is someone like me back in the kitchen keeping them on there toes. It's a wonder more people don't get food poisoning from careless kitchen practices for the sake of more profits for the owners. It's truly an injustice for everyone involved except the owners. They just get richer even if they do make you sick in the process. They don't care about you, they only care about your money. This is a classic example of why greed is bad for everyone. To sum up, this is why evil is evil no matter what mask it wears. It doesn't matter what faith, political party or philosophy it professes, it's bad for the group as a whole. Where there is no justice there will be violence is a quote I always remember. But Ghadi has taught us that only peaceful resistance in the face of injustice is the only answer, for violence only beget more violence in an endless cycle. We must always come together in the spirit of fairness to settle our disagreements & difference & part as friends in order to live in a well ordered society or we are all lost. Another quote that always puts things in perspective. It's from Mark Twain about prejudice; “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It I'm sorry I opened this whole can of worms. I have been trying to slowly broker a peace between the two forums by slowly bringing them closer together, first by double posting & surreptitiously & cryptically referring to one another as to not stir up those old hurt feelings. Perhaps it has blown up in my face now. I only want peace & resolution for all party's, but perhaps we are doomed to be two armed camps to conflict endlessly forever. If that is so, at least I'll sacrifice myself for peace & not for war. I was not a party to this conflict, but it has cut me to the bone never the less, so I'll say no more on the subject. I will just suffer in silence.
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Post by mach12 on Jul 31, 2015 12:49:49 GMT -5
That slab of marble is a really cool idea! Adds a nice bit of workspace. Great place to set up the KitchenAid mixer when you're cramped for counter space, etcetera.
Dialog is important and personally I appreciate it and learn from it but I can sure see where it can affect our goals here. When I see people upset by these things I'm more thankful for someone who cares than concerned about whether I agree or disagree. Sure are a bunch of good people here.
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Post by pooka on Jul 31, 2015 14:21:20 GMT -5
mach12, I agree about the marble piece & the dialog. We easily drift from subject to subject much like you might shooting the breeze with the guy at the auto or appliance parts counter. Sometimes we go a bit too far as I did. Sometimes I wish I had the freedom that Aristophanes enjoyed to criticize king & pauper alike on their faults & still beg for his living. He felt beholden to no one yet still begged for his supper. Too often I cry out for the voiceless masses who I find myself amongst, who struggle for justice & fairness yet have no articulate faculty or platform. I'm too much a coward to find a proper venue for fear of losing what little stability in my life that I now enjoy. I was wrong to subject all here to my rage. I shall strive to restrict my words to stoves & old things & not social commentary issues, so as not to offend those present. I was nearly in tears writing that last post as my emotions got the best of me. Mea culpa. So in the words of Aristophanes; “Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.”
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Post by chipperhiker on Aug 1, 2015 0:21:57 GMT -5
Hang in there, Pooka. I don't think there's need to mourn our group's origins.
The Commune's been around since 2007, and I think we're doing OK. For more than eight years we've been enjoying our cool old stoves and our wandering conversations, helping each other and sharing our knowledge. All are welcome, and all are valued.
I think that's a good thing.
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