Vintage Car Spotting of the Week- Spotlight on an late 60's model Ford Galaxie

Hi Friends on the Interwebs!

One of the things I enjoy about this time of year is that car buffs bring out their 'pride and joys' taking advantage of the beautiful weather. My son, Peter, is a classic car lover and a virtual encyclopedia of all things Automobile. We will be driving around and see a vintage beauty.  (Often we chase them down through parking lots or follow them for a couple miles to get a better look!) Peter will comment about how a specific year saw the last of the large engines for that manufacturer, or when emission savings devices were introduced on a certain model so the gas mileage drastically improved,  what year the tail fins were especially large, or the details about a trim package that was offered on some models.     His absolute favorites are the old Cadillacs.  His dream car is an Eldorado from the seventies,  you know - the kind where you can fit your entire extended family in and still have room for a couple of Great Danes or perhaps a VW Beetle.
 Some of these land yachts rival the length of modern day RV's, believe it or not.  (unfortunately, a lot of them get about the same amount of mileage per gallon as RV's do, too :(   Only 7 or 8 miles per gallon.)  He is saving for a fixer upper one of these now, so I will probably be continuing the saga as time goes on.

Peter's dream car - a seventies Eldo
(http://www.zmetro.com/archives/005760.php)

So, I thought I would start a new feature on  'Tea & Cat'  of Vintage Car spotting. That is to say when we cross paths of a Vintage lovely,  I will post some pictures and a little about the car in its heyday.
(with Peter's help on the specs and details).  So here is today's car,  The Ford Galaxie.

We estimated this one to be from the late 1960's.  It was in awesome condition. I snapped a couple of pictures while at a red light.

This isn't your Grand-dad's car....oh, wait, yeah maybe it is

 The Galaxie was made as an answer /competitor to the Chevrolet Impala.  It's first year was 1955. Naming convention of the time was the space age fervor that wound it's way into many aspects of our Culture.  Most of the Galaxie's were of the 500 or 500 XL designation, but later, They had cool names like "Starliner" and "Sunliner."    Wikipedia does a nice job of going through the model years and different versions here.

Even though the body did not change significantly during the 1960's, we know that the car we saw was a late '60's model by the square tail lights (the earlier 60's ones had round tail lights, they changed over in '67)

The list price for one of these new in '67 or '68 was about $4200. (the average US household income then was around $8000.)

They even have a club for Galaxie owners & enthusiasts: /www.galaxieclub.com/

Do you have a penchant for classic cars? If so which is your favorite?  Please comment below!

Thanks for reading

xo Yvonne

Can you beat this amount of mid-century awesomeness?

Hi Friends,

First, a heartfelt Congratulations to Lisa of My Pretty Baby Cried She was a Bird blog, who got married about a week ago. I read Lisa's blog regularly. She adds wit and a knowledged eye to her many vintage finds, from tag sales to old advertisements to photos. I never know whether I will be treated to Borden's talking cow family ads, or a critique of a mid century dining room. A true gal after my own heart!

Now down to business....  I have come to possess my own little piece of mid-century awesomeness.  My very own starburst clock!

As my fellow afficianados of the fifties & sixties decades know that due to our newfound space travel, society was obsessed with all things not-of-this-earth. This translated into many design flourishes like Googie architecture found in motels, gas stations and bowling alleys, and fins on everything from cars to eyeglasses.

The Starburst or Sunburst clocks are perhaps one of the better known pieces of iconic fifties material culture. Their original designer was George Nelson, well known for his design advances in that period.  They were soon to be copied by many different companies like Lux, Elgin & Westclox. Westclox made sunbursts and starburst clocks, some capped with little balls at the end of their spikes.  Lux put little flowers on the ends of theirs and called them "atomic daisies." Some of their clocks were also made with pop-art colors like striking red or blue.   Elgin used teak and brass alternating spikes to differentiate themselves. I have included some photos of the many different types I found on the internet:

alternating teak & brass spikes

spikes capped with little balls

Atomic Daisy clock

 Personally,  as much as I love fifties design,  I was never a fan of the straight, hard lines that are found in a lot of the items then.  I like a much softer, organic feel to my furnishings. That's why previously, I never longed for a starburst clock to adorn my walls.
Then a few months ago, that all changed.  I was doing some looking around on the web, when I saw the type of starburst clock with swirly lines and LEAVES on the ends!  (I am a nut for floral and nature themed items...)
so obviously I fell in love with it, and had to try to get one of my own.      Sadly, I found that many of the clocks I saw on Etsy, Amazon & Ebay were all priced in the one-to-several hundred dollar range.
But not to be discouraged, I kept digging.  Low and behold, I found a 'fixer upper' model on ebay for $12!  yes,  my own little piece of fifties iconicness for under twenty bucks (including the shipping)      My clock still runs, although at some point the wiring was changed out, (and it looks like the person who rewired it may *not* have been a rocket scientist, as the wires look a little funky)  The official maker of my clock is United.
It also has two candlestick pieces that abut from either side a little below the dial that take a Christmas sized lightbulb. This is somewhat of an oddity, as I have not seen any other clocks that feature those.

The leaves have a fair share of rusty spots, but overall it's not in too bad of shape.  I have purchased a bottle of "Krud Kutter - The Must for Rust!"  (no kidding that's actually what the product is called!)  It's a biodegradable rust remover product.  I plan to clean the metal pieces with that, and then hit them with a couple of coats of metallic Krylon paint.    The dial needs some cleaning too.  I was also weighing the possibility of replacing the wired clock movement with one of the battery ones you can find in a craft store.  I have yet to open it up, so that may not be as easy as it sounds, but with the wiring as is, I am fearful of plugging it in and leaving the room as it may be a fire hazard.  Plus, having it eight feet up on the wall with a plug hanging down looks a little unsightly.   At the very least I am going to have my Sweetie take a look and rewire the plug with a modern one.

Nifty Candlestick appurtenances

So I am so thrilled to have found this piece!  I will definitely take pics of the 'restoration'  and post them later.

Have you found a wonderful item online or at a tag sale that you were able to fix up?  Do share!

Pleasant thoughts coming your way!

Yvonne



Sources:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/clocks/mid-century-modern

Thinking of Spring...

Last weekend the weather was cold and dreary (yet again)    Peter & I decided to check out a few of our local haunts.... One great store is "The Watchamacallit Shop"  in Wareham, MA.  where there is a little bit of everything.

I found this beautiful  Art Deco dresser (DO WANT.. SRSLY)

*sigh* maybe some day

Peter really liked the signage:

He ended up getting several old Cadillac Advertisements to frame for his wall.

I will have to take some pictures and post when he gets them framed...

I didn't get anything here, but then on the way home we stopped at a small store that opened about a year ago in Falmouth  (Dee's Home Again).  It is one of those places I have driven past every single day on the way to work and think to myself: "Man, I gotta stop there and check it out one of these days." So nearly half a year later,  I finally did.

 It seems to be mostly home goods & furniture, but they did have some vintage clothing, and (very happily I might add) they mark down items for each month they've been in the store.    I found this:

front of dress

A beautiful vintage 60's dress, I'm guessing what must have been a bridesmaid's dress.   It is full length, heavy cotton or linen,  lined.  Soft, pale yellow in color.  There is no label on the inside, and some of the seams look hand finished, so I'm wondering if it may have been a custom job.   

and the neckline has the most beautiful bead trim....

The backside of the dress has a large bow that detaches on one side and when reattached via hook & eye conceals the top of the zipper.  The best part was that due to it having been in the store already for a few months,  it was marked down to $10!   (you can't even buy a couple yards of fabric for that little anymore, and this dress was probably made with 4 or 5 yards)

back of bodice close-up

Back of dress

I tried it on and it does seem to have been made for someone a bit more well endowed than I  (It's okay...I have long since come to terms with my body, and that I will never be a contender for a St. Pauli Girl regardless of whether I can pull off the blond braids)    

Obviously too,  wearing a full length yellow bridesmaid dress would look a little odd, even for the most confident of vintage chic people.     

So I have modifications in mind....  thinking a simple yellow sundress? I could cut it off just above the knee, have plenty of extra fabric to add a sash, some rosettes, possibly make a matching purse? Would need to take the side seams in too.   I found these pictures on the web of what it could maybe end up looking like...

Yes, dreaming of spring....  I will have to add this to my sewing projects and post pictures when I get to doing it.

Have you ever modified a vintage dress?  What were the results?  Would love for you to share!

Thanks for reading!