freakintiquenguys@gmail.com, Author at Driving for Deco

It has been a while since we shared some of our weekend treasures. Rainy weekends and life have really put a dint in our easy breezy travels. However, this past weekend proved fruitful.

Alfred Dunhill, Silent Flame Table Lighter – Gold Finish

On Saturday, I headed out to one of my favorites, the Golden Nugget Flea Market in Lambertville, NJ. My first buy was an Alfred Dunhill Silent Flame table lighter with a gold finish. These were produced between 1935 and 1944 by Parker of London Ltd., New York City. The original 1935 patent lists it as an electric cigar lighter.

Marketed as “Aphrodite” it is sometimes called the “Fan Dancer” after the famed entertainer, Sally Rand. And, it was extremely popular during the Art Deco period.

Alfred Dunhill, Silent Flame Table Lighter (photo via table-lighters. blogspot.com)

These are not particularly difficult to find but are still quite collectable and can be costly. The exception is the rare Superman version which can sell for thousands. This one was extremely reasonably priced so I snagged it.

: Reverse Painted Frame with Joan Crawford

: Reverse Painted Frame – detail

The next treasure I picked up is this reverse painted frame. What drew me to this is the accent color. It’s difficult to see, but what looks almost black, is ruby red. It is truly stunning in person and a fitting tribute to the Joan Crawford photo that was included.

So ends day one of weekend treasures.

Alfred Dunhill, Silent Flame Table Lighter – Chrome Finish

Since it was a nice morning on Sunday, back to the Golden Nugget. And what did I find? Another Alfred Dunhill, Silent Flame Table Lighter. But this time, in the chrome finish. Even more reasonably priced than the prior one, home it came.

New York World’s Fair – Views

Anthony has a collection of the 1939-1940 World’s Fair memorabilia. I got this souvenir booklet although I was sure he had one already. It is in excellent condition (and doesn’t smell – always important when buying ephemera) and it was only $5.00.

New York World’s Fair – Centerfold

My best buy, and the treasure of the weekend is this Chase Stratosphere Ash Stand. Designed by Walter von Nessen, it stands about 26 inches high and weighs about 7 pounds. Not fun to lug around in an open air flea market on a hot and cloudless day. But more importantly, it is complete with the ashtray insert.

Finding a treasure

This is not an easy piece to find, and even harder to find complete. The Stratosphere normally sells for well into the hundreds of dollars. Asking price? $45.00. A no brainer but I still checked with Anthony and got a resounding, “YES!”

When I bought it, it was complete. Then it wasn’t. And then it was. Let me explain.

So, I bought it when I was about halfway through the market. I got back to my car, packed things up and headed home. But when I got home, the astray insert, the hardest and arguably the most valuable part, was missing. I checked my car and it was not there. I figured I left it at vendor’s table. The only way for it to be missing is if the top was open and it slipped out. The only place it was open was at the vendors.

Now there were two issues I faced. The first is that there is no way to call a vendor table in the middle of a field.

The other issue with this flea market is that many vendors arrive by 5 in the morning and tend to leave by 10:00 – 10:30.

It was 10:15.

Luckily, I live relatively close, about 25 minutes away. To say I tore back there is an understatement. 17 minutes later and I was happy to see the vendor still there. Well, his table was there but he was not.

I spent the next ten minutes retracing my steps around the market in case I didn’t lose it there. This included looking under parked cars.

Not finding it, I headed back to the vendor and still he was not there. I knew if he found it, he would have set it aside. I looked into his (open) van. Nothing. I looked all over, and under, the table. Nothing. And then I saw a small paper bag that seemed out-of-place. I took a chance and there it was! The heavens opened and the angels sang – AAAAAAA!

Chase Stratosphere Ash Stand – complete with insert

I asked the vendor next to him to let him know I came back and got it.

The lesson to take away from this is to check and double check things with pieces before you leave the vendor and before you leave the market or store.

Stratosphere – temporary home

So, there you go. Another successful hunt for weekend treasures.

Chris & Anthony (the Freakin’ ‘tiquen Guys)

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night, adventures in antiquing, stop us from our Driving for Deco creed. A friend and I were speaking about Anthony and my antiquing adventures. She asked if anything stopped us.

And it got me thinking.

And the answer is: Not usually.

But the creed doesn’t mention blood. My blood, and lots of it. But I’ll get to that later.

Adventures in Snow:

Ontario Mall antiques Farmington, NY-(photo from visitfingerlakes.com)

Always out for a bargain, and especially on something hard-to-find, we were at one of the larger and better antique malls, Ontario Mall in Farmington NY. We’d gotten there late, just before closing, and did a quick run through.

Anthony spotted a couple of Fiesta mixing bowls with lids. Now, these are really difficult to find. And when you do, they are very expensive. These were priced on the low end of fair.

Light green and Yellow Fiesta Mixing Bowls and their lids.

Fiesta Mixing Bowls and Mixing Bowl Lids.

The question we faced, get them now or wait for the sale that started in the morning. Duh. For 20% off, we were adventurous and we waited.

Who knew there would be a snow storm that night with temperatures dropping into single digits? We did. But it didn’t stop us!

We were up, ready, and sitting in the parking lot about 20 minutes before the mall opened. And as soon as they opened, we ran to the case and bought our prize.

Adventures in Rain:

BK Trading Post (photo from Yelp)

Our plan was to head out to Ephrata, Pa to check out a store we hadn’t been to in years, BK Trading Post (now closed at this location). The night before was storming. Braving the still overcast skies, we headed out. All was fine until we got off the Pennsylvania NE Extension. And at first, it wasn’t too bad. However, once we got into the backroads of farm country, whew!

Buggy Farmland (photo from discoverlancaster.com)

Rolling roads where each dip was flooded, and some light rain, all the while dodging the Amish in their buggies made for a long, long trip.

Did we get anything? Yes, a deco stepped amber glass fruit bowl.

Amber deco bowl

We opted for a slightly different, and drier way to head over to Adamstown.

Heat:

A few years back, we visited some of my family in Houston. To say it was hot is an understatement. As a lovely treat, we were taken to Schlitterbahn Waterpark.

Schlitterbahn Map (photo from schlitterbahn.com/galveston)

Now, I inherited my mother’s Irish complexion. And so, I have two colors: Inside White and Outside Red. Summer itself is an adventure for me.

Knowing this, I both cover up and use vampire strength SPF sunscreen. I had an enjoyable time sitting in an inner tube floating down the lazy river. I made sure to slather on protection as directed. Anthony did the same and except for nearly drowning in 3 inches of water (but that’s his story to tell), it was an enjoyable day. Until that night. Somehow, we managed to burn the backs of our knees.

We went antiquing as usual the next day. It seemed as if everything we wanted to look at was on a bottom shelf.

The pain, the searing pain.

Did it stop us? No.

Esplanade and Exhibit Buildings (photo by the authors)

A few days later, and still hobbling, we went to Fair Park on a clear, hot, cloudless, hot, humid, hot day. I wilt in heat and stayed in the shadows as much as possible. But soon we were off and antiquing!

Adventures in the Gloom of night:

We have been known while vacationing to stop and window shop at closed antique stores. And if we scope out something, we will stay for the night. Now this may throw our plans off slightly but can be worth it. And after all, we’re loosey goosey, easy breezy, Freakin’ ‘tiquen guys.

Anthony found a beautiful ceiling light this way.

1938 Guth Ancoda ceiling light.

Blood:

Trigger warning for the squeamish – including me!

This is a bit of a story. But stay with it.

So, we are updating Anthony’s bathroom. I had the cabinet doors in the basement for painting. With only a couple of doors left to install, I had the “brilliant” idea (against Anthony’s better judgement) to carry 2 doors up from the basement to the second floor in one trip.

What could possibly happen?

The stairs from the first to second floor turn and there is a small landing. On this landing is a solid wood Gilbert Rhode display table. Up I go, clasping the doors in front of my body when somehow, I tripped up the steps. I can’t break my fall because my hands are full. But I stopped when my eyebrow made contact with the edge of the table.

1930s Gilbert Rhode Table showing point of contact.

So naturally, I continue up the stairs to install the doors.

Anthony, hearing me being taken out, runs up and sees a trail of blood. He’s freaking out as the blood is gushing from my head. And I’m asking for a bandage. PSA: Band-Aids don’t stick to gushing wounds.

Bandage (photo from vecteezy.com)

He tries to hand me a towel. Am I grateful? No, I yell at him, “Not a good towel, use a junky one!”

All-the-while he’s urging me to go to the emergency room. I’m playing it off until the blood is dripping down my face, onto my shoulder and pooling on the floor. It starting to look like a crime scene. At this point I’m like, yea, I need to go to the ER.

With a roll of toilet paper pressed against my eye to sop up the blood, off we go to the nearest Urgent Care.

Adventures at the Urgent Care Rochester, NY

Urgent Care (photo from rochesterregional.org)

On the way to there, we passed a local antique store. And without a word, we both instinctively turned our heads to scope out the display windows. A humorous moment during a stressful time.

No, we didn’t stop. Well, not then.

5 stitches (I lucked out and there was a plastic surgeon on duty), a couple of hours later, and wearing a face mask like a pirate patch, but above my eye covering my brow and we were antiquing.

And in case you are wondering. Yes, I finished installing the cabinet doors before we left.

So yes, we are a bit crazy and this can result in unexpected adventures in antiquing – well maybe mostly to me. But sometimes you have to do what we have to do!