Tag Archives: Micarta

Deco Finds of 2019: A Look Back Over the Year

Late 1920s New Year Card.

A late 1920s New Year Card. Image from Pinterest.

It seems that every New Year’s Eve is a time for looking back, this is especially true when it also the end of a decade. It’s been just over five years since Chris and I started Driving for Deco and every year we do at least one post on our travels. While we did get some good items on our summer 2019 “freakin’, ‘tiquen” trip it wasn’t as successful as in previous years. In this post we will look at our Deco finds of the past year.

 

William Welsh Winter, 1931

Winter by William Welsh, 1931. Image from Pinterest.

We actually began the year a bit early, in the very last few days of 2018.  Friends of ours  told us about the Ballston Spa Antique Center in Ballston Spa, NY.   While visiting Chris’s sister, who lives there, we stopped in at the antique mall. We were not disappointed.

 

Ballston Spa Antique Center

Ballston Spa Antique Center. 217 West Milton Road, Ballston Spa, New York.

We did pick up a few great Deco pieces here, starting with a set of four Revere Empire cocktail cups designed by William Weldon in 1938. The green catalin bases have darkened to almost black. Outside of pictures in books or online, this was the only time we’ve seen them in the wild.

 

Revere Empire Cocktail Cups on a Revere Cocktail Hour Tray

The four Empire Cocktail Cups (1938) purchased at the Ballston Spa Antique Center. The Revere Cocktail Hour Tray came from the Big Flea later in 2019.

And there was another Revere find, the chrome dome and cheese board dating from the mid-1930s. The wood base is in rough shape and catalin handle on top, now a deep yellow color, originally was white. These turn up on eBay every so often. Anthony already has a dome, however, this is a complete set.

 

 

Aside from some great 1930s neckties, our last item was a nice copper and chrome Manning Bowman late 1920s vase.

 

 

In February, on a casual antiquing weekend, we hit up some of our local stores.  In East Bloomfield, NY we visited One Potato, Two and Peddlers Village but didn’t make a purchase.  On our way home we decided to stop at another antique mall in Bloomfield, NY. We had some Deco luck, coming away with a Royal Rochester casserole in the Modernistic pattern.  Anthony’s fast sweep missed it but Chris’ eagle eye saw it. At $8, it came home with us. Unfortunately, neither of us can recall the name and an online search indicates the store has since closed. The closing of antique stores is an issue that we have become all too familiar with over the last decade.

 

Modernistic Royal Rochester Casserole

Royal Rochester casserole in the Modernistic pattern (1928). Purchased at a small antique mall, since closed in Bloomfield, New York.

 

 

William Welsh, Spring, 1930

Spring by William Welsh, 1930. Image from Pinterest.

By late March as winter turned to Spring, we spent the weekend in Adamstown, Pennsylvania with a group of friends. For those unfamiliar with Adamstown, it is located in Lancaster County, not far from Harrisburg, and loaded with antique malls. We try to make it out there a least twice a year (if not more). The big find of the weekend for Anthony, an Eversharp Doric fountain pen desk set, with its original box at Adams Antiques. The Doric line represents some of the most Deco style fountain pens ever made.  Even though the pen needs refurbishing, the low price will allow for a proper restoration. More on that in the future.

 

 

Adams Antiques

Adams Antiques, Adamstown, Pennsylvania. Image from tripadvisor.com

 

Early in April, we hit the road to visit some familiar places around Bucks County, Pennsylvania. While Gristie’s Buck County Antiques & Oddities had recently closed, driving over a wrong bridge back to New Jersey brought us to a new (to us) antique store. There we found some Deco Wedgwood & Co. china. For more information about the china check out our post “A Wrong Turn Leads to China”.

 

The late Gristie's Buck's County Antiques & Oddities Oddities

The late Gristie’s Buck’s County Antiques & Oddities

 

Classic Deco Wedgewood & Co. items.

Wedgewood & Co. (LTD) plate, casserole, teacup and creamer.

Though we visited Adamstown in March, we headed back over the Memorial Day Weekend. Located just to the south of Adamstown is the German Trading Post / Antiques Showcase. This is another favorite place of ours. It is much larger than it looks from the outside and the prices are really reasonable.

 

German Trading Post / Antiques Showcase

The German Trading Post / Antiques Showcase in Denver, PA, just outside of Adamstown. Image from Facebook.

 

This time, while we didn’t strike gold, but we did find some silver. Or at least silver plate. First find was a couple of long stem goblets. Now to tell the truth, we don’t know if they are from the 1920s or 1930s. They have the look, but there is no makers mark, so we can’t identify them and nothing like them has turned up in any online searches. Since they were only $1.00 each it wasn’t a hard decision to purchase them.

 

Unmarked long stem silver plate goblets.

Unmarked long stem silver plate goblets. These may or may not be from the Art Deco era.

A silver plate cocktail pitcher was our other purchase that weekend from the German Trading Post / Antiques Showcase. Manufactured by the International Silver Company and designed by Carl Conrad Braun in 1940, the pitcher originally came with a silver plate mixing spoon topped by a pineapple. Unfortunately, the spoon is missing. So our search continues.

 

 

 

William Welsch, Summer, 1931.

Summer by William Welsch, 1931. Image from Pinterest.

 

Just before spring officially turned into summer Deco luck struck again. On one of our trips to the Golden Nugget Flea Market, we picked up a 1933 George Switzer tray for Westinghouse made out of the synthetic material, Micarta. We feel that this was our best find of 2019. For more information about this tray, click HERE.

 

1933 Nocturn tray_Switzer_Westinghouse

The 1933 Nocturn tray, by George Switzer for Westinghouse.

A month later, we hit the road for our annual summer “freakin’, ‘tiquen” adventures.  The first week we didn’t roam much, staying in New Jersey. But we did manage to get to Rago Auctions, in Lambertville, New Jersey for some appraisals of items that we had recently acquired.  We also learned that the Golden Flea Market is open on Wednesdays so we gave it a try. Unfortunately we got there pretty late in the morning and most of the vendors were packing up for the day. Even so, we pick up a Fiesta Kitchen Kraft casserole for only $5.00. It does have a couple of fleabite nicks, but otherwise it is in good condition. These were only available for six years and are not too easy to find. So we came away happy.

 

Fiesta Kitchen Kraft Casserole.

The large size Fiesta Kitchen Kraft Casserole (1938 – 1944) in red.

 

The following weekend (July 20th & 21st) The Big Flea was at the Dulles Expo Center, outside of Washington, D.C.  Due to prohibitive production costs, The Big Flea no longer comes to New York City, and we miss attending it very much. Reading online that it was going to be in the D.C. area while we were on vacation, it became the first stop on our summer antiquing road trip.

Theoretically it is only a three and half hour drive from Chris’ place in N.J. to Chantilly, Virginia, without traffic. But when is there ever a time without traffic in the Washington D.C. area? Taking about an hour longer than Google Maps originally said it would, we arrived in Chantilly, Virginia in the early evening. The Staybridge Suites is where we spent the next two nights. The price of our suite was very reasonable and it is only about a five minute drive to the Dulles Expo Center.

 

 

Being anxious to get to The Big Flea, we were up early the next morning and after a fast breakfast, we drove over to the Expo Center.

We had a mixed reaction to The Big Flea. Anthony was expecting the sheer size and volume we associate with the New York version. Chris expected a smaller version relative to the smaller venue. Chris was right. That isn’t to say it was small by any means; just smaller by comparison.

Out plan of attack? Start at one end and methodically scout each booth and display before buying anything. We almost succeeded, seeing several items of interest and tempting us to start spending right away.

We did well until Chris saw a small very art deco chrome cocktail cup. The owner of the booth told us he was divesting his collection and his prices reflected this. Not knowing anything about it, this sweetheart of a cup found a new home for just couple of dollars.

 

The First Deco Find of the trip.

Chris makes the first Deco find of the trip. A chrome cocktail cup attributed to Walter von Nessen.

Attributed to, Walter von Nessen, circa 1935, there is no official documentation of this design. It may be part of his studio line or his design but manufactured by another company. You can find examples online in either chrome or copper finish with the original cobalt glass insert.

It is missing the glass insert but is still a diminutive deco delight,

Our next find? An Evercraft cocktail shaker, circa 1935. We needed this to complete our set. The cups were purchased at a local Goodwill in N.J. and the tray at Pocono Peddler’s Village Antique Mall, Tannersville, PA.

 

Evercraft Cocktail Shaker.

Chrome Evercraft cocktail shaker, circa 1935.

 

This tightly packed booth invited disaster and did so shortly after our purchase. Whether the precariously built displays, a shopper with a large bag slung over her shoulder or a combination of both can be blamed, we will never know. The unfortunate dealer lost a good deal of inventory as a glass and china display collapsed. Please be aware of your surroundings and careful!

A few more aisles of goodness and we came across a dealer specializing in Whiting & Davis, beaded bags,  and costume / Bakelite jewelry . You can find more about Whiting & Davis at: https://whitinganddaviscollection.com/history-about

Our friend Nancy is a collector of these delicate treasures. While photographing (with the dealer’s permission) and sending them off to Nancy to see if there were any interest,  Anthony noticed a chrome deco tray with Bakelite handles being used as a display. Luckily, it was not NFS.

Revere Cocktail Hour Tray.

The Revere Cocktail Hour tray, circa 1937.

Designed by Fredrick Press and listed in a 1937 ad for Revere chrome, is the “Cocktail Hour Tray” with its’ “Norseman” design. Sometimes erroneously referred to as the Zephyr tray, it has a satin finish. Bakelite or catalin handles matched the original Revere Welden “Empire” cocktail cups.

We also purchased three beautiful bags for Nancy. A Whiting & Davis brown and cream bag, a Dresden mesh bag with a peacock design and a rhinestone bag. For more  information: about Dresden bags go to: http://www.jewelsofyesteryear.com/id44.html

 

Toward the end of our adventure, Anthony bought a chrome and cream enameled Chase ball “Fireball” lighter, produced between 1936-1941. Much of the vendor’s inventory called to us but this was our only purchase.

 

A successful day in all, we look forward to returning in the future.

The next day found us crisscrossing the state to tour a home in Greenbelt, Maryland. You can read about this wonderful town and tour here.

 

After our visit to Greenbelt, it was a short drive to Ellicot City, Maryland. There are numerous antique stores here and like our first visit back in 2016, we did not come away empty handed. We cannot remember the name of the store on Main Street but in one we did find at a 1930s Czechoslovakian ceramic ram pitcher designed by Ditmar Urbach. The price was good, but it is not it perfect shape, there is staining on back and it does have a hairline crack in it. But since Chris already had the Toucan pitcher, it makes a nice addition to the collection. And these are not easy to find. Frankly, Anthony finds it scary.

Czechoslovakian Ram Pitcher by Ditmar Urbach.

Czechoslovakian ceramic Ram pitcher by Ditmar Urbach, mid-1930s.

We also antiqued in Hagerstown, Maryland. Our only purchase, a Kensington Sussex tobacco jar, marked as an ice bucket, found at Memory Lane Antiques and Collectibles. Although we did see a lot of great Art Deco items at both the Beaver Creek Antique Mall and Crossroads Antiques nothing called to us.

 

Memory Lane Antiques and Collectibles.

Memory Lane Antiques and Collectibles, Hagerstown, Maryland.

Kensington Sussex Tobacco Jar.

Kensington aluminum, Sussex Tobacco Jar.

 

Then the we had an unexpected adventure. Being the loosey-goosey guys, we are,  we set our GPS to avoid tolls as we headed out to tour Frank Lloyd Wright homes, Fallingwater in Mill Run, PA and Kentuck Knob, Dunbar, PA. And avoid tolls we did.

 

 

 

Driving through pastoral fields and quaint towns, Anthony was excited to see we were on the old Lincoln Highway. He has spoken for years about wanting to drive the Lincoln Highway so his dream (nightmare) was about to begin.

 

The road started out with gently inclines and sweeping curves. And quickly became a roller coaster of steep incline, followed by death defying drops and tight turns. Often, a blind turn was at the crest of a hill.

 

Already in 3rd gear (I should have been in 2nd), being tailgated and the stress building, Anthony’s music randomly started playing Cloudburst from Ferde Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite with the building crescendos and softer lulls almost perfectly matching the driving conditions. We couldn’t help but laugh and while still stressed, starting enjoying the drive.  We highly recommend trying this. But not with anyone who gets motion sickness or hates roller coasters!

 

In true Driving-for-deco form, we saw a sign for Churchhill Pa – Antiques.  Being late in the day, we scrambled to see the goodies available.  Anthony purchase a set of West Bend aluminum cocktail cups.

 

West Bend Cocktail Cups, 1936.

The 1936 resigned West Bend aluminum cocktail cups.

Originally part of the Tipple Tumbler, designed by Ralph N Kircher, circa 1934, these are the redesigned cups circa 1936.  The original cups have straight sides with black bands. The resigned cups have a narrow base, flare at the top and have no contrasting bands.

 

We were excited to “do” this store properly and ended up staying at a hotel conveniently locate across the street. The next day we took our time to explore both floors but didn’t find anything more to take home.

William Welsh, Autumn, 1930.

Autumn by William Welsh, 1930. Image from Pinterest.

Overall there weren’t too many Deco finds this past fall. But just before summer turned to fall in late September, we purchased a nice glass vase. We have a case at Ontario Mall Antiques in Farmington, New York. One Saturday after adding some pieces to the case, we took a look to see what our competition had for sale. In a nearby case Anthony spotted an etched glass vase with scrolled handles. It seemed familiar and Anthony had a gut feeling about the piece, so we picked it up. We can’t find any company mark on it, but through a quick internet search, we found similar vases. The handles were the give away. The vase seems to be French and  designed by Pierre d’Avesn for D’Avesn Art Glass Company in the late 1920s.

 

 

The only other item of note that Anthony picked up in the autumn was a circa 1940 Longchamps menu. He found it at the Antiques Mall of Madison, near Madison, Wisconsin, while visiting the state on a business trip.

 

Longchamps Menu Cover.

Longchamps Menu Cover.

Inside of the Menu.

Inside of the Menu.

 

Back Cover.

Back Cover.

 

William Welsh Winter, 1931

Winter by William Welsh, 1931. Image from Pinterest.

And  this brings us back to winter. On the penultimate day of 2019, we added a few new items to our case at the Ontario Mall Antiques in Farmington, New York. Just before we left, Anthony spotted a Royal Rochester syrup jug, in the Modernistic pattern. This checks off one more piece in this highly elusive pattern for his collection. For more about Royal Rochester Modernistic, click here.

 

Royal Roachester Modernistic Syrup.

The very Deco Royal Rochester syrup in the Modernistic pattern.

 

So now it is on to the 20s. It is our hope that with the one hundredth anniversary of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in five years, there will be a renewed interest in Art Deco.

 

Chris & Anthony (The Freakin’, ‘Tiquen Guys)

George Switzer Micarta Trays for Westinghouse

If you had asked me, before June 23rd, if I knew who George Switzer was I would have replied no. If you had also asked me if I had ever heard of Micarta, I would have said what’s that? In just two days (it’s June 25th as I start to write this), I now know who George Switzer was and what Micarta is. Now you maybe asking, how did I come into such knowledge or perhaps more accurately, why would I care? Well on Sunday June 23rd, Chris and I went to the Golden Nugget Flea Market. Past readers will know that this is a favorite flea market of ours. Anyway, a vendor had on his table a striking orange and black tray with an aluminum frame. In the center of the tray is a stylized sail boat, moon and star of dyed aluminum embedded in a black band. Two strips of anodized aluminum separate the black band from the orange. It easily caught my eye and after Chris negotiated with the seller to bundle the tray with a Manning-Bowman chrome powder box we got both items for a very good price. I would learn how good the deal was a little later that morning.

 

The 1933 Nocturne Tray.

The 1933 Nocturne Micarta tray, designed by George Switzer for Westinghouse. From the author’s collection.

 

In the car on the way home, I Googled “Art Deco black and orange tray with sail boat”.  One of the results was a 1stdibs.com dealer who is selling the tray and described it as being designed by George Switzer for Westinghouse. Now I was able to dig deeper into this tray’s history. I also learned that Switzer designed five other Micarta trays for Westinghouse in 1932. So now I wanted to find out exactly what was Micarta.

 

Micarta

Under pressure and high heat a combination of linen, canvas, paper, fiberglass and other fabrics, creates a laminate that Westinghouse branded as Micarta.

When introduced in the early 1910s, Micarta’s usage was for electrical equipment. An article in Machinery described the new material:

MICARTA – A SUBSTITUTE FOR FIBER, RAWHIDE, HARD RUBBER, ETC.

A remarkable new material to take the place of hard fiber, glass, hard rubber, molded compounds, etc. has been developed by the Westinghouse Electrical and Mfg, Co, East Pittsburg, Pa. The material, which is known as “Micarta” is used for brush holder insulation, gear blanks, conduit for automobile wiring, for arc shields in circuit-breakers.

Micarta is a hard, tan colored material having a mechanical strength about fifty per cent greater than hard fiber. Micarta is not brittle and will not warp, expand or shrink with age or exposure to the weather but takes a high polish, presenting a finished appearance. 

Machinery, August, 1913, Pg. 942

To expand the market for Micarta, Westinghouse developed new uses for Micarta by the late 1920’s. They began manufacturing it in a variety of colors and patterns, such as wood grain or marble, making it perfect for wall panelling.

 

Westinghouse booklet of Micarta from the early 1930's.

Pages 6 & 7 from an early 1930’s Westinghouse booklet showing the many decorative uses of Micarta. Image from the Internet Archive.

 

George Switzer

George Switzer (1900 – 1940). Photo from the New York Times, October 9, 1940.

In 1932, Westinghouse thought Micarta would be a perfect material for decorative trays. They contracted industrial designer George Switzer to design a series of trays for the company. Although mostly forgotten today (he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia entry), in the 1930’s Switzer was a well known as Gilbert Rohde, Donald Deskey and Henry Dreyfuss.

Born in Plymouth, Indiana on March 6, 1900, Switzer graduated with honors from the University of Illinois. In Chicago, after college, he found employment with the advertising firm Wasey & Co. In two years he left to go work for Young & Rubicam in New York. This led to his designing everything from envelope stickers, messengers’ uniforms and delivery trucks for Kurt H. Volk, Inc., typographers. This work established his name and in 1929 Switzer set out on his own opening his own designing and consulting firm. He produced designs for sixty-five companies encompassing all sorts of things including letter heads, sausage labels and a Roll-Royce car body. In 1937, against 12,000 other entries he won two of the three awards in the “All America Package Competition” with his modernistic package designs for  the Eagle Pencil Company and the Geo. A. Hormel Company.

In 1940, Switzer underwent an operation for mastoiditis. While recuperating at his cousin’s home in Prattsville, New York, he died suddenly in the early morning hours of October 8th at the age of forty. His body is interred at the Oak Hill Cemetery,  Plymouth, Indiana, his hometown.

 

Westinghouse Micarta Trays

Looking for new uses for Micarta, Westinghouse approached Switzer. In 1932 he designed five modernistic, Micarta trays for the company. Retailing for around $5.00, these trays were available in finer stores by the 1932 Christmas season.

 

Westinghouse Micarta logo.

Westinghouse Micarta logo stamped into the back of the 1932 trays. Image from Decaso.com

 

 

 

December, 1932 Harper's Bazaar, Pg. 57.

Christmas 1932 men’s gift suggestions from Harper’s Bazaar. Under the gadgets section is the striped Micarta tray for $5.00 available at Bonwit Tellers. Magazine page from ProQuest.com

 

Walter Rendell Storey in his October 30, 1932, New York Times Sunday Magazine article on interior design had this to say of these new trays:

New trays of diverse and interesting kinds have recently appeared in response to a growing  consciousness of their varied uses and decorative possibilities. Some of the latest ones are combinations of wood and metal; others are synthetic compounds immune to cigarette burns and beverage stains. 

Of the new trays, perhaps the most striking is a series of beverage trays with designs developed in thin sheets of varied-hued aluminum inlaid on a glossy black ground. The motifs have been developed in a contemporary manner; there is one entitled “Dynamic,” which the designer, George Switzer, has interpreted by a stylized airplane. The traditional theme, “Nocturne,” has a sail boat beneath a yellow crescent moon with the deep-green water lighted by a streak of vermilion. For the period room the designer has created a most effective arrangement of empire motifs, namely, the arrow, star and laurel wreath of victory. These trays are stamped out from under enormous pressure from a material originally developed for insulating electric light switches. 

New York Times, Sunday Magazine, October 30, 1932, Pgs. 12 & 15.

 

In 1933 Switzer modified the Nocturne tray. A frame of aluminum, with handles, encompassed bands of orange and black Micarta. A slight rearrangement of the moon and star was another difference on this tray. For the 1933 Christmas season Westinghouse offered this tray as a special promotional item. When buying another Westinghouse product at full price, the Nocturne could be yours for just one dollar ($20.00 in 2019).

 

Westinghouse 1933 Christmas promotion.

Westinghouse 1933 Christmas advertisement, featuring the $1.00 Nocturne tray promotion. Ad from the New York Herald-Tribune, December 10, 1933, Pg. SM15

 

The above ad mentions the “Stunning $3.95 Micarta tray a gorgeous Christmas Gift for only $1.00”. I have yet to find evidence of this tray being sold  anytime earlier in the year. It appears it was only used for the Christmas promotion. And, if that is the case, such a short production life explains its rarity today.

As I mentioned earlier in the post, while Googling for info about the tray, I found two selling on line. One on ebay and the other from a high end antique store specializing in Art Deco items. Both are selling for over $1,100.00.

The Nocturne has even become part of the permanent collections at the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Yale University Art Gallery.

 

1933 Nocturne in the Yale University Art Gallery collection.

1933 Nocturne Tray, Yale University Art Gallery. Photograph from artgallery.yale.edu.

 

So now that I have the 1933 tray, I want to get the five 1932 trays. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)