.. - - -... .- -.-.-.- ... or... I'm BACK!

Hello - I'm from the past!! Or is it the future? Whatever I feel like I have just emerged from a time capsule as I rediscovered this blog from Ye Olde Days of 2011.

Here is a quick update:

I'd like to claim that I alone made dachshunds fashionable again (see my post on Retro Pets 20/03/2011) or maybe it was always going to happen.
...and I have to confess that budgies are THE WORST PET EVER. I can't and won't go into details.
However I have since discovered the BEST PET EVER and will post about that in the next few days/weeks... decades.

In the intervening 6 years I became a triathlete, then stopped being a triathlete because it was stupid, discovered the beauty of the Italian steel bike and fell in love... with open water swimming.

I also single-handedly discovered instagram - you can find me @katherineanteney

But I read through my blog posts and, maybe it's the narcissistic age we live in, quite enjoyed them. So I thought I'd give it another go.

I have literally stood up and found the first interesting thing (almost) in arms reach: My grandfather's 1937 HMSO B.R232 Signal Card.

I'm not sure what a signal card is for. But they obviously churned a lot of them out in 1937 because all the second hand ones for sale are from that year. I think its so new naval recruits to learn all their flags and ... well... signals. My Grampa has annotated it with little asterisks and random letters, I assume as an aide memoire. Under one he has written 'Whaler's Recall" which just sounds terribly romantic, doesn't it?

The nicest thing is it isn't really a book because it's printed on cardboard pages. Like a baby book for really really nerdy toddlers with easy access to flags.

It was printed by HMSO, does that still exist? And it cost 9d. You can buy your own on Abe Books for £6.

Abiding Ephemera ROYAL WEDDING SPECIAL!

I'm uploading this from the Abbey of course.

I got here extra early to get a good seat next to my old pal Liz. We go way back: Norwich Airport circa 1979 and Lisbon 1984 ish. We've hobnobbed many times.
Anyway here at Ephemera Towers we like a good royal artifact and so did the rest of the family. So for you delectation today we present:

First up is the oldest souvenir of the lot. A Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee mug from 1897. There she is looking like a right old grump as usual on this not-so-jolly and frankly quite austere black and white mug. I haven't a clue where this came from but it might have been my Gt grandmothers as she was born in 1889.I like the cherubs on this one - you just don't get enough cherubs these days circling royalty like they used to.

Onward we go to the dark days of 1936 when an American lady with a wasp waist put the kibosh on us having a King Edward VIII. Sadly - or perhaps happily - as he bailed at the last minute the wedding tat manufacturers had already churned out a load of plates, cups, novelty condoms etc
(OK not condoms) and we have a rather nice little item here. I've looked for other Edward VIII stuff on eBay but haven't found one the same as this yet. Maybe it's worth something...maybe not. I think by the 30s there was so much royal related nonesense being churned out it's all worth thruppence.
And onwards to a coronation that wouldn't have happened if the previous plate had served its purpose... if you get my drift. My mum reckons this is hers as my Auntie has got hers. Well Ma I'm afraid it's been left in my house and therefore it is now mine to have and to hold and to blog about. The absolute best thing is it is still in it's box which seems to have been decorated with patriotic lino cuts. LOVE IT!but my mum does still have her coronation spoon tightly in her clutches.And finally this brings us sadly on to shameless pilfering on my Father's part. He was in the police in the early 70s and as such was posted as a plain clothes officer in Westminster Abbey for Princess Anne's wedding to Mark Phillips in 1973. I'm not sure the exact chain of events but suffice to say we are the proud owners of the order of service. Terrible bad form and will probably result in the whole family being sent to the tower forthwith.
Right-0 must dash - Prince Phillip needs to be taken to the loo before the bride gets here.

Feeling extra Hornsea

LOOK AT THIS!!!!

A Muramic wall plaque dating to 1971-2 designed by John Clappison, who pioneered screenprinting onto ceramics, and considered by Colin Rawson the director of Hornsea Pottery to be aesthetically and technically one of the best pieces ever made by Hornsea Pottery.

NEED
NEED
NEED

I have tied my hands by my sides to stop me bidding on this

Cash Strapped Fridays - Feelin' Hornsea?

I've just been outbid on ebay in the last five seconds on a little Hornsea Jug and Pot. I feel sorry for the other bidder really as he or she was sitting comfortably with 15 minutes to go with a bid of £2 and I pushed them up to £10.50. Actually I'm quite glad I didn't win for two reasons. 1. because the last thing our house needs is another jug (more on my fine jugs coming soon!) and 2. I really don't need to spend a tenner on yet another item that will need dusting.I don't know much about Hornsea Pottery (I thought the village was in Kent but it turns out to be North of Hull!) although a quick search reveals a museum.Looking through the patterns the one that sticks out for me is Heirloom Brown... surely everyone's granny had some of this in their cupboard. The brown and orange design is just iconic. Even nicer is Bronte - which was the pattern on the little jug I didn't get.

More alarming is the Hornsea Fauna Range... super cute rabbits and fawns perched on log shaped vases - I ask you what is NOT to love about these??
There seems to be loads of Hornsea about but also lots of avid Hornsea collectors and I know that Jess over at Minimal is Boring loves it too so I don't think I want to set up in competition with her... she's probably plays dirty on ebay!

ps the happy end of this tale is that while I was writing this post I was bidding on a little Hornsea spice Jar and won! Chinasearch.co.uk tells me this pattern is Beaded Kitchenware. Love it!

Early Plastic, Pilfering and an electrician with no taste

A potentially terrible thing occurred yesterday - actually when i think about what could have happened I get a slight nauseous feeling and feel faint.

Several years ago I had a friend who worked in a campus of the University that had offices located in some Georgian houses in town. These houses hadn't been touched for years and when they were being done up in a re-sprucing she turned up at my house with a bag and said 'I saw this and thought of you'. Inside was this gorgeous lampshade - made of some sort of plastic that seemed to be woven in some way - or made from strands. I have seen them since in tall wooden floorlights that sell for a bomb in natty retro stores. This one is just a shade for a ceiling light.
It really is the most beautiful thing - being sort of translucent - probably a prerequisite for lampshades - the light glows through it giving everything an orange tinge and I ask you...when is that not a good thing?
We are getting the house rewired at the moment and when I got home yesterday I noticed that the porch light was brighter than normal but couldn't really place why - I'd be useless on crimewatch. You can only imagine my horror when I went outside again and realised my precious lampshade was in the SKIP! I guess the electrician thought "well this is orange and plastic and obviously horrible so we'll chuck that one out and do them a favour - they can get a nice new one at B&Q."
Luckily although it's very thin and crackable, it suffered no damage and also luckily no local retro lampshade freak was passing. It has been washed lovingly and re-instated in its rightful place. And, as befitting, blogged about.

Abram Games

I went to a great talk last night giving by Naomi Games about her father, the graphic designer, Abram Games. Before going I wasn't really familar with the name and felt really out of place with the Pallant House crowd of terribly posh ladies most of whom either knew Games personally or had worked at various well-known graphic agencies in the 50s and 60s. But when the slideshow started I realised I knew most of the posters - all iconic wartime, London Transport, and public information posters. All beautifully executed with airbrush. And even now all screamingly modern. In fact Naomi Games has offered some of the organisations the chance to use the posters again and a lot of them have said they are still too modern for them!
My favourite was London Zoo poster - apparently the most popular and successful London Transport poster ever.
If you get chance go to Pallant House to see the Festival of Britain exhibition and also buy the book - A Symbol for the Festival.

Classic textiles

I'm currently drooling over the textiles on this site. Lucienne Day is big news at the moment with a new exhibition of her work at Pallant House, Chichester. I didn't know the other designers on Classic Textiles but I love Robert Stewart's work. And it all fits in really beautifully with the 60th anniversary of The Festival of Britain - which will also be the subject of an exhibition at Pallant House. Yippeee!!

excessive blogging leads woman to rash ebay purchase

Just won this rather nice cruet set on ebay. Jie of Sweden apparently. Now I just need to find out what a cruet set is and I'm all set!

WORD OF THE DAY: Prugly: Pretty AND Ugly or just Pretty Ugly?

When they cleared Pete's mum's house we didn't keep much but these luscious items came home with us. Conch teapot and jug anyone?? A quick perusal on Ebay (search term: 'conch teapot' of course) shows 7 separate listings... one seller thinks they might even get £25 for just the teapot. The more realistic are listing at 99p. One reckons it's 'majorlica' - is that like majolica but from Majorca? I dunno if it is or not. I think it's just an earthenware seaside souvenir probably churned out in their millions in the 50s

I think if I saw this in a junk shop I would recoil in terror but because these came from Grannie's and because Pete bought them for her when he was about 12 I love them. Now if I can just find someone selling the matching sugar bowl...

how the lower orders live

I think that if your life is one of such hardship and drudgery that you actually have to crack your own nuts then you may as well do it in style.

Bakelite - The product of the Future!!

Currently bidding on these bakelite napkin rings on ebay... I was looking for wooden ones but then saw these and realised this is definitely the way forward.

I love Bakelite or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride to give it it's real name!!... there's even a Bakelite Museum. DAY TRIP!!

Bjorn again

I'm ebaying again... I LOVE Bjorn Wiinblad and every now and then I have an ebay splurge when I spend hours trawling through Wiinblad pottery and try to buy a few pieces.
This Danish artist designer designed pieces for the Nymolle factory and has a really distinctive style.
I first discovered him for myself when I was really lucky to spot a plate by him in a charity shop window. I hadn't heard of him before but could instantly tell it was Scandinavian. The plate in question is a commemorative plate for Ericsson phones' centenary - I've seen it on foreign auction sites since for about £100 so that was a good find.
After that I went to ebay and started buying the calendar plaques - one for each month of the year they chart a couple's meeting courtship marriage and the birth of their first child (fast movers those Danes I guess). After that a friend gave me some mugs she rescued from her mum who was about to chuck them out.
Everything about his style is perfect - although I prefer his simple line work to some of the colour items and christmas plates.
It just sums up what great style those Scandinavians have.

RETRO-PETS... they ain't just for christmas you know

We have Budgies!! Trying to buy budgies is, it seems, the most difficult thing in the world. Since Bird Flu high Street pet shops have stopped selling birds and the aviary I contacted seemed at one point like it may be a front for some communist splinter cell... "yes we have budgies but they are babies phone back.. no we don't have any phone back next week ... we've got 14 but I don't know what colour they are phone back next week ... we've only got one white one phone back next week."
When the budgie hand-over eventually took place I was in such a crazed state of excitement that I thought she may suspect ME of being up to budgie related shenanigans and refuse to let me have them.
So this exciting news and the joy that is Crufts last week led me to think about pets that people don't have anymore.
When I was a child everyone had a budgie... grannies, aunties, neighbours.
And dog breeds are VERY faddy - you didn't see a pug for years - except Willy on Eastenders - now you can't move for them. But whither the long haired Dachshund?
My Nen had two of these called Hansel and Herr Schmidt (well they ARE German and the war wasn't long over) And looking at pictures of them now they are SO of their time. Especially the photo of Herr Schmidt smoking a pipe - which I will hopefully find and post here.
My other favourite OOF dog is the Afghan Hound... a dog in flares! Schick-a-wow-wow. If you had one of these babies you would - by law I suspect - have to walk it in an outfit such as Bianca Jagger got married in.

(the pictures aren't our budgies - they are still a bit camera shy)

Cash Strapped Fridays

I'm trying a new weekly feature where I highlight something I neeeeed so much but will have to remortgage to afford. In this case it's not even for sale so money really is no object.
Anyway here's Emily Sutton who is ringing all my latest obsessional bells: Birds, sewing and all round loveliness with her fabric Bird Sculptures. Emily is one of the St Jude's artists - it seems all roads lead back to them these days. Time for another trip to Norfolk I think.
They are all gorgeous but I think this little goldfinch really is the best.

and while I'm at it...

Look at this lovliness... Mark Hearld's chinaware at Tate. A lovely man bought me the mug but kept quiet about the matching plate and bowl. yearning wants!

Not Waving but Drowning

I'm back! Easing my way into the world of Blerg with a picture heavy update. We've had a little Oxo box on the dresser for ages - I decided to have a look inside and this is what I found...
a little box containing thimbles and silver sixpences, a mother of pearl penknife, some coins of various ages and nationalities, 6 fob watch keys, two cigarette cases - one with two cigarettes still intact! I resisted the urge to light up. I think this is a poem waiting to happen... perhaps someone else will offer to write it?

Childhood Memories Returned by a Friend

While we were clearing the house me and my mum found the box of Lego.
The box of Lego was actually the only toy we had to play with when we used to spend our obligatory fortnight here every summer. Although when I say we it seems like an instant that my sister grew up and I came alone. Most of the time the sun shone and we were always kept busy outside in the garden or on the allotment or we went for educational trips to the Isle of Wight and bracing sea swims at what we called Hordle Beach but I have since found out is probably Milford on Sea as no Hordle Beach exists. My Grandad believed in keeping active and occupied - to stop any mischief I suppose.

But sometimes it rained and then the Lego would come out. Lego has really changed. These days you buy a box of Lego and it only makes one thing - it seems more like airfix to me. Once you have made it you don't take it apart and build something else more interesting. Which really defeats the point of Lego. So this was the box we had to play with and it made a lighthouse and a car and probably some other things beside - although not all at the same time. If the lighthouse keeper needed a car he had to dismantle his house to build it. And what of the lighthouse keeper? In the 70s you didn't get the groovy Legomen you get now. My men were made from Grampa's Pipe cleaners - they had massive heads and bendy arms. I used to colour their clothes in with felt tip pen. When we rediscovered the box the men were all there - happily getting on with their pipe cleaner lives for 30 years.

In the clear out my friend Mike came over to photograph some furniture and he had his little boy with him who found the Lego and really loved it. My mum being the kindly grandmother she is said he could keep it. When I found out I was - well - I think I was a little bit heartbroken but Harry is a lovely boy and it couldn't have gone to a better home.

Last week Mike phoned me and said that Harry wanted to give the Lego back as he was worried about losing it and I was so happy. I'll have to find somewhere special for it. In the meantime Mike has taken some lovely pictures and you can see them here on Flickr.


So it's all coming home... hmmm no actually not ALL of it. Before my mum gave Harry the box she 'disposed' of the 'bits of bent pipe cleaner' in the bin. Gutted.

Things to admire in this set: definitely the transparent bricks. How beautiful they are.

Lego was always my favourite toy even when I moved onto more sophisticated sets - like my awesome oil rig with cranes and helicopter. I think I'll have a little play on the next rainy Sunday we get - maybe build a lighthouse on wheels. but first I need to find out where I can buy pip cleaners.

Thanks Mike!

David Gentleman

After looking at Lizzie Allen's lovely wallpaper yesterday and comparing her work to Paul Hogarth's I started thinking about David Gentleman... as you do.
I love Gentleman's wood engravings at Charing Cross - massively enlarged so you can see all the tiny cuts in the wood.
I googled his work and found this series of book covers that I had forgotten - it was nestling at the back of my schoolgirl memory. A whole series of New Penguin Shakespeare. I'm fairly certain I used the Macbeth at school...
I don't really have room for an extra 32 paperbacks in my house so I think I will try and seek out a few choice versions with a more wood engraving slant .

lets get blogging again...

Bad Blogger! In your basket!

I have neglected this for so long but for no longer for there are many beautiful things to look at and long for.

I was just met a textile artist called Kelly Allen. She's a recent RCA graduate and I have had a snoop round her website.

NICE!!! I love the illustrations so much. Lovely clean lines and blocks of colour. Reminds me a bit of some of Paul Hogarth's work.

http://www.kellyallen.co.uk/

and follow the link to her twin sister's hand printed wall paper... want want want!!!

Final Chair Update...

Well this is exciting - the chairs arrived back on Sunday morning and the consensus is that Sarah Noble is a complete genius.

They seem to be totally unrecognisable as the sad items I sent away with her.I am so very happy!

I'm sorry about the crappy picture layout - it's just gone bonkers on this post :(