Nothing new...

We picked up a batch of magazines from the local market about a month ago. An American travel magazine, Sunset: The Magazine of Western Living, for the well to do and the well to want to do crowd. Full of exotic locations and new products, it is self consciously expanding the horizons of its readers as air travel was becoming more accessible and the idea of multi-culturalism is being birthed. It is quite cool!!!!!

These are a few things I just have to share.

The travel cup, around since the 70s. Yup, your funky keep cup is not really as funky as you think. Portable caffiene has been a necessity for some time and judging from the advertising in the magazine, coffee was getting its make over into the foodie world along with dog food, yup pooch isn't getting table scraps anymore!

I was struck by the fantastic house designs in the classifieds sections. It made me wonder why Grand Designs think boxes on boxes style of housing is so new and adventurous. The boxes or pods style is the cutting edge design in the Sunset magazine of this period so really... is it so amazing? No... actually its boring. The really cool stuff is round. Open plan living withing soft curved walls, high ceilings (for macrame hangings of course) and much of it is DIY or simple off the back of a truck construction.

I can't help but indulge in the vision of a Rondo Home amongst the trees at the top of Mt Dandie while Kevin (the legend) McCloud exclaims with delight that he hadn't expected it to be beautiful, but it is!!!!

Also in the classifieds I found an advert for the Desiderata. I remember it hanging in our kitchen, a lightly beaten copper plaque with the mysterious words in black. Being a vacuous teenager I didn't take much notice of it, I read it and wondered that's all. I doubt anyone else in our family took much notice either, it was just one of things you have because it was a bit cool and clever.

Sunset is full of clever craft ideas for the home. The construction of wooden toys includes one I actually have. Not an alligator but a dog, made by my paternal grandfather. I suspect it is was made earlier than the 70s.

Grandpa's design is more complex than the Sunset one and is plastics free. I guess like all good designs, it was recycled.

Despite how cute it is, the joints that make the body flexible bit little fingers and made it a formidable toy to play with. So the dog was approached with great respect!

Lastly, a few things I am coveting. What chic could refuse a car advertised as SASS and a chair of metal and plush cushions with a whiff of romance... really... confused? Me too.

Come on, its red and orange, she is wearing a crochet shirt and she probably flyes a red nosed plane. Lie and tell me you wouldn't want that ute??????? On the other hand... nuff said!

Hassles Collecting Hornsea

I mentioned before the progress of our Hornsea collecting bug. A story in the HPC&RS Newsletter about lost and broken lots bought off eBay prompted me to write in with our own sad story, which was duly published in the next issue (#77).

In my email I explained the difficulty we have had with one item in particular: a margarine container.

We broke the bottom of the Heirloom margarine container—a reasonably uncommon piece but, as you know, it is the lids that almost always get broken, so I kept up a search for it. After two years of watching eBay I managed to find a replacement bottom, we won the auction and it arrived safely. But when I opened the cupboard to retrieve the lid, full of satisfaction for having at last reunited a lid and a base, said lid fell out of the cupboard and smashed on the floor! I was dumbstruck. So, now I am looking for a lid … which could take even longer. Oh well…

BTW: This is what a margarine container looks like:

My letter was written at the end of September. At the start of December I found a complete margarine container and, since I figured we had no chance of finding a lid alone, or no patience to wait another two years trying to find one alone, I bought it.

Well the package arrived yesterday, almost a month late, and this is what it looked like. Thank you Australia Post.

Note the many "Fragile: Handle with Care stickers. I think there are eight of them!

Amazingly, the item inside was not broken. However, also amazingly—and sadly, the vendor had sent the wrong item. He sent us a jam/preserve pot. Of these we now have … I don't know, pick any large number and you'd be close. He writes:

I have checked my stock of Hornsea and have found the Pot I should have sent you. I have listed another pot with the spoon hole as you describe but this is missing, so I have indeed sent you the wrong one. What I will do is pack and send you tomorrow the correct Pot at my expense. Please keep the other Pot as a gift for all the hassle.

It is nice to find so obliging a dealer, and it will be a minor miracle if nice when it finally arrives. And if we do this again

we may have to give up all together on what was—over two years ago now—our favourite lolly jar!

Crafty Renaissance

Recently I had purchased for me the one 70's item I had been lusting after for such a long time. The macrame owl! A wonderful lady I work with purchased this magnificent orange owl from an op shop in Heathcote. Perhaps the CWA needs to get good with macrame and ditch the scones! This gorgeous owl came with two others of darker hues which haven't found a place yet but I claim this bright species for my orange and red study. Happy now!

Macrame Owl from Heathcote

My second piece of beautiful craft to add to my study has been a more personal and special item. My gorgeous sister made a Halloween gift for us. It now has pride of place on my shelves above my desk so I can admire it everyday. (judging by the cat hair on it I am not alone!)

Crochet To Rock Your Granny!

Who Wants a Naked Phone?

We don't! And Milstar wants us to have a decently-clothed phone too. In fact, they want to make everyone's phone "just about the most fashionable item in [the] home"—just about. So get a 70s "Dress-a-phone" today! (Tardis and Guide-dog required).

Another Clue: 70s Floral Fabric

Our 70s shoebox was sold in 2008 and again in 2010. It seems that each time the house was "renovated" before going on the market by removing (or painting over) the original 70s features. Enough remains for us to love the place as it is, and we can restore some of the obscured features. But we take great pleasure in finding clues to other features that have been removed completely. Last week I mentioned some orange tiles we found in the garden. Here is another garden find. Two in fact.

The first square of yellow, floral fabric turned up in the back garden in August. I washed it and photographed it, and then threw it away. The second turned up in the side garden last week.

Judging by the width the two pieces of fabric must have belonged to a pillow-case: a clue to the original colour-scheme in the bedrooms?

Our Hornsea Heirloom Obsession

For a while now I have been meaning to mention our Hornsea Heirloom collection/obsession.

[Why, yes, that is twenty bowls]

Two events are responsible for our completist obsession with Hornsea Heirloom. First, about three years ago, M. and I were tempted by, but decided not to buy, a very reasonably priced 70s dinner set at an antique shop. Within a week we were regretting our decision, but when we went back, the set was gone and all we could remember about it was that it was brown. We couldn't recall a maker or the name of the series.

Some time later we found one or two brown pieces of the Hornsea Heirloom series, thought they might have been from our mystery brown 70s dinner set, bought them, and then—having a few pieces to work from—went looking for more on eBay. Not long after, a huge collection of Hornsea Heirloom pieces turned up. We were very excited by the scale of the lot, and the price. I was all ready to put in a last-minute killer bid, I had even organised someone to pick the set up for us, but got distracted and missed the end of the auction! The lot was vast, and it went for less than $100.

Everyone was seriously unimpressed. I/we have been trying to make up for these two near-misses ever since. I started buying up everything I could find at a half-reasonable price on eBay while my sister kept an eye open for pieces too, both locally and online. I bought a few large lots, and many single pieces, mostly from Australia, but a few pieces that I couldn't get here were ordered from the UK. I also scoured the web for information about what we had, and what we were missing.

At first, we decided we wanted a set of four, then six, then eight, then twelve. The problem was, having settled on four or six or whatever, I would buy a another large mixed lot—in order to get some of the more obscure pieces we didn't yet have—and all of the extras, the duplicates, would almost succeed in expanding our entire set to the next round number, eight or twelve.

[Why yes, that is eighteen cups]

Having finally given in and decided on aiming for enough tableware to serve twelve people we found that we still had so many duplicates that we could select the ones we wanted to keep based on the particular shade of brown that we liked, the particular backstamps that we preferred (ones with dates) and so on. We also got fussier about condition, went looking for replacements, had items broken in transit, bought more, and so the collection grew and grew, but grew irregularly and without shape. It took a long time before the Hornsea collection took on any shape, and before it became really clear what we wanted.

We still haven't quite finished our collection, but we now know exactly what we are missing, so I think it might be useful to start doing a series of posts on the different Heirloom pieces, because when we went looking on line we really struggled to find reliable information on the series. We have also, now, joined the Hornsea Pottery Collectors and Research Society (HPC&RS), so we have been able to buy a copy of Brian Heckford's Hornsea Pottery 1949–89: its people, processes and products (1998), which is the most comprehensive work on the pottery and on this series.

What this means is that we should be able to combine our experience buying Hornsea Heirloom tableware with plenty of photos and reliable information, the sort of information we wanted when we started collecting in 2008. It should also help us keep up the 70s focus on this blog while we struggle to finish the endless weeding!

70s Loot from our Trip

This is the 70s loot we unpacked when we got back from Sydney.

The three original 70s macrame plant hangers (front) are from our lovely 70s family home in Sydney. The three Australian House and Garden magazines from 1974 (middle) were a present from my lovely sister and her husband; as was the amber glass fruit salad bowl set and the Maw and Co "Real Ceramic Drink Mats" in their original box (behind the Australian House and Garden magazines).

We picked up the Australian Home Journal magazines from 1978 (left), along with four other magazines from a bookshop in Holbrook on the way home. The titles are Exciting Ways with Floors and Walls (n.d.), New Ideas for Luxury Look Bathrooms (n.d.), 25 New Bedroom Designs (1972) and Room Decoration, 25 New Schemes (1972).

The Biscuit canister and the salt and pepper set (right) are pieces from the Hornsea Heirloom series. We have been collecting this series for ages and these were two of the very few items we were still missing (and have just joined The Hornsea Pottery Collectors and Research Society—there is only one other HPC&RS member in Oz!). They came from a great antique centre in Blackheath called Victory Theatre Antique Centre, which we visited with my sister. It was one of many we sped through in a one-day whirl-wind tour of antique shops in the Blue Mountains.

We will do a series of posts on the Hornsea Heirloom series very soon. After all, this blog is called "Our Seventies House" not "Our Weed-Infested Garden"—though, that might be a more accurate description right now …

Our New 70s Tea Towels

I bought these "2 linen tea towels" "by François" off eBay for $14 in August: brand new, in their original box. But this is all the box says; it does not tell us who or what François is, where she/he/they/it were based, anything useful in fact. The towels themselves only add that they are "Colour Fast" and "Designed in Australia".

Looking online I found a few other linen tea towels and scarves signed "Francois by Neil": with eye-wateringly clichéd themes, and self-explanatory titles like "Wildlife of Australia" and "Kangaroos" or "Australian Aboriginal" and "Australian Aboriginal Weapons" etc.

So, we scored a pair of brand new vintage Australian 70s tea towels with a really bright, cheery design. And they work really well. And they look great in the kitchen too. Awesome.

Our New Top-of-the-Range Stereo System

This is our new Sanyo, "All in One" Quadraphonic Stereo system: a DC 8500K.

It was an epic journey picking it up today from Ivanhoe, and I still haven't tested it, but am hoping to be able to play some records for the first time since I left home!

It was another eBay find: I bought it for $200, after the auction ended without attracting any interest at $280. (See here.)

What is wrong with everyone? A genuine four-channel sound system! Just plug in your ipod or your CD-Player and off you go … I hope.

BTW: this is what I found out about it online (here).

These units were sold around 1975/1976 and were top of the range due to being not just a radio but a very nice piece of furniture (by 1970s standards).

Amplifier Section

Peak Music Power 160W (120W music power)
Frequency Response 20—50,000 Hz ± 3dB
Power Bandwidth 30—40,000 Hz
Tone Controls BASS: 100 HZ ± 10dB
TREBLE: 10 KHz +/- 10dB

What's the bet they were advertised in Playboy?

* * * * *

Actually, now that I think about it I did abandon a lovely 60s (valve-powered) Radiogram when I departed Mt Nelson at the end of 1987, but kept one of the speakers from it for years. The sound was amazing. I am looking forward to hearing "Song to the Siren" on this one. (And I will post some photos in situ once it is in situ).

Cool Magool Chairs

Check 'em out! They (I have two of them) start out rusty and a little dusty. Apply elbow grease and they become cool magool and oh so comfie!

 I have a desk now too, and it is in need of love and care to make it shine. But alas it wont actually fit through the door... yup I am gonna knock down walls to get this gorgeous desk in my room. Failing that it will be a dining table for a while until the renovations on the new library for P. are complete. Then I can really knock down a wall and expand my current postage stamp study into a mega fun house for Me with desk, funky chairs and Great Dane (hey it's a 70s house I have to have sleek Scandanavian design!).