Friday 27 June 2014

a typewriter, a spotty bowl and a retro 'thingamajig'


Giving the baby theme a break, I promised to show you last week's finds from the spot of coffee & thrift I went out on with a friend. Here is what I picked up.

First the retro 'thingamajig' - it screams 1970s and it could be best described as a novelty messaging board. Or something like that.


I can picture the man (someone called R. Olavi, as stated on the design) with the lightbulb going ping! over his head just as he invents this quirky wonder... He is writing a note (again!) to his nosy demanding wife. She wants to know about his every step taken outside the home - is he gone fishing, or to the shop? And what time will he be back...? Grumble, grumble...only if a handle could be turned like on a clock and all would be explained - wouldn't need to bother with time-consuming notewriting or speech...hmmm, there's an idea! Can you see it too?

The wall-hung messaging works like this: the long handle says 'We are...' and can be pointed at the flower petals with different options like 'At sea', 'At the shop', 'Fishing', 'In church' and so on. There's one petal left empty - maybe for the brave and honest to write down a drinking related location... The short handle is meant to indicate the time of return. *Edit: Having lived in this country for a while now I realize this was probably a handy little thing for summer cottage folk, who invited guests to come and spend a few days, in times when cell phones weren't invented yet or were not so common.*


In my opinion this odd little relic has a lot of limitations, but it has a naive charm and clunky playfulness too. I wonder how many were made and sold in its time? It's certainly the only one I've ever come across. The sticker on the back proudly states that it's a Finnish design.

Next, the cute little milk glass bowl with the dots. The glass is very Pyrex-like, but it was made in France. It could be vintage Arcopal, maybe.



I wished there were more to be found but alas there was just this one. I took the little orphan bowl home anyway to join my Pyrex collection.


And last but not least a purchase that wasn't made on the day, but way back in January during a thrift hop with the same friend in tow.

A handsome and working Brother typewriter for three euros, in cappuccino brown and beige. A bit scratched, needing a good clean and a touch of tlc. I do like a little refurb project every now and then.



In fact this typewriter was bought as a little project but soon after the purchase I found out that I was pregnant. So I figured I wasn't doing much paint stripping or stencil spray painting for a while...

Project postponed, but I'm glad that this beige and brown typewriter is with me now. It will have to linger in its hobo-like state until I can safely turn my tender loving attention and the spray paint nozzle to it. Whenever that might actually happen.

12 comments:

  1. The typewriter is really cool, do you write sometimes (beside the blog)? I am such a bad writer but still is so nice to look it. The bowl is too cute, and I would have take it also with me, cause you can never have enough bowls.
    Have a great weekend!
    Steph

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    1. well, i try to use it sometimes for short bursts of writing something useful - like an address label or envelope or a little note, but it's rather noisy :) i think the noise level will go down when i clean it up and oil it a little, so hope i'll use it more then. xx

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  2. Wow, I love that bargain typewriter, what a cool find! I found a baby blue typewriter in a skip once!

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    1. that sounds like an even better bargain!

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  3. I love the typewriter, but I totally adore that thingamajig, as you so well describe it! And just like you I can't help but wonder who would buy such a thing.. I certainly would! I might even start a campaign for an English version ;). Love it!

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    1. i'd love to see your version of it, it certainly sounds like a nice craft project! and I'm sure R. Olavi won't mind you being inspired by his (or maybe her?) quirky creation :) x

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  4. Oh I see all kinds of fun with the typewriter--you should KEEP it and write a few notes to baby every couple weeks as a keepsake since it's the reason you've not refinished it yet! :)

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    1. that's a really nice idea! baby seems to wake up and kick when i use it though. he seems to be used to the sewing machine noise by now, but i guess the typing sound is still new :)

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  5. Love that bowl!

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    1. it's a great little thing - so useful in this sudden summer heat for cut-up fruit straight from the fridge.

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  6. 3 euro for a typewriter that's amazing!! I think thingamajig is a wonderfully accurate description:)

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    1. i had to look up the spelling though - i used to think it's thing-a-magic... :) i guess it's a good description if something is so quirky ;) low prices seem to be always attached to cool things that are not in a trendy colour.. i reckon if this same typewriter with the same amount of scratches was red or green or orange, it would have been priced many times that 3 euros... lucky me :)

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