cocktail napkins, a cake stand and a Nokia surprise

Aha, so where is the Nokia brick phone, I hear you say upon seeing my little still life photo up here - we'll get to the surprise bit soon, not to worry!

This batch of finds go back as far as last November. The reason for showing them off only now is that I tend to get unhappy with low light conditions and the less than crystal clear image quality they promote...Well, between now and November there's been barely a half hour window when it was other than grayscale light...grumble, grumble.

But hey-ho, onto the finds.

There were a couple of things I didn't necessarily need, yet both things proved irresistible in their vintageness. As usually, my buying decision was reinforced by the cheep price tags attached. Besides, they are useful and usable objects - both the orange melamine cake stand and the a couple of 50's cocktail napkins in emerald green. I like how these mini tablecloths were printed in a way to give the impression of tipsy double vision.

I always look at the reverse side of an object as a rule of thumb - it helps finding out the maker, determining true age and origin, just to mention a few amongst all the factors important when you are trying to find genuine vintage articles. Sometimes the reverse side reveals hidden surprises too, like faults or signatures.

Luckily both my items were faultless, even on the reverse side. The textile napkins proved to be of age, showing off that typical weave of utility cottons from decades ago when this type of strong fabric was used quite often in tablecloths and curtains. I cannot think of the actual term or name of this weave - any ideas? It's the same weave as seen in the cute elves table runner I picked up just before Xmas. The cake stand revealed a stamp that told me it was made in Sweden.

So that Nokia surprise - well, it is not a phone. Did you know that Nokia used to make gumboots? In fact, they still do.

In November it was raining so much and I was so fed up with getting wet toes in wet-through shoes that I started to hanker after a pair of their supercool wedge-heeled gumboots, which is, alas, priced well above what my budget can afford.

Next thing you know, I spot a pair of factory fresh 70's Nokia gumboots on a quick dip into a charity shop on my way home. I'm not the type who'd normally buy rubber boots from anywhere, let alone secondhand, but these have been never used, they are in as new condition and by far the best gumboots a tenner will buy me, like ever. Plus they have very comfy, well-balanced, supportive medium high heels, and they are le couleur de melted chocolat (ie. lush deep brown). No wonder this model was named City. Beyond looks, they are virtually indestructible - they are of vulcanized rubber which withstands subzero temperatures up to - 40 degrees C.

As well as on my feet on a rainy or slushy day, they can also be seen here in the museum in Tampere.