Vintage Desecration - Things Altered/Repurposed, and a Vintage Treasure Lost Forever.

[Dawna]

I love old magazines so much and my biggest pet peeve is when I come across sellers on websites (ebay, etsy, etc.) who pull apart old mags and frame the ads to sell them as "art." There are some of us who still want to read those things and not just get a cheap giggle out of an ad for stockings or cigarettes!

On the other hand, I'm not totally opposed to refashioning old things, but I think it has to be done in the same mindset as repairs are done - that is, because you love a thing and want to keep using it and enjoying it. I don't really think you have to keep everything in the exact state you found it in just because it's original, but to me there's a world of difference between, say, reupholstering an old chair versus painting loads of old furniture with crackle varnish to make it "trendy" so that you can sell it. Repairs, reuse, and things that are made to last make me happy but tearing apart lovely and useful stuff just to stick parts together into "jewellery" or "art" usually strikes me as meaningless and wasteful.

 

[sheeplady]

How about this topic having its very own thread - I mean, are there any brands left worthy of consumer confidence in a well-made (and preferably in the same country-made) product?

For the U.S.:
Duluth Trading has USA made jeans for men (only one kind)
Lodge cookware has cast ironware.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I love old magazines so much and my biggest pet peeve is when I come across sellers on websites (ebay, etsy, etc.) who pull apart old mags and frame the ads to sell them as "art." There are some of us who still want to read those things and not just get a cheap giggle out of an ad for stockings or cigarettes!

What really chaps my hide is that I recently saw on eBay framed Lester D. Boner cartoons like this one* which were originally illustrations from the B-24D service & maintenance manuals. The manuals were a set of seven volumes and some of the individual volumes are in the $100-200 range.

Disclaimer: No actual manuals were harmed in the making of this post. The example below was scanned from one of my own personal copies.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

This one makes me sick, too. I collect old magazines, and am known for buying them at all the local shops. They always tell me "You could make a killing selling those ads on eBay." Little do they know I buy them to keep exactly that from happening.

I love old magazines so much and my biggest pet peeve is when I come across sellers on websites (ebay, etsy, etc.) who pull apart old mags and frame the ads to sell them as "art." There are some of us who still want to read those things and not just get a cheap giggle out of an ad for stockings or cigarettes!

On the other hand, I'm not totally opposed to refashioning old things, but I think it has to be done in the same mindset as repairs are done - that is, because you love a thing and want to keep using it and enjoying it. I don't really think you have to keep everything in the exact state you found it in just because it's original, but to me there's a world of difference between, say, reupholstering an old chair versus painting loads of old furniture with crackle varnish to make it "trendy" so that you can sell it. Repairs, reuse, and things that are made to last make me happy but tearing apart lovely and useful stuff just to stick parts together into "jewellery" or "art" usually strikes me as meaningless and wasteful.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I tell people I actually buy the old magazines for the articles, not just the ads, and they look at me like I'm from another universe. Which, I guess, I am.

 

[Shangas]

What I really can't stand is people who chop up old typewriters for their keys so that they can make those fancy "retro" keyboards, and cufflinks and bracelets, and necklaces and stuff. Those old chrome-glass keys aren't being made anymore, and the typewriters which still have them are getting harder and harder to find.

I just tell myself...If they MUST use typewriter keys for that purpose, at least take them from a typewriter that's broken beyond repair! Don't go into an antiques shop with a pair of bolt-cutters and snap them off a Remington that's in working conditon. Pick one that got run over by a truck or something.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Nothing wrong with that! I was just reading an article about Harry Chapin Smith, who Graduated from Harvard in 1901, lived like a pauper, and passed away, leaving a $400,000 fortune. The kind of thing movies are made of, eh?

I tell people I actually buy the old magazines for the articles, not just the ads, and they look at me like I'm from another universe. Which, I guess, I am.

 

[kiwilrdg]

What I really can't stand is people who chop up old typewriters for their keys so that they can make those fancy "retro" keyboards, and cufflinks and bracelets, and necklaces and stuff. Those old chrome-glass keys aren't being made anymore, and the typewriters which still have them are getting harder and harder to find.

That is as bad as the people who buy old Singer sewing machines to use the treddle bases and drawer assemblies to make sewing stands and just throw away the top heads. They don't even salvage the springs and shuttles.

 

[Dawna]

I tell people I actually buy the old magazines for the articles, not just the ads, and they look at me like I'm from another universe. Which, I guess, I am.

Gee can I relate! I just don't get the appeal of looking at ads out of context when you could have a whole magazine to read. I think I'm from a different universe than those people, too.

This one makes me sick, too. I collect old magazines, and am known for buying them at all the local shops. They always tell me "You could make a killing selling those ads on eBay." Little do they know I buy them to keep exactly that from happening.

I'm glad to hear someone else is saving them! Whenever I see a bunch of ripped out ads I just wish I’d gotten there first. Keep it up!

 

[kiwilrdg]

Gee can I relate! I just don't get the appeal of looking at ads out of context when you could have a whole magazine to read. I think I'm from a different universe than those people, too.

When looked at in the context of someone using the ad as a curiosity at the quaint ways of people in the past you can see why context isn't important to the folks who put old ads on the wall.
Most folks on the FL look for the information on how to use the products in the ads.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The sad thing is, you'll find some of the great authors, journalists, and thinkers of the 20th Century in those magazines. It's heartbreaking to see a Fitzgerald short story or a photo essay by Margaret Bourke-White cut up so that some flea-market yokel can sell the "ironic" happy-housewife or cigarette ads on the other side of the page.

If people really need those ads for wall decor, why not take the whole magazine to a copy place and have color scans made. Cost you a couple of bucks, and then you can read the magazine and maybe learn something.

As far as cutting up typewriters for trinkets goes, that's about the same level of mentality as ripping the chassis out of a vintage radio so you can hot-glue an Ipod into the casing, or fishtanking a vintage TV. Aren't you just the cleverest thing.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I never understood why people can't just make a copy. I thought about doing that with some ads that appealed to me. Not about to rip them out, though!

If people really need those ads for wall decor, why not take the whole magazine to a copy place and have color scans made. Cost you a couple of bucks, and then you can read the magazine and maybe learn something.

As far as cutting up typewriters for trinkets goes, that's about the same level of mentality as ripping the chassis out of a vintage radio so you can hot-glue an Ipod into the casing, or fishtanking a vintage TV. Aren't you just the cleverest thing.

I think they call that 'repurposing' now. The farthest I ever wanted to go was I was going to put a modern television's guts in an old TV I had come across. I was only going to do that for the fact that I had an old (but modern) TV laying around and had found a gutted one at a thrift store. I thought at least it would be used for its original purpose, rather than end up a fish tank, or a bookshelf, or something.

 

[Stearmen]

I never understood why people can't just make a copy. I thought about doing that with some ads that appealed to me. Not about to rip them out, though!



I think they call that 'repurposing' now. The farthest I ever wanted to go was I was going to put a modern television's guts in an old TV I had come across. I was only going to do that for the fact that I had an old (but modern) TV laying around and had found a gutted one at a thrift store. I thought at least it would be used for its original purpose, rather than end up a fish tank, or a bookshelf, or something.

I don't think Tom, theres any thing wrong with taking a broken television that would cost more to put back together then it's worth. At least you are preserving the case, if in the future some one wants to restore it, you saved an important part. My 35 Harley VLD is much like that. The frame and cases are 35, but the rest is from several different bikes, so a Bobber it will be! Using some modern parts and 12v electrics will make it so I can afford to finish it, and ride it.

 

[kiwilrdg]

We can only save what we want to save. If there is no other market for things the items will either be "repurposed" or will end up un landfills. All we can do is try to find the items that we can save and save them.

Usually the "repurposing" is because the items are of little or no value in todays market, sometimes it is because the person does not know what they have. I have seen people take watch parts worth hundreds of dollars and making them into thirty dollar belt buckles.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You'd be surprised how little work it takes to get the average vintage radio or TV working again. The fishtankers usually just rip the insides out and throw them away without the slightest thought of preserving them. The result is that there are far more empty cabinets out there than there are loose chassis --- and the result is that the chassis these clever, clever people toss in the trash is usally worth much more than the cabinet it came in.

 

[kiwilrdg]

You'd be surprised how little work it takes to get the average vintage radio or TV working again.

The trouble with that is the lack of analog broadcast TV and people not listening to regular radion much anymore.
Most people today do not want to watch a TV screen unless it is flat and either under 6" or over 3' across.

I have seen thrift stores that will not even take CRT computer monitors or TVs with picture tubes.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Hasn't been the slightest bit of trouble to me -- I have a couple of those little digital to analog converters from the cable company, with the signal run thru VCRs for tuning. It's the easiest thing in the world to do, no tools or special knowledge needed. As far as screen size goes, well, I don't care a lick about that. I've got a 7 inch set in my office and a 17 inch set in the living room, and that's plenty big for me.

Point being that if people don't want to deal with all the horrors of a pre-flat-panel TV they should simply leave them alone. There are plenty of people around still who do appreciate early sets and are willing to truly preserve and use them as intended. If modern folk just want the aesthetics, there are plenty of modern repros out there.

Also, a word of warning: there are components inside tube-type television sets that can hold a powerful electrical charge for a long long time. When Frankie Fishtank is pulling the chassis out and he happens to brush his hand against the cathode-ray-tube anode socket, he's going to get a very substantial shock that might cause him to drop the chassis on his foot -- which in turn could cause the CRT to implode, sending glass shards into tender bits of his anatomy. I suspect that he'll lose his taste for fishtanking after that.

 

[Auld Edwardian]

Hasn't been the slightest bit of trouble to me -- I have a couple of those little digital to analog converters from the cable company, with the signal run thru VCRs for tuning. It's the easiest thing in the world to do, no tools or special knowledge needed. As far as screen size goes, well, I don't care a lick about that. I've got a 7 inch set in my office and a 17 inch set in the living room, and that's plenty big for me.

Point being that if people don't want to deal with all the horrors of a pre-flat-panel TV they should simply leave them alone. There are plenty of people around still who do appreciate early sets and are willing to truly preserve and use them as intended. If modern folk just want the aesthetics, there are plenty of modern repros out there.

I have seen a number of antique time pieces die the death of a thousand cuts, and damaged beyond all hopes of restoration. I have a love for old mechanical and early electric horological devices from pocket watches to long case clocks. I once had a friend of mine as for help with two clocks that were not running that had been left to her by her late Father. The first was a 1930's pre WW II Atmos clock which is a very expensive time piece that almost runs forever owing to it being self winding by slight temperature variations. They only require having the highly jeweled ruby movement cleaned from time to time so as to have them keep them accurate time. Which they will do very well in a proper environment which is level with little vibration. The second was an eight day Seth Thomas early 20th century ships bell clock with an exposed bell . In both cases upon examination I found that the original movements had been removed and a battery operated quartz movement had been installed in its place! (Insert Alfred Hitchcock stabbing music from his film "Phycho" here.) When I inquired where the original movements were, she told me her Dad had taken them in to a reputable clock shop for repair and that they suggested that he improve them by bringing them up to date with new no fuss movements! Im sure this reputable clock shop laughed themselves silly rolling on the floor when these went out the door after they had been repaired. In the first case they got a very expensive Atmos movement that her father actually them to steal from him. And the second movement was also of value to repair and save in reserve for another clock that had a DNR movement but good case. Another example of a "you're paying me to swindle you." People that conduct business like this should be locked in a room that plays nothing but Laverne & Shirley reruns 24/7 for at least a month and fed nothing but fast-food and given Jolt Cola to drink. I have seen other such horrors but will spare you and others by putting to great a burden on you at one time.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

All my televisions are CRT's, all but two are big old consoles. They work fine and I watch my dish on them all the time. Never have a problem.

 

[vitanola]

But the supply of radios is so great!

I am currently clearing a bit of space, as at my age the big house is really getting to be a bit much, especially as we now must spend most of the time in my natal town caring for my elderly parents, and so we have consigned three hundred lots to a phonograph and radio auction, where the items will sell for a pittance. Among the lots are restored Atwater Kent radio sets model 10A, 20, 20c, 30, 32, 33, 35, 37, 40, 42, 44, 46, 55, 60, 61, 67, 70 (duplicates or triplicates of the 20c, 33, and 32 sets), RCA Radiolas RC, III, IIIA, Regenoflex, Super-Hetrodyne AR-812, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30A, 32, 16, 17, 18, 22, 44, 46, 51, 60, 62, 66, R-5 and R-7 Radiolettes, Victor Micro-Synchronous R-32 and R-52, Philco 76, 90, 90X, 112, 211, 270 consoles and 20, 21, 46, 51, 70, 71, and 84 cathedrals, forty different 1920's "three-dialers", more than twenty early "tombstone" sets, a bunch of cabinet Victrolas, both Victor and off-brand (nothing terribly scarce, save a big Sonora "Tonalic" console from 1926), and a group of thirty-seven horn and cone speakers. I expect that the average price realised for a working set will be around fifty dollars, perhaps a bit more, save for the very few rarities that are consigned.

There is simply not sufficient demand for these items to be considered as anything but raw material by those folks who know the price of everything.