Sunday, July 24, 2011

Italian Food a la 50's Style

We were bumming around Oshkosh, WI looking for treasure and were getting hungry. Across from the antique store we were shopping at was a cool vintage sign for Red's Pizza. We thought we would give it a whirl.

It was a step back in time. I would imagine they opened in the 50's. There were also some decorations added along the way from the 60's and 70's. As you can see in the picture, great neon sign, nice architecture and beautiful stone on the outside of the building.



After ordering, I went to the powder room. Now when most folks talk about a restaurant, they focus on the food or the atmosphere but a true 50's design fan is going to not only take notice of but document the cool 50's bathroom that was found. I can't help myself!

I immediately saw the 50's pink 4x4 tile. A light pink field tile with a darker bullnose.




Then there was this cool laminate stall. I have never seen this type of laminate before. It is a blond Formica type laminate for the stall and stall door.



Even after all these years, the original sticker for the stall was still there. I would say that is some sticker!




Then my favorite was the floor tile. I like how the very small tiles sit upon the little bit larger tile that sit upon the single largest tile. This design is then alternated with a single large tile. I have not see this design before.



In addition to a cool bathroom there was interior stone work, some groovy hanging lights and of course the wall of fame.

I am a big fan of interior stone work. This design connects the interior stone to the exterior stone.



They had several of these funky late 60's/early 70's lights hanging from the ceiling. We were there during the day but I am sure they offer just the right ambiance at night.



Like any great vintage restaurant, you have your wall of fame.




After enjoying all the vintageness of the restaurant, the final payoff was delivered to our table. A delicious dish of spaghetti and meat sauce. It was very good.



My favorite part of visiting other places is finding remnants of days gone by. Our visit to Red's Pizza was a delicious pit stop in our travels.

Rebecca

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Buffet for Formica Dining Table - FOUND!

Like many MCM fans, I love a good chrome and formica Dining table. We have several and find it hard to pass one up when we see them. I always wondered if they ever made matching formica and chrome buffets to match the tables. I was browsing through an old House Beautiful from October of 1956 and I finally found a matching buffet. Isn't this set stunning? It really is a more dressed up version of the chrome and formica table. I just love the style of the matching buffet and the backs of the chairs.



This past Sunday we went to Elkhorn, WI which has a huge fleamarket several times a year and lo and behold in this really atomic booth was a formica buffet. I immediately fell in love with it. It has two upper shelves and then inside the doors is another shelf.



The formica is kind of a beige/green. It is a hard color to pin down. Overall it is in very good shape. The inside shelf has a more 70's green contact paper so I am going to change that out with some aqua contact paper I picked up along the way.



This fits perfectly on the wall in the dining room. Our current formica table has a black top so I am going to be on the look out for a matching table. Wish me luck!



In the upper part of the picture below, you can see a cart that matches our table. We picked that up at Elkhorn last year as well. Too bad they all don't already match. Oh well, the hunt for the table will be a fun one.



I hope everyone is having a great summer and finding/rescuing great vintage items.
Rebecca