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rp2813

rp2813

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My sister is currently working on a period project, "The Most Hated Woman In America" (aka Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the notorious atheist who successfully pushed to have prayer outlawed in public schools).  Melissa Leo will play the title role.  I suspect this is being made for TV, as the whole thing should be wrapped up in about a month.

 

She sent me these pix she took while the crew was scouting a private home in Burbank, CA.  A 90+ year-old lady lives there, in case you can't deduce that from the photos.  Unfortunately, a crew for another production came through later and reportedly "trashed" the place, and now the woman's kids won't let her rent it out anymore, so the search is back on.  Too bad.

 

Gotta love the plastic covered sofas and the suspended pass-through panel.

 

 

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I have a feeling she took those kitchen pix just for me and that it wasn't going to be used in any scenes, but yeah, I wonder what kind of fridge is in there.  Probably nothing special or she would have gotten a shot of it.
 
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Eddie, that's radio pioneer Doctor Charles David Herrold (in the doorway) of his "Arc-Phone" broadcasting station in downtown San Jose +/- 1912.

 

It appears a large disaster depiction hangs on the wall seen on the right.  It looks like the Call (one of the local newspapers) building in San Francisco about to catch fire on the day of or soon after the earthquake of 4/18/1906.

[this post was last edited: 3/16/2016-22:46]

 
The kitchen is cute; I like the old Thermador pieces.  I couldn’t take the plastic all over everything, though.  I remember that look in houses up North.  People even had custom-made plastic covers.  But I swear I have never seen anything like it in the South.  Is that a regional thing?
 
I think it's a generational thing, although I didn't see it a whole lot during my formative years here on the west coast.

 

I do remember my meticulous uncle had a puffy diamond-plate pattern of clear plastic seat covers on his immaculate '62 Oldsmobile.
 
New Jersey in the 1960s and 1970s (especially Bergen County where I grew up) was encased in clear vinyl.
Some of the homes on the first floor had a Living Room, Dining Room and Kitchen.

These rooms only got used on Holidays, Family get togethers, and Very Special Occasions. The basement had a "Rumpus" or Family room with another kitchen and 1/2 bath. Usually the Dishwasher was upstairs in the "Good Kitchen" and the dishes down stairs were washed by hand everyday.

The Upstairs Rooms were completely covered (Furniture and Lamp Shades too) in Clear vinyl. Only to have the Foot Traffic pattern carpeted area covered in Vinyl Runners.

With all this Plastic and Vinyl just walking from one end of the room to the other could provide enough Static Electricity to power a Small Town. And of course this was just before the advent of the "Console Humidfier" which really made no difference with all that vinyl.

And last but not least on this trip down memory lane, was the perpetual Glass Covered Dish of Nuts that could be up to 5-6 years old that NO ONE could eat because they were for Company. Stale and Rancid as all get out And there very well could have been a Box of Barracini Chocolates with the Cellophane still on it from Christmas 1959 too.

And to complete the look of these homes from the interior as well as the exterior... There were Window Air Conditioners hanging out of every window that had covers on the outside of the units to "Prevent Drafts and Heat Loss". May as well had a Spaghetti Strainer mounted in the windows.
 
In 1963

my Mom bought a new 63' Impala 2 dr. HT, it was white with blue interior. Since we had 2 Dobermans that frequently rode in the car she had clear plastic seat covers installed to protect the upholstery. When the car had been sitting in the sun those seats were Africa hot and in the winter they were cold as the Arctic circle! But in 1968 when we traded the car in we took off the plastic covers and the interior of the car was like brand new, so mission accomplished. As I recall many people opted to have these protective covers in their cars during the 50's and 60's.
Eddie
 
We are Old School Italians...

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Complete with the second kitchen in the basement.  However, my Mom drew the line at the plastic covered furniture.  My Dad's sister had a house though that you described almost to a T except she had those hanging lights that dripped oil.  I always thought they were hideous but she was one special lady so we kind of overlooked them.  :)   They (we) are from Upstate New York and she even had the screen that covered the garage door in the summer to turn it into a screened in room.  Anyone remember those?  My Mom wouldn't have that either.  She said she wasn't going to eat in the garage.  But now that I think about it she thought nothing of cooking and eating in the basement.  She still does as 92.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">As odd as we may have thought it was at the time, I remember all that with such fond memories.  We left New York when I was 8 but the rest of them are all still there and some maintained some of those same practices.  There are times I wished we never left.  I think that I wouldn't mind going back when I retire but my other half wants to go someplace warm.  How boring!!</span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">I remember Sunday's were always at my Grandmothers' house.  She cooked all day on Saturday making Pasta, Ravioli, Meatballs, Sausage, Braciole and she always made Ricotta cheese pie for desert.  She would cut up M&Ms to put in the Ricotta pie for color for the kids and on the holidays she would use only the M&M colors that matched the season.  </span>

 

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Oh to live those days again would be wonderful.  I remember us as kids waiting for that kitchen door to swing upon and my Grandmother and Aunts would file out of the kitchen all in a row carrying huge bowls of food.</span>
 
Garage screens - a family at the end of my street had one on their 2-car garage, and I remember they kept the TV in the garage during warm weather. They had two sons about my age, so went down there once in a while. I remember the younger ones birthday party was held in there. Another house a couple blocks over also had one on their single car garage. I'm thinking I remember it being used last summer.

Plastic slipcovers and lampshade covers - my mom always thought those looked tacky, so we didn't have them. When I was a kid, we didn't eat anywhere but the kitchen, dining room or outside, so didn't have to worry about food spilled on the other furniture. A couple neighbors did have them, and I didn't like sitting on those chairs. As for people in the south, I was never in a house down there that had them. I can't imagine how uncomfortable sitting on those would be in the summer in a house that wasn't air conditioned. Another thing is that the furniture would probably mildew from the trapped moisture.
 
Eddie

That description is one of my great aunts houses to a tee, except for the window units. Its a 1968 tri-level so it had central air originally. Everything on the main level is covered in plastic, there's the basement "apartment" with a kitchen and family room. AFAIK everything in that house is original, she was beyond meticulous when it comes to upkeep, and still quite so at 83. Even the exterior of the house looks brand new, and the driveway looks like it was poured yesterday.
 
Possibly....

....a Conn, Baldwin, Thomas or another maker having the slanted positioning of tabs/stops with ornate trims (gold border as seen in photo).

Additionally interesting to me is the stock pot on the stove top, appears to be a cast aluminum - possibly Magnalite or another manufacturer of that vintage? Anyone know?

Did Thermador have their own variety of burner type similar to the Frigidaire variety or was there a relationship between the 2 manufacturers or some other explanation? Those in the photo resemble the Frigidaire type IMHO.

@ Tom - thanks.
 

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