It's raining tonight, so I'm spending the evening inside.

[selectomatic]

A friend once defined 'draught' as 'a continuing stretch of nice weather.' We've pretty much been having a draught here for the last month and more, but it's raining now. For the first time in quite a while, I'm not spending the evening out on the deck with the dogs.

I decided to cheer the place up a bit with some of my favorite things that I haven't played with in a while.

Here's step 1: Find the appropriate toys and line them up on the bar.

 

[selectomatic]

Step 2: Add Food Coloring

(no comments about the dirty sink, thank you!)

 

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Step 3: Add water.

Just enough, but not too much.

 

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Step 4: Make like Florence Henderson

I'm sure you have some Wesson Oil somewhere in your house!

 

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Step 5: Plop wicks into the floaters, and assemble.

I don't know what I'll do when I run out of wicks, but luckily I have a lot!

 

[selectomatic]

(BTW: Corning isn't the only brand)

Here are some other, similar products. They were sold to be used with your own glassware. I especially like the brand-name 'Flam-Buoyant.' It's possible that this is the brand that Corning bought to use for their candles.

 

[selectomatic]

Step 6: Place and light

Digital cameras don't quite capture the effect, but it's quite beautiful.

 

[frigilux]

OK, either I've crashed the thread too early, or your threshold for excitement is even lower than mine, Kevin, LOL!

Love the old-school cash register at your bar. Those of us who roamed the earth prior to the digital age remember the great sounds they made.

 

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A close-up

They're much more relaxing than this in real life. Especially if you are partaking of other products to be found in the bar at the same time.

-kevin

 

[frigilux]

Now, wait a minute. I posted right after Step Three, so excuse my mocking attitude. We used to put floating candles around our house because my Mom thought they weren't as much of a fire hazard. They're great! Well done.

 

[scott55405]

Those are wonderful candles. I bought my mom one for Mother's Day one year and she used it for years. It was fun and we all liked it.

I remember very well those chrome cash registers in bars and restaurants. In fact, there is a small gay bar in my neighborhood that still uses one at their bar!

I've been meaning to ask: where does "Selectomatic" come from? It says "Selectomatic Mark IV" in our elevators at work.

 

[selectomatic]

I've got about a dozen more of the Corning candles.

I have them in both the modern type shown, and in an older-looking 'tulip' shape. They're great because you can make them any color you want, and they really will extinguish if you knock them over.

As to the cash register, it's an NCR model 1944. I have some friends whose family owned a bar for a very long time, and when they sold the place, they cleaned out the basement and gave me a matching pair of 1944s and another NCR out of the candy/malt shop. All I had to do was clean them up, and they work perfectly.

-kevin

(and by the way, my threshold for excitement is indeed fairly low, by most people's standards)

 

[selectomatic]

Select-O-Matic

Seeburg's name for their early wallboxes, and later for their Vertical-Play Phonograph Mechanism.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm really much more interested in Seeburg jukeboxes than I am in Automatic Washers. I mainly come here for the cool pictures of things.

-kevin

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for info on the NCR---it's beautiful. As for low thresholds of excitement, the most exciting thing I did today was a stain-removal detergent test, LOL.

And I'll second Scott's query: Where does the name Selectomatic come from?

 

[scott55405]

Thanks!

 

[frigilux]

Kevin, we keep posting at the same time. I love jukeboxes and record players, too. They, along with washers, were my passion as a kid. Do you collect?

 

[frigilux]

And here it is...

(With thanks to rickr, who posted photos of his jukebox in another thread)

 

[selectomatic]

I have some number of Seeburg jukeboxes, depending on how yo

I have four complete Seeburg coin-operated phonographs (the industry hated the term 'jukebox'), one empty cabinet for a Seeburg Juke, four Home-Stereo Album Players which each hold 50 12" albums, one Library Unit that plays 100 45s, and four BackGround Music record players.

I love cool stuff in general, and some things in specific!

-kevin

 

[63getelevision]

I love your fireplace, and I have some of those small candles someplace. When the cats re-locate, I will try to dig them out. I also have butane candles.