Unusual spice rack

[ovrphil]

Found this a few days ago at the thrift shop. Bottle tops look to be walnut and frame, other wood.

There's an identifying sticker, on bottom of frame :

"Woodcrest - Styson, Inc. Made in Japan".

Anyone seen one of these before, to know approximately how old or have one, too?

Not sure if I should store spice in it - amazing that all the spices were still in it..they look a few eons old. LOL.

 

[ovrphil]

Followup

I just found an etsy.com twin of this -til today, I didn't notice the small label, enabling a search...and the tops of my jars are wood(walnut I think) and not plastic.

Are old spices collectible? LOL

http://www.etsy.com/listing/126750294/vintage-spice-rack-woodcrest-styson

 

[whirlcool]

From what I understand spices have a shelf life of about 6 months and that's it.

What I would do is dump out all those spices and run the empty bottles through the dishwasher to sanitize them. Then let them sit for a few days to really dry out before putting in new spices.

I's probably use some walnut oil on the lids to make them glow nicely. That's a very nice spice rack set and I am sure it was $$$$ when new.

 

[ovrphil]

That's what I'll do. God only knows how long these sat somewhere, to be wearing this depth of dust.
This set reminds me of some of the old items I enjoyed viewing at The Henry Ford (Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, Dearborn, MI). A customer of ours and mine, I had the privilege of enjoying it more frequently and loved the village..the Wrights house (bicycles/planes), Edison's lab...this spice set reminds of a much older time...and also, some connection to the many chem or pharmacy lab stuff I handled.

..like so many of the old items here in aw.org, it would be so cool to know the history of who used these , where and when....

Thanks Allen.

 

[tomturbomatic]

We sold a lot of this kitsch in the 70s in what I called Casualty Living. These were almost more decoration than utilty since: 1. the jars were not totally airtight and 2. if you transfer spices, you are contaminating them with air which hastens oxidation and shortens their shelf life. These are not half as bad as some art that consisted of wooden boxes about an inch and a half deep with glass fronts that had dividers separating corn, beans lentils, peas, etc., all the gold, orange and green colors of the time. The trouble was the seeds had insect eggs and would come to life after a few months and become live performance art. They were just a little too organic and women were actually holding them at arm's length in tightly closed bags when they returned them.

 

[whirlcool]

I agree, this set looks like it may be from the 70's.

The 70's was a time where people got back into the kitchen again and started cooking, baking, etc. So things used in those pursuits were very popular. Anyone remember the Eng & someone elses pans out of SFO during that period? We have a few. The only one we still use is the crepe pan. Those pans were all part of that movement.

I think that if there are any rubber gaskets in the lids of those bottle they may still be air tight.

 

[danemodsandy]

1970s -

And not really high-end - more like department-store stuff. Nice enough for those who wanted something more stylish, "with it" and modern-looking instead of the usual "Early American" styling of the typical spice rack.

By the way, Allen, you're thinking of Taylor & Ng (pronounced "Eng"), a company making all sorts of spun-steel housewares, with an emphasis on woks and Chinese cooking accessories like Chinese ladles and spatulas. Their products were ubiquitous in the late '70s and most of the '80s. They're still around, but they're not found in department and specialty stores so much these days - they have their own Website, something like Williams-Sonoma. Their woks were the best ones that were commonly available during the '80s. Their accessories were decent, but not really great - Joyce Chen's were far better.

Taylor & Ng coffee mugs to kitchen aprons, pot holders, and dishtowels

Taylor & Ng products, from coffee mugs to kitchen aprons, pot holders, and dishtowels. These products sold heavily through Macy's and other major department stores and housewares retailers throughout the U.S

www.taylorandng.com

 

[whirlcool]

You are exactly right, that's for the correction on the name. Yes, all the products were from simple steel. No layering on the bottom of pans like the better brands had. And the product was packed in a very simple cardboard box. No packing material at all. And they didn't like the dishwasher either. They'd rust if you washed them in there.

We still use our Taylor & Ng wok. And you are also right, you usually found their products in department stores. But I haven't seen the brand name anywhere in at least 20 years.

We had a crepe pan, a frying pan and a wok from them. After using the frying pan for a year or two we decided that there were better brands on the market. So it was retired when we bought our first Revere ware set. But the crepe pan & wok soldiered on.

That spice rack set looks more "danish modern" to me. Is the wood on it walnut of maple? That would determine what style it is. In the 70's we bought a canister set that was just plain glass with walnut circular lids with a gasket on it. We bought them at a store in Chicago called "Scandinavian Design" which I am sure is long gone by now.

 

[danemodsandy]

Allen:

"That spice rack set looks more "danish modern" to me. Is the wood on it walnut of maple?"

Since it's Japanese manufacture, it well could be rubberwood stained dark. Rubberwood is the wood of the rubber tree, and huge quantities of Asian-manufactured housewares and furniture are made from it. It is naturally very light, like beech, but takes stains and toning sprays very well. I spent much of the 1980s in the housewares biz, and the rule of thumb was, unless a Japanese or Chinese product was specifically marked as being another wood (like "Genuine Teakwood"), assume rubberwood.

Rubberwood's grain is usually just a little coarser and more pronounced than the woods it is used to mimic. Much of the furniture found in discount stores like Target, Walmart and Big Lots is rubberwood.

There was also another "fake teak" wood called monkeypod. Many of the '50s carved snack servers you see in thrift stores are monkeypod.

It sounds like you got poor service from the store where you purchased your Taylor & Ng products. The carbon steel from which their woks, skillets and crepe pans were made is intended to be seasoned like cast iron, and as you note, cannot be washed in the dishwasher. In the company for which I worked, no one was allowed to sell carbon steel products unless they made certain the customer understood the care requirements before purchase. We did not leave people to discover all this on their own, like the big department stores did.

 

[ovrphil]

Allen and Sandy - it's not a high-end spicerack, for sure - just struck me as a little unusual and yes,does have a Danish slant, I think.

Photos show the wood. I took an side piece apart - can see it's stained, fairly well-grained, reminding me of mahagony more than walnut, because it's much less dense than walnut, which I've worked with alot, and could be rubberwood, as it's light. I have a box of veneer wood samples that remind me of the options for similar grains - with the right stains, it's of course easy to mimic other woods. Anyways, I enjoyed the chat about Taylor & NG and J.Chen. And no, I'm not going to archive the contents, which are very old, but have no critters roaming inside..and the contents may have transformed to new Periodic Elements. LOL

 

[rpms]

Keep it for a Halloween decoration and the old spices too. Just lable the jars, bat wing, magic dust and eye of newt.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Monkey pod wood

We used to get shipments of that in the Casual Living section of Rich's Housewares Dept. and BOY did that stuff stink. It would gradually air out while sitting out, but the things that were in individual boxes of that super cheap cardboard from the orient held their stink. I could not imagine any of these pieces like cheese boards and chip or salad bowls ever being used for food. Some of the nicer things were made to resemble the teak products of Dansk and others, but most of them were just inexpensively made wood products made to cash in on a trend. We had stuff from Thailand and the Philippines.

 

[danemodsandy]

Phil:

Thanks for the photo.

Definitely rubberwood!

However, that rack is a nice design that was popular for a time, popular enough to be knocked off with Ye Olde Fayke Woode Graine plastic jar tops. Yours are much nicer, being real wood. Congrats.

 

[ovrphil]

Monkey Rubber Wood becomes next Ripleys Believe it or Not!

rpms: GREAT IDEA. These are time capsules..Eye of Newt? I think I actually have that.

Ohwell - all good things must come to an end. If only, "the spices could talk".
Some have solidified and nearly bonded to the glass.

Sandy-I thought so, rubberwood; not sure about those wood lids and you're right, the plastic ones are pretty nasty. Imagine $115? Smoken bananas. Ye Olde Woode Graine plastic jar tops- guarantee to fool a carpenter's wife and so easy to clean - enjoy them for years as they fade in color.

The comments are always priceless- the objects - eh, we're all just borrowing this stuff anyways.

 

[danemodsandy]

Phil:

Those tops may well be another wood. Rubberwood has a tendency to split if not used intelligently, with that tendency in mind.

But that rack? Rubberwood, sweet rubberwood.

Your comment about borrowing all this stuff reminds me of one of the funniest things I ever heard. I was finishing up in a convenience store men's room, when a big burly guy came up next to me and began doing his business. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Ya know whut they say - ya only rent thuh coffee!"

I was laughing so hard I nearly - well, draw the veil.

 

[polkanut]

Sandy,

The same can be said about beer too.