Look what has been unearthed NOS now: A vintage relaxation unit. In fact, this may be one of the rarest NOS finds yet – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a relaxation NOS, although I’ve seen several in their natural habitat. Here’s a vintage brochure. The ebay listing photos are deceptive, though: Instead of two extra rolls of TP, that space on the upper right is for an ashtray! ![]()
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Vintage NOS bathroom Relaxation Unit, BIN on the bay
Transform a vintage coffee percolator into a lamp
My friend Susan Schneider of Shandells.com and I concocted another upcycling project: Transforming vintage percolators into table lamps. We came up with the idea when we did our first video — “Put a Bulb In It.” Susan — a professional lamp-maker — then used my percolator, found two more on her own, and turned out these adorable lamps. Heck yeah there is more →
Anne Taintor June caption contest — enter by Thursday night!

Oops, this almost got by me: Anne Taintor’s June caption contest ends Thursday night. She wants “sweet” rather than “sassy” for this sweetheart photo. Get your caption in quick — Good luck!
1959 time capsule house in New Zealand — never lived in!
Jordanna over on our Facebook page spotted this incredible story — the third time capsule house we’ve seen that was never lived in. The first one was a 1955 bungalow in St. Louis, (second story about the Retro Renovation reader tour here)… while the second one was a gorgeous 1962 house also in the Midwest… now this one is in New Zealand — and it includes some retro styling cues and names that I’ve never seen before: An interesting bathroom layout… a “Mercer Maid” stainless steel drainboard sink — which I believe the New Zealanders are calling a “kitchen bench” … and the Neeco electric range top. I also love the built-in valances in the living room and the hand-made parquet flooring — yum. Exotic foreign retro! The newspaper that featured this story — The Bay of Plenty Times — I want to live alongside “the Bay of Plenty”! — could not give me permission to host any of their photos on my site (np, I respect their wishes re: copyright), so jump on over to their story to see lots of delicious photos — and to read why this house was never occupied (look for the link below the photos, to the right-ish). Thank you, Jordanna!
A short history of Hudee Rings from the president of Vance Industries. Including: Sex sells!
After reader Jon tipped me off the retro-fabulous products available at Vance Industries here and here and here, I was contacted by the CEO and co-owner of the company — Bill Rapp – who offered to provide some history about Hudee Rings and how they came about in the kitchen countertop industry . One of my favorite kinds of story: Finding out – first-hand from someone who was there, right in the midst of the industry – how a unique product introduced in post-WWII America came about. Oh, and who doesn’t love a tale that throws in some sex for good measure? (We don’t get to that much here on this blog. Memorable: Naked nudie jigsaw.) Bill and I had an hour-long phone conversation – read on for this history of “sink rims” or “sink frames”, as Bill officially calls them. You’ll learn why they are called Hudee Rings! Heck yeah there is more →



