Retro Renovation» patio

1958 KamKap Kook-Out barbecue grill — Dawn & Brian pounce

pam kueber — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:30:39 +0000

“We are usually in the market for Mid Century anything…”
(Ain’t that the truth?)

“Yes, Monty,” say Dawn and Brian, “we’ll take what’s behind Door Number 3.” What have you just won? A like-new KamKap Kook-Out barbeque grill! Yay, Monty, we love you! The pair jump up and down ecstatically like there is no tomorrow… or 1958… and roll this puppy home. Readers, continue to be patient and good-willed acolytes and maybe the Retro Decorating Gods will Let’s Make a Deal like this for you, too, when you go thrifting this weekend.

The rotisserie (box below) was never used, Mint in Box. Read on for these little lovebirds’ treasure hunting story of discovery. Dawn — whose blog is Pretty In Pink — writes:

Oh one minute, though. You know what I also love? Dawn takes photos — good photos — of all the stinkin’ rotten little details of this bbq and its accessories and instructions…. and sends me the photos tout suit. Yes, it’s ALL so Fascinating, you can tell she thinks to herself. Soooo Fascinating……. Good girl, Dawn, you know I approve and am very grateful to be empowere to show all this lovely detail — you made is soooo easy for me to do this story. Okay, so here you go, Dawn really writes:

Hello Pam-

Do you ever have those times when you find something so retrobly fabulous that you MUST share with someone who can appreciate it?

That would be me today.

My fiance, Brian and I, took a very unexpected road trip today. It’s beautiful here in Central Ohio, especially seeing how its mid March! We just couldn’t stay inside today. So we traveled around. No particular destination in mind.

We came across a “General Store” in Lancaster, Ohio that sold antiques…And as we were perusing the aisles looking for anything that caught our fancy…We literally stumbled on what will have to go down in MY book as the ultimate gem.

We are usually in the market for Mid Century anything, and currently our focus has been on midcentury barware since we both collect.

But what was so amazing today that caught my eye?

A 1958 KamKap Kook-Out Charcoal Grill in almost MINT condition. I have NEVER seen anything like it in all my antique store, thrift store, yard sale travels. Sure. I dreamed. I hoped.

And there she was. With an already wonderful price of $59.99. We walked away. Discussed it. Came back for it. And the lady offered us 10 % off. Did I mention it came with a rotisserie that had NEVER been used? Complete with box? Instruction manual (Dated 10/29/1958)

Yeah. We loaded that bad boy up and took her home. We are sooooo very excited. I did a quick search on your site and did not see any other articles about retro BBQ Grills. A quick search of google and ebay didnt really tell me much either…

Do you know ANYTHING about these grills? We love it. We plan on using it. I am getting ready to post my own blog about it and I have fantastic pictures if you want to see them…

Thanks again. I just had to share with someone else that understands how exciting it can be to find such an unexpected treasure. 54 years old and it looks like it was bought a few years ago!

A happy reader-

Dawn

Thank you, Dawn. Kook-out. hahahahahaha. No, I know nothing about this grill. I will hypothesize: Another local/regional product… from back in the day when local/regional manufacturers created all kinds of useful and sometimes, kooky, products that principally served local/regional markets.

Readers: You can read more about Dawn and Brian’s find and see more photos on their blog, Pretty in Pink.

Regarding other grills on my site: I have written several times about the fabulous GE Partio Cart – this may be the creme de la creme of vintage barbecues, kind of like how an Electro-Sink is a Dishmaster gone Robocop. The Turco barbecue ball is another groovy barbecue design.

My question back at you is: Will you and Brian have the heart to use your Kook-Out? Please Do! Let’s ALL commit to setting our New Old Stock free — to giving these items a happy, productive, useful, much-loved life!

Readers, what are you looking for this weekend?

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Midcentury modern planters — 19 circa-1950 designs from LaGardo Tackett available today

pam kueber — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:30:00 +0000

Could these be more lovely? Researching the life and work of ceramicist LaGardo Tackett recently, I learned that 18 of his planter designs — and one amazing garden sculpture — are still in production and available today. In 1998 Vessel USA resurrected the iconic ceramics originally made famous by Max and Rita Lawrence’s Architectural Pottery company beginning in 1950. These LaGardo Tackett planters — which comprise the largest portion of Vessel USA’s line today — accessorized the famous Case Study houses, and were featured in a Museum of Modern Art exhibit as early as 1951. The planters are as classic as classic gets— and, yes, still Made in America.

It is impossible to understate the importance of LaGardo Tackett and of Architectural Pottery to midcentury modern interior design history. The spark to create Architectural Pottery was actually lit when Max and Rita Lawrence saw LaGardo’s work in 1949: They knew that all the fab mid mod houses being built throughout California needed these planters. There was nothing like them, apparently, and we all know that California was about indoor/outdoor living. Max Lawrence was originally a meat packer, who earned his wealth packaging meat rations for World War II and the Korean war. But he and Rita were finely tuned to the arts and design, and their new company, Architectural Pottery, was an immediate success. From the 2010 obituary of Max Lawrence in the Los Angeles Times, which is a lovely tribute and fascinating read:

Architects began ordering the Lawrences’ wares almost as soon as the first catalog was published in 1950. It wasn’t long before a piece by Architectural Pottery was considered as necessary in the modernist home as an Eames chair.

…”Whenever we see a white cylinder planted with a tree or flowers inside or outside an office building or a bank, and now quite often at gasoline stations, all of that is the heritage of Architectural Pottery,” Bill Stern, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Museum of California Design, said….

You know I am not a died-in-the-wool “high falutin’” modernist. I do not believe that “Ornament is a Crime.” But, these garden sculptures by Tackett — again, still in production today — do have my heart all pitter pat. Yes, these pieces are “expensive”but they are the real deal.

I want to marry this planter. What a wonderful story Vessels USA has to tell. From the company’s About page:

Vessel USA Inc. was founded in 1998 to revive stunningly simple planters and other ceramic designs that brought acclaim to the Architectural Pottery Collection, a Los Angeles company founded in 1950 by Max and Rita Lawrence. Prominent mid-century LA architects such as Richard Neutura and Pierre Koenig favored the pottery line for spare, geometrically ordered residential gardens and commercial buildings….
.

Knowing the inherent value of these historical award winning designs, owner Michael Stephenson painstakingly rescued the original company after years of research and development. “Geometric and organic shapes may look quite simple to produce although there is quite a lot of engineering behind the scenes to produce symmetrical forms. Molds can weigh hundreds of pounds and a single ceramic piece can take over a week to produce from start to finish. Proprietary techniques are used to execute the product”.

Hey, that’s my RetroRenovation.com font in their video!
>

If you can bear to break out of Unhappy Hipster mode, there are even colors.

Click the photo above to see Vessel USA’s complete line. It seems you can order direct from the company, or google “Architectural Pottery” to find it at a number of other online retailers.

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Cindy’s midcentury modern porch remodel, including traditional random color slate

pam kueber — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 08:39:33 +0000

The amazing Cindy is at it again. We’ve seen her house, her bathroom remodel, her Amtico kitchen floor, and her new pinch pleat curtains, and now she shares the new, welcoming entry way to her 1963 home. I love the long, low lines, and the integration of a favorite mid century surface material, random multi-color slate tiles. She also helped design the custom made planters. Read on for more of Cindy’s vintage Sunset-inspired front porch makeover –>

Cindy writes:

The entrance to Cindy's 1963 house "before"

I’ll start with before photo of the front of the house — wild overgrown yews that were surely original to the house.

Cindy's new entry way "after" complete rebuilding

After all the work, above and below: The new front entry.

It was entirely rebult, the stoop area is slate – my favorite material and so appropriate to a mid century house. I then had a concrete slab poured around it. inspired by a photo I saw in a 1960s landscaping book from the library. I think it was one of those Sunset books….

The inspiration for the planters came from a restaurant I went to in the Azores last year. I searched your site, local garden centers and googled wooden planters numerous times, but found nothing that satisfied me.

So I had them made by a local cabinet maker friend. They add a bit of Asian feeling I wanted for this front area.

Great job, Cindy — I love the new expansiveness of the entry way. You can sit out, have a cocktail, and watch the neighborhood go by — but the landing still has a strong geometric feel that totally suits the modern design of your home. Interestingly, I have read that midcentury ranch homes were designed in a way that they would be “open to nature” — but that generally meant open at the back. I like that you have added this friendly touch to the front of your house, but in a way that is harmonious to the front facade. The landscaping looks “friendly”, too. I have several of those hydrangea trees — a very satisfying cultivar in our part of the world, it blooms all summer long.

I have a photo of Cindy on her old/original landing (above> from when I first visited several years ago. You can see that the random multi-color slate tiles were original to the era. Cindy has replaced them, including with a tidier squared-off design on two levels. Random multi-color slate tiles are abundant in Massachusetts – and they are relatively affordable. The concrete platform below, which Cindy designed, kind of “mirrors” the shape of the garage roof adjacent (nice touch, Cindy, you have “the eye” for sure!) and adds visual contrast. The concrete is also reduced her cost (compared to laying more tile), I assume. Be sure to work with professionals or to really know what you are doing if you attempt to do this kind of job yourself: Up her in northern climates, we can get cracks in concrete due to freeze/thaw heaving if the underlayment and binding (?) of the concrete is not done properly. You also will want to talk to a professional about the pros and cons of sealing concrete.