Category Archives: 50’s

donald olsen’s “kip house” for sale

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Greg

Famed Bay Area modernist Donald Olsen designed a number of classic modernist homes here in the Bay Area, and one of his more significant homes is on the market. It’s the Kip House, which was designed and built in 1952 … Continue reading →

Posted in 50's, architecture, bay area, california, donald olsen | 1 Comment

mel bogart fire tools for stewart-winthrop

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Greg

Here are a couple of ads from arts & architecture magazine in 1955 for fire tools designed by Mel Bogart for Stewart-Winthrop of Van Nuys, California. You may recall Mel as the designer of the cool iron ashtray stand I … Continue reading →

Posted in 50's, california, fireplace, iron, mel bogart, stewart-winthrop | Leave a comment

j. b. blunk in japan

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Greg

The picture above of the artist and sculptor J. B. Blunk is from an article in the newspaper “Pacific Stars and Stripes” dated Aug 5, 1954, titled “Yank Lives in Japan For $6 a Month”. The article describes how Blunk … Continue reading →

Posted in 50's, j. b. blunk, japan | Leave a comment

desert modern architecture – palm springs 2012

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Greg

Last October I had the pleasure of attending the “Desert Modern Architecture” tour in Palm Springs hosted by the Western Museums Association, which allowed me to visit some beautiful and stylistically different examples of 20th century modern architecture. Our tour … Continue reading →

Posted in 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, albert frey, architecture, california, donald wexler, neutra, palm springs, raymond loewy, steel | Leave a comment

mel bogart ashtray stand for felmore

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Greg

I was happy to stumble across this ad in the December 1953 issue of Interiors magazine that revealed the mystery of a piece from our collection! This piece was described here in my earlier post, “i like it, whatever it … Continue reading →

Posted in 50's, felmore, iron, mel bogart | 4 Comments

domus in the early fifties

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Greg

For an enlightening diversion of mid century eye candy, I highly recommend exploring the range of incredible design that was given to the world by Gio Ponti’s Domus magazine of Italy during that time. A few years ago Taschen reprinted … Continue reading →

Posted in 50's, arteluce, carlo mollino, domus magazine, ettore sottsass jr., gino sarfatti, italy, mario tedeschi, roberto mango | Leave a comment