Robsjohn-Gibbings Mesa Coffee Table

Every collector has a Holy Grail, an item you dream of finding when you walk into an estate sale. This is mine: the T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Mesa Coffee Table. This one pictured above sold at auction last fall for $66,000! To put that in context, in 2002, you could have bought that table at auction for less than $20,000. Would that I could have a 401(k) that could do that. But such is the demand for Robsjohn-Gibbings furniture -- it's little known by most estate sale hounds, but crazy sought-after by collectors.

Of course, then there's the one that got away -- the Robsjohn-Gibbings tripod tables. This pair here is going for $5,600, refinished. I saw a pair at an estate sale on Warnock in South Fort Worth for $10 apiece. They had already sold. I cried a little that day.

Plycraft Mania

Plycraft is perhaps best known for their knockoff interpretation of the Eames 870 Lounge chair. However, I've always found the Plycraft lounger below to be a much more distinctive design. I found the one below at an estate sale ... somewhere in DFW (I don't remember where.) But I've seen these from time to time at other sales in Fort Worth.


What's odd is that after I bought this chair, in started to pop up in other pieces of MCM ephemera I bought, including this Robert Goulet album. Of course, the real mystery there is who put the tin foil on the floor.


Then there's the picture of the bachelor pad your Dad moved to after the divorce. Nice socks!


But my favorite is this hi-fi room from a period home improvement book. As PeteW would say, it's totally googie.

I Only Read It For The Furniture, Too

Don't tell Felicia about this, but those old Playboys have some pretty googie furniture in there. For instance, check out this post from the Mid-Century Modernist. It's mostly SFW with the naughty bits blocked out, but the furniture is easy to see. And that's what's important, isn't it?

Clown Burger in Haltom City

Generally, Haltom City kind of scares me. Mainly, it's because it seems like every tornado that roars through Fort Worth makes a bee-line for H-town. But, on the other hand, they've got lots of great Vietnamese food there.

And, of course, they have Mid-Century Modern signs. There's lots of googie signage in the Beach Street/Belknap area like Clown Hamburgers. Photographer David Kozlowski took this image, and he said that you could get an entire ClownBurger feast for less than buck on Wednesday to celebrate this place's 50th anniversary. Sorry I missed it!

6421 Camp Bowie, Fort Worth 76116

I've always wondered about this building at 6421 Camp Bowie, and Cosmic Cool sheds some light on it. Turns out this building was designed by the Houston architectural firm of MacKie & Kamrath and constructed in 1956-57, this building was originally home office headquarters for Commercial Standard Insurance Company.

3900 Bellaire Drive S., Fort Worth 76109

This gorgeous beast goes on forever. We can just see ourselves rollerskating through all 5,451 fabulous square feet. The price per square foot on this bad boy is an amazing $101 -- somebody buy it before we squander our IRAs! What's that? They've already been squandered?

Long, low lines. Sigh. And check out the built-ins in the background. Think of all the collectibles they would hold: ceramics, dishware, barware, tiki glasses ... Let me just get my drool bib.

Hollywood Regency would be quite at home here.
Lucite, this is your time to shine.

RIP, Bob May

Bob May, the voice ofthe actor who played the Robot on the 1960s' sci-fi classic Lost in Space, died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 69. May's signature line, "Danger, Will Robinson" obscured the fact that he could also sing a bit, as evidenced by the clip above.

Steelcase Furniture and the Modern Office

I think that sometimes we overlook the simple industrial beauty of Steelcase office furniture because it is still easily found in many office environments today. But this post at The Mid-Century Modernist shows off the Steelcase sex appeal quite nicely. One question, though: WTF with the bear skin?

Westwood Drive, Arlington 76012

Where cool lives
Not in our neck of the woods, but we were driving by and had to snap a quick pic of this gem.

2301 Ridgmar, Fort Worth 76116 - $122,500

MCM-licious condos. Yum.
Thank god places like this still exist, huh? Gives one hope.

Capitol Records Building -- Totally Googie

Is there anything any googier than the Capitol Records Building down on the Strip? A friend duked me with a bunch of old Architectural Digests from the 1950s last year, one of which included this spread. Of course, there's lots of other cool stuff in there that I plan to share soon. Until then, enjoy!


I want everything in the waiting room below.


Don Draper? Why aren't you in the conference room?!


I wonder if Frank Sinatra ever hit anybody in here?

Cool Finds

We're back to our estate- and garage-sale cruising now that the holidays are over. At a church rummage sale, we found this copper chocolate set for $2.


This 34-by-14-inch "motel art" -ish oil painting of a turbaned gentleman, (by the artist known as "Drake") cost $1.



Got this General Electric "Telechron" lucite-and-metal battery-operated (!) clock, below, at an estate sale the day after Christmas. It cost $12, a little more than we like to spend, but we decided it had enough zing to justify the cost.


We know. You hate us. It's OK.

MCM Podcast Out of Fort Worth

Tracy and Joe discuss the characteristics and virtues of mid-century modern at Design Talk Radio.

Francoise Hardy - Oui!

I have a fever called Francoise Hardy. Watch the video above, and you will be hooked, too.

BTW, my friends, Paul Boll and Angie Cassada have a band called Los Noviembres, and they play the old Hardy hit called "Le Temps De L'Amour." Angie more than does it justice. Check them out if you ever have the chance.

Happy Birthday, Shirley Bassey!

Happy 72! And now for ... Gold-FINGAH!

Appliance Porn

Is their anything tastier than a Frigidaire Flair? We stumbled on this one while browsing Craigslist and are sorely tempted to buy it. It's $100 and in the TCU area of Fort Worth.