1940s Men's Sportswear

This is a really cool store display for Rugby Brand men's sportswear. When you find Rugby items, they are usually really nice vintage clothing items. Always well made and usually a bold design. This is a semi translucent card-stock, I am not sure whether its been waxed or plasticized somehow. It was used in a deep frame that was illuminated. Sadly the frame was missing when i found this pinned to the wall in a very old store. The store owner described for me how it originally was displayed.

Spear and Company Pittsburgh

A page from their " 75th Semi-Annual All Star Value Sale" Catalogue. My guess is late 1920s early 1930s.

The Hat Box

The cover of The Stetson Company House Magazine from March 1930

1940s WWII USN Dungarees

Very cool WWII US Navy dungarees with the guy's name bleached across the back. Unusual blue line selvedge in crotch seams. Probably pre 1945. Listed on ebay with no reserve, curious to see what they go for.

Restoring A Vintage Wood Tank

So, about a year ago I found this late 19th C wooden tank or cistern. It was removed from a Chester county house. It provided water pressure and continuous supply from the well. Soon after the house was built it was hooked up to public water and the cistern was disconnected and drained. It then sat for almost a hundred years in the dry and dark attic. It has no rot (of consequence) or bug damage. The company that made it is still in business and making classic wooden cisterns. My plan is to reassemble it and hook up modern hot tub heating and filtration to use it "Petticoat Junction " style as a hot tub.

I'm starting with the bottom. It is made up of a bunch of edge joined cedar boards that are doweled together. I've sanded the inside surface to remove a bunch of iron rust sediment and to make sure there are no spots that may cause scrapes or splinters. I also had to plane the edge of one board to get it to mate properly. It had bowed a little. It's nice and snug now. I got badly stung by bees when making this photo, it seems there is a hive in the ground near that old tree in the background. They were pretty pissed at me and made me pay for coming too close.

The hand made dowels are scored along their length and have a flat planed into them long one side. You can see how the hole was located with a pencil mark and a scored line along the grain. All of the dowels are slightly offset from each other.

You can see here that the bottom boards are bevelled twice to fit the rabbet in the staves. The fit to the staves is nice and snug. That's a split that was wedged. Also there are a few small knots that were drilled and small hand made plugs were driven in. 

This is the stencil on the side. There is also a round 'Unionmade' stamp in the wood above this. It's hard to spot. 

All of the staves are hand made, unique ( no two are alike in width) and are numbered on the inside. 

Here is one of the pieces of dunnage that it sat on. Note the original owner or installer's ? name and address in marking pencil. I'm going to use new, much more massive pressure treated material for dunnage. As I move along I'll add more updates.

A Unique Necktie

I found this tie some years ago and have yet to see a more bizarre design. Sure a few Dali ties have come and gone and they can be pretty cool- The one of disembodied bloody hands playing a piano is pretty wild
But this odd tie with it's slightly hard to read design takes the cake. Often viewers have had to have the design pointed out to them before they can 'read' it. I really like the logo of the designer; Damon as well. I
don't recall seeing any other Damon ties with this logo and wonder if it is the same company as the 1960s-70s men's wear maker. I actually doubt it is. The tie is listed among our current vintage tie offerings.

A brilliant Idea From The Past

1931 gave us the perfect solution for sagging stockings! "The Bonton Rayon Air Cushion Garter". A rubber tube surrounded by a rayon covering. Brilliant. I sure hope the tubing was more flexible when new. What's that you say? Your legs have fallen asleep? Numb? According to the unintentionally hilarious patent application these are ideal when you roll the top of the stocking down around them. I bet! The young lady who seems to have lost her balance on the card is a nice touch.