Grit & Steel

Aprons

2012-02-17T12:55:00.001-08:00

Seal Plate

2012-01-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

I generally limit my posts to things I've collected but this plate is too good not to share.

Bet Your Boots

2012-01-19T12:28:00.001-08:00

Been a bit slow lately as there's not too many digging opportunities when it's 20 degrees out. Here's a little gem I found recently, it's post was (1948) but still pretty rad illustrations of Navy recruits

Pop Up Flea

2011-11-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

WW2 Army, Navy and Workwear galore! Just the beginning of the pile of the vintage clothes, accessories and knicknackery that's going to alongside the jewelry this weekend at the Pop Up Flea. Here's all the details for anyone in NYC this weekend:

Pop Up Flea

159 Bleecker Street (at Thompson Street) | December 2nd, 3rd & 4th 2011
Friday 3pm - 9pm (kick off with drinks)
Saturday 11am - 7pm
Sunday 11am - 6pm

Texas Blues

2011-10-01T14:07:00.001-07:00

These were all awesome finds but the best was the Levis denim jacket, did a little research and the style number dates to the early 50s!

Out of Town

2011-08-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

These old accordion hinges are really pretty & impossible to find

The old rippled glass pharmacist lamp is definitely my favorite

Was out of NYC for the weekend and stumbled on a real gold mine, a hardware and general store opened in the 20s and closed since the 50s. Everything was still in the glass cases, untouched for 50 years. The building had just been bought and the new owner had just started to clean it out. These are just a few of the things I got and going back in a few weeks when they start pulling things out of the 2nd floor, hopefully to pull out some deadstock denim...

Twin Cities 1924

2011-07-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

I initially grabbed it because of the sheer volume of people they managed to pack into the photo and of course the clothes. But there's a little history there as well, did a little research and it seems it's from the 1924 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

Haul

2011-07-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

Some other nice bits from last week.

WW2 USAF Foot Locker

2011-07-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

This little gem was hiding under a work bench in a basement and was completely filthy, I didn't even see the bomber painting on top till I got it back to the studio and wiped it down. I checked in with the National USAF museum and it turns out Capt.Tyndall was a P-47 pilot in the 19th Fighter Squadron who flew missions over Saipan from 1944-45.

Norman of England

2011-07-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a fun little project, over all it's in pretty great shape for being pulled out of a barn. Did a little research on the brand, it seems like a lot of companies, they started out making motorized bicycles around and dropped the motorized versions around the 30's.

4th of July

2011-07-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

giant brass clip & old yacht patch

ivory bangles

just for scale...

A few picks from my flea digging up in Maine over the holiday. I'm dying to know what the story is with this huge brass clip, any guesses?

Studio Garden

2011-06-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

Cukes climbing up the window

Unless you've got a backyard with some proper ground, gardening in NYC can be a completely thankless endeavor. After battling with rats, aphids and ants my little studio fire escape garden has finally yielded some results and it all seems worth the trouble. Those will the world's most expensive cucumbers.

Finally Found One

2011-06-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

These WW2 denim laundry bags are pretty readily available on Ebay, but I've been determined to fine one myself...

Holiday Weekend

2011-06-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

Leather firewood bag

Bike boy

2011-05-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

Photobooth

2011-05-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

Friday's Haul

2011-05-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

School Days

2011-05-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

Summer break is almost here...

Army Control Station

2011-05-19T12:27:00.001-07:00

Protect & Serve

2011-05-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

Ranch Hand

2011-05-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Looks kinda like Paul Newman in Hud.

Rum Pot

2011-05-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

back reads: Remember this one darling? a regular rum pot.

Friday's Haul p.1

2011-05-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

live .38 ammo...

pretty patching detail

50s denim apron with selvedge edges

Camping

2011-05-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

Some very dapper campers, with a bucket of moonshine?

Seabag

2011-05-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

Contents of USN Seabag c.1940

42 Stars

2011-05-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

I know the Ace already beat out everyone in the biggest flag contest but this thing was too pretty not to hang up in the studio It measures just over 11' wide by 5' tall, the 42 star version of the flag dates to around 1890. I just found it crumpled in a ball at the back of a crawl space in a house built around 1910.

Hanging out

2011-05-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

Commission Merchants

2011-05-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

I was pretty excited when these turned up in a box of old letters, they seem to be a relative of figural cameos which are even more beautiful and completely impossible to find...

Cars

2011-05-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

Look at that badass in front of his stepside pick up

Last Friday's Haul Part 2

2011-05-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

WW2 Black Leather boots, leather motorcycle gloves and 1920s safety goggles

Last Friday's Haul Part 1

2011-05-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Denim Coveralls

Detail of the Sanforized stamp on the inside of a pair of work Khakis

Detail of Orange stitching and Sanforized button on a pair of 50s jeans

Fill Station & Harley

2011-04-25T08:48:00.000-07:00

A fill station near my hometown around 1940.

Dapper Gents

2011-04-24T05:51:00.000-07:00

Sailors Frend

2011-04-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Not a new find but between the patina and the hand stamped misspelling definitely one of my all time favorites.

Rest of the Aprons

2011-04-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

Also found last Friday. I'll admire them for a while and they'll eventually become material for Alice's bags when more stuff comes in.

Watch the Wear

2011-04-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

So pretty it deserved it's own post. I've definitely got a weakness for aprons and old denim, so this was a real find. Even has the original sewn on paper tag.

Man's Best Friend

2011-04-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Back reads: Pretty good, eh? Quite late when he came home.

Besides the amazing and cryptic note on the back of the first photo, the guy's overalls are pretty great.

Last Friday's Haul Part 1

2011-04-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

Odds and ends.

Canvas & Leather rifle case and beautiful old tin box with cleaning tools

Half a dozen 50's shop lamps some of them never even used like this one

Wilson

2011-04-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

Turned up a goldmine of 40's and 50's era Wilson goggles over the weekend.

The Sea

2011-04-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

Good Clean Boxing

2011-04-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm told this is an old slide advert from the movies. I really like the homemade aspect to it where someone's scratched out half the image to hand write the announcement. You can tell this has been used over and over.

1950s Denim Aprons

2011-04-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

These were a great find. The first 3 are 'Paterson Unionmade' in different levels of wear. The last one is unlabeled but is by far the best, the wear is perfect and has the red line edge on the denim. Next step, find a old box of chore coats just like these.

American Rifleman

2011-04-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

Found these over the weekend as well, but they're so pretty they deserved their own section. There are about 200 issues dating from the early 40's to the late 50's. If you've never seen this magazine before, its an amazing picture reference, here's the best 18.

Last Friday's Haul

2011-04-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

My favorite thing has to be the WW2 military issue hammer.

Pumpkin Cannon

2011-04-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

The condensed water vapor that comes out from the barrel gives a nice effect.

It's finally nice enough out to remind me it's Spring, which means it's almost time to dust off the pumpkin cannon.

My dad saw one of these and thought he'd try his hand at building one. It has a great Mad Max look to it as all the components are scrapped. The tank was salvaged from a naval base and is rated up to 1000psi. The highest we've dared is 250psi which put a pumpkin through 3/4" ply at 150 feet. The cannon is built into a trailer and the barrel folds in half so it doesn't look like heavy artillery driving down the road. The compressor runs off a belt from an old gas motor so it can be taken and fire anywhere.

Clamps

2011-04-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

The lettering on these old clamps is alway beautiful. Champion is easily my favorite, someone took the time to hand stamp it with a punch set.

Hunting & Related

2011-04-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

back reads: Shooting at Edgecliff (Archery golf)

back reads: Oct 1947 Aged 4 yrs

My favorite hunting related photos from the collection.

Grit & Steel

2011-04-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

back reads: 8-14-66 Cock fights in Anahola

As the site was named after an old sport bird enthusiast magazine I found, it would only be appropriate to throw in a post in their honor. Here's two nice photos from the collection.

Woodworkers

2011-04-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

I love everything about this photo, I just wish I had one of the inside of that workshop too.

Last Friday's Haul

2011-04-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

Hilights include

old composition notebooks with notes on the basics of mathematical logic and electrical schematics
a pair of suede shoes that look almost like low top boondockers with goodyear rubber soles (and they're my size)
a wallet with some beautiful WW2 Army & Navy snapshots and Induction papers from 1945

Here we go

2011-04-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

Me aged 2 months with logs on the way to the saw mill

I've been a collector since I was a little kid. And I've always loved old things. We started out in little one room timber frame cabin with no indoor plumbing and before I was around, no electricity. I was always surrounded by old things, because at that time in rural Maine they weren't considered antiques, they were just cheap and available. My parent's slowly built that house up from salvaged timbers and in the process built into me a lifelong love of anything with history or nostalgia attached to it.

This is an archive of things I've found and salvaged as well as other points of interest.