The Girlfriend And I Hit The Belleville Flea This Morning And On The Way Home We Just HAD To Stop At The Fairview Heights Savers. I Found A Little Set Of Roseville / Raymor Serving Pieces And Thought I'd Hit The Jackpot! Status: Left Behind.

Everybody knows I've got the hots for some Ben Seibel designs.  When I spotted these loose pieces sitting on the shelf there at Savers my lil heart went a pitter patter!  You know what I mean.  Alas, all was not what it seemed.

I Stopped At A Thrift Store Before Work Monday And Spotted This Glossy Yellow And Black Ashtray. Upon Flipping It Over (You ALWAYS Flip 'Em Over!) I Found It To Be A Raymor / Mercer Product! Status: Score!

Beyond being a Raymor product (they of the Arthur Umanoff product fame) this is just a seriously beautiful piece of pottery.  It had me at that glossy Yellow and Black glaze and asymmetric design.

Saturday Was Mostly Spent On The Road Messing Around Central Illinois. We Started Out At The Belleville Flea Market And Ended Up In Springfield Illinois At The Barrel Anique Mall. Status: Tons Of Good Stuff!

This place, Barrel Antique Mall Springfield Il., was a pleasant surprise.  It's always nice to find a vendor in an antique mall hawking the Vintage Modern.  Sometimes it's just a one or two...maybe a few...vendors with a piece or two available, but this place had booth after lovely booth of good stuff!

Can You Guess What Got Me "Up And At 'Em" This Morning, Had Me Drive Four Hours Round Trip And Is Now Waiting Quietly In The Back Of Frank? Hint: It's Not Paul McCobb But Was Often Misatributed To Him For Ages. Status: Farm Fresh.

It's a mess and these photographs suck, but you get the gist.  As you can see there are a number of brass rivets missing and the leather itself isn't in the greatest condition...but the bones are good and it was worth the long drive to retrieve!

What St. Louis Lacks In Vintage Modern Shop Grapevine Info It Surely Makes Up For In Seriously Fine Stock And Choice. So MoModerne Moves It's Headquarters Out To The County...And No One Bothers To Tell A Mr.! Status: New Address - Same Great Taste.

I guess I've nobody to blame but myself.  I have to say, I haven't been out to ANY of the vintage modern shop around town lately...and so why would any of these merchants bother to let me in on news as big as the moving of their store front...much less the opening of their Second Storefront!

Ah, The Necessities Of The Wino! Mr. Modtomic Isn't Much Of A Wine Connoisseur But I Do Like A Splash Of The Vino Now And Then. Now I Can Keep My Little Stash In Style! Status: More McCo/manoff.

Years ago, while at an antique mall in rural Missouri near Six Flags, I spotted a small wine rack made of steel round bar and leather.  It was only about $12 and while I failed to buy it, the wine rack stuck in my brain.  Maybe a week or two later I spotted a similar piece on eBay which described it as a Paul McCobb design.  Of course I drove right back down to that antique mall as soon as I could, but alas...the rack was gone.  Lesson learned.  Desire cemented.

This Is It. The Final Chapter In The Epic BAM Chicago Trilogy. You've Seen The Smalls. You've Seen The Seating. Here's The Rest! Status: Back To Our Regular Programing Tomorrow.

Even the outside of this place is really cool!  Check out that art deco marquee!  You've got your glass block window behind it and all that yellow glazed tile.  I wonder what this building was originally built for?  The stairs to the second floor are right inside the door, are beautiful and are meant to be seen - so I'm sure the upstairs was supposed to be frequented by customers, such as it is now.

Did YOU Happen To Make It To The Rocket Century / Swank - A - Rama Lot Sale On The South Side Last Saturday? I Did! Status: Too Good To Pass Up!

We were supposed to be long gone Saturday morning...on the road to Lake George (upstate) New York. I've been longing to see the Grand Camps in the Adirondacks since seeing a special about them on PBS. Plus I'm hoping Lake George will be every bit the time capsule of family vacation fun that I've built it up in my mind to be!

Although I Shamelessly Pour Through C-list Ads And Often Snatch Up Good Stuff Within Hours Of Listing, This Arthur Umanoff Bar Sat Unbought For Days! Status: Trigger Pulled.

It's funny how some really good stuff can sit on craigslist for days without being snatched.  I just had an e-mail conversation with a local reader about a pair of chairs that sat unbought for well over a week on the list.  He had apparently shot off an e-mail after the sellers had bumped up the ad and gotten no reply.  Miffed, he did the next logical thing: he shot me a note asking if I had snatched them up!