So, most of the day is over and I’ve had no idea for a blog post. Thus, I went to see what photos I had taken so far this month. Upon discovering that I hadn’t yet uploaded any images from my camera to the computer this year and not feeling like doing so, I opted instead to see if I had taken any pictures last year, ideally January 10th of last year.

Lo and behold, I took a single photo that day, that of my grandmother’s waffle maker, which is a curious coincidence since, just yesterday, I mentioned waffles. On top of that, JD was hungry for waffles and putting up something vintage will annoy Michelle, so it’s a win-win all the way around.

Plus, I decided to make the photo into a work of art á la Speedy’s post today. I had decided that prior to hunting down a photo, so I had to continue with the plan upon selecting the photo.

At any rate, you see here my grandmother’s vintage waffle maker. Now, this is something I also blogged about last year during Retro Week, in my Waffle Iron post, so no need to elaborate here.

Oh, why the price tag? Well, my grandmother lives out of state and there was a sale before the house was sold. The sale ran before we got there, so my aunt had priced the waffle maker at 50¢. Fortunately, no one bought it and we got to bring it home. Though plenty of other people got some really good deals…

I just wish I had gotten the old blender… And a certain pair of lamps, and the Pick Up Sticks game…

Let’s hope you don’t suffer from Triskaidekaphobia!

While cleaning out the aforementioned cabinet, I also came across these “Rainbow Glasses.”

I believe that this were from some point in the mid to late 1980s. I don’t remember where I got them.

They are just heavy paper with thin film called Holex Kaleidaglas. This film essentially lets you see a rainbow of colors when you look at things. In daylight, you can see rainbows just about everywhere. At night, you’ll only see them around lights and brightly lit objects.

Here’s an example which I did by holding up the glasses to the camera lens:

In daylight, that’s what pretty much everything looks like, with varying degrees of intensity depending upon the amount of light reflecting from or produced by the objects being viewed.

I think this is a form of diffraction grating. Regardless, it’s pretty cool stuff. I think I had a lens for my video camera that produced similar effects. Too bad my video camera lens don’t fit my digital camera. (I haven’t found an adapter for them either.)

You see, kids, sometimes science is fun.

In cleaning out that old cabinet, I also found this radio.

This is the first portable radio that I remember having. Ran on a 9V battery, so you know it’s old since it seems like most later electronics always seemed to require two AA batteries.

I can remember sitting in the back of the van when I was a kid, one night on our way back home from somewhere, and listening to “Funkytown” by Lipps, Inc. That’s my longest lasting memory (and perhaps earliest?) of this radio.

He’s vintage! He’s famous! He wants to hook up…

That’s right–this rapper wants to phone home!

I’ve had this guy since the early 80’s, I guess. Here he is without his hat:

He used to be on my dresser way back when. I think. He was obviously cold with his neck shriveled up, so I gave him a scarf (a piece of navy yarn) at some point and then added an arrowhead necklace. Don’t remember if he got the cap before or after all that.

Live long and phone home often. Rock on!

Maybe it’s not vintage. I really don’t know how old it is.

Anyway…

Way back when I was in high school, I always wanted my own chalk holder. Why? Well, my motto was “semper paratus.” I had a multitude of tools in my backpack. I had a little unit that was a stapler, a staple remover and a whole punch. It had other tools as well. I also had a folding pair of scissors. Pens and pencils, of course. And other stuff. But, I was missing my own chalk holder.

I never did get one before graduation.

But, years later, thanks to the magic that is eBay, I finally got my very own chalk holder. Yay!

This was a few years ago. I still haven’t used it. I don’t even have a blackboard.

But, at least I am prepared with a chalk holder.

This ball-peen hammer was originally used by Vulcan (a.k.a. Hephaestus) to forge thunderbolts for Zeus.

Okay. Not really.

This is an old ball-peen hammer, sometimes called a ball-pein hammer which makes no sense because it is used for peening in metalwork, and peening is not also spelled peining. Go figure.

Even though it was designed for peening use, which is the process of working a metal to improve its properties, such as building resistance to cracking and a whole bunch of other stuff I don’t feel the need to go into right now, it will still do a good job of hammering a nail.

Sacrilege, I know. But, at least it has a job, which can be hard to find these days.

And, thus ends Retro Week with a bang, bang, bang…

You’ve seen portions of this clock before here and here, but here it is in its full awesomeness:

It’s huge too. Imagine a normal sized clock. Then add a starburst. Takes up a lot of wall space. But it is awesome, so that’s okay.

I’m guessing this clock is from the 1960’s. Presumably made by Elgin Clock & Home Products of Chicago, Illinois, not to be confused with the Elgin National Watch Company, a.k.a. the Elgin Watch Company, formerly of Elgin, Illinois which moved to a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina, which was then renamed Elgin, South Carolina. Also not to be confused with the Elgin Clock Repair company of Elgin, Illinois.

You see, this is why unique branding is so very, very important. Much less confusing when people are looking up things fifty years later.

Now, maybe the walls ought to be painted sunshine yellow…

My mother had this in her kitchen in the seventies and early eighties. I think. You know, now I’m not sure. There was another clock in the kitchen in the eighties, a Spartus, that I remember. And, that was taken out in the eighties or early nineties because that stopped working. Okay, so I’m not really sure when, or if, this one was in the kitchen.

At any rate, this is a General Electric clock from the 1970’s featuring a design by Peter Max. It’s pretty neat.

Thanks to Deborah for inspiring today’s retro post. Otherwise, I’m not sure what today’s post would have been. Oh, I would have come up with something, but what?

And below is a high school art project:

It was a 3d sort of thing, using cut-up egg cartons and styrofoam and stuff to make the different layers. We had to photocopy images from magazines. Just black and white copies. Color copies were expensive in those days. Around $2.00 a copy! I chose a “time” theme, with space too. Space-time! You picked a color and selectively colored things. I picked yellow so it was like gold.

You can almost see the “TIME” spelled out along the bottom. It’s easier to see in person than it is in the photo!

Curious. The background almost matches my current blog space-themed background…

A vintage waffle iron with a note from the future…

Look kids!

Here we have a waffle iron.

Back in the day, this was how we made waffles. That was before you could buy ‘em at the store and cook them in your toaster. Or, take them out of the freezer and put them in the microwave.

Yes, these were good ol’ fashioned waffles, where you mixed the batter yourself, and you knew it was done when you started to smell something burning, then you scraped it off the waffle iron and you considered yourself lucky if you got one that was crispy but still soft in the middle. Of course, the worse case was when the outside was burnt and the inside raw, but that made breakfast like a surprise game! You never knew what you’d get, but you’d smother it with butter and pour on the syrup and gulp it down!

Of course, after four years of Obama, who could afford electricity to run these things anymore? Or flour for the batter? Or eggs? Or milk?

But, the Kool-Aid was good. For a while.

We’ll start out Retro Week with 12 mystery men! Maybe someone will recognize these guys and tell me what they are?

All I know about them is that they are plastic and stackable (somewhat). There are no markings on them, aside from a number on the inside of their backs (which is open and hollow), which I assume is likely a mold number. Different colors have the same number and different men have different numbers.

Anyone recognize these smiling faces?