My first vintage purchase

[Gingerella72]

My first vintage furniture purchase!

I found this waterfall-style vanity at an antique mall for $25.00, and promptly purchased it:

(Please forgive the bluriness, our camera isn't that great)

Bessie and Runty have given their approval of my purchase:

Better look at detail (does that pattern in the veneer have a specific name?)

Now I just need to start collecting vintage girly-items to put on it!

 

[Miss Neecerie]

wow...thats a total steal!

Its beautiful

Congrats!

 

[Decodence]

Calling that a steal is severely understating. That is a $500 piece here.

 

[Gingerella72]

Miss Neecerie - thanks!

Decodence - $500 really! Holy Cow. It's in really good condition (the mirror is starting to fleck a little in spots, but nothing major), just needs to be cleaned up. I couldn't find any mfg. marks or labels on it, so I have no idea who/where/when it was made. But, it looks cool and that's what counts for me.

 

[dakotanorth]

Waterfall Dresser

Nice score!! I want to trade up on my pieces; seeing the two-tone on yours helps.
The veneer patterns: The type on the drawers is called a "V-match" veneer, sorta similar to bookmatch.
The one below the mirror is most likely a bookmatch, coming from a burled walnut. That is the wood that comes from the "Crotch" or "stump" of a tree, where branches come together. That's how you get the swirl effect.

Again, I'm no expert, so this is from memory of a vague knowledge. Still, nice item! :eusa_clap

 

[MrNewportCustom]

This site may help you identify the veneer. Table Designs Goto the homepage for more information. I'm sending you to the bookmatch page. You can see the bookmatch best in the maple example.

A lovely vanity, Gingerella. And it didn't take those cats long to investigate their new plaything.

Dakotanorth, Rolls Royce uses the same method on their dashes. They even go so far as to touch-up the wood to hide where the two halves meet.


Lee

 

[Gingerella72]

Thanks, guys!

It's pretty obvious I don't know beans about "real" furniture....the only types of furniture I've ever purchased are mostly the "some assembly required" types that come in a box....he he....I have alot to learn.

Seeing everyone's photos here has been an awesome beginners tutorial! As far as the Golden Era is concerned, I've always been more interested in clothes/hair/makeup, and movies and music, but never really gave furniture or other "stuff" much thought until I found FL. Yay FL!

When I saw this vanity my jaw dropped....only because I recognized the style from others' photos. When I saw the price I almost fainted. There was definitely squealing involved. My DH is wondering what on earth I needed it for....do I honestly need a reason other than Because?

 

[BeBopBaby]

Very nice!

A word of advice, put some runners on top of your vanity or some sort of protective doily. Kitty claws do a number on wooden furniture tops. They don't mean to, but even when they just walk across the furniture their claws can leave little marks.

 

[Sweet Leilani]

Nice score! Believe me, you'll love shopping for accessories to put on top of it. Start with the doilies (look for sets of three: one large & two small), then the lamps, then the vanity set, then the perfume bottles... (yes, I've been down this road before!)

 

[Gingerella72]

Nice score! Believe me, you'll love shopping for accessories to put on top of it. Start with the doilies (look for sets of three: one large & two small), then the lamps, then the vanity set, then the perfume bottles... (yes, I've been down this road before!)

Oh yes. I can't wait. There is a "new" antique store that just opened up here that caters to the more feminine things - hats, gloves, kitchenware, jewelry, clothes, etc. I'll definitely be shopping there in the future.

The trick will be to find functional items that I'll actually use and aren't just for decor.

 

[Sweet Leilani]

The trick will be to find functional items that I'll actually use and aren't just for decor.

Oh, I know you won't have a problem with that! Get lots of pretty containers to stash things in, like hair pins and cosmetics in vintage cups. Some vanity sets come with containers that are perfect for that- they're sized for powder puffs, etc.

Don't forget to look for a pretty stool or bench so you can sit in front of the mirror!

 

[Dominic]

I had an eye on it for some time and now it is officially in my grubby hands!! The camera is very clean, mechanically sound, no light leak. Can't wait to try it out and post some of the results here.

Here it is!

 

[RetroToday]

Very nice vintage camera Dominic! Congratulations! :eusa_clap

Welcome to the wonderful world of buying vintage things.
It's become an addiction for me, I love to have all that old stuff hanging around me. Keeps me happy.

I have around ten old cameras, mostly Kodak. Wonderful pieces of simple and effective machinery. Too bad many of the special divisions of Kodak that produced vintage sized film have since folded, would be nice to use these in the modern times. You must be able to acquire it though, if you're going to "try it out".
I guess even regular 35mm film is going to be hard to find VERY soon too. Getting somebody to process film into prints is a chore now.

Wish I had the technological mind to properly disect a digital camera to fit into one of those old ones. I'd use it every day. I'm sure that would turn some heads!

 

[fatwoul]

I had an eye on it for some time and now it is officially in my grubby hands!! The camera is very clean, mechanically sound, no light leak. Can't wait to try it out and post some of the results here.

Here it is!

Nice find, Dom. If you haven't already tried it, you may find that modern 120 film spools are very slightly too large to fit, because back when it was made, the spools were made of metal, so the ends that keep the light out could be fairly thin, and have a slightly smaller diameter. With the introduction of plastic spools, some cameras had a hard time accommodating the larger spools. If you find this to be the case, it can usually be remedied by simply shaving a little of the excess plastic off the spool at both ends.

If that isn't enough, you may need to get hold of one of the old metal spools (chances are the camera will only have one in it), you can wind your new 120 films off their existing plastic spool, and onto a metal one.

You may be lucky and not need to do any of that, but I thought I'd post it, just in case.

Can't wait to see some of the results. I'd be interested to hear how you got on with operation of the camera, too.

 

[fatwoul]

Wish I had the technological mind to properly disect a digital camera to fit into one of those old ones. I'd use it every day. I'm sure that would turn some heads!

Hey RT, did you ever see this? I watched hopefully for years for the possibility that this little device could render all my wonderful 35mm cameras functional in a digital market.

It's a shame it never caught on, but I guess I can see why, since the limitations would be pretty far-reaching.

One of the closest alternatives was the Epson RD-1. I always thought that the rangefinder was ideally suited to digital photography, but that too did not catch on.

 

[KObalto]

Very nice! Looks like it's in great shape.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

That's beautiful, Dominic. Quite the viewfinder next to the lens, too. I've never seen one quite like that.

I joined the site. There's a lot of information available. Thank you.


Lee

 

[Dominic]

Thanks everyone, I brought the camera to a specialized shop today to gather info about the cost of maintenance and cleanup and the staff all gathered around. At the same time I bought 3 rolls of Kodak 120 so as soon as I get the hang of it, I'll be taking pics pretty soon.

Nice find, Dom. If you haven't already tried it, you may find that modern 120 film spools are very slightly too large to fit, because back when it was made, the spools were made of metal, so the ends that keep the light out could be fairly thin, and have a slightly smaller diameter.

I was afraid of that but a pro photographer gave me a roll of 120 film to try it on. It fit perfectly with nothing loose, so I'm quite happy about it.

That's beautiful, Dominic. Quite the viewfinder next to the lens, too. I've never seen one quite like that.

I joined the site. There's a lot of information available. Thank you.

I like it pretty much Lee, and when folded it fits perfectly in my camera bag that holds my Rebel XT and my Pentax K-1000. And yes, I love that site too as it has given me a lot of precious info about other types of cameras.

 

[SarahLouise]

I have the Zeiss Ikon Bob 510/2 which is similar in design to yours. It came with a roll of film inside which I've stupidly never had developed. I really should get around to that as you never know what will appear. Have fun with your Billy!

 

[Dominic]

Your camera is quite similar in design. It looks almost the same. I've started to clean up mine a bit and if the week-end looks good I'll be sure to fire it up.