Caption This… #4


Leave your caption to this photograph in the comments section. For contest rules and prizes see here.

Caption This… #4 closes on Saturday, November 1st..

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Caption This… #2


Leave your caption to this photograph in the comments section. For contest rules and prizes see here.

Caption This… #2 closes on Thursday October 30th.

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Caption This… #1


Leave your caption to this photograph in the comments section. For contest rules and prizes see here.

Caption This… #1 closes on Wednesday October 29th.

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Caption This… (a contest from Just a Modern Guy & The Purple Moon)

Things have just been too serious lately.

With the election whipping everyone into a frenzy and the economic condition beating on all of our wallets I thought it might be time to have some fun. So let’s have a contest!

I acquired a wonderful collection of vintage photos in two albums from a local estate recently and have had a blast looking through them. I know nothing about stories behind these photographs and so I thought it might be fun to come up with captions for them on this blog.

I will begin with a series of seven photos, one each day for the next week. Leave your caption as a comment to the photograph’s post. Comments will be accepted for each photo for 1 week.

Then, beginning next Wednesday, the winner for each photo will be announced – and will receive a PRIZE!

Yes, I said a prize as I’ll send each daily winner a poster of the photograph with their caption.  Also, our judges will review the seven daily winners and choose the Caption This… overall winner for the week who will receive a piece of vintage Blenko Glass courtesy of The Purple Moon.

There are a few rules:

1. While double-entendre is okay, and even welcome, keep captions free from slurs, hate, or obscenities.

2. If you wish to claim a prize your email address must be included on the comment form. It will not be made public but we will need to contact you if you won.

3. You can send as many captions as you choose, but please only one caption per comment.

4. All decisions made by me with regard to this contest are final.

5. Have fun and please feel free to send others here so they too can have some fun.

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Somewhere in Time Antique Mall – Nitro, WV


Somewhere in Time Antique Mall – Nitro WV

When the modern lady and I first began our venture into the selling of vintage items we opened a booth at Somewhere in Time Antique Mall in Nitro, West Virginia. First and foremost though we have been loyal customers of this fine establishment which is, in my opinion, one of the finest places for locating vintage collectibles in the area.

With nearly 100 booths there is always a treasure or two to discover. Owner Wayne Fleshman has a great understanding of the antiques business and mall staff Sherry and the camera-shy Kay are two of the most pleasant people we have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.

In fact, after we moved The Purple Moon last spring to our new gallery space we discovered a vast amount of inventory which was much better suited for an antique mall setting and began stocking a booth at Somewhere in Time again. It has been a real pleasure to be back there as dealers and gives an outlet for the items we have which do not fit our very specialized mid-century modern downtown shop.

We heartily recommend to a trip to Somewhere in Time at 307-21st Street in Nitro for anyone looking to add to their collections or simply to take a stroll down memory lane. It’s a trip you won’t be sorry you made.

Tell them A Modern Guy sent you!


A plethora of antiques, collectibles and artifacts


Quilts, quilts, quilts!


Antique stained glass panels


Vintage furnishings and accessories


Items d’arte from Faded Rose


What’s an antique mall without a pottery pig!


Coal mine memorabilia


The Purple Moon booth at Somewhere in Time


Fabulous porcelain top table


Somewhere in Time proprietor Wayne Fleshman


Sherry at the front counter of Somewhere in Time


Something for everyone!


Kitchen items


Everything including the strange and unique


More from resident folk artist Faded Rose (aka – the camera-shy Kay)

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A Visit to Tamarack – The Best of West Virginia


Tamarack – The Best of West Virginia – Beckley, WV

The modern lady and I, along with a couple of friends, ventured to Beckley last weekend for a visit to Tamarack. This Mountain State treasure has half a million visitors annually and serves as a one-stop shop and showcase for West Virginia culture, heritage, handcrafts, fine art, regional cuisine and music.

After enjoying a wonderful meal at A Taste of West Virginia food court, managed by The Greenbrier, we casually browsed the fabulous selection of goods by West Virginia crafts people. The depth and range of our artistic community in the state is mind boggling. As always, I was impressed and surprised by the number of modernist designs executed utilizing traditional, folk arts and crafts techniques. 

If you haven’t visited Tamarack you should make a trip this Autumn. The scenery on the way is breathtaking, the food delicious and the art beyond compare. If you have been there before, as I have been many times, there are always new things to see. From furniture to Blenko Glass to some of the best pottery you will ever see Tamarack does indeed feature The Best of West Virginia.

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Birth of the Space Age – Sputnik 1 – October 4, 1957


Model of Sputnik 1 – NASA

Today marks the 51st anniversary of the launching of Sputnik  1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, and the beginning of the “space age” which transformed science, culture and design in the last half of the 20th Century.

The launch and orbiting of Sputnik 1 was a great source of pride for the U.S.S.R. and served as a wake-up call to the United States which resulted in renewed focus on science education and a public investment in space exploration. While the space programs of both Super Powers provided tremendous public morale and enjoyed public support the underlying potential military applications were, in fact, the driving force behind most of so-called “space race”.

The impact of the Sputnik launch and the subsequent frenzy of space exploration certainly can’t be ignored. Virtually every aspect of life, from education to pop culture, were changed in fundamental ways. The dawning of the nuclear age a decade before and the orbiting of Sputnik and emergence of Man’s quest into space are the quintessential events which defined the last half of the 20th Century.

Certainly the influence of these events on modern design can never be denied or underestimated. Led by designers such as Verner Panton, Eero Aarnio and, later, Joe Columbo designs began to reflect what life in space might actually be like and utilized many of the new materials being developed. Boundaries became non-existent in a theoretical and in a practical sense and this was certainly evident in the designing of everything from architecture to household goods and furnishings. A significant and transforming shift occured from the “atomic design” period of the early to late 1950’s to the “space age” period of the 1960’s and early 70’s.

Design of this time period was full of hope for the future and energized by the rapid advances being made. It was a time to dream.

Now, half a century later, I wonder where those dreams have gone and if just some of that hope can ever be restored. I certainly do think we could all use some.

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Happy Birthday Charlie Brown


Peanuts – Charles M. Schultz – © 2005, United Feature Syndicate, Inc

Today marks the first appearance of the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schultz. Appearing in seven newspapers on October 2, 1950 the strip grew to be one of the most popular in history and at its height was running in 2600 papers throughout the world.

Charlie Brown and the Gang were just part of my early life. I seemed to relate to the downtrodden and “born loser” insecurity reflected in Charlie Brown’s character. Who couldn’t relate to the first Peanuts strip?


First Peanuts Comic Strip – Charles M. Schultz – October 2, 1950 – © United Feature Syndicate, Inc

The strip evolved from Shultz’s earlier effort called Li’l Folks which appeared in his hometown paper in St. Paul Minnesota but was syndicated as Peanuts, a name Schultz later admitted he never cared for.

Peanuts ran until a day after Schultz’s death, February 13th, 2000, and has run since as re-printings.

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