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Advance to Boardwalk – Do Not Pass Go


Parker Brothers Monopoly© Boardwalk Deed Poster – Image Masters Inc. – circa 1975

Late in spring photographs on the Design*Sponge blog featured the interior design of West Coast floral studio Wiggy Flowers that included a fabulous Pop Art graphic of a Monopoly© Deed on the wall. A bit nostalgic and also wonderfully modern, this bit of art triggered a discussion on the Apartment Therapy-Chicago blog on where to obtain one of these iconic images.

It seems finding one would be harder than it appears. The one shown in the Design*Sponge post had been created by Wiggy Flowers creative designer Catherine Conlin. Searches online netted little information except for two posters held by a Monopoly© collector.

I had recalled seeing these posts over the weekend while out on my usual hunt at some local estate sales when I came upon a framed Boardwalk Deed poster. Produced by Image Masters Inc. of Van Nuys, CA in the 1970’s this 24-1/4 inch by 20-1/4 inch graphic appears to be screen printed. Further digging seems to indicate this company is no longer in business.

The scarcity of these may be due to Parker Brothers tight licensing of the copyrighted graphics of the game. While the game play of Monopoly© is in public domain, the graphics used by Parker Brothers are not. It appears from markings on the piece I found that this was licensed.

As there had been considerable discussion on this topic in these other blogs I thought I’d share this find here.

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Danish Teak Bookcase


Teak Bookcase – Made in Denmark – circa 1964

The beautiful, glowing teak bookcase from Denmark was one of my early Saturday morning finds in the wilds of West Virginia this week. In nearly pristine condition this great piece looked even better after a good rub down with some teak oil.

I just never know what I’m going to run into while out on “the hunt” but finding gems like this certainly motivates me to go at it again next week!

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Sol Bloom Catch-It-All by Design for Moderns


Catch-It-All Detail with Better Homes & Gardens – Designer: Sol Bloom

Useful, eye-catching, sleek, graceful and oh so modern the “Catch-It-All” designed by Sol Bloom and produced by Designs for Moderns in California for a very short period beginning in 1952 epitomizes mid-century modern design for the home. This seemingly simple object is sculptural in its design and extremely functional while retaining its minimalist qualities. A true masterpiece.

Not many of these classic pieces have survived the years and they were not made for long. Records are scarce but it appears as though by 1954 or so production ceased. Many were used outdoors and lost to the elements and still others discarded over the years by owners who did not recognize the rarity, value or design significance of these “magazine holders” as many called them.


Catch-It-All – Design for Moderns – Circa 1952 – Designer: Sol Bloom

I was fortunate enough to come upon this one on trip through Pennsylvania and Virginia not too long ago. In excellent condition with no breaks to the fine metal mesh this 20th Century treasure is one of those finds which keep people like me hunting for more.

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1950’s Sectional Sofa by Kroehler


Three Piece Sectional Sofa in Salmon – Kroehler – circa 1955

Nothing says 50’s modern like one of these classic sectional sofas! This one, by Kroehler Manufacturing Company, is a real beauty and is one of our recent acquisitions.

Kroehler came into being in 1902 when Peter E. Kroehler bought the Naperville Lounge Co., a maker of wooden lounge chairs and upholstered furniture. Kroehler built a new factory in in 1913 after the original facility was destroyed by a tornado and renamed the company Kroehler Manufacturing Co. By the 1940s, Kroehler was the second-largest furniture maker in the United States. 

Their upholstered furniture pieces were likely in your grandma or great aunt’s home. I remember my Aunt Nell had a huge Kroehler sofa (covered in plastic, of course) in the early 1960’s. The plastic was always said to come off “If company came” but I never recall there being company of high enough stature to warrant such treatment.

Like many domestic furniture makers Kroehler struggled during the 1970s ultimately closing its Naperville factory in 1978. In 1981 Kroehler was acquired by the ATR Group of Northbrook. Today, furniture is still manufactured under the Kroehler name by two unrelated companies, one in North Carolina and the other in Ontario, Canada.

But nothing beats one of these mid-century marvels – which look as though Frank, Sammy, Dean and the boys should be surrounding it sipping cocktails.

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United Carbon Building Interior Shots by Jean St. Thomas – 1941


Looking Outside to the Carbon Man Statue – Jean St. Thomas – 1941

A few of my earliest posts on this blog were about the United Carbon Building (now called Boulevard Towers) on Kanawha Boulevard in Charleston, WV and the sculptures by Robert E. Martens which grace that building. If you missed those at the time you can check them out here and here.

I’ve always loved this building – it is one of the finest examples of the modernist architectural style in West Virgina and is the only structure in the state which Eliel Saarinen played a role in designing. In addition to his collaboration with Charleston architect Walter Martens in designing the building his wife, Loja of the Cranbrook Academy, played a large role in designing the interiors for the United Carbon Building.

I have always wanted to take a trip back in time to see the inside of this building in all of its splendor and have finally been able to do the next best thing. Just this weekend I purchased three original photographs through another collector taken by renowned architectural photographer Jean St. Thomas just as the building was opening in 1941.

St. Thomas was well-known for her skills at capturing the subtle elements of art deco and modern design and her book, Marvelous New York: A Metropolis Portrayed(Davis McKay Co. 1937) is considered a classic of early 20th Century architectural images.

Discovering these photos made my weekend and gave me deeper appreciation for the deep modernist roots of this fabulous building.


Interior of United Carbon Building – Jean St. Thomas – 1941


Interior of United Carbon Building – Jean St. Thomas – 1941

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Let There Be Lamps!


Floor Lamp with Fiberglass Shades – Majestic Lamp Co. – circa 1955

I have to admit I can go more than little crazy about vintage mid-century lamps! In fact, during the recent move of our shop we found hundreds of them – the darn things were just stuck everywhere – many of which we forgot we even had. You see though, I just can’t pass up a cool lamp, so they accumulate. Sure, we sell many of them but I seem to acquire them just as fast.

From the strange to the elegant, the 1950’s and 60’s were the true heyday of fabulous lamps. Companies like Majestic and Aladdin produced lamps in the 1950’s which redefined the purpose of lighting as design and decorating elements. Even our own Blenko Glass got into the act by the mid-50’s and made some of the most gorgeous lamps which have survived the test of time and are just as elegant today as they were then.

So, I thought I’d share a few of my current favorites – Let There Be Lamps!


Controlled Bubble Lamp in Charcoal with Finial – Blenko Glass Co. – 1960-61


Turquoise Lamp Pair – Blenko Glass Co. – circa 1956


Organic Pottery Lamp with Fiberglass Shade – Aladdin Lamp Co. – circa 1950’s


Pottery Lamp with Original Woven Fiber Shade – Rosenthal-Netter (Italy) – circa early 1960’s

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Fabulous Furnishings – Carter Bros. Scoop Chair


“Scoop Chair” – Carter Brothers Furniture – circa 1958

As in the previous post, this graceful “Scoop Chair” was also produced by Carter Brothers around 1958 and is one of my favorite designs for any of the mass produced chairs of the period. These chairs orginally sold for between $19.99 to $24.99 but bring much higher prices now – when you can find one.

An exhaustive search does not reveal who designed this wonderful chair for Carter Brothers. This is often incorrectly attributed to Charles Eames or as having been produced by Plycraft. These chairs seem to be rarely found marked or labeled as being from Carter Bros.

The chair pictured is one we recently sold which was in as near to perfect condition as any I had ever seen.

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Fabulous Furnishings – Carter Bros. Sectional Sofa


Orange Sectional Sofa / Daybed – Carter Brothers Furniture – circa 1960

All I can say about this sofa is WOW!

Made by Carter Brothers of Salisbury, NC, this glorious mid-century modern marvel is a great example of domestically manufactured home furnishings with great style which were available to everyday people at the dawn of Camelot. This company is still producing under the name of Carter Furniture and their current catalog shows they are continuing to utilize modernist design for their sofas, chairs and tables.

This sofa / daybed has a bright orange naugahyde upholstery, walnut armrests and removable back cushions which rest against iron support bars at the back. Originally sold by The Diamond Department Store we recently acquired this beauty from the original owner’s family.

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Inside The “New” Purple Moon

I could start by saying that I’ve neglected this blog over the past couple of months but that would only be half true. Yes, posts have been slim here and not what I had thought would be possible during our transition. However, the move to our new diggs was done, in part, to better facilitate our ability to effectively showcase mid-century modern design – in the shop and online through this blog and our website.

We now have the space for the showroom and for storage, lots of office space for the computers and the room we need to take the photos we want. It’s all been fun, exciting and also exhausting but we’re very happy with the outcome.

So, call it a rationalization, but the time not spent posting over the past few weeks was spent making future posts even better.

I’ll start by showing off some photos of our new showroom –

If you are in the area the modern lady and I hope you’ll stop in and visit us at 906 Quarrier Street in Downtown Charleston.

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Painting & Plumbing & Carpet – Oh My!

Renovations and preparations for the new location of The Purple Moon are moving ahead at a rapid pace. We’ve spent every spare moment the past two weeks working on the space and there is beginnnig to be light at the end of the tunnel on the renovation stage.

Weather permitting, the facade of the building will transform this weekend. All in all, we are ahead of schedule at this point.

I must say that Lowe’s and the local hardware and paint stores have become my new haunts. I sit here this morning typing this post and drinking my coffee knowing that it is the last thing I’ll do today that doesn’t cost a significant amount of money.

I’ve taken plenty of “before” photos and will post the “before and afters” as the renovations are complete.

For right now though, I’m going to finish my coffee and contemplate my next plumbing adventure.

Oh, how I hate plumbing.

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