Real Men Drink Tea?

I remember an episode of Little House on the Prairie when I was a kid where “Pa Wilder” (Michael Landon) was telling his family and his adopted son Albert that “real men drink tea.” Even at 8 years old I called bullshit on this.  Tea? Really? Seems a lil’ bit sissy to me. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good green/black tea or a chai every now and again, but I have to say I disagree with Mr. Landon in that nowadays tea definitely doesn’t have the reputation that a strong hair-curling cup of black coffee does. I’m actually pretty caffeine high as I type this.

Anyways, back on point I scored a nice set of tea & coffee tins for $3 total ($1.49 each). I see them from time to time in other various forms (see old October posts) and even spot these same ones but usually missing their buddy unit . I think they are timeless and really beautiful. Definitely an “oldie-but-goodie.” The polished steel, the classic eurostile font stamped out in the front, the smooth real oak or walnut handle to the perfect fitting airtight rubber seal and stackable design of them. They are undoubtedly an all-around timeless kitchen item. They were even made here in the good ole’ USA. Keep your eyes peeled for a set of them, there’s tons out there folks.

My second treasure find was something related to this coming weeks’ video post. I found some more old boxes of laser transparencies, cost me a $.99 a box. Yeap, the kind your grade school teachers used and wrote on with those smelly black and red pens. I snatch these up whenever I find them because to buy laser transparencies new, costs an arm and a leg. Seriously about $20+/- a box. These (in any condition old or new) are gold for hobby or professional screen printers for burning and making the color layers on screens. Theyre also preferred to the paper and linseed method because you can wash them and archive them for future use shoud you or a client want reprints.

I’ll leave you with a tidbit of profundity I’ve always liked. Take it for what you will.

“A job is work but work isn’t necessarily a job. Stay busy in the daylight, stay busy in the moonlight, and don’t worry about the limelight.”

Swedish Centerfold.

BIG UPDATE here people, I’ve admittedly been slacking a little on posts but hopefully this will make up for that.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: Starting early next week I’ll be posting the first of a few video blogs I’ve filmed about particular topics that people have inquired about. Are you ready?

Also, an early shout-out to Austin Gullixson aka “A-GUX” or “Awesome-stin” for being a loyal TIFATTS reader and commenter. Austin is a master puppeteer, collage-maker, designer and a known thrifter round these here parts, let’s get you in a TIFATTS video interview real soon. Check out his work and his great Flickr page here.

Do you see all of my recent treasures? Take a good long look, get jealous. Sorry for some of the shitty photos, I have no real excuse other than wanting to hurry and show you folks these finds.

To start I scored the perfect ironic white trash/eagle/U-S-A!/Thunder t-shirt for $1.50, (it literally says “THUNDER” on the back). You can bet your ass that’s gonna be my shirt of choice come the 4th of July this year. Also in the t-shirt category I randomly found another of a shirt I already own and love – Spunk Design Machine’s “10 Year Takedown Anniversary” shirt. I actually went to that a couple years ago. Upon entering Spunk’s open house/studio there was Spunk schwag splayed around for guests to take home, Jeff Johnson had the bbq going, the Grain Belts were abundant and chilled, and the Tank Goodness cookie folks there making fresh cookies. I also randomly remember the possibly classy trays of unopened packs of smokes and cigars scattered about in circular patterns like from the 1920’s or something, let’s face it – the man knows how to throw a shindig. I’m eagerly awaiting the 20 year bash. Check out Jeff’s new side-project “Design Smoke” where he candidly interviews (while smoking cigars of course) interesting designers and folks with engaging stuff to say.

Some more good literature was also unearthed: Pulitzer Prize-winning (and native Minnesotan) Thomas L. Friedman‘s book “The World Is Flat.” It’s in my queue of books piling up to be read soon. Old books always interest me, especially ones that I know my Swedish grandmother would fawn over. Check out how old some of those are, 1920’s with centerfold pull outs of old maps and shit. Each Swedish book ran me $1.60 thanks to a colored tag sale I was unaware of today. Talk about good timing and destiny. Also scored an old stamp collector’s book and some of my favorite magazine publications.

Moving along we have a vintage 60’s Glasbake cake/pie stand (for my sweetie). It has that cool, creamy, smooth Glasbake look and feel and is embellished with little gold Fleur patterns. I’ve always wanted to make one of those domed white cakes with the cherry in the top center, and now I can. It’ll look real June Clever on that killer cake stand. The cake stand was $2.49. I’ve always had a thing for Glasbake’s esthetically pleasing texture and vintage designs. Here’s a nice Flickr set collection of more Glasbake goods.

Speaking of the 60’s I scored a slew of old mint-condition 45’s from a few folks you may have heard of… and a rare LP from another oldie but goodie, very under-appreciated 70’s and 80’s New Zealand band Split Enz. Check out that laser etching and Promo-Only packaging. Fans of Ted Leo would really dig their stuff. He’s heavily influenced by them and it shows. The LP was $3.50 and the 45’s were each fifty cents.

On the digital side of music I scored a stack of rare CD singles for $1.99 each from the cd box, which I never ever really check when I’m in a thrift store because it’s usually a huge waste of time. But this time it was like a gold mine. Dianogah, Indian Summer (silkscreened packaging), Atom & His Package (very rare w/ zine and all inserts included), Three Penny Opera, At The Drive-In, Panthers, and a Chi-town fav of mine – Joan of Arc.

To wrap this up we’ll leave you folks with a randomness theme: I nabbed an old Scotch brand magnetic 1/4″ tape reel in it’s sealed packaging (until I unsealed it to look inside). Also found a oldie but goodie, an old adjustable Kodak camera stand ($.49). I’ve already been using the thing left and right to make the aforementioned “webisodes.” As a recovering graphic designer, its this kind of packaging gets me just giddy. Eat your heart out Aaron Draplin. More random was finding a mug ($.99) from my hometown with the old logo on it. CR pride, I guess. It’s going to be used as a pencil and scissor corral on my desk.

Thanks for looking at my finds and get out there and find some of your own, and remember to check frequently as there are big things to come from TIFATTS.