Larry Licata was so successful at the January Rose Bowl that he was almost cleared out of merchandise by early afternoon. Among the quickest sellers were four industrial “Franken-lamps.” “These are old industrial lamps that we pair and weld onto cool bases and then they are used in houses,” said Licata. The one with the temperature gauge was priced at $150, and all four one to a single buyer during early bird buying hours. Licata expects a 1950s peeling wood workbench with built-in stools to be converted into a rustic bar. He priced the workbench at $295. Licata owns Wholesale Antiques at 13311 Penn Street in Whittier. Call (562) 789-9547 for more information.
Category Archives: Salvage
Mack now offers Custom made Creations from old wood, architectural pieces
At the January Rose Bowl, Jeff Mack expanded Silverado Warehouse to include Silverado Studio Design & Build. ”It is a custom fabrication service using old architectural building materials and salvage components,” said Mack, who says he has been unofficially in the customization business for 12 years. “This is our first show that we’ve launched out entire line of products.” He offers custom made fences made from various types of vintage wood. His most popular wood choices include Alder, as well 100-year-old barn wood. Silverado makes candlesticks from old table legs, as well as other accessory pieces for the home. They also created their first shadow box and unveiled it at the show. For more information, call Silverado Warehouse at (760) 723-8483.
Frank! and Sunny photo fill in inkwell's broken clock
Instead of throwing it away, Michelle Naylor managed to find an easy fix for her early 1900s bronze inkwell
Sean Rich advises on history channel show, Pawn Stars
Regular Del Mar dealer Sean Rich, an expert on antique firearms and shipwreck salvage, is the resident firearms expert that can be seen on several episodes of the new hit History Channel television show, Pawn Stars.Set in Las Vegas, the show follows the day-to-day activities of 24-hour pawn shop. The reality program shwos people trying to sell and pawn and unusual, valuable and sometimes outright fake items, and many times, the family-owned shop requires the expertise of outsiders. Whenever somebody comes in with a questionable firearm, the guys call in Rich, who not only makes a verbal appraisal, he provides valuable history on the gun. Pawn Stars is rich in education and focuses on vintage and antique items in the “real world” rather than the one in a million finds showcased on “The Antiques Roadshow.”
santa barbara salvage job takes six months, brute strength
Tile salvager extraordinare Eric Robles announced that he has been dedicated to a huge salvage job in Santa Barbara for the last six months.”It is a big historic home out in Hope Ranch,” he explained at the July Rose Bowl. He believes the lot size rivals that of Neverland Ranch. He found a hidden courtyard under two slabs of cement and came up with lots of high end, mint condition 1920s Spanish tile. ”We found that a lot of the tiles we were salvaging were the same ones used in the historic Santa Barbara Courthouse,” he said. At this point, the owners don’t plan to sell the tile. They plan to reuse the tile on their property. It is very tricky to get the soft terra cotta tiles that have been embedded in hard concrete free without chipping them. Robles has his own tried and true techniques that differ from some of the other well known tile salvagers, like Sweet ‘Ol Bill. ”He has his own technique. He uses chemicals and I don’t do that,” he said. “I use more muscles than chemicals.”
Ramos' set is just for show
Wanda Ramos primps her husband, Eric, by wiping some shmutz off his face before posing next to one of the rarest Malibu drink sets in existence. Part of the Orange County Pottery & Tile Show’s “Just for Display” section, the yellow drip glaze set with 10 mugs is extremely rare. The set came out of a private collection. It differs from Ramos normal show offerings. He is known for the fantastic vintage tiles he salvages from condemned Southern California buildings. He offers everything from individual 6″ x 6″ tiles to entire fireplace surrounds. Ramos is also a regular Rose Bowl and Los Angeles Pottery Show dealer.
Pirates hot after hijacking
Ever since the captain was freed from Somali pirates thanks to three deadly shots by Navy snipers, pirate-abilia has been commadeering high prices at antique shows. Captain Richard Phillips’ ship, the Maersk Alabama, was stormed by pirates 350 miles off Somalia last month. U.S. Navy snipers fatally shot three pirates that has been holding him captive, after they saw that one of the pirates had an AK-47 pointed squarely in the center of the captain’s back. Since the adventure, he has become the first new American hero of 2009. It is speculated that Richard Gere will be cast as Phillips in the upcoming movie. A poster for the Shell treasure Hunt, a 1928 activity that was held in the Mission Beach/San Diego area is an example of a piece of pirate-abilia that has just gone up in value. The poster, with old-fashioned looking pirate, sought booty in the sum of $1,495 in the space of Your Piece of History at the Del Mar Show ”It was a major festival where they took all of the businesses in the San Diego area and painted them black as part of the festival,” said Kathy Hays from Your Piece of History. “And, they hired people to dress as pirates.” Your Piece of History is based in Arizona. Call (877) 399-8451 for more information
rust meets water
Long Beach Vets dealer Michael Horndecker of Los Angeles is not some flighty abstract artist like Jackson Pollock. His cues come from some of the greatest industrial designers, like Donald Deskey and Raymond Loewy. Horndecker graduated from the Art Center when it was still on 3rd Street in Los Angeles. He obtained a degree in industrial design and worked as a building contractor for 40 years. One of his favorite projects was designing hubcaps for a GM subsidiary. Now that he is retired, Horndecker is able to let his creative juices flow, not in the form of paint on canvas, but in the form of water running through rusty wagons, pedal cars, wash basins, and toilets. He takes nostalgic items made for one purpose and turns them into garden art. He is so resourceful that he manages to get his 15 finest examples of distressed items turned festive fountains up and running at the Long Beach Show with only five gallons of water. According to Horndecker, it is figuring out what to do with some of the rusty remnants he stumbles upon that takes the most time in the overall transformation process. ”There is the contemplation factor,” said Horndecker, who adds that Charles Eames is one of his favorite industrial designer. At the Long Beach Show, his favorite was made from a 1940s fire engine with water hose still intact. Prices on his fountains vary. Among his top selling ones are the duck ponds made from old nickel-plated bathtubs. They are priced at $185. For more information, Horndecker can be reached at (310) 641-4873.
Industrial design comes home
Larry Licata of Wholesale Antiques in Whittier is predicting that vintage industrial items are going to be all the rage in home decorating in 2009. The December Long Beach Show foreshadowed the coming trend. ”I sold more than 90 percent of my customers industrial items,” he said. One shopper bought a four-wheeled, one-sided factory cart for his heavy speakers. That way he could roll his sound amplifiers in style. Another industrial offering in Licata’s space was a World War II era welding table. With a grinding wheel still intact, the 7/16″ thick steel table would look both stylish and function well as the sturdy base for a big screen TV. Not only does the table’s weight make it perfect for a heavy item, like a Plasma TV, the table would also be perfect for a valuable, lighter weight item. One could strap down a laptop or another piece of important technology to the table. The table’s weight alone would deter most criminal. In a way, it acts as a safe. ”This thing’s not going anywhere,” said Licata. Wholesale Antiques is located at 13311 Penn Street in Whittier. Call (562) 789-9547 for more information.
Pope of Primitives new digs
The Pope of Primitives, Jeff Mack, is a new dealer at Chapman Antique Mall. He spent six days setting up his elaborate space of primitive and garden items in his space at the Orange mall, but he would not be resting on the seventh day
