my latest acquisitions

[Edward]

Thanks Ed!
I didn’t have a clue that these things were such sought after items. I appreciate you taking the time to educate me on this area of collectibles .
Cheers

vintage paper items are highly collectible anyway I suppose due to its delicate and fragile nature... paper drives back in the day destroy3d so much and humidity, storms, fires make these kind of items scarce... baseball cards, movie one sheets, music sheets, letterhead, vintage stationary.... its all collectible mostly for what kind of art is on it, topic or theme of the item.... I collect vintage pinup girl calendars and magazine pullout posters... which has a nice correlation to world war II and nose art and the pinups hanging up in barracks... and its all frameable... my ex wife collects vintage sheet music and it looks amazing framed and up on the wall because of the artwork on the cover page. so pick something you find interesting or are a fan of... Star Wars, girls, travel themed items... USAAF ... maps is a good one for some.. in fact, being on the coast people here like to collect nautical navigation maps and some artists hand paint fish such as Blue Marlins and blue crabs on them... There are some really great WWII posters out there and the reproduction market shows that many are still interested in this kind of artwork but its more affordable to have a reproduction. One of my most highly prized paper items are a few original Star Wars movie poster one sheets and an original Raiders of the Lost Ark movie one sheet. loved those films so the posters are "fine art" to me! LOL!

 

[CBI]

Great stuff. I have a mix of original and repro ww1 and ww2 posters along with various aviation art pieces. A great hobby for sure!!!!!

 

[Edward]

I've been wanting to get a period letter opener and there have been a few cool ones but I finally settled on this when it came up on eBay. excellent almost unused condition from Hamilton Field California (1932 thru 1973)...

The clipboard is also period. dating 1940s and you can see a similar one hanging on the wall to the left low of the clock

interestingly mine has a stenciled series number on the reverse side which makes me wonder if it was military or government used.

 

[B-Man2]

Ed
Those are some pretty classic collectibles. I never would have thought about finding objects like those , and in mint condition! What a find. Congrats !!

 

[Smithy]

I love this thread. Edward, your collection is so interesting, and you don't just concentrate on the usual sorts of things that people are after. It's all these often overlooked pieces from these men's lives that you identify and hunt down and which otherwise people would overlook.

This is one of the best threads on VLJ by a very long way IMHO.

 

[Edward]

More doodads for my desk... I want to get a cool “trench art” ashtray but any with an airplane on it is pricey. Seen some vintage pics with this style so got this one.

 

[B-Man2]

Ed
That’s a pretty cool looking desk and office.
What have you got planned for it next?

 

[Edward]

Ed
That’s a pretty cool looking desk and office.
What have you got planned for it next?

thanks. well, eventually, one day I hope to add a period telephone with the E-1 "spit cup" receiver and cloth braided cords. a few come up but they are always a bit pricey. what I really want though is a UK version as that is usually what command was using in offices in England. those are super pricey. I know of a site that restores them and offers them but for some reason they tend to not want to ship to the US. I was also thinking of a period typewriter. these things take up so much space though.
I need to get a period In-Out file paper sorter. wood preferably which come up often (dove tail construction) or the wire basket version which are easily found and commonly seen on period photos. I'm not in any hurry to acquire those though as like I said they take up a lot of space on the desk but would certainly look cool and complete the look of an officer's desk.

 

[Edward]

...the thing about telephones is you can get away with anything from the candlestick version and anything made from the 1920's through the 40s and be "period correct" as I"ve seen all of these type of telephones used by the army air forces on office desks.

 

[CBI]

I have had this phone on my WW2 desk for quite some time. A Western Electric/Bell F-1 Its all refurbished and works perfectly (if one still has a land line hooked up!) Would love to sell it............. I know it needs to go in the Buy/Sell section..............but since phones were mentioned........

Also in re typewriters, having owned many vintage ones, be careful as many of them SMELL. Lots of dust and mold sticks to the ink ribbons over the years.

I have an old one sitting in the garage that I will probably throw out. its HEAVY otherwise I would ship it to someone for free. I mean its awkward to pick up heavy!

 

[Edward]

I have had this phone on my WW2 desk for quite some time. A Western Electric/Bell F-1 Its all refurbished and works perfectly (if one still has a land line hooked up!) Would love to sell it............. I know it needs to go in the Buy/Sell section..............but since phones were mentioned........

Also in re typewriters, having owned many vintage ones, be careful as many of them SMELL. Lots of dust and mold sticks to the ink ribbons over the years.

I have an old one sitting in the garage that I will probably throw out. its HEAVY otherwise I would ship it to someone for free. I mean its awkward to pick up heavy!





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Cool phone. Yeah I’m specifically looking for one with the E-1 handset receiver. Those can be swapped out of course. I know they didn’t all use phones with the E-1 But I really like the look. I agree about the typewriter and thanks for the tip! I looked at a few locally at antique shops and it’s amazing how much they weigh. I doubt I’ll ever bother getting one of those but it’s still on the list if I come across one that doesn’t smell! LOL!

 

[Stony]

A few things I have for my desk are a fully functional 1945 dated Signal Corp dial phone, OD metal waste basket and I had someone make my dad's name plate that I found in an old picture of him sitting at his desk in Germany in the early 50s.

 

[Edward]

my b-17 Cruver spotter was lonely.... landed a highly coveted B-24 Liberator! two came up on eBay in the past few months but I finally won this one...

 

[B-Man2]

Edward
Your office absolutely rocks!
Looks great.

 

[Edward]

Been looking for one of these for quite some time... they show up on eBay from time to time but are quickly purchased or heavily bid on. Usually they are missing the data plate or damaged in some way like rust, dents from being dropped, cracked cup or the spigot doesn't work... I finally found one that was listed in such a way as to go unnoticed by current watchers of these! I just happened to stumble upon the listing. So I finally get to add a WWII AAF Stanley Landers Frary & Clark tap thermos widely used for coffee, tea, water (whiskey ) etc at bases during the war. They came in 1 and 2 gallon versions. This is a one gallon and functional, rather clean and complete with a touch of surface rust in a few areas but little to no damage. (can't tell if there are any dings from the photos.) Looks like the bottom was repainted but no sign of metal corrosion so its all good.

Cheers!

 

[Rory Schultz]

Wow! I see that someone here loves the Alberto Vargas pin up girls! I collect illustration art also. One of my pets was named Vargas. Hey, how about someone start a section about the WW2 pin ups, illustrations or nose art to go along with the jackets.
Vargas art was partly the reason I got into doing artwork.

By the way, I am still trying to find my way around on here so bear with me because I am lost!

 

[Edward]

Yes Sir! I'm a big Vargas and George Petty fan (among other pinup artists of the era) I have quite a few in my collection but only so much room on the walls. In the 1980s I became familiar with their works which led me to nose art and then my fascination of its use as mascots on flight jackets and I wanted an A-2 of my own ever since.... finally almost 2 years ago for my 50th I bought an ELC Star Sportswear. Then my USAAF collecting of other ephemera started LOL! one day I hope to buy an original A-2. I need to frame some more of my Varga and Petty Girls and get them up on the walls!

 

[Rory Schultz]

I would love to see a new thread of just Nose Art and Pin Up Girls from WW2 etc. I love pin up art!!! I used to own a whole lot of Alberto Vargas and a couple of Gil Elvgren pieces but I had a cracker jack wacko ex wife who threw it all in the fire place and destroyed them just out of spite and jealousy. I love the golden era of illustration art that was used from the 20's through the 60's. Here is one of my Earl Moran pastels. He is the artist who made Marilyn Monroe famous in the 1940's before Hef came along. This piece is called " Ahoy " used in the Brown and Bigelow calendars. I have more and also a few by Mort Kunstler, James Montgomery Flagg, Cardwell Higgins, etc.....you get the idea.



I don't need to post everything I have....you guys get the idea. I would love to see what you guys have in the way of illustration art, nose art photos, or pin ups.
P.S. sorry about the reflections, no matter which way I took a photo there was a reflection off the glass.

 

[B-Man2]

Nice collection!!

 

[Rory Schultz]

Thank you.......you could build a collection of originals too for less money than these jackets. If you keep an eye open at Heritage auctions in Dallas Tx. They have auctions of famous artists who at some auctions don't sell, then they go cheaply. I also check garage sales, estate sales, as well as pawn shops and antique shops. You would be surprised on what all you can find. A great deal of people do not have a clue what they have.