Modern Gift Ideas: 2019 Edition

What's better than getting supermodernawesome cool gifts?
Shopping for them!

Kids of all ages will enjoy these gift suggestions.


Build your own modular modern home... with Legos!
Includes female adult and male child minifigures and buildable dog.
Wait.. Buildable?

Farewell Lynne's Lens

We were saddened last week to learn about the loss of a dear friend, Lynne Rostochil. She quietly lost her battle with cancer on November 7, 2019.

Working from Home: Ottawa County-Style

Just had to share this blurb from Apartment Therapy.

Not just because it's a worthy read- but it was actually the picture that caught our eye. Right there in the middle of this article I'm reading by Carolyn Purnell about working from home and the ever-evolving landscape of the workspace there is this photo- have a look:

No, not the Mirra chair.

Look up on the wall.

Yeah... what the heck?!? It's a pennant that reads "Miami, Okla."

I'm not sure why anyone would need a pennant from Miami- but sure enough they have one! Wouldn't it be fun to see how many people mispronounce it?

Second-Hand Modern

Oklahoma Offers Shoppers Happy Hunting Grounds

Looking for the best places to shop for bargains on hip and modern furniture and accessories?

Historically the nearby markets of Kansas City, Denver or Dallas have been much more active for modern and retro shoppers. For many years sellers in Tulsa and Oklahoma City traveled or sought out buyers through online marketplaces like Craigslist or eBay. But today the local demand for cool swag is heating up.

We spent a week traveling the Sooner State to find the second-hand shops that specialize in vintage, retro, modern and contemporary items. We discovered shops offering everything from kitsch to Case Study. But the most exciting discovery was the community of businesses making a go and keeping it local. Savvy entrepreneurs are staying close to home, setting up shop– even rejuvenating retail storefronts and neighborhoods. The end result is a shopper's paradise. If you know where to look.

Letters: Visit to Tulsa

Oklahoma Modern reader JS from Dallas writes:

Hi Rex and Jackie- 
I’m an Okie from Shawnee and I enjoy your Oklahoma Modern blog. 
I’m taking a photo trip/family visit to Tulsa in mid-April and want to check with you about what’s still around for me to enjoy. 
Here’s a tentative list: 

Unknown Places

One of the more amazing collections available through the Tulsa City-County Library is the Beryl Ford Collection. Ford collected thousands of images of Tulsa right up to his death in 2009. The Rotary Club of Tulsa purchased the collection and, with the help of the Tulsa City-County Library and the Tulsa Historical Society, began the monumental task of preserving and digitizing the collection.

An unidentified bathing beauty, just one
of hundreds of unknown images from the
Beryl Ford Collection.

Today you can browse the Beryl Ford Collection online, search the database and even purchase prints. It's a fascinating peak into our city's past.

Timely Wallpaper

Here's a holiday freebie from our friends at Design Within Reach.

Download a free 2012 calendar for your virtual desktop. Choose the size below and set it as your background wallpaper. Cool huh?

Vitra. Save. Now.

We love deals.

And we love sharing deals with our friends and readers. So read- and save 15% on Vitra now through October 14th at All Modern.com!

Mod in the USA

Jackie and I were asked to contribute to Dwell magazine's blog in conjunction with their Made in USA issue.

We were tickled that they asked, and told them we'd be more than happy to submit some articles. We asked them what they had in mind and they told us to offer up something from Oklahoma that was uniquely American. That sounded easy. The first thing that came to mind for me was the unique assortment of works by Bruce Goff located in the Sooner State. So here's our brief slideshow of Goff in Oklahoma...

Bruce Goff in Oklahoma

Enjoy.

All Modern Memo: Save on Kartell & Alessi

Our friends at All Modern.com are offering special pricing on some of the best known names in modern home furnishings- Kartell and Alessi.

Huge Kartell Sale This Week!
Through July 17th all Kartell products are 15% off. For innovative contemporary design, shop the entire collection of Kartell furniture. From accent tables and barstools to ghost chairs and modern lighting, you'll find everything you need for every room in your home.
15% Off All Kartell Modern Furniture
Sale ends July 17th
 
20% Off Top Selling Alessi Collections
The bestselling Alessi collections are 20% off all month. Alessi's intention, from the beginning, was to be highly innovative with cookware. Today Alessi is well known for its unique collaboration with designers and architects to produce beautiful, quality cookware and whimsical home accessories.
20% Off Top Selling Alessi Modern Items  
Sale ends July 31st

Favorites: Modern Design Stamps

Cool stamps are not always easy to find.

I mean, you could always create and print your own photo stamps. But if you just want to drop by the post office and buy some cool stamps- well, you'll usually be disappointed. That is until now!

On Wednesday the USPS unveiled a new series of stamps honoring 12 giants of industrial design. The Pioneers of American Industrial Design series includes influential designers like Henry Dreyfuss, Norman Bel Geddes and Raymond Loewy. Even the border of the stamp pane (or selvage as it's known in philatelic circles) is adorned with the classic Airflow house fan- as seen in the recent American Streamlined exhibit at Tulsa's Philbrook Museum!

Each stamp features the name of a designer and a photograph of an object they created, as well as a description and year the object was created.

To learn more than you ever wanted to know about stamp collecting (including what "selvage" means) visit our featured favorite, Beyond the Perf. The official site for USA stamp collecting developed to bring you in-depth information about stamps, cancellations, and related events.

Five Hundred Bucks from Lushpad

Check it out!

Our favorite mod classifieds are giving away a $500 shopping spree towards the purchase of any item listed on LushPad!

If you're looking to sell your unwanted Tiki pole lamp or wacky ashtray- now is the time! And to entice you even more Lushpad is offering you a discount code for your listing fees. Just type in JUNESPREE on the checkout page to get 50% off your listing fees. So drop in and browse, buy or sell. It's all good!

Favorites: '80s Glam Sharpies!

Who would have ever dreamed the blunt permanent markers known as Sharpies would ever become hip?

It's true! The ubiquitous Sharpie is now offered in stainless steel, industrial-strength, even liquid pencil varieties. But that's not why it made our Favorites (insert thumping dance music). Sharpie gets kudos for creating a website filled with clever tips, artsy tricks and cool things you can do with their products. Check out Sharpie Uncapped for the coolest sampling of Sharpie Art and nifty how-to's from the Sharpie Squad.

'80s Glam Sharpies

Oh yeah. It's Glam Night in Sharpie Town, baby! What's your favorite color: Leg Warmer Orange? Valley Girl Violet? Argyle Green?

Favorites: Plan 59

One of my favorites sites to waste time on is Plan59.com. They offer the most impressive collections of lush retro graphics on the web. These images are taken from commercial artwork, most from the Fifties and Sixties. The high-res scans they create eventually become prints you can buy, clipart for Corporate America or eye candy for nerds like me to enjoy.

Plan 59.com

The site was created in 1999 as Ephemera Now. While I happened to like that moniker, it was deemed too cerebral for the average putz. In 2006 the site became Plan 59, which I can only assume is an homage to the year Detroit reached the pinnacle of tail fin technology: 1959.

But chrome and fins are only part of the story. Images scanned from Mid-Century ads include modern kitchens, wacky products and sporty swimsuits. There's even a section of artwork from vintage produce crates!

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Unica Home: Outlet Offers Modern on the Cheap

With the recent Snowpocalypse we found ourselves with plenty of time on our hands.

Fortunately we had Internet access and the power never went out. Seemed like the perfect time to surf some of my favorite websites! That includes a shop called Unica Home.

I had the pleasure of visiting Unica a few years ago during a business trip to Las Vegas. I had some time to kill and decided to drop in and see their store. They have tons of cool modern gadgets and furnishings- famous name stuff like Alessi, Chilewich, Blomus, Heller, Fornasetti, Hario and such.

The big news I just discovered was their new eBay Store! This is their online outlet that offers closeouts, discontinued items, one-offs and floor samples. Mod and cheap! What could be better? Check it out at stores.ebay.com/unicahome-outlet, and tell `em OK Modern sent you!

Unica Home Outlet

Lushpad: the Modern Marketplace

Need some extra Christmas cash?

Consider selling your surplus furnishings or accessories on LushPad, the modern marketplace.

Unlike eBay, you'll find nothing but cool retro hardware for mod living on Lushpad.com. And for a limited time you can list you modern classics on LushPad for free. It's easy- just enter SAARINEN when you list your items.



Lushpad gives you access to a large audience of qualified buyers specifically looking for new and used contemporary and mid-century modern furniture and fine art.  List items under $250 and wanted ads for free all the time. Plus, there are no commissions or back-end fees on your sold items. One fee. No hassles.

State Tourism Office Gets Hip

Oklahoma's "official" online persona is pretty dry. Our state's home page could best be described as Welcome to Nineties. Which is an improvement over the previous version, that looked like something created using Windows 3.11.

But our tourism and recreation office has been a refreshing exception to that trend. A recent overhaul of TravelOK.com offers would-be visitors videos, blogs and articles about a variety of unique destinations that await them in the Sooner State. Yes, even Mid-Century Modern.

You know it's gone mainstream when you find an article titled Mid-Century Cool in Oklahoma City on the state travel website.

Seriously, it's a helpful article with a good list of notable buildings in The City.

Used Modern

Certified Good Stuff

Did you know you can sell your used designer or mid-century modern furniture on Lushpad?

It's true. Classifieds are reasonably priced and wanted ads are free! Sign up for a free account and start listing your surplus modernica today!

Shop Local
Here's a handy link to all ads on Lushpad located in Oklahoma. This includes all listings, even wanted ads. But you can tweak it to your satisfaction!

Oklahoma Listings on Lushpad

Enjoy.

Favorites: Thanks Dwell

Last week I noticed new visitors to Oklahoma Modern being sent from Dwell magazine's website.

Dwell is one of my fave magazines, so I was curious. I investigated and was delighted to find a new resource listing modern sites of regional interest- such as the one you're looking at now.

Here's a link to the page which includes a map of the various sites sprinkled across our Great Land...

Dwell's Regional Modern Website Map

We don't really consider ourselves a "real estate" site, but that's okay (we're not based in OKC either). Shucks, when we started OK Modern we never thought we'd be in Dwell! We're flattered to be sharing pixels with cool sites like Houston Mod, the Eichler Network and Kansas City Modern.

Thanks Dwell!

Free Mid-Century Modern Posters

Merry Christmas from Oklahoma Modern!

Here's a special mod and hip Christmas present for all you fans of Mid-Century buildings- compliments of Uncle Sam!

Modern-Era Building Posters from the General Services Administration

The General Services Administration (GSA) manages about a zillion square feet of our Nation's floorspace. Everything from courthouses to salt mines used for underground storage. Many of these government complexes were built in the postwar era. Minimalist and free of excess adornments, they appeal to a modern aesthetic. Most are not what your Average Joe would consider "purdy," but many are important examples of modern architectural design.

But the good news is the GSA got the memo! Beginning in 2000, primarily due to outrage over a planned renovation to Denver's Federal Building, the importance of Mid-Century Modern was made clearly evident. Since then the GSA has realized the historic importance of many of the federal buildings under their management.

Last October they were even recognized for publishing Growth, Efficiency and Modernism: GSA Buildings of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, a must-read for understanding the challenges of modernizing buildings from the recent past. This 120-page brochure is also a great tool for expanding the appreciation of postwar and mid-century architecture in general.This free series of eleven posters highlights modern federal buildings across the United States. Printed on heavy bond, each poster measures 24" x 36" and are oh-so suitable for framing. The following link offers details on each building and an email link to request your own copy of each poster (no order form is provided).

The series features dramatic photography of a notable feature of each building. Architectural styles in the series range from Formalist to Sixties Modern. Oklahoma's only building in the series is the Oklahoma City Federal Building and Courthouse (right) which was completed in 1961.

Most of the series can be downloaded in PDF format or ordered for no charge by contacting the GSA's Historic Buildings Program with your mailing address and which posters you want at the following link:

GSA Modern Era Buildings Poster Series


The Chet Holifield Federal Building in
Laguna Niguel, California

So order your favorites today and enjoy your free Christmas gift. Best wishes to all of you and have a happy 2009!