Archive for the ‘Found’ Category
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“first lady of fabulous”
Object: Mighty Michelle Shopper ($11.99)
Location: Essene, 4th b/t Bainbridge and Monroe sts.
Background: The bag is made by Blue Q, a Pittsfield, Mass. novelty designer/manufacturer that produces bags, tin banks, lamps, hand sanitizer, and lots more, including a pack of “I Kissed A Republican… Read more
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dueling posters
Object: Philadelphia neighborhood posters
Location: poster shop on 4th street between South and Bainbridge sts.
Background: The one on the right is the Philadelphia version of Ork’s City Neighborhood poster series. Chicago-based designer Jenny Beorkrem quit her day job and started Ork when her Chicago neighborhood poster … Read more
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1950s delivery truck door
Object: Door from the delivery truck of restaurateur/chef Marcie Turney‘s grandfather’s restaurant
Location: In the basement of one of Turney’s 13th Street restaurants
Background: Turney has this and an original sign from The Spot, opened in the 1950s in Ripon, Wisconsin, in storage. One day she … Read more
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Utz cheddar cheese snacks
Object: barrels of Utz cheddar cheese snacks
Location: SuperFresh, Society Hill (glowing orange in the early spring sunshine)
Background: I didn’t realize Utz and Snyder’s — two of America’s major snacking enablers — were in Hanover, Pennsylvania until I drove there to report on Emeco, manufacturer … Read more
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folding bistro chair (hidden city philadelphia)
Object: folding bistro chair
Location: “The Porch” at 30th St. Station
Background: This chair, first described in the “Simplex” patent registered in 1889, is made by Fermob, the same French company that makes “the Luxembourg chair“—the green metal, tubular steel stackable chairs scattered around Paris’s … Read more
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vintage “Practical” shoes
Object: vintage shoes
Location: storefront on Girard Ave., b/t Kraftwork and Johnny Brenda’s
Background: I’m out of my element with this one — I’m not a fashion person. But I couldn’t help but stop and snap, more for the branding and copy on the box than for … Read more
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red brick
Object: a red brick
Location: everywhere
Background: In Philly, red brick is synonymous with history — with Independence Hall, with the Georgian and Federal-style row homes and townhouses in Society Hill, Queen Village, and Rittenhouse. The first brick house was built here in 1684, and by 1690 … Read more
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used records
Object: used records
Location: Rustic Music, 333 S. 13th St.
Background: The vinyl record, i.e. analog sound storage machine, is a remarkable feat of design and engineering that is the culmination of a century of inventions starting with the phonograph. This — and the topic of … Read more
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computer doorstop
Object: Macintosh Color Classic, c. 1994
Location: used as a doorstop at Springboard Media, 2212 Walnut St.
Background: According to ye olde Wikipede, the Color Classic paved the way for the candy-colored iMac. And according to this New York Times article, the Color Classic has a … Read more
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