Fiestaware Coffee Mug in Red

Fiestaware Coffee Mug in Red

Creator: Frederick Hurten Rhead
Created: 1936
Origin: Made in America

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The Fiestaware 18 oz Jumbo Coffee Mug in Scarlet Red is an oversized coffee cup from a multi coloured range of crockery. The main attractions to Fiestaware are the striking, lively colors and the ability to mix and match the colors to produce a personalised set of one’s own liking. The classic designs remain the same allowing the odd broken item to be replaced easily. The whole range is made from china clay finished with brightly colored high gloss modern glazes. The idea was born out of a need to offer a colorful modern alternative to the intricately shaped and decorated but conservatively colored Victorian designs popular up until the 1930s.

After initial success in the 1930s the design encountered some hiccups in popularity due to war time austerity, an unfortunate temporary association with a radioactive uranium oxide glaze, and an unsuccessful attempt to offer the popular avocado and Autumn gold colors of the early 1970s. Production ceased in 1973 but was resumed in 1986 and continues to this day after a surge in popularity among china collectors. All Fiestaware is made in America in Newell, West Virgina by 1100 skilled American workers at the Laughlin China Company. Frederick Hurten Rhead, originally from ‘pottery country’, Staffordshire, England has left an enduring legacy which looks set to stand the test of time.

Eames Hang-it-All Coat Rack

Eames Hang-it-All Coat Rack

Creator: Charles and Ray Eames
Created: 1953
Origin: Santa Monica, California, USA

The Eames Hang-it-All is a bent and welded, steel, dip-coated steel coat rack with brightly lacquered wooden spherical pegs. It was designed by Eames for Tigrett Enterprises Playhouse Division as a coat rack for children but the striking, minimalist design has maintained popular appeal across the decades in modern homes and offices world-wide. The Hang-it-All coat rack was born out of a need for well designed furnishings for Charles and Ray Eames own family and to encourage children to hang up their own belongings.

The Hang-it-All is fixed to the wall via 4 screws passing through holes in the bent steel rod making for excellent rigidity and durability. The production takes advantage of the same production techniques pioneered in their successful furniture production of the time. Charles Eames developed an interest in architecture and design from the age of 14 when he worked in a steel production factory. After meeting his partner Ray the couple became widely recognised for their innovative work in the fields of furniture design, architecture, photography and film.

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Jacobsen Series 7 Chair

Arne Jacobsen Series 7 Chair

Creator: Arne Jacobsen
Created: 1952
Origin: Copenhagen, Denmark

The Arne Jacobsen Series 7 Side Chair is refinement on the Ant chair of two years earlier. It is hardwood laminated veneer bent wood dining chair with tubular chromed steel legs. It was designed as a general purpose dining chair which was attractive enough to be used enough in the home and practical enough to stack and be used on a larger scale in commercial situations.

The first series seven chairs were produced in 1955 for production by the Fritz Hansen company who continue to make and hand finish the chairs in their native Denmark. The Series 7 chair was one of the most successful of several collaborative projects with the Fritz Hansen company.

The series seven whilst appearing deceptively simple is actually quite labor intensive to make involving careful selection and matching of strips of veneers, high pressure forming and precision trimming. All of this is done by highly skilled local artisans with decades of experience. After an early interest in art and design Arne Jacobsen was encouraged to study architecture winning several awards while still a student. His work became progressively more recognised in the fields of furniture design and architecture his design for the series 7 chair being one of the most popular and well known.

Gaggia Espresso Machine

Gaggia Classic Espresso Coffee Machine

Creator: Achille Gaggia
Created: 1948
Origin: Milan Italy

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The Gaggia Classic Espresso Coffee Machine is a brushed stainless steel, Italian made home coffee machine with an integrated steam wand to also allow for frothing milk to make cappuccino coffee. It started out as an espresso machine for small hotels and Cafes but has now also found favor with home coffee aficionados as coffee culture has become more widespread than ever.

The Gaggia Classic Espresso coffee machine was created in response to the need for a compact espresso coffee machine built with the same ruggedness and performance as the full size machines found in busy bars and restaurants. The first units were produced in 1948 with continuous improvements made until 1977 when Gaggia decided to focus it’s efforts on serious home coffee drinkers aswell as businesses.

The Gaggia Classic Espresso coffee machine is still manufactured indigenously in it’s native city of Milan Italy by local employees at the modern Robecco sul Naviglio factory not far from the original Gaggia workshop. Achille Gaggia continued making improvements in design and production leading to the simple elegant model of today. The Gaggia makes great tasting authentic Italian espresso in simple elegant style.

Zeroll Ice Cream Scoop

Zeroll Ice Cream Scoop

Creator: Sherman Kelly
Created: 1935
Origin: Toledo Ohio

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The Zeroll Ice Cream Scoop is a cast aluminium Ice Cream scoop with the Zeroll logo moulded into the side of the handle and a color coded button at the end to indicate the size of the scoops produced. The 3 ounce model is the definitive size perfect for serving ice cream at home to be served in a bowl.

The quest to create the perfect ice cream scoop started when the inventor Sherman Kelly spotted someone with blisters on their hands from scooping ice cream all day in a store. He created several prototypes before hitting on a design with a hollow core which he filled with a heat conducting liquid warming the scooping surface from heat transferred from the users hand. The first Zeroll ice cream scoops were sold in 1935 to owners of ice cream stores.

The original Zeroll Ice Cream Scoop factory was set up in  Toledo Ohio close to the inventor Shane Kelly’s home. Shane continued perfecting the production of the ice cream scoop  until he passed away in 1950 handing the business over to his son Ralph Kelly who moved the business and changed the name. In 1981 Entrepreneurs Tom and Art Funka brought back the Zeroll name and brought production back to Toledo, Ohio.

Mason Cash Mixing Bowl

Mason Cash Mixing Bowl

Creator: Tom Cash
Created: 1901
Origin: Derbyshire UK

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The Mason Cash mixing bowl is a sturdy earthenware household mixing bowl with a cane colored, diamond textured exterior and white interior. The cane coloring of the exterior originates from the local clay at Church Gresley in Derbyshire and the diamond texture helps secure handling during mixing. Earthenware is fired once and then a second time with the glaze.

Mason Cash mixing bowls came about during the early 1900s as the company looked to expand it’s range of products. The white interior ensured cleanliness and the two tone coloring and surface texture gave a sense of lightness to something which in use needed to be fairly heavy.

The Mason Cash mixing bowl enjoyed it’s heyday after the second world war as food once again became more plentiful, working class families more prosperous but before low cost imports became more common. The Mason Cash company was established in 1901 and the first Mason Cash mixing bowls can still be found dating as far back as the 1920s. The master potter at the helm when the Mason Cash Gresley mixing bowl was first produced probably to Thomas Cash, the successor to ‘Bossy’ Mason whose name forms the first part of the famous Mason Cash brand name.

Dualit Toaster

Dualit Toaster

Creator: Max Gort-Barten
Created: 1952
Origin: Camberwell London UK

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The Dualit toaster is a commercial stainless steel toaster that has recently found favour in domestic kitchens due to its rugged good looks and built to last to last construction. The level of toasting is selected by means of a rotary mechanical timer and the toast ejected manually which allows the toast to be kept warm until ready for serving.

The Dualit toaster was created to cater for the needs of commercial kitchens in Hotels where a more rugged toaster was needed that could withstand the wear and tear of being used continuously day after day with minimal maintenance. The first of these toasters were made in 1952 and bore a recognisable resemblance to the Dualit toasters of  today.

The original factory was situated in Camberwell London and then moved to The Old Kent Road after the original site was the subject of a compulsory purchase order. Recently production was moved to a more modern premises capable of coping with increased demand from domestic customers. The designer of the Dualit toaster was a Max Gort-Barten of German origin who later settled in London and constantly strived to refine production and design of this classic toaster.

T.G.Green & Co Cornishware



Cornishware Crockery

Creator: T.G.Green & Co
Created: 1926
Origin: Church Gresley, Derbyshire UK

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T.G.Green & Co Cornishware crockery is a distinctive white and pale blue broad striped range of crockery. The white clay crockery is coated with a pale blue coloured mixture of clay and water. The piece of crockery is then turned while wide bands of colored slip are carefully removed to reveal the distinctive cornishware design beneath.

The design was chosen to distinguish the range from the other crockery being produced in the Derbyshire region of England. The Cornishware name was chosen as a reference to the pale blue ocean and white surf of the Cornish coastline. The range was first introduced in 1926 and updated in the 1960s.

The original Cornishware was produced at a small village called Church Gresley in the heart of  Derbyshire pottery country near the town of Swadlincote and only the name is inspired by the Cornish seaside. The original business was a small affair bought by entrepreneur T.G. Green who grew the business, expanded production, built a larger more modern factory and was responsible for many new products and designs including the world renowned and distictive Cornishware.

Felco F-2 Pruners

Felco F-2 Pruners

Creator: Félix Flisch
Created: 1946
Origin: Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane

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Felco F-2 pruners are distinctive Swiss garden pruners with red rubber sleeves on the handles. They have die cast matte finish on all of the hardware apart from adjestment wheel and the sharpened edges. The closeness of the blades can be adjusted by means of a thumb wheel and the pruners can be locked safely closed with the incorporated ratchet mechanism.

The Felco 2 pruners or secateus were designed to fulfill the need for a more efficient pruner to support the growth in agricultural activity after the second world war. Keen gardeners and horticulturalists were soon to appreciate the quality of the Swiss made Felco pruners  making them a firm favorite for decades to come. The Felco 2 pruner was the successor to the first model incorporating some minor improvements only small refinements have been made since to the original highly functional pruner.

Felco 2 pruners are made at Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane a small town in the watch making region of the Jura in Switzerland. After producing his first high quality pruners Félix Flisch purchased a factory previously used for watch making to satisfy increasing demand from within Switzerland, Europe and beyond.

Casio F-91W Wrist Watch

Casio F-91W Wrist Watch

Creator: Tadao Kashio
Created: 1991
Origin: Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

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The Casio F-91W wrist watch is an inexpensive black digital wrist watch with an almost octagonal face and flexible resin strap. The date, alarm and stopwatch functions are accessed via a pair of metal buttons on the side of the case. An accuracy of plus or minus thirty seconds per month is achieved by means of a quartz crystal mechanism and a seven year battery.

The Casio F-91W wrist watch was created in response to the need for a no nonsense everyday wrist watch with general appeal which took advantage of the accurate and reliable quartz mechanisms that were being produced to a very high standard and in great quantities in Japan by the Casio computer company. the first F91W wrist watches rolled off the production line in 1991 and have maintained their popularity for the last twenty years.

The Casio F-91W wrist watch originated from Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan where Casio has it’s international headquarters. Very much a family company Tadao Kashio built the company from the ground up with his father and was actively engaged in product development till deceased at age 75.