#vintage

Applying Gypsum Wallboard in the 1950sWatch this guy set up interior walls in a hurry with one handy tool! The video is sped up, but not much.Whiledrywall was invented more than 100 years ago, it only became universal during the postwar construction boom. It was a real time saver compared to the lath and plaster technique it replaced. If you enjoyed the short sequence, you might be interested in the full video from the Gypsum Association. It contrasts the master craftsman above with Handy Andy who does everything wrong.

Bygone Features Still Found in Older HomesIf there's something you don't understand in an old house, there's probably a good reason for it being there, even though it no longer applies.Many of these features were conveniences of their time that no one could imagine would become obsolete in the future, but it's a testament to the builders that the homes lasted into an another era. One feature that might be jarring to viewers is the phone jack. An awful lot of people still use land lines. He should have shown us the old four-prong phone jacks that preceded the connections shown. My previous house had these, and we had to get adapters to use a more modern landline phone. There were once so many delivery doors, for coal, ice, milk, etc. We don't get those kind of deliveries anymore, but a concealed cabinet at the front of the house would be a great way to hide your Amazon packages from porch pirates. I once had a bathroom remodeled, and the torn-up wall was full of razor blades. The contractor brought out a magnet pickup tool to collect them, which impressed me so much that I bought my own magnet. A laundry chute, dumbwaiter, or intercom was much more useful for houses that were three stories tall, especially if the laundry was done in the basement. Laundry chutes are illegal to install today in a lot of states because in the event of a fire, they act as a chimney, drawing the fire to upper floors. Probably not all that safe for children, either. The Pittsburgh Potty had a dual purpose. Not only was it (or more precisely, the sink and/or shower beside it) a place to clean up after work, the toilet in the basement was also an emergency valve. If there was a sewer backup, the basement toilet would overflow first, keeping the upstairs toilet backup-free. Commenters added some more old house features they'd seen, like a floor drain in a closet where the icebox was once kept, specifically for melting ice. Some houses have an ironing board that folds out from the wall. A couple of people mentioned homes that had a central vacuum system built into the walls. California coolers and larders were ventilated areas architecturally situated for food storage before refrigeration. And there were coffin doors that were only opened to transfer a coffin to the parlor for a wake. Summer kitchens, sleeping porches, draw fans, and lightning rods were mentioned, too. If you have any of these things in your home, you have a bit of history.#architecture #vintage #history

Home Decor of the 1970sTo make you feel a bit better about your own untrendy preferences, let's go back to see what was not only trendy but ubiquitous in the 1970s. It was a dismal time for home decor, full of earth tones and handicrafts that will make you laugh today, even as it takes you back to your parents' home... or maybe Grandma's. As a child of the '70s, I can assure you that it was ugly even at the time, but since everyone's home looked the same, it didn't matter much. We pretended it was natural and "earth-friendly" as we learned to make macrame wall hangings in art class and spilled cigarette ashes on the shag carpet.#decor #retro #vintage #1970s 

Good and Bad Advice from a 1925 Home Repair ManualThe more things change, the more they stay the same. Megan Baker came across The Practical Book of Home Repairs by Chelsea Fraser, which is available online. It was first published in 1925, which, believe it or not, is 97 years ago. How useful would such a book be now? The truth is, you have to take each tidbit separately, because some things have changed considerably, safety rules in particular. Some of the advice holds up extremely well, such as how to use basic tools. But think about the world in 1925. People took care of their own home maintenance from top to bottom. A lot of houses were even built by the people who lived in them. Small towns and rural areas didn't have specialists to check, say, your venting system. People also didn't realize how dangerous certain chemicals were, to themselves or to the environment. You did what you could with what you had, or what you could get, which wasn't all that safe in the long run. Read a sampling of advice that holds up very well from a century ago, and a few things that horrified Baker as she read them, at Apartment Therapy. And before you do any home repairs yourself, get the. latest advice from people who are up on that sort of thing. -via Digg#homerepair #homemaintenance #vintage

Secondhand IKEA Furniture Can Bring in Big BucksWho knew that old IKEA furniture could be valuable? But let's be real. If you are in the process of replacing your starter furniture with something more substantial, you can go ahead and give it away to a new college student or someone who just got their first apartment.However, if you've hung on to your IKEA furniture for decades, or you've inherited some, you might just have a treasure hanging around. There are some pieces that are now quite rare and can fetch a hefty sum at auction. For example, an Impala easy chair, like the one on the left, recently sold for £6,210. The value of these IKEA pieces will depend on several things, like their age, rarity, condition, and who designed it. Check out some the more desirable items at The Guardian. And if you once owned these furniture items and gave them away long ago, don't cry too much because they would have probably worn out by now. At least you can tell yourself so.  -via Nag on the Lake(Image credit: IKEA/The Guardian) #IKEA #vintage #furniture