Sunset at the Bonneville Salt Flats

Circa 2025

Unique hexagon patterns are formed by the freezing and thawing of brackish waters. 

The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah.  A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake.  It is public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and is known for land speed records at the Bonneville Speedway.  

The length is 12 miles.  The width is 5 miles with a crust that is almost 5 ft. thick at the center and less than one inch thick towards the edges.  It is estimated to hold 147 million tons of salt or about 90% of which is common table salt.  It borders on Interstate 80 on the south side.

Geologist, Grove Karl Gilbert named the area after Benjamin Bonneville, a U.S. Army officer.  In 1907, Bill Rishel and two local businessmen tested the suitability of the salt by driving a Pierce-Arrow onto its surface.  

A railway line across the Flats was completed in 1910, marking the first permanent crossing.  The first land speed record was set at the Flats in 1914 by Teddy Tetzlaff.  

 Theodore "Teddy" Herbert Tetzlaff

(1883-1929)

Tetzlaff was an American race driver active in the formative years of auto racing.  He competed in the first four Indianapolis 500 races with a finish of second in 1912.  He earned his nickname "Terrible Teddy" due to his rough treatment of his vehicles.  His wide-open trottle racing style would often win a race, blow up his engine or cause him to crash.  As auto racing strategies evolved from the early "go as fast as you can and see if you can stay on the track", Tetzlaff's success in the sport waned.

 

Retro Dinette Set

Circa 1950s

Major manufacturers of iconic chrome and Formica dinette sets in the 1950s included Daystrom, Howell, Virtue Brothers of California, Arvin and Acme.  These companies specialized in metal-framed kitchen furniture featuring laminate tabletops and colorful vinyl upholstery often designed for smaller kitchen spaces or casual dining areas. 

These sets were famous for their "retro" look, characterized by tubular chrome legs, polished aluminum edging and Formica* surfaces.  Original sets often featured "atomic"

 age designs, pastel colors or red and black styling. 

*Formica Surfaces

Founded in 1913 in Cincinnati, Ohio by Daniel J. O'Conor and Herbert A. Faber.  Formica was originally developed as a durable, plastic resin substitute "for mica" used in industrial electrical insulation.  The company  transitioned to decorative, high-pressure laminates in the 1930s, gaining massive popularity in the post-WWII housing boom for countertops and emerging as a global brand often associated with durable, modern design. 

  In 1914, the first sheet of Formica laminate came off the press.  From 1920s-1930s the company shifted focus from industrial uses to decorative applications. In 1931-1949, popularity surged in high-end projects like Radio City and oceanliners.  During the Post-WWII Boom, the material became synonymous with modern, easy-to-clean kitchens and diners.  In the 1950s-1970s, iconic patterns were introduced to consumers.

When people think of classic Formica laminate patterns, they often think of "Boomerang", originally called "Skylark" .. Mid-Century in its design, boomerang has been a staple of residential and commercial spaces for more than 70 years.

In 1951, John Hughes of Brooks Stevens Design Associates created the original Skylark design.  He drew the pattern to customize the interior of passenger trains.  In 1954, Raymond Loewy Associates evolved the pattern by color styling it for the Sunrise Collection. 

The brand marked 100 years of operation in 2013 solidifying its place in design history.

Sidenote:  I personally know an artist in NC who chose the boomerang pattern for her studio countertops. When I walked into her retro studio I immediately commented on her choice of retro countertops. 

A rainbow of colors and patterns by FORMICA.

 

Primary color nesting sets were launched in 1945.

"It IS clean .. you can SEE it's clean .. it's PYREX ware!"

Pyrex was introduced in 1915 by Corning Glass Works, originating from heat-resistant "Nonex" borosilicate glass developed in 1908. Inspired by Bessie Littleton (wife of Corning Glass Works physicist, Jesse Littleton) to bake a sponge cake after her traditional earthenware casserole dish shattered.  The cake baked, did not stick, and the glass did not shatter proving its effectiveness as bakeware. This invention led to the creation of the Pyrex line which launched in 1915 as the first brand of heat-resistant glass bakeware. The brand transformed durable laboratory and industrial glass into iconic kitchen bakeware, expanding from clear pie plates to colored opalware in the 1940s. 

In 1915, Pyrex was officially launched with the first line including 12 pieces sold at Jordan Marsh in Boston.  In 1920, the product line expanded to include teapots, coffeepots and nursing bottles.  In 1930, Pyrex introduced "Flameware" designed for direct stovetop use.  

Modern Usage:  While not typically used today, the concept directly correlates to modern "cake in a jar" techiques where cakes are baked or preserved in canning jars for gifts or long shelf life.  Baking cakes in jars involves pouring batter into canning jars (like Mason jars) and baking them at roughly 325-350 degrees.  Sealing them immediately upon removal from the oven creates a vacuum allowing the cake to stay fresh for 4-6 weeks.  This method is popular for portable, single-serve desserts, gift-giving or extended storage. 

Grease jars well, fill about 1/2 to 2/3 full.  Bake, then immedately apply hot lids and rings.  As the cake cools, the jar seals.  Pound cake, cheesecake and fruit-based cakes work well. for this method.  And straight-sided jars work best.

Vintage Phoenix Opalware Baking Dish

Special markings on Pyrex distinquish vintage borosilicate glass (pre-1998) from modern soda-lime glass* with uppercase "PYREX" indicating older, thermal-shock-resistant pieces while lowercase "pyrex" signifies newer, more sensitive glass.  Key markings include molded numbers (e.g., 502) or "Made in USA". 

*Soda-lime glass is the world's most common type of glass.  If you've ever sipped from a basic tumbler at a restaurant or opened a jar of pasta sauce, you've encountered it.  It's used in everything from window panes to soda bottles to inexpensive drinkware. 

The iconic measuring cup has been around since 1915. 

Pattern Pyrex names (1950s-1980s)

Retro Kitchen Wall Art

Some of the 33 patterns include Butterprint, Friendship, Spring Blosssom, Daisy, Terra, Diamonds, Balloons, Black Snowflake, Horizon Blue, Butterfly Gold, New Dots, Colonial Mist, Gooseberry, Eyes, Woodland and Square Flowers.

 

Fanny Farmer was started in Rochester, New York by a Canadian politician and businessman, Frank Patrick O'Connor in 1919 and grew to over 400 stores.

Frank Patrick O-Connor

(1885-1939)

O'Connor had previously started the Laura Secord Candy Shops in Toronto, Ontario in 1913 located at 354 Yonge Street. The company was named "Fanny Farmer" to exploit the exemplary reputation of one of America's foremost culinary experts, Fannie Farmer.  The spelling of the first name was altered simply to "avoid confusion". 

Fanny Farmer stores shared a look that was similar to that of Chicago candy maker, Fannie May.

In 1992, the Archibald Candy Company acquired Fanny Farmer and its 200 retail stores in the Northeastern United States as a sister brand to its own Fannie May candies. In 2004, Alpine Confections purchased Archibald out of receivership, merged Fanny Farmer into Fannie May and moved production to its Ohio-based Harry London Candies which had been acquired a year earlier.  Fannie May was reopened in October 2004 with 45 retail stores.

In April 2006, Fannie May was sold for $85 million.  The chocolates and candy contnued to be manufactured in Ohio under the name Fannie May Confections Brands Inc. while the Fannie May corporate headquarters remained in Chicago.  This ended the brand's stand alone presence remembered by many.

  In 2006, the million-dollar flower and gift company, 1-800-FLOWERS bought the merged company and phased out the Fanny Farmer brand. 

The last long-standing stores were in the Rochester, New York area.

Fannie Merritt Farmer

(1857-1915)

Sidenote:  The "Fanny Farmer" candy shops were a separate entity named in honor of her which were eventually merged with Fannie May. In 1896, she published The Boston Cooking School Cook Book which became a widely used culinary text, later known as The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.  Fannie was often called the "mother of level measurements".

The Tom Thumb toy cash register, produced by Western Stamping Co. located at 2203 W. Michigan Avenue in Jackson, Michigan.  From the mid-1940s through the 1960s, it was an iconic metal toy.  Celebrated for its durability the toy cash register featured a functional mechanical bell and pop-up, priced keys often finished in red or green paint.  It was a top 1950s toy, even receiving recognition for its design quality with significant production in the 1950s. 

In 1953, the Toy Guidance Council Inc. of New York recognized the Tom Thumb cash register as outstanding, resulting in high production numbers.  Over 500,000 units yearly at its peak. Nine mechanical keys with cream/red knobs that popped up display tabs showing (e.g.,"$1.00", "GROCERY", "NO SALE"). A  functional bell rang when the metal cash drawer was pushed open.  

These toy cash registers are now sought-after collectors' items frequently found in vintage toy markets, often praised for their realistic mechanical operation. 

 

 

The Andy Warhol Museum 

117 Sandusky Street

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 

Andy Warhol, born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928 was the youngest of three sons born to Andrej Warhola and Julia Zavacky Warhola.  His parents immigrated to the United States from the European region that is now Slovakia, settling into the working-class neighborhood of Uptown in Pittsburgh.  Warhol graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Pictorial Design in 1949 and soon after moved to New York City to pursue a career as a commercial artist.

Throughout the 1950s, he became one of the most successful illustrators of his time and won numberous awards for his work.  His clients included Tiffany & Co., The New York Times, Bonwit Teller and others.  Much of his commercial work was based on photographs and other source images, a process he would use for the rest of his life.  While he continued to work as a commercial artist throughout his career, in the early '60s Warhol transitioned into the fine art world gaining notoriety in the Pop Art movement. 

Early Pop paintings were based on comics and ads, with his series of Campbells' Soup Cans in 1962 creating a buzz in the art world that launched Warhol as a celebrity.  Other early subjects drew upon Warhol's life-long fascination with Hollywood.  In 1962, he began a large series of celebrity portraits which included Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Elizabeth Taylor. 

Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe portfolio is a series of ten 36" x 36" silkscreen prints created in 1967, five years after the actress' passing.  Each print depicts the same image of Monroe in different, often bright colors.  The portfolio is considered a classic piece of Warhol's work and a challenge to traditional fine art standards. By elevating pop culture icons to fine art, Warhol blurred the lines between the two and revitalized portraiture* in the mid-20th century. 

*Portraiture is the artistic representation of a person or group, aiming to capture physical likeness, personality and mood through painting, photography or sculpture.  Dating back to ancient times, this art form serves to document identity, status and psychology evolving from formal, commissioned paintings to diverse photographic, digital and abstract styles. 

Warhol chose the source image for this painting of actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) from a publicity photograph of her 1960 film Butterfield 8.  He created this portrait when Taylor was at the height of her stardom.  

Triple Elvis is a 1963 painting by Andy Warhol.  The work depicts three repeated images of singer and actor, Elvis Presley derived from a publicity still for the 1960 Western film, Flaming Star.

Warhol died in New York City on February 22, 1987.  After Warhol's passing The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. was founded to promote the "advancement of visual arts".  The Andy Warhol Museum was announced in 1989 and opened in Pittsburgh in 1994. 

The Andy Warhol Museum Mission and Values

.. to engage and inspire through Warhol's life, art and legacy ..

The life story of Andy Warhol, in all its complexity, is inspirational and guides our work.  Our collection is the heart of our institution and we will succeed through sharing, preserving and interpreting the collection in the most accessible way possible.  The museum is a place to express and explore multiple perspectives, push boundaries and challenge conventions.  The Warhol believes in learning by doing and being a place of experimentation.  The Warhol is committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in every aspect of our work. 

"If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and me, and there I am.  There's nothing behind it."

Andy Warhol 

Circa 1966

Self-Portrait