The Finer Stuff of Life

01/29/2014

Burke & James Inc. Chicago was a camera manufacturer and importer of cameras and lenses. It designed and manufactured view Cameras, fingerprint cameras, portrait cameras, graphic arts equipment, lenses, darkroom sinks and other things. Many of its own products seem to have got one of the additional brand names

Burk & James

Photography by James Miley
Digital enhanced by James Miley

01/29/2014

The Kodak Six-16 and Six-20 are folding cameras of the same design that take size 616 and 620 rollfilm, respectively. Their art deco design touches are their distinguishing feature.
The Six-16 cost $40 when new. It uses a 126mm f/6/3 Kodak Anastigmat lens. It uses the No. 1 Diodak shutter, which fires at 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, and 1/100 sec, plus T and B.
The Six-20 cost $38 when new. It packs a 100mm f/6.3 Kodak Anastigmat lens. It uses the Kodon shutter, which fires at 1/25, 1/50, and 1/100 sec, plus T and B.
Both cameras sport two viewfinders. The first is a small “brilliant” type attached to the lens assembly that swivels to frame portrait and landscape photos. The second is a gunsight type attached to the camera body.
Camera-wiki

01/26/2014

Fudder

Photography by James Miley in 2013
Digiital enhanced by James Miley

01/26/2014

01/25/2014

Found this great mid-century dresser that is now at The Finer Stuff of Life. 72" long a great addition to a mid-century motif.

01/08/2014

Welcome to the Finer Stuff of Life page. The Finer Stuff of Life is on Etsy with a few choice antique or vintage items and the shop is located in Space 21 at Grandpa’s Antique Depot on Felix Valdez in Temecula.
J. Francis Miley Photography western and auto photographic art is available. You can view the website for work that is available www.jfmileyphotography.com

I love the hunt for vintage, collectibles or antique items. I carry a range of furniture styles from shabby chic, art deco, mid-century modern to antiques. The inventory is always changing.

I love books and you’ll find history books on WWII, Civil War, auto and plane industry and the movie industry as well as beautiful cocktail table books. We carry children books from the mid-century with a variety of fairy tale books to the Nancy Drew series.

As a photographer’s I love the vintage and antique cameras. The shop has a wide range of vintage Polaroid cameras as well as an extensive collection of Kodak camera’s from the 1900’s through the 1990’s. I also carry film projectors and slide projectors and other photographic accessories. If you are looking for a specific piece of photographic equipment and don’t see it in our shop, please contact me and I may have it in my inventory.

Carnival and Depression glass as well as china tea sets and silver plated serving pieces are always available at the shop.

Currently we have these wonderful lead WWI and Medieval soldiers from England.

Beautiful vintage evening bags from the mid-century in excellent condition are available.

So please stop by and visit my shop. I will keep you up to date on new items.

Jeannie

01/05/2014

The Buckeye Pottery Company of Macomb, IL — The old pottery company was in business from the late 1800s to the 1930s at which time the Buckeye Pottery buildings were purchased by the Haeger Company for the manufacture of floral artware. Joseph Pech, a native of Bohemia born in 1827, emigrated to America in 1852, living first in Wisconsin, then in Ohio, and ultimately in Macomb, IL, where he founded Joseph Pech & Sons in 1882, which later became known as The Buckeye Pottery Company. An old historical record from Macomb (ca. 1885) states: �Among the other industrial institutions of Macomb is the Buckeye, which is located on Carroll street, near the railroad track. This was established by the present proprietors, Joseph Pech & Sons, in 1882, they erecting the necessary buildings at that time. They have a capital of $20,000 invested here, and afford employment to some 20 hands. Most of their ware, which is of a superior quality, is made from clay found within the limits of the county and sent to Nebraska, Iowa, and other western states.� (source: an online collector’s site) I found several examples of this pottery’s utilitarian items on Worthopedia’s database of auction house records.”

01/05/2014

Marbro Lamp Company was founded by Morris Markoff and his brother, shortly after WWII. The company was located in the garment district of Los Angeles and was sold in 1990 and eventually the line was discontinued.
Marbro sold their products mainly through interior designers and a few upscale furniture stores. You would not find a Marbro product in a chain furniture store or discount store. Most of the products were built to order, and a typical order from a designer or retailer took between 75 and 90 days to complete. The lamps were considered high style fine lamps for the times and presently. Brass and porcelain lamps would wholesale for a $300 - $3,000 while crystal and bronze lamps were $2,000 - $4,000.