Carl Auböck

Carl Auböck 

Carl Auböck (1900-1957) was an Austrian designer. He completed an apprenticeship to a bronze and chisel worker in his parents' workshop from 1914-1917 and then studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1917-1919. From 1919-1921 he was a student of Johannes Itten at the Bauhaus in Weimar. In 1926 he took over the family business.

In the late 1920s and 1930s, he continued to produce the same product line his parents had sold, but his paintings soon became recognized as masterpieces of Austrian Modernism.

In the 1940s the workshop began to produce small lamps and furniture, as well as very high quality handcrafted accessories, and he began to achieve international attention. In the late 1940s, Auböck was joined in the business by his son. In 1954 reached the height of his career when he received four gold medals at the Milan Triennale. His distinctive designs still form the core of the Carl Auböck collection, which is still produced by the family today in the shop where four generations have worked.

From originalinberlin.com and 

Early bowl
1stdibs.com

Live edge table
architonic.com

Bookends
originalinberlin.com

Coat rack
mondocane.com

Fruit basked
etsy.com - modernspecific

Magazine rack
1stdibs.com

Brass watering can
svpply.com

Ashtray
moma.org

Bronze bird
antiquehelper.com

Wall shelf
mondocane.com

Corkscrews and bottle openers
maharam.com

Brass lamp
1stdibs.com

Pitcher and glasses
1stdibs.com

Ring vase
originalinberlin.com

Back in the day: Don't bare that hair!

Back in the day, women were serious about protecting their coiffures. Hairdos were considerably more structured back then, requiring hours of rolling, drying and styling, so it makes sense that we didn't want them ruined by the wind or rain.

Some women managed to make headscarves look very glamorous.

Brigitte Bardot
celebrityhq.net

Elizabeth Taylor
chicvintagebrides.com

Jacqueline Kennedy
purseblog.com

Audrey Hepburn
stylewaffle.com

Unfortunately, most of us missed the mark and only managed to look frumpy. But we were in good company.

Queen Elizabeth II
sofeminine.co.uk

Headscarves, however, were preferable to the other form of headgear popular back in the day: the plastic rain bonnet. No practical woman left home without one in her purse, tucked inside its small rectangular carrying case. Some were adorned with images of flowers or umbrellas.

etsy.com - RickRackKitty

Others just looked like plastic bags on your head. Nobody was making these things look glamorous!

myspace.com - rainman90de

All about the foutas

I have a new obsession...foutas. I'm sure I'm late to climb on board the fouta train, but I just discovered them a few days ago.

I was looking for a kitchen towel that was out of the ordinary. I didn't want a plain, solid color terry or a waffle weave or a microfiber. I had bought a beautiful Vera Neumann print from Crate and Barrel a while back, but the vibrant colors didn't look quite right with the muted tones of my Harvest Time china collection, so the search was on.

I looked at all the predictable places for black, white or gray towels...Crate and Barrel, Williams-Sonoma, Chefs Catalog...but I couldn't find anything I really liked. Then I started to run across foutas, and I knew I had found the solution. They are much thinner than traditional towels, but they're said to be incredibly absorbent. I think they have a cool, fresh look. And I love that crazy fringe!

Historically, foutas were worn as clothing in Mediterranean countries. They were long, seamless pieces worn knotted around the midsection. Today they're being used as beach towels, sarongs and picnic blankets. Smaller sizes are used as bath towels, hand towels, throws and table runners.

The fouta I bought., by Scents and Feel
wayfair.com

And the other Scents and Feel fouta I bought
wayfair.com

fouta.en.hisupplier.com

twitter.com - Fouta de Val

abchome.com

margueritesondresden.com

Foutas aren't cheap, so I can see that this might become an expensive obsession. I'm going to try to exercise some self-control and limit my collection to two or three towels...maybe four. OK, five, tops. In the meantime, if you know of any support groups for foutaholics, let me know.