The first time I heard about Witco was on a discussion on a Mid-Century Facebook group about Tiki art, the name that kept coming up was Witco, with a link to this post on a Tiki Fan board:
My name is Burke Hovde (aka…The Witco Kid on www.tikicentral.com). I’m the son of Ron Hovde, one of the Witco Co-Founders and Artists with Bill Westenhaver. I grew up with Witco everywhere. Witco wallhangings and furniture are all over my parents house and our family’s cabin. Witco started out as Western International Trading Company and imported South Pacific home furnishing items like Capishell Lamps. They also were into carvings that eventually evolved into the rough cedar chain saw carved furniture and Tikis that most people know Witco for. The artwork and production plant was in Mt. Vernon,
found on http://miahunamoku.blogspot.com
Washington and they eventually sold $15 million worth of Witco products throughout the world over a 10 year run in the 1970’s. Through my Ebay Storefront at “intertrader2005” you can purchase a book on “Fun and Profitable Chainsaw Carving” that Ron Hovde and Bill Westenhaver published under their company Westho (i.e. Westenhaver/Hovde) after Witco shut down. If I can answer any other questions please don’t hesitate to contact me at hovdeinternational@hotmail.com
I couldn’t find whether they were Witco or not, but these definately remind me of the siamese cats in Pete’s apartment in Mad Men. If you’re looking to purchase some Witco, a quick search turned up some on Ebay at this store http://gulfcoastretro.com/default.aspx
We love personal recommendations for motels – one of the great reasons to stay a place is that you’ve heard positive feedback. This past week, we put a request out on the Route 66 Yahoo group and got some amazing feedback about The Sunset Motel in Moriarty, New Mexico. We “have gotten to know Mike and Debbie Pogue. The Sunset is one of those best kept secrets on Route 66. The Pogues are great people
A sampling of Los Angeles midcentury, atomic, and retro liquor stores by new contributor Diane Vallere. Read more about her here. You don’t have to wait until the cocktail hour to appreciate the influence that midcentury modern style had on liquor stores all over the country, but you may want to act quick. The atomic aspect of these houses of spirits can still be seen, but disrepair, changes in management, and retiring business owners are
Ted Cleary, ASLA, of Studio Cleary Landscape Architecture continues his contributions on midcentury modern garden design, here with the first of his “Case Study Gardens”. MCM enthusiasts will be familiar with Arts & Architecture magazine’s legendary design feature known as the “Case Study House Program”. From its inception near the war’s end in 1945, through 1966, the CSH Program showcased innovative modernist designs, many of them modest, others more grand, meant to address the postwar housing
By the way, if you had told me in the “pre-kid” days that I would ever have obnoxiously colored toys in my back yard I would have slapped you (even though I’m not a violent type)…if you can see enough in the pictures, you’ll see that our slack finishing of the patio has allowed dirt to wash down (thus why we did the complicated tiering on the side) and weeds to grow everywhere. We also
I couldn’t find whether they were Witco or not, but these definately remind me of the siamese cats in Pete’s apartment in Mad Men. If you’re looking to purchase some Witco, a quick search turned up some on Ebay at this store http://gulfcoastretro.com/default.aspx
