Beloved Curiosity: Southern Accents Architectural Antiques

I grew up in a little country town in North Alabama, called Cullman. It was a small town with gorgeous Victorian and Georgian and Arts and Crafts homes. The downtown was comprised of a few square blocks with an appliance store that still flies brightly colored balloons and streamers outside its doors, a German toy store that sells lederhosen and nesting dolls, and a bakery, The Duchess, that to this day sells 40cent cookies.

One of those city blocks houses a great hidden treasure of the nation--Southern Accents Architectural Antiques. Housed in the 1901 county undertaker's building (the brick exterior still visibly read "UNDERTAKER") are the door knobs, claw-foot tubs, carved mantles, chandeliers, hardware, windows, and more of eras long passed.

Family-owned, Southern Accents is a mecca for the architecturally obsessed. People fly from around the country to peruse the building that still has the original wood floors and piping from the old Undertaker.

They have an extensive Web site catalog of current items at www.sa1969.com. But nothing compares to going there yourself and exploring, though they do ship anywhere...

If you are in Alabama and looking for a nice day trip in this beautiful Springtime weather, you'll find Southern Accents north of Birmingham on I-65 and south of Hunstville on I-65.

Their address is: 308 2nd Ave. S.E.
Cullman, Al 35055

Here are a few photos I took a couple weeks ago when the husband and I stopped in for a visit.










And here are a few photos from Southern Accent's Web site, of current items they have in stock...

LEFT: cast iron sink, $1450.
RIGHT: terra cotta from a building in Chicago (set of 5), $275 each.


double arch beveled and colored rondels stained glass, 14.5"x60," $850.


LEFT: leaded glass windows, 20"x29," $235/pair.
RIGHT: crystal chandelier, 35"x18," $1250.



LEFT: heartpine half mantel, 58'x50," $375.
RIGHT: pine full mantel, 62"x79," $2750.


LEFT: set of gates, 56"x90," $950.
RIGHT: oak gothic-style door, 34.5"x80," $900.


cast iron entry gate, 9' in middle/7' on sides/14' wide, $2850/set


LEFT: heartpine double doors from Chicago, both sides stained, 30"x8,' call for inquiry.
RIGHT: pine door with window with strap hinges, 79"x36," $1850.


cast aluminum benches and chairs, many styles to choose from, call for inquiry.


folding pews, all stained w/metal ends, from an 1887 church in Shelbyville, TN
10' long, 30 benches total, $525 each.


LEFT: overview of window sashes in stock, $15 each.
RIGHT: Providential Tile Works, Trenton, NJ, 6"x6," $45 each.


For more information, give the Gudger family a call at Southern Accents. Or just drive up there. You can walk around, take some photos, and get a 40 cent cookie at the Duchess.

Vintage travel posters

I'm feeling a wave of nostalgia and beyond desire for some international travel...Here are some beautiful vintage travel posters. I hear President Obama is talking about lifting some of the travel restrictions on Cuba. I hope it happens!! I have wanted to go to Havana for YEARS!!

In need of a new cup--Etsy shopping day

In the past six months, the husband and I have gone through my large and rather intrusive collection of random vintage dishware (which was carefully selected through the years, mind you) and have narrowed it down to my late 1960's Taylorstone "Cathay" china for everyday use, our Spode "Blue Italian" for formal stuff (it's what we registered for when we got married and only have two place settings and three pieces of serveware), my grandmother's Royal Albert "Country Rose" which is on display in my office (because we don't have room for a china cabinet right now), a cabinet full of my grandparents' crystal serveware and various cups, goblets, etc., and my large (yet shrinking) collection of various sized glass jars.

I felt like I had purged myself of the unneccessary and condensed my tableware collection to the point that it would never create a large pile in the sink before we would run out of clean dishes--I thought this was a brilliant way to put a number on the dishes one should have...

Well, now I have realized that I need some new coffee cups. I am kind of displeased with what we have right now. I like an assortment of mugs so that each one can be ascribed to a mood--am I feeling tiny and delicate today? Or do I need something big and warm to cup in my hands?--but I want them to be relatively cohesive in style (we have open-fronted cabinets). Right now, I have my grandmother's thick glass mugs. There are two styles, a standard flat-bottomed cup and one that's a little more cafe-style. They are really nothing extraordinary, but they always remind me of having coffee with powdered creamer and sweet'n'low at her house. I want to keep a couple of her mugs, but I need something new.

Anyway, here are a few styles that I am liking, though I will probably end up buying a set from an estate sale!

I love the Pyrex (on the left) for its durability and whiteness despite being 30+ years old. And vintage stoneware always has a place in my heart. It just feels right in your hand. And I love the floral prints right now (because it's Spring, I suppose). Maybe I need seasonal sets of mugs...
LEFT:Vintage Pyrex Summer Impressions mugs, from sweetrice.
RIGHT: Vintage Stoneware Takahashi mugs, from jwhite2.


I love mid-century dishware with their perfect shapes and great designs. And I've also considered only having mugs with owls on them--picking a theme and going with it. The husband and I love owls, and we already happen to have a pair of mugs with the cutest little owls sitting on a tree that were gifts from our good friend Jackie over at peppermags.
LEFT: Set of 6 Temporama mugs, from TotallyJuliaRAd.
RIGHT: Owl mug, from autumnalways.


I LOVE these two sets of mugs paired together!! Maybe I will go for a collection of brilliantly colored florals and folk images against the stark white surface of good Pyrex or Corningware!!
LEFT: Scandinavian vintage by Berggren, from levintageMaison.
RIGHT: Vintage flower mugs, from VintageEye.


Isn't this set adorable?? It depicts a cute little dimestore/candy counter scene. It's ceramic Enesco, also from leVintageMaison.


Now, isn't this set WILD?! This midcentury atomic mug set comes from AustinModern, and the seller can't find any information on the production of this set other than it was made by Hall (USA) China. The holders are cast aluminum...if you know anything, I bet he/she would be interested!

Texas Ware.

So in my grand perusal of all things Texas, I came across the most beautiful vintage melamine pieces, called Texas Ware. Plastic Manufacturing Company (PMC) made the Texas Ware pieces from the late 1950s through the 1990s. At one point, PMC was the largest plastics manufacturer in the world, and they revolutionized the stackable melamine bowls and cups. Interestingly, out of the thousands of pieces they manufactured, the speckled or spatter Texas Ware is the most sought after. It's interesting because the speckle in the melamine was a result of using surplus material that was left over from other products. The pieces are so pretty.

Here is some Texas Ware that's for sale on eBay...

11" mixing bowl, No.125, from nrls68.


10" Confetti Spatter Bowl, No. 118, from toms1057.


8" Spatter mixing bowl, from tresori.


Orange Spatter Lunch trays, from ajcarson2000.


11" Spatter Bowl, No. 125, from sewsimple57.


11 1/2" Spatter Bowl, from diamonddeb45.