shapes and colours

Colani elephant

Designed by Luigi Colani in the 70s for the Dresdner bank. These "piggy banks" came in different sizes and different colours. There were even porcelain versions of them. Their campaign to encourage kids to make deposits (and get a free colani elephant) proved to be extremely successful.

You find many of them on Ebay and other stores.

CLOCK & RADIO

Originally, the RADIO-radio is produced by ISIS, but there are many other versions of it, mostly without a brandname. Many of them were sold or given away as promotion materials by radio stations, usually with their name on it. Sometimes you see other words like 'LOVE' or 'TROS' (a dutch broadcoasting company).

The CLOCK clock is the same concept, with a cheap battery-operated clock. The CLOCKs never have a company name on them. They are made of a lesser quality plastic than the radios; in sunlight they discolour really fast. Only the ones that have been inside there box all these decades are still white.

desk organizer

Groovy collection of tubes to keep your pencils, paper clips and other stuff in. Very popular in the 70s, now they are wanted items again. I had one when I was a kid; this one I bought recently.

Braun table fan

Small 220V fan, designed to stand on the table. Even though Braun is famous for its very recognizable designs (and I intend to get a couple more of them before they get outragiously expensive), this one moves all over your tables if it has a smooth surface. Not very practical. There is a different one that lies down and probably functions a lot better.

DE coffee grinder

Very nice streamlined design this coffee grinder produced by (or for) the Dutch coffee company 'Douwe Egberts' (DE). Presumably it was made in the 50s or early 60s.

plastic table lamp

100% plastic, in very nice egg colours.

Ericofon

Most people who try to sell an Ericofon put it up in the '70s design' section. That shows how incredibly innovative its design was. The first prototypes that incorporated the idea of a 'one piece phone' were created in the late 40s. In 1954 it went into production. The first years they were mostly sold to hospitals as its one piece design enabled people to dial whithout having to reach out of their beds. The remained popular for decades. Produced in many colours, and with slight design changes over the years, there is a group of avid collectors for these phones.

table lamp

Very stylish small plastic table lamp, by Yamada-Shomei.

tube lamp

Very nice office table lamp. These tube lamps come in many different sizes and designs. Made out of metal tubes.

4676 Portariviste

Famous magazine rack designed by Giotto Stoppino, 4676 Portariviste, produced by Kartell. There were versions with 4 and with 6 compartments. The one with four is still in production.

plastic vases

Set of plastic vases, made in France by Jacques Bédat. Simple yet elegant. The other set of four square based vases are designed by Serge Gevin.

fat lava

Typical technique of the late 60s and 70s; almost all fat lava vases are made in West and East-Germany. On the high end there are the very classy (and expensive) Roth vases, others are more affordable and usually a lot more common. Very 'retro'.

tupperware

Even some the tupperware designs areclearly influenced by the space age, like this 'Sputnik' salt and pepper set.