Swank-A-Rama Swap Meet

Hello Friends! It's almost time for our first Swank-A-Rama Swap Meet! We had so much fun 

with our Yard Sale Event in the Spring, that we decided it would be even more fun to invite other vintage modern vendors to a do a larger event of 20Th century modern items exclusively.

We are looking forward to sharing our warehouse lot with other vendors and opening our warehouse to showcase some of our own items. We will also have some special sale prices on many of our items!

Come by and visit us for the fun! And for all of the foodies, there will also be a Food Truck Event right around the corner from us that you can walk to and enjoy some of the best St. Louis Food Truck Fare. Great Vintage Modern and Great Food:  What more do you need? 

The Modern Vintage Patio

The joy of gathering with friends and family on the patio or deck to enjoy appetizers, cocktails, or a meal when the weather is nice has never changed. There is something about enjoying friends and family outdoors that makes the experience even nicer.


If you love modern vintage furniture, why not carry that style into your outdoor furniture as well? It seems these outdoor pieces are harder to come by, mostly because these pieces were subject to the elements for so many years. Unless they were in a covered area, most of them have rust and cushions which are completely worn out. It's rare to find anything which doesn't need a lot of TLC to restore them. 


On occasion we come across some great outdoor pieces which are in surprisingly great condition. Currently we have some of these pieces featured on our home page with special pricing. 

Vintage Sun Ray Outdoor Lounge with Original Painted Tropical Design

When we discovered this piece I imagined this wonderful lounge being enjoyed while sipping Iced Tea or a favorite iced cocktail. Add a great novel to read, and this piece is a little slice of heaven! 

In an age without air conditioning outdoor entertaining and enjoyment was a way to make the best of hot summers. Enjoying the outdoors poolside or on the patio under the shade of umbrellas made way for fun and colorful designs of all kinds of outdoor furniture and accessories. Modern furniture design was not lost on the outdoors either.

Vintage Salterini Chairs with Bullet Planter

Vintage Russell Woodard Scultura Settee

Designs by Russell Woodard and Salterini were highly desirable through the 1950's and '60's and are still collected today because of their sleek modern lines. They emulated  top designs of indoor furniture and accessories of the mid-century modern era. 


Perhaps the most fun element of color and design was portrayed in the patio umbrellas of this era. In contrast to the single colored fabric market umbrellas of today, these umbrellas were made of bold and bright designs in durable vinyls and even fiberglass and metals. They were bright pops of color throughout multiple neighborhood swim clubs, country clubs, and motel poolsides. 

Heavy Duty Modern Design

Perhaps the most fun aspect of these umbrella emerged in the 1960's with the groovy pop culture of everything bright, powerful, and flower power was everywhere. The bright floral undersides of these big vinyl umbrellas were the rage, and no color combination seemed off limits. 

I did say ANY Color Combination?

This was found in it's original box and packing Never Used! Bring IT Home Today!

This is also available!

These crazy florals speak for themselves. Coming across some of these in new mint condition was a fun find. They can be a bright fun piece of nostalgia that will be a show stopper at your next outdoor gathering. 

Even planters had a great modern look in this era. The bullet planters made of fiberglass had great lines and complimented the modern furniture of the times. Interestingly enough, they are still made today in an array of bright colors, but there is nothing like having a vintage original!

The Classic Modern Bullet Planter is a must for your vintage modern patio!

We had never seen bullet planters like the two above with the Danish Modern design bases in walnut with brass colored aluminum rings. The few we had were immediately scooped up by a collector who had to have them all. I can not say that I blame him, but I actually miss them. This is the trouble of course of being a dealer. You obviously can not keep everything, and you get to see and recycle so many great vintage modern finds. The time always comes to part with them, and it isn't always easy.

So in parting my friends, if you have not already dusted off your patio furniture and set up your outside oasis of cool vintage finds, it's time. Time to also look for something to add to your collection!

Here are a few fun vintage poolside and patio pictures to inspire you!

Vintage Patio Books Are Always Great Inspiration!

Spring Cleaning Modern Style!

Heavenly Days Set

Sputnik Needing TLC

It's the time of year after months of cooler weather that has kept us inside more, that mid-westerners look around their crowded spaces and say, "This s#@! has got to go!" For those of you who love to see the inspiration in a project, only to get too overwhelmed by the multitude of projects you have taken on, you will take joy in knowing that although we want you to think we are a perfect company that has perfect organization, we too often take on too much.

So what do people do in the mid-west when it's time to clean out and get inspired? Have a Yard Sale! (Or in our case, have a Parking Lot sale!) Yes, our warehouse space was busting at the seams with well intended projects to do, and just not enough time or space to do all of them. So we rolled up our sleeves this week, uncovered the project piles, and picked our best ones to keep, and then priced and organized the rest for a HUGE Saturday Sale in our warehouse parking lot.

Great Pole Lamp Needing New Plug

Needless to say, we were amazed at how many things we had that we were ready to let someone else take on and call their own projects! From Sputnik and pole lamps, to Lane side tables, dish sets, and even a sectional sofa, we had a little bit of everything in the modern vintage category to give our customers a fun shopping experience. 

We were determined to keep it all as simple as possible, and to not get too caught up in perfection. This of course is the beauty of a yard sale. No one really is paying attention to your inept merchandising. In fact, I was barked at by my business partner as we were setting up at 0-dark hours in the morning on Saturday to stop my neurotic "fluffing" of items and to just get it all out before the eager yard sale early birds were upon us!

Milo Baumann Style Chair

And they came! At 6:30am as the birds chirped and the sun rose over the South City skyline, they came ready to be first at the sale, and to get the best of our cast off treasures. Like the island of mis-fit toys, our mis-fit modern treasures were scooped up by eager buyers from all over the STL area hunting for great deals and projects they could call their own. The Yard Sale Weather Gods shined upon us with great spring weather and sunshine, making the day seem all the more promising. 

As we watched the eager faces of our customers as they found things which inspired them, and were able to share some of our nicer treasures in our finished warehouse space, we had more and more fun. Meeting other people who get as geeked as we do about the hunt for cool vintage modern finds, and hearing their stories of conquests for their vintage modern treasure hunts so fat that day, made all of the work seem more like a party of friends. We met some of our neighbors who always wondered what we did at our warehouse, as well as countless other people who love searching for their own perfect vintage modern finds too. From re-sellers to bloggers to everyday bargain hunters, we had them all. Everyone seemed to be in a buzz of fun. If it were happy hour time, the only thing missing would be cocktails and appetizers! (Hummm…now that would be a fun sale!)

Pr Of DM Lamps Needing TLC

All in all, it was a great day and we were able to say goodbye to many things that others can now enjoy for themselves, as we start with a freshened attitude and cleaner, more uncluttered space to take on the projects we decided to keep.

So next time your work space seems a bit too much to think straight and you want to make a few extra dollars getting organized again, have a Yard Sale!

Old School Lawn Chairs!

Thank you to all of our customers who were patient with us as we calculated their sales and tried to function on little sleep that day. You were all great fun!

Special Thanks also Chris from Mr. Modtomic and Nick from Mid-Century Midwest

for talking us up and your purchases. You can visit their blogs by clicking on their linked names.

To visit our complete web site store visit us at http://www.rocketcentuy.com