This door belongs to the Christ Episcopal church, in Greenwich, South Carolina. I’m not positive what sort of look the painters were going for when they chose the royal purple for the door, but I love that unexpected inclusion of colour and energy into religious life. For something which is essentially meant to be so joyful and life affirming, people can sometimes get quite stifled in tradition and things which are really boring … not like this door though! Awesome. And no holds have been barred – the handles are painted a wonderful ocean blue.

Photo credits: Old door by Valorie Beaman

We had a look recently at some gorgeous, kitsch and quite funny Victorian door knob notes that were a modern twist on traditional style … The door knob notes that Sacramento officials have recently come up with are a lot more serious, and more important in many ways.

The city of Sacramento in America is quite prone to flooding, and with the effects of global warming creating a much wetter global climate, people are having to deal with floods much more often. The city has come up with a ‘Safely Out’ kit, which includes door knob note which people can place on their front doors to let emergency services workers know whether the residents inside the house are in need of help, or the workers should move on to someone who is in worse trouble. An excellent idea and a great way to improve efficiency and waste less time in emergency situations. These knob notes should be great for people who live in earthquake prone areas also.

Our only critical thought is that they are hardly styled with any class or elegance, are they?! Perhaps you could make your own, to suit your home’s colour scheme and decorating theme :-)

Well, we have said it before, that you only know that something has real value when somebody else in the world thinks it is worth stealing! It has been reported that gangs across Britain have been stealing brass and other items – tens of millions of pounds worth – in order to feed a growing demand for metals in India and China, as their construction industries boom.

We are not talking about a few isolated incidents here, of things that are unusual to steal, but not inconceivable (like, for instance, a traditional and well-made door knob!). Apparently these thefts are on an absolutely huge scale – there have been so many people missing door knobs, door knockers, letter plates, and other items from the fronts of heir houses, that police now have a special task force to deal with it and all officers have been alerted to the problem.

Thieves have also been stealing much more exotic things in their thirst for metals … lead is in huge demand, and in Britain where olden-style lead rooves are fairly common, over one summer 19 schools in the Midlands had their rooves stolen!. A formerly happy bus shelter, which used to provide protection from the rain for hundreds of kids and grown ups, was also brutally stolen, burnt alive and sadistically reformed into building materials!

(more…)

You have probably heard the well-documented fact that one in seven door handles contains traces of semen … and it is all the more believable if this is one of those door handles!

This unique piece has found its way into our collection through sheer good humour, and willingness to try something a little out of the ordinary. Whoever the lucky purchaser ends up being, we can imagine several scenarios that will ensue …

They will hear just about every lewd double entendre possible regarding their ‘knob’
You can just imagine … there will be all sorts of jokes about your knob’s placement in relation to your knocker … whether it is pointing upwards or downwards … how easy it is to grasp … and how hard the alloy is!

The number of traveling salespeople and religious preachers knocking on the door will dramatically decrease
How many Mormons do you imagine will willingly put their hand to that to enter a house? Do you think many of them would even knock after they had seen it? No doubt they would regard you as a lost cause, or perhaps even a source of evil contamination, and run a mile! Although it may be more effective if it were made as a knocker, as then everybody would have no choice but to touch it to alert you to the fact they were outside.

Then again, perhaps they would become more determined to save your wicked, wicked soul!

You will have many fewer visits from your in-laws, and much more scurrilous gossip about you!
It takes a will of iron (and a something else of bronze …!) to put up with what would be said about you behind your back for having this on your front door. Let it roll off like water off a duck’s back … know that the Good Lord made them … and laugh all the harder every time you come home!

Failing that, mount it to your garage wall and enjoy the laughs without the gossip!

(more…)

We do realise, this post has only the most tenuous of links to door and door hardware … but we couldn’t resist writing about anything with so fascinating a name as ‘The Door County Fish Boil’!

Some of you may feel differently … but for me personally, not being a fish eater, it conjures up an immediate acrid feeling in my nostrils and a rolling in my stomach, listening to the name. Knowing that the chef in this event (which is supposedly a culinary masterpiece!) is known as the boil-master makes me feel like I would be present at some sort of sadistic satanic ritual – no offense meant!

Looking at these photos, at first I thought that the whole pit made with bricks was used to contain the fish and water … but on closer inspection I noticed that the chef would have actually been standing in the cooking pot then. Oops!

Firstly, they add potatoes and onions to the water – apparently purists (from the early days of this tradition in the logging camps) say that only salt should be used as a seasoning … anything else is just a bit too modern (and here we sympathise, being from the traditional school ourselves). The fish and other veges are added – Great Lakes whitefish is used in this example, but presumably even purists allow you to use other species! When the veges are soft enough and the fish is done, kerosene is thrown onto the fire – the water boils over and the oils burn away, leaving only the fish and veges. After they serve it they use butter for flavour, instead of having fish oil. I don’t mind the sound of that … and rye bread is also mandatory.

Hence, the fine but stinky classical tradition of the Door County Fish Boil!

Photo credits: Exploring Door County - The Fish Boil