Rose tinted spectacles and funky fish

Hi Folks,

This week has seen a flurry of activity here at Deadman Towers. On Monday Deadman ventured out of the county to Nottinghamshire for the day leaving me to my own devices. He returned with a batch of beautiful gold round eyes, some of which are already on our website.

We have recently splashed out on a tint bath, for ophthalmic lenses, (not my hair, although the time for that is very close, I fear.) On Friday Deadman was getting in the Halloween spirit mixing coloured concoctions in said tint bath. He presented me with a tray of beautiful pince nez and monocles. We now have pink, blue and green. The yellow and lilac are yet to come. Deadman junior has a plain red lens which looks like a boiled sweet. This could be good for tricks on grandparents and other unsuspecting relatives.

Our collage of the tinted lenses. 

This was a joint effort between myself and Deadman Junior, 

my technical advisor when it comes to using Picasa and Picnik.

Tinted monocle are now on the website here

On the domestic front, the sausages in lard have been duly placed in the vicar’s donation box in the church and the courgette is still producing, but not quite as vigorously as before.  The chickens have had an extension on their run. It was getting incredibly muddy and now they have a lovely patch of fresh grass, until they start scratching around on it.

On Saturday we met up with our friend Bunny Hooper and his two children at West Runton a great place for rock pools. The tide was in when we arrived so we took a stroll along the beach to Sheringham. Having company definitely speeds Deadman Junior along; he can be a very reluctant walker. 

Bunny and Deadman looking wise

After lunch on the terrace of the Funky Mackerel we headed back to West Runton. There was a camera crew out on the rocks and Deadman Junior was highly intrigued by this, he kept drifting out towards them only to be reeled back in landwards by his dad. When they returned to their van, I asked the question and discovered they were filming about a 17^th century Norwich man called Thomas Browne. Deadman Junior was impressed.

Bunny modelling the Arnold our Tart Arnel copy.

TTFN

Claire

Sausages for the vicar..

Hi There

Deadman Towers calling. We are currently enjoying some beautiful autumn sunshine here in Norfolk. I must go and cut the courgettes before the frost slays them. We have one beast of a plant which has taken over half of the bed and produced wholesale quantities of prize winning fruit. (Our neighbour’s son took some of them to his school harvest festival and won second prize.) Deadman junior’s school however, requested store cupboard goods only for a local food bank. I tried to sneak a can of sausages in lard presented to us by Deadman Sleeping (Granddad) into Deadman junior’s donations but I relented due to complaints about the humiliation of it all. I have plans for the can; the vicar requested further items for the food bank to be left at the rear of the church...

The offending article

On Saturday 6^th October Pensthorpe Wetlands and Nature Reserve (where they used to film Springwatch) ran their first vintage fair. It is very local to us, so we went to have a recce to find out if it would be a suitable place for Dead Men’s Spex to have a stall. We met several of our neighbours and saw a wide range of vintage vehicles including tractors, motorbikes and a lovely little Morris Minor. There was also an impressive display of stationary engines. (I, in my ignorance, had never heard of these until I moved to Norfolk.) They are what it says, engines which do not move and are used to power tools and pumps etc. Deadman junior was highly impressed with these, many  were pumping water into a tub containing ducks, one was even rigged up to 1970’s brown toilet! Deadman junior and I went on the swing chairs ride and Deadman was our official photographer.

A stationary engine

Us on the 1950's swing chairs- they went fast, honest.

We enjoyed our visit but decided that vintage covers a wide range of subjects and in this case, the emphasis was on vehicles not period fashion, so we will not be having a stall there.

Many happy returns... toot,toot!

Hi Folks,

Mrs Deadman here.

I have taken up the baton of blog writer for Dead Men's Spex. I was alarmed to see that a year had whizzed past since our last post. I would like to update everyone as to the chicken status at Dead Men’s Towers. The Deadman won! He joined forces with our neighbour and now we have 3 chickens on the allotment. Initially they were very good at dutifully producing eggs but now the supply has dwindled to a big fat zero! Apparently, this is down to them moulting, We could make a feather bed, or at least, a pillow, from the feathers wafting around their pen. That would be very “make do and mend”! I have had to resort to buying eggs from the neighbour who initially supplied the birds, much to his delight.

Turning now to glasses, we have had a busy summer and three good shows; Twinwoods, Little Vintage Lover Fair  and Sheringham 1940’sweekend.  It was lovely to see so many of you again and to enjoy a rain free Twinwoods, something of a luxurious novelty.

 The man himself ready to greet you at Twinwoods!

And again, modelling a customer's Bugatti racing hat with 

integral goggles.

Do you not think that he bears a remarkable resemblance to 

Mr Toad?

As autumn is here, Deadman is now settling back into his rightful place in the workshop. We have just received a delivery of gents’ frames, so look out for them on our website.

Dead Men's Spex in the Oldie

Polaroid Heritage Sunglasses - harking back to a more elegant time

Dead Men’s Spex are now stocking the 1940s and 1950s frames from the Polaroid Heritage range.These are styled on original Polaroid models from the period.

The Marilyn from the 1950’ - a legendary Polaroid style
Cat eye frames lift the face and lighten the features. No wonder fashionistas of the mid-50s loved this look. In handmade acetate, this reproduction is true to the original, in hot pink or ebony black



The Broadway from the 1950s
These late 1950s sunglasses are hand-crafted to perfection. Recreated with the latest laser technology in two-tone acetate, this style exudes all the authenticity and drama of the Polaroid original. Available in white/grey and black/white.

The Swing from the 1940s

Like good music, these 1930s Polaroid sunglasses lift the soul. Crafted in translucent handmade acetate, the organic, flowing style has inspired many designers over the decades. And this Polaroid classic is where the story began.

Take a look at Dead Men's Spex for full details of colours/sizes and prices. Stock is limited so get them while you can

Disjointed jottings from the Deadman's desk

Hi, it's been a busy old month at Dead Men's Spex. What with Hemsby Rock n Roll weekender and and the lure of the Norfolk Festival, time in the workshop has had to be well used.

Those of you who keep an eye on the website will have hopefully noticed a new uniformity to the frame photo's now I am the proud owner of a mini-studio. It all sounds very posh and I love the look on people's faces when I tell them I have one, little do they know that is really equates to a large white polyester box with a back drop in it. Although simple in design and execution it is very effective at evening the light out and making the object that you are photographing stand out. I can highly recommend the use of one to anyone needing to sell small items online.

On the spectacle front those of you who follow me on Facebook will be aware that I have had a large amount of NHS geek frames come into my possession. The preparation of these for the website is my target over the next couple of weeks so keep a look out on the site as they never last long.

On a more exotic note, those of you who love the more glamorous and elegant elements of 1950's design can see a number of 1950's Anodised Aluminium Tura frames at Dead Men's Spex. These are a set of salesman's samples that had been locked away in the demo box for over 50 years and are really indicative of all that was good with "the atomic age".

TTFN

DMS

A long time passing - or honey I forgot to blog

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not very good at this blogging thing. The time span between the last one and now is too long, but in my defence, Professor Brian Cox would probably ask “what is time?” and I’m not going there (not without a stout pair of walking shoes and a lomo lens).

What happens is life. So many things draw on my time, from sourcing new stock, preparing it for sale and processing orders to the sun luring me away to the allotment and Deadman Junior demanding another game of Sonic. All this without mentioning the secret allure of “Bargain Hunt” – purely for research of course, I need to see what spectacles Tim Wonnacott is wearing to stay on trend, I swear.

Life is just one big carnival.

With spring well and truly here in North Norfolk, with temperatures in double digits, the lure of the outside is getting hard to resist. I’m lucky in that I work from two workshops at the house so on fine days the doors are thrown open so it’s almost like working outside. We have our summer shows agreed and although we are not doing many this year the ones we are doing are quality ones with a good track record. Take a look at the website for a full list.

For any of you who know North Norfolk, Deadman Towers is not far from the town of Holt, home of many vintage outlets and things of interest. The Deadman has persuaded Bunny Hooper to write a small piece on Holt for uploading in the near future. This should cover everything from his favourite vintage barber to his outfitter of choice and all things in between.

I’m presently filling the spare time I have with a bee-keeping course with the aim of hives for our allotment. Unlike the chickens (which are still a wish-bone of contention) Mrs Deadman likes the idea of bees – something to do with family traditions and the honey coated memories of helping her Grand-dad spin the honey combs in the centrifuge. I am now the proud owner of a bee-keeping suit that wouldn’t look out of place boarding the space shuttle.

Future candidate for the Deadman’s hives.

Maybe it will also legitimise a bit of vintage collecting as I’m going to needs some pots to keep all that lovely honey in. Now there's a thought..............

TTFN
Deadman