There isn’t much that shocks me anymore when it comes to 1940s kitsch. I grew up with a lot of it and saw even more when I prowled thrift stores. And there’s this … well, it looks like a drunken Atwater Kent wandered into a trophy shop and had a tryst with a loving cup.
Apparently, Abbotwares made a variety of horse radios, but my favorite is the Hula Girl radio, which is my new benchmark for horrifying yet fascinating decor.
Bidding on this item starts at $99.99. The vendor says it only pops and hums, but do you care?
ladailymirror.com 
Growing us in Kansas in the late 40’s early 50’s the environs were thronged with these horses …as radios, lamps, Statues, etc. likely ashtrays as well. While i cannot claim that I ever had innately good taste, I always thought these were complete trash. Only later, in NYC, did I acquire taste and realize that I had been correct in my first respionse.
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Not just Hetrodyne, but Super Hetrodyne.
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@Arye: AND AC/DC!!
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Oh,how I wished the women in the family had saved those silk/satin pillows brought back for mom’s, wives, and sweethearts at the end of WW II.
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I wouldn’t pay a hundred bucks for it, but I actually like that thing! (Yes, yes, pity me if you must.)
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My former mother-in-law’s house was a monument to kitsch (and not in a good way). My favorite piece? The dreaded “rain” lamp – like this one:
(rain provided courtesy of mineral oil that drips down monofilament threads)
Gack.
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@Pamela: Wow. I’m at a loss for words.
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Without the avocado green upholstered sofa and the black & gold flocked wallpaper, it loses a lot in translation, Larry. You’ll have to trust me 😉
If “Double Indemnity” had been set in Boca Raton in the 1970s, their place would have been *perfect* for the Dietrichson house.
Pamela
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@Pamela: I recall seeing black ceramic jaguar lamps with a shade made from what looked like venetian blinds.
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