I have been biting my tongue but . . .  

Heath,
that kind of forensics I can get into!

Heath
I don't know whether your post was addressed to me, but just in case I wasn't clear, I'm not talking about "kudos or the short-lived thrill of collecting 'names'".
I'm talking about discovering, for example, that my mixing bowls were designed by Koen de Winter, then reading his posts here and learning how the bowls were designed and why he made the decisions he did, not to mention seeing how much thought goes into his designs. I mean... Who knew, before Koen casually mentioned it, that French chefs are taught to pour with a different motion than Germans are, so saucepan handles must be located in a different place for each group?
I find that sort of information interesting. It makes me want to seek out other items that he's designed... Like maybe that mortar-and-pestle of his that Olive likes so much.

.
Just a general comment, not targeted.

I have an new found appreciation...
for YOU Olive...and I don't even drink wine.
I see and appreciate both sides though. I have bought pieces I knew NOTHING about at the time only to find out they were "something" but that just served as flattery to my own "eye". But, as a designer myself, I do love a good background story on who's who and their what what. It also makes me, as fastfwd introduced, makes me want to seek out other what what who who did and see if it has a similar je ne suis what. That being said, I've also enough cojones to admit not liking something even if it is by said who who. Somethings are famous for anything BUT the right reasons.
I think we're on the same page here folks, we are design addicts, but some take it even a step further and seek a deeper understanding of the who behind the what. I'm a firm believer that if the tool (product) is great, how much more the thought and understanding of the maker behind said tool (product).
anyway, carry on...

ALL-DESIGNER, ALL-THE-TIME
Riki,
Yes that time is now. Even the most insignificant item in my home is of the highest quality. The "lap of luxury" is a good place to sit.
I would rather drink Missoni meets Pellegrino (special packaging to the trade only and me) from Baccarat crystal than cheap wine from jelly glasses. To each their own!

snob
sounds like snobbishness to me. i thought before that certain posters were snobs ... now i'm sure of it.
i love my designer pieces, but i also love some my of my eclectic pieces that were designed by whoever. i may have more "name" pieces if finances allowed, but i have a feeling it would only be after i searched and dug to find them the same way i do right now. can't see myself ever going out to pay retail or gallery prices for stuff. those of you that can and do ... more power to you. hope your portfolio never collapses.

the "Ark"
cannot possibly be real; kudos to his puppet-master for producing such a long-running and consistent parody!

Who pays retail?
I don't know anyone who does...
When I had to do an inventory for insurance purposes, I discovered that on average I'd paid 35% of retail for my collection of new and vintage furniture. Ark says he pays even less -- something like 25% -- and it seems from his posts that most of what he buys is new. I'm sure that former dealers like Riki do even better than that at antique fairs and design markets, and of course the current dealers get the best deals of all (if you ignore the other costs of running a business, anyway).
I agree with you, Dave; no matter how much money I had, I'd feel foolish paying full retail if I didn't have to.

Good design for all
Interesting reading all the posts about designer
furniture here. I grew up in a fifties home built
by my Dad who was a carpenter/joiner. It had
built in breakfast bar, etc and floor to ceiling
windows in the lounge room.
Now, I live in a sixties apartment full of Australian
MCM stuff, some designer, some thrift shop and
all enjoyed because I love the aesthetic. I'm not
a purest, I don't wanna live in a museum and my
stuff will never be more important than my family
and friends. But, I do understand the excitement
of the hunt, the desire to know the history of an
object, etc.
I guess we all have different reasons
for our design passions, but every time I look at
my Douglas Snelling sideboard it makes me think
of my Dad, the house I grew up in and a time when
good design was seen as something that should be
available to everybody.

I do not like to sit on the fence...
but in this case I could argue both sides. When I studied design the dominant ideology was that showing a designer's names on products was a distorsion of the facts. Design was a collaborative effort in which design, engineering, marketing etc worked together toward a common goal of making a well designed, high quality product that was attractive for many and accesible. We knew of course of Charles Eames (I happened to see him at Expo 58 in Brussels directing people in setting up his picture display), and many other american designers, We knew all the Danish furniture designers, but we also knew of all the anonymous designs (Kaj Franck at Arabia prefered not to be mentioned as the designer of his products) but our generation certainly wanted to stay out of the public's attention. It was'nt until we started working with Copco, that Sam Farber suggested that my name should be put on the products I designed. I accepted onder condition that it would include the names of the general manager, the production manager etc....just another way to say no. Eventually we did and just by "misfortune" it became my first (and only) product in the design collection of the MoMA. I still think it is a form of misrepresentation even for products I designed without technical or other assistance.
On the other hand I am very much in favour of making emotional connections to products. Not that products are or should be that important in our lives but given the importance they seem to generate, I suspect that any emotional link, will provoke a few reactions: make us maintain them better, repair them when broken, be more careful and discard them much later...if ever. From a perspective of a durable culture, these are all positive attitudes or reactions. Of course emotional links do not have to include the design's origin, but if it is, I see it as positive. If it is the joy of beauty and function so be it. If it is the story of former owners, why not. Anything that can change our attitude of just consuming and consuming in accelerating rate, is fine with me. So...I will keep telling my story, not because it is important, but maybe, just maybe it can lengten the time my products are kept in use. I suspect that the dumps would be a lot smaller if we looked at them as an incredible amount of stories...This time I will stay on the fence to have a better look at an interesting discussion

Following on....
The benefits for the planet from re-using our designer
objects are many. The famous chair designer Grant Featherston, according to his wife Mary, stopped making chairs because he thought the world didn't need anymore. Almost every item in our place is secondhand, dishes, cutlery, furniture and even the t.v. With so much great vintage design to choose from it seems crazy not to recycle. Better for the environment and a great way of preserving our design history.