couroc!
Before I say anything about Couroc, let me give you a little comic relief. Relief from what, I don’t know. Anyway, take a moment to get over the “wow, that’s what ebay used to look like!”, and then read this auction description. I’ll wait.
Wow, right? Funny man. Watched a lot of Mystery Science Theater 3000. But Couroc, despite what this description would have you believe, was actually a company that made black plastic trays, bowls, ice buckets, and other serving accouterments, popular mostly from the late 60’s and 70’s.
Couroc was born in 1948 to husband and wife (thank goodness they were married! there may have been a scandal) team Guthrie Sayle Courvoisier and Moira Wallace, the female part of which did much of the designing, while Guthrie developed the phenolic plastic resin, having worked with plastics during World War II. They were based in Monterey, California and made these black phenolic resin – not quite Bakelite, but from the same chemical family – serving pieces with wonderful whimsical designs of animals, plants, and other oddities, often inlaid with coins, wood, beads, and whatever else they thought would look good in a tray.
Instead of marking their pieces, Couroc items bore a sticker describing their products:
As we all know, stickers that we don’t want to come off often do, whereas that sticker for the shitty radio station your mom used to listen to just won’t come off your desk no matter how hard you try and all the kids make fun of you even though you didn’t listen to it and there’s nothing you can do about it. So there are some Couroc pieces running around (ha! can’t you just see them with little legs, running naked without their stickers!) without their stickers, but they’re usually unmistakably Couroc. They didn’t rise to the popularity or collectibility level of necessitating knockoffs.
Which is why they’re perfect for the collector without a lot of cash!
Neat, huh? You learned something new today. Even if you already knew all about Couroc. Because you had to have learned something new today somewhere.
October 11th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
[...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerpt This woman makes fun of my old couroc post on ebay… I don’t know about that ‘MST3K’ comment. Saved By: Phil Hollenback | View Details | Give Thanks Tags: funny, ebay, couroc, website, hollenback, blog [...]
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Wait a minute, “makes fun of”? I can’t believe it sounded like that – I mean, I had to read it like six or seven times before I stopped crying I was laughing so hard. This is a compliment. Those ebay listings made my day. Absolutely brilliant.
MST3K was the best show ever aired on television, and the sense of humor conveyed in these listings is very reminiscent of it. That’s all I’m saying. I loved them.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
i’m from monterey. many years ago when couroc went out of business, my husband bought a bunch of stuff from the couroc factory before it closed it’s doors. Trays, glasses, boxes, metal tracings(?) designs, coins, raw metal, all kinds of stuff. he even bought the office Christmas decorations. Let’s see, i think we also have their old paper cutter, a couple of file drawers (pink). i think he paid a lump sum of money then hauled all the stuff to our place, and here it sits. What should i do?
January 12th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
cathy, what an incredible find! That’s a tough question, though. For many iconic collectibles like Couroc, there exists a group of society that is sort of fanatical about them and would love to purchase your collection, but I couldn’t find any such group (though that doesn’t mean none exist). Are you looking to keep it, or sell it, or keep some things and sell others? If you’re looking to sell, I would try auction houses or antique stores first. You may even want to consider donating all or part of the collection to a local museum – the city of Monterey’s History & Art page would be a good start.
Good luck – I would LOVE to see some of it, so if you have pictures, send them to tvsjessica (at) gmail.com!
February 1st, 2009 at 11:41 am
Hello everyone,
Anyone know where I can get pictures of thier product line so I can find out about my tray. It is a bird serving tray and I know it is real. I have personally owned it for about 12 years. I know that my friends grandmother was the original owner but they don’t know anything about it and she passed on about 15 years ago. I don’t have a picture but will get one for someone who has info. I anm not sure if I want to sell it. I really like it.
August 23rd, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Hi Cathy from Jan. 9 ,2009 Would love any of those Couroc things from their factory. lvmonte777@hotmail.com ML Wilson PO Box 42305 Las Vegas,NV 89116
November 16th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Great site! I am loving it!! where do you get all this info from.
March 21st, 2010 at 9:56 am
Just came across your blog while looking for photos of Couroc pieces. I just bought a piece with an owl on Ebay and am trying to verify if it authentic. You mentioned that Courac was not marked, but just had a label. That is not correct. Our 2 pieces we bought in the late 70’s have an embossed Courac name on the back and the label. We bought them at the store in Monterey. The piece I bought on Ebay has what appears to be an authentic label but no embossed name. Just wondered if anyone knows about this discrepancy. We bought both our items as gifts, so we didn’t have any for years, but now both my aunt and mother-in-law have gifted them to us, so they are back on my shelves. Happy Couroc collecting!
April 14th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I have a curoc tray that was damaged during an earthquake – a little part of a corner was broken off. Do you have any knowledge of any place or person who can repair such an object? It was a present and I’m quite fond of it.
DV
June 13th, 2010 at 7:13 am
I love my couroc! I just got another one but is gloss is dull..I dont know how to rejuvinate. or is it not possible..
August 1st, 2010 at 1:28 pm
I use Simichrome and a soft cloth (cotton knit or flannel, etc.) to polish up my Couroc trays. It works great, and polishes both the surface of the hard resin plastic as well as any of the metal bits such as coins or inlay work that are in the center. After polishing, the tray looks lovely and the brass or other metal shines like it is brand new. After polishing, wash with a gentle mild soap to get the last of the residue off before using it for food. Where I live, Simichrome is available at hardware stores and at a local antique store, but the product itself is made in Germany, and the local US importer is Competition Chemicals, Inc., based in Iowa Falls, Iowa, phone number 641-648-5121 (info is from the package, a tube of Simicrhome).