Travel back in time in Transatlantic Style

Located just a few doors south of the Seattle Art Museum, Transatlantic Style is a study in art-deco elegance.

Peek in the store windows and you'll spy stacks of travel-worn leather suitcases, fleets of silver zeppelins and Rudolph Valentino's unforgettable face staring out from a wall-size blowup of a movie-magazine cover. Step inside the door and the sweet strains of Rudy Vallee or Duke Ellington waft from a vintage-looking radio/phonograph. Suddenly, you're overtaken by an overwhelmingly desire for a manhattan ... and perhaps a rubber or two of bridge — with Bette Davis.

Opened just over a year ago by John Barkhurst, Transatlantic Style carries all manners of vintage and reproduction gift items that celebrate both art-deco design and the golden age of travel.

Looking for a cocktail shaker to complement your upcoming "Thin Man" film festival? Yearning for a solid rotary-dial phone to balance out the hours you spend on your razor-thin cell? Need a getaway cruise but can afford only the chic travel poster? Transatlantic Style has got you covered.

"The idea for the store really came from a love of collecting this kind of stuff," says Barkhurst. "I've always had an interest in the early part of the 20th century. It's probably the single fastest growing century that mankind ever experienced as far as technology goes. We just grew in leaps and bounds."

His interest in the history of the art deco age — an era of 20-pound telephones and lightweight plastic radios, slow-moving ocean liners and fast-talking movie idols — was enhanced during his days as tour guide and museum manager aboard the RMS Queen Mary.

Barkhurst, in fact, readily admits that even today, he occasionally falls back into his old role.

"When people come into my store, the tour guide in me comes out," he says. "I love talking about the era and giving people a background on the items."

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AUTHENTIC MODELS

Authentic Models 1930s-style cocktail shaker ($50 to $200).

His most popular items include antique shelf and mantle clocks ($100 to $400), digitally-enlarged prints from pulp magazines like Thrilling Detective Stories, Motion Picture Magazine, Amazing Stories, etc. from 45th Street Editions ($15 to $300), and vintage telephones ($150-$300) that Barkhurst refurbishes and rewires himself. Other sleek treats include Crosley vintage-style radio/phonographs ($150 to $400), Authentic Models 1930s-style cocktail shakers ($50 to $200), Frank Art-style desk lamps ($80 to $250), various and sundry stationery items, card sets, address books and baggage stickers.

In short, there's something for everyone, both connoisseur and casual collector.

"It seems that you always see either an antique store that deals in original collectibles or a new store that deals in new reproduction items only," says Barkhurst. "I thought having a mix would make it more interesting. It would give you more of a variety of products to carry and also covers more people's budgets. Some people like original design of vintage items but can't quite afford them. They can get a reproduction for much less and still enjoy the style."

And when it comes to art deco, that distinctly modern style is what it's all about.

"Things today are too plain," says Barkhurst. "You go out to get a radio or a stereo and it's a square box with no ornamentation whatsoever. That's what's nice about the art deco movement. It was the last great design movement that depended upon and glorified craftsmanship."

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