My Vintage Soul

Let's Give 'Em Something to Talk About

I think my recent vintage Christmas finds are talking about me. They think I might have outdone myself this time.

Said one pretty Christmas head planter to the other: "Have you seen it?"

"I know," said the other one. "It's so big, so ridiculous."

The Gurley choir is buzzing too.

"Can you believe it?" sang the choir boys to the choir girls.

"It's so flashy," the girls sang back.

The spaghetti Santas can't get over it, either.

"Ho ho ho. How do you think she got that thing home?"

Even the nativity set has something to say: "It's rather gaudy, don't you think?"

Well, is it? Let's take a full view of the situation.

And there, you have it: An 1950-ish electric candle that I couldn't ignore. It's nearly 18 inches tall and adorned with gold netting, silver leaves and a big hot pink bow. It's kind of the Vegas showgirl of Christmas decor.

What is it that they say? Go big or go home. Well, I went big, and after buying this, I went home. 

P.S. There's still time to enter my Town Cleanup giveaway. Leave a comment on the previous post to win everything in the final two photos, plus a few more treasures that I'll throw in. The deadline is midnight Friday.

Week Seven: In Review and a Giveaway

Another Town Cleanup has come and gone, and this is what I found during the final week: a small Christmas tree (destined for some type of project), a cute metal shelf and a suitcase.

And, oh yeah, a few vintage Christmas ornaments, which I will never, ever understand why someone would throw away.

It was a fitting ending, because I also found Christmas ornaments during the first week of Town Cleanup.

The suitcase has a charming label.

But I grabbed it for its more charming interior. The pattern is a small open check.

So, to sum it all up. Town Cleanup 2013 was an average year. Some weeks were better than others of course, because I did find vintage Christmas. But there were also a few weeks when it was hard to find anything good.

 

I've gathered some of the items that I found, plus a few more odds and ends. They include the plastic reindeer (week one), some patterns for baby clothes, a box of embroidery floss, a box of wrapping paper and the prayer coloring book (all from week three).

Plus this sweet little silhouette (week four). It's not in the best condition but I'm sure some vintage-loving home will take it in.

To win it all, leave me a comment before midnight Friday.

Week Six: What Happiness Is

I was happy to find a bit of vintage Christmas at a neighborhood garage sale.

Especially because the ornaments were those sweet little Shiny Brites.

But I was happier a few hours later, when I found even more vintage Christmas at a church garage sale.

Happiness came times two.

And three and four.

Of course there were all those ornaments, too.

Jewel Brites, Polish indents and a few more Shiny Brites.

There was also a single standout.

I have seen lots of these candolier-style lights, but never one with an angel on it. Now that I have, I just might have to keep it.

Getting this haul required a bit of stamina (waiting in line and waiting out a heavy downpour) and taking full advantage of my extra-long reach. Well, I was first in line, so I did get as much as I could as quickly as I could.

Mr. VS is amused because he says I have become one of those grabby people that I complain about. Maybe so, but it's not often that I am in the right place at the right time and that the vintage Christmas gods shine so brightly upon me.

And I know that very quickly, my luck can change.

Case in point: This is all I found during week six of Town Cleanup. So it's been three weeks of pretty slim pickings just in case you're keeping track of my roadside treasure hunt.

The final week is coming up. Here's hoping that my luck will turn again for the better.

Week Four: Mostly Two by Two

Over the years, I have learned not to expect much from some weeks of Town Cleanup, our annual curbside treasure hunt. Let's just say that there are areas that have more potential for picking and others, well, not so much. This week's cleanup covers one such area. It's a section of homes, where, in the words of Mr. VS, there are more "blower-uppers" than "fixer-uppers."

So it helps to have a backup plan, which for me, was a rummage sale and two estate sales. But I did get a couple of these things from the side of the road. See if you can guess which ones.

As you can see from the photo above, things came to me in twos, but I didn't plan it that way.

But first, let me say a word about the basket, which was $3 at an estate sale, and sadly, there weren't two of them.

Yes, it is.

Big Santa, which is an early blow mold, and little Santa, an ornament, came from the rummage sale.

As did these 1960s felt Christmas stockings.

Also in the Christmas theme, two plastic nativities,

a gathering of plastic deer

and a single reflector tree-topper that still works.

From the housewares department: Two Fire King bowls with painted fruit designs.

Two oddly charming wall hangings that consist of a half cup on a plate. Judging from the dirt that was inside of them, I think  that they might have been planters.

I think these were my favorite find. They're napkin holders with crocheted covers. I've seen this design often on pot holders. Just think how cute they might be holding some red gingham napkins.

From the ladies accessories aisle: Two souvenir scarves.

Based on the style of the swimwear, I think this one is from the 1940s or 50s. By the way, that guy seems to be a little on the skinny side, doesn't he? Perhaps he got a little sand kicked in his face ...

and pumped a little iron to beef up some?

And finally, some single standouts:

A silhouette that's seen better days, but I hope it can be salvaged.

And a real, honest-to-good feed sack. Or maybe I should say seed sack. Birdsfoot trefoil is planted in pastures for grazing.

So did you guess which items were found in the trash?

That would be the larger nativity (marked Shiny Brite) and that little silhouette. Of course I had to rescue it.

 

My Pink Kitchen

My mother-in-law, whose house was built in 1956, has a pink kitchen: pink countertops, pink stove, and when it still worked, there was even a pink refrigerator.

Maybe I didn't realize that I was envious until I came across my own pink kitchen at a recent estate sale.

It's always 10 after 6 in my pink kitchen, but you can come over anytime.

In fact, I'll make you a milkshake.

with the very retro-looking, jadite-colored Hamilton Beach milkshake maker that I found at a recent rummage sale.

Don't worry if you can't finish that milkshake. We'll put what's left in the refrigerator and

wash the dishes in the sink.

I guess I like my pink kitchen nice and tidy, just like my mother-in-law's.

Week Three: Blue Willow, Beistle, the Bible and More

I didn't happen upon a huge honey hole during week three of Town Cleanup. Instead I came home with some finds that seemed to have the letter "B" in common. I certainly wasn't looking just for B items, but here we go: 

1. Blue willow china. Most of the plates were broken so I grabbed some serving pieces, including a gravy boat.

2. A 1954 (mostly uncolored) coloring book filled with Bible stories and verses.

3. Two Beistle tissue paper turkeys, which I almost didn't pick up. I have a few of these already and I assumed that they were just like the other ones.

Well I was wrong. This design, with a rainbow of pinked edges is nothing like the others, which made me very glad that I grabbed them.

And what else? Well, I'm all out of B's, so let's move onto P's, as in patterns. They seemed like an appropriate find because last year in this same area, I came upon a big box of feedsack fabric. (And, yes, I went back to that house and nothing was out front. I guess they got rid of all the good stuff last year.)

There were patterns for boys' clothes.

And patterns for pajamas, playclothes and baby layettes.

And patterns for Halloween costumes. By the way, did you know that you can make a doctor's costume and a Santa Claus suit from the same pattern? Me neither.

And some patterns for pretty dresses.

And speaking of patterns, these were the patterns of the wrapping paper that I found underneath the sewing patterns, which were in a box. The paper is very thin, almost like tissue paper.

A few closeups:

A baby print and

a sassy-looking shower lady.

And that was all that I found. How was your junking weekend?

Week Two: A Good Pile

I didn't have much hope of finding anything good during week two of Town Cleanup. It had rained all week, and the early junk was non-existent. When I woke up this morning, there was even a light coating of snow on the ground and the skies were gray. But around noon, the sun came out, the snow melted, and out I ventured, hoping for a good day of picking.

I drove away from the subdivisions and into the country, hoping for my favorite kind of pile, which would be next to an old house or barn.

And there it was.

Damn the Purell, I started to dig.

My first find was a vintage cellophane Christmas wreath. And, yes, it works. Of course I kept digging.

Next up was a super-heavy and slightly chippy plaster horse plaque.

Then a pretty rose plate, some tiny heart-shaped blue buttons and a celluloid frame.

And speaking of plates ...

Two pink plates and a couple of pieces of pink Fire King. The piece on the left is a small bowl. On the right is the lid to a sugar bowl. Unfortunately this was all the Fire King that I could find intact. There were several broken pieces on the ground, which made me sad. 

But the plates turned out to be just the right size to fit on a metal rack that I found at a different spot.

I was kind of suprised to find the rack because I rarely find anything metal anymore. The scrappers always beat me to it.

But back to the good pile ...

There were lots of old canning gars and some interesting bottles scattered around. These are two of my favorites. The green one is from a local company, Onondaga Soda Water. I love the checkerboard pattern.

The amber one has the coolest pattern of spider webs on it. I Googled it and it's a Prohibition-era whiskey bottle. Apparently, this brand was one of a handful that were allowed to be sold for "medicinal" reasons. The lid of the bottle is actually a tin shot glass. 

And still from that pile: A 1952 coffee pot, creamer and sugar bowl from Earnest Sohn, who designed a line of midcentury housewares. I didn't find all the pieces together. First I saw the creamer and then the sugar bowl, and finally, the coffee pot. The knobs are brass and I just might polish them up a bit.

Anything else?

Well, yes, there was.

A vintage suitcase. Ordinary enough on the outside.

But, yowza, get a load of the inside. It's hot pink although it seems to be photographing more red.

It's a good reminder that you can never judge the inside by the outside. Kind of like a big pile of junk by the side of the road.

Week One: The Debate

With Spring Cleanup comes the annual Spring Cleanup debate. As in, should I or shouldn't I drag this item home?

Sometimes there is little, or in the case of this thing, no debate.

It did not come home with me. And, no, I didn't even peek at what was inside, so I don't know if it  could have resulted in "a good time." But I will be sure to remember this house as the one with the rather strange sense of humor that likes to set booby traps for pickers.

And there was no debate when at a different house I found an old ornament box inside of a plastic bag. Could there actually be some old ornaments in there, too?

Well, yes, there were. I kept digging and there they were at the bottom of the bag.

Other items require so much debate that they disappear as I try to decide.

Consider the empty space in the middle of the photo. There had been a steamer trunk there on Friday night. It was a lovely thing, with lots of drawers, but  it was a bit of an albatross, too. What the heck would I do with it? So, I drove on. By Saturday morning, when I swung back to take a picture of it, it was gone.

I did, however, snap a quick photo of a sticker on one of the other trunks, and I imagined  a voyage in July of 1960 from Liverpool, England, to Syracuse, via Montreal. I suspect that First Class on the S.S. Carinthia was probably a notch above a Carnival cruise.

And, finally, there are items that after I debate them, I finally take a leap of faith.

When I saw this, my first thought was that it was someone's bad 1960s craft project.

Make that very bad craft project. 

But after removing several straight pins, some sequins and a lot of ugly plastic holly, I have these little doodads for my Santa wreaths.

I think that those deer are much happier now, seeing how they're now pin- and holly-free. And so am I, because it's always good to find some vintage Christmas during Town Cleanup.

 

 

Scrapbooks, Socks and Spring Cleanup

I don't know what the weather has been like where you live, but in Upstate New York,  the week started out like this.

Yes, that is snow. In April. Aside from the fact that I can barely stomach snow in February, I was genuinely concerned. Spring Cleanup, the annual trash-to-treasure extravaganza that I look forward  to all year long, starts this weekend. Just how, I wondered, would I find treasures in the snow?

Fortunately, it was much better by the end of the week, when I went to my first rummage sales of the season. My best find at sale No. 1 was a very 1950s "Penny" scrapbook.

Penny was a character created by illustrator Harry Haenigsen and was featured in a comic strip.

Apparently, there was a lot of Penny merchandise, including photo albums, diaries and even waste baskets. My scrapbook was never used.

The pickings at rummage sale No. 2 on Friday weren't so great, but I managed to come home with five pairs of new argyle socks that were 25 cents each. Practial? Yes. Fun? Not so much. So let's go back to sale No. 1, where there were a few more good finds.

I'm really trying to focus on Christmas, which is always a reliable seller for me. To that end, I picked up two 1968 Empire blowmolds. They're cute, but I'm not sure about the hot pink on the snowman. They are standing on another find, a vintage Christmas tablecloth with poinsettias.

I also found a handful of figural ornaments, but I'm debating their age. They are marked Czechoslovakia and the hangers look old, but I've also reproductions that mimic this look. Any guesses out there?

I do know that the light is old. It's marked Japan.

And finally, I found these musical angels in the same bag as the ornaments. I have a lot of these but none as big as the ones in the back. I think they're about 3 inches tall.

And maybe, just maybe, they're a sign that I might have some guardian angels on my shoulder today as I venture out on Spring Cleanup.

I hope to find something much better than socks. 

Happy Birthday LeRoy Hoesly

Wherever he might be, I hope that LeRoy Hoesly has had a good day. It's his 59th birthday.

And, coincidentally, today at an estate sale, I found his baby book (and a cute little vintage sewing book).

It was a sale that almost didn't happen as there was a little drama before the door opened. Yesterday, I signed the early list and I was No. 13.

But today, when I returned for the sale, word quickly spread that the original list had been stolen. Yeah, I know. Who steals the list at an estate sale? Luckily, Nos. 11 and 12 vouched that I was the original No. 13, so I was able to get inside with the first group, which enabled me to find other a few other items in addition to LeRoy's baby book.

They included a "treasure chest" and a clam-shaped sewing kit (with several wooden spools of thread),

 

two souvenir plates and the cutest Valentine planter that I've seen in a long time.

I don't think I'm exaggerating at all. Cute, huh?

And from the Quarter Box: An oversized Gurley snowman candle (about 8 inches tall), a plastic Santa sleigh, an elf and a couple of gingerbread man cookie cutters. I have some similar cookie cuters but I've never seen them before with the original packaging.

To sum it all up: No. 13 turned out to be a lucky number. It was a good day for me, and, I hope, for LeRoy Hoesly.

P.S. About that Disney vacation. We had a wonderful time. We saw a lot, ate a lot and walked our feet off. But the best part was probably when Mary Poppins admired what my vintage-loving and anglophile daughter Grace was wearing. Mary told her that she was "well turned out." Grace was beyond thrilled. Here's Mary, with both of my girls, Emily, on the left, and Grace, on the right.