Christmas Miracle at the Thrift Store

Finding a vintage holiday treasure at the thrift store requires more than luck these days. You need steely determination and a few “MacGyver”-inspired skills.

Case in point: These classic Santa salt and pepper shakers, marked Holt Howard, 1960. I found them the other day at Goodwill.

Actually, I think they found me when I swear I heard this muffled plea:. “Psst. Lady. Over here.”

And then I saw these cute little guys, which were wrapped (No!) in a big wad of cellophane tape.

Now, I don’t have many pet peeves, but tape-happy thrift stores is one of them. I know why the employees do this: to keep the shakers together and to save them from getting broken. But, for the love of Holt Howard and all things vintage, you never, ever wrap ceramics in cellophane tape because removing the tape also removes the paint. (Nor do you ever put price stickers on vintage boxes with cute graphics. That’s another pet peeve, but see previous post for how to deal with that issue.)

I decided to take a chance on what appeared to be a mint-condition item (or is that items?).

Back home, I said a quick prayer to Our Lady of Cellophane Tape Removal, and began the task of freeing the shakers from their sticky prison.

First, I cut them apart with a pair of scissors. And then, I slowly began to peel the tape away (while holding my breath).

Much to my surprise, the tape came off without removing much paint. Perhaps it was because it was my lucky day, or Our Lady of Cellophane Tape Removal had heard my prayer. I also think that maybe the shakers had just hit the shelves and that the tape hadn’t been on there that long.

Whatever the reason, my success needed to be celebrated. So the shakers asked to party with their companions: A set of “Urgent Request” Santas holding retro telephones and checking their lists (twice).

I probably forgot to mention that I had told myself recently not to buy any more salt and pepper shakers, which don’t seem to be that easy to resell.

Unless of course they’re super cute and I plan to keep them myself.

Comments

[HeidiAnn]

OMG - what a lucky find!! And even luckier with Our Lady Of Cellophane Tape Removal on your side! You're hilarious - I LOVED this post with a very happy ending! (Or perhaps that should be a happy beginning - the beginning of a new life for those fab HH Santas safely in your care!)

[Erica]

I once found an amazing stack of vintage gift boxes at Goodwill. Each one was 99 cents. Want to know how they priced them? Black Sharpie. Across the front. I have no idea why they chose to do this rather than their standard price stickers.

Love those Holt Howard shakers! I found a set at the flea market this year for a song.

Happy Holidays!

Erica