Vintage Finds Spotlight

Nursery Night Light - See it on Etsy

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children, she didn't know what to do;

She gave them some broth without any bread;

Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

From Wikipedia: "There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" is a popular English language nursery rhyme, with a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19132. Debates over its meaning and origin have largely centered on attempts to match the old woman with historical female figures who have had large families, although King George II (1683–1760) has also been proposed as the rhyme's subject.

Such a cute night light or nursery lamp. Marked Pat '72 on the bottom. Light works great and looks really cute lit up. This is one of those items where if I think it's cute, someone else might. (Of course, all the vintage things I find and buy, I want to keep for myself.)

Grandma's Journal Keepsake & Memories Album - See it on Etsy

I just recently became a Grandma (Paige Lerno born November 6, 2012!) and I thought about keeping this book for myself. But I didn't keep a book for my own daughter and I am really, really bad with diaries, journals and whatnot. I've started several over the years but never followed through on ANY of them. Sorta like this blog. 

Pages from Grandma's Journal - See it on Etsy

This book is really neat though. Some of the pages are pockets for photos and mementos and the illustrations throughout are really adorable.

Butterfly and Wheat Libbey Glasses - See them on Etsy

I LOVE these glasses. I have a half 70s/mod, half modern kitchen decor and these would go great in my kitchen. But I need more than 4 glasses and right now I'm using a larger set of vintage glasses. (Which are also really cute vintage and may end up on Etsy soon as well.)

Copy Cat Handheld Game by Tiger Electronics - See it on Etsy

I bought this game and brought it home and did not have a 9-volt battery to test it out. So after a couple weeks I finally remembered to buy a 9-volt battery (does anything modern even use 9-volt batteries anymore?) and I tried out the game. It worked and I was addicted. Except it's a little frustrating when I get going in a long sequence and mess up and the thing buzzes at me. It's a rude kinda buzz - like, na na na na na. Phhtt.

1940s Birthday Cards w/Song Inserts - See them on Etsy

I found these cards at an antique store and they were like 50% off and I got a great deal. I thought I'd be able to sell each card separately on Etsy. I've sold two or three and recouped my cost on the first sale. All the rest are pure profit. 

1940s Birthday Card w/Song Insert - See it on Etsy

The images are just fabulous and each card comes with a 4-page song insert. The box itself is awesome and I may keep that for myself.

1930s Nuway Red Knife Block - See it on Etsy

I've had this knife block for a while. I'm not sure where I got it, probably an antique store. And probably not cheaply. I used to live in this 100-year-old farmhouse out in the country and my kitchen theme was 1950s red. But lately I've been moving towards a 70s mod retro kinda kitchen. I love this knife block because it is so old but is in such great condition. Seems like it was hardly used. I hung it in my farmhouse kitchen but didn't use the knives often because I didn't want to knick it up to much. I think it should go to someone's kitchen that will use it and enjoy it.

1985 Grimm's Fairy Tales - See it on Etsy

Books are my ALL TIME FAVORITE thing to thrift - as evidenced by the Library Section of my Etsy store. I'm a book-aholic. I've moved several times in the last couple years and people do NOT want to help me move because I have so many books. Books are heavy! I especially love books about life in the 50s and 60s and children's books. I'm not actually a fan of fairy tales, but I've sold a few vintage Grimm's books so I know they are good sellers.

1970s Chicago Cubs Puffy Stickers - See them on Etsy

Remember puffy stickers? I once bought a vintage vinyl Yosemite travel bag (totally cute and very hard to part with!) and it was covered in Christmas puffy stickers. I got the bag for an absolute steal (because of the stickers, I'm sure). I removed all those stickers and carefully removed the goo residue and sold that travel bag for a nice profit. 

Arthur Murray 45 Record w/Gift Certificate for Free Dance Lessons
See it on Etsy

I picked up these two 45 records at Goodwill. The graphics on the sleeve covers alone are nifty. I slid the records out and saw that the Arthur Murray one had a gift certificate for dance lessons - cool.

And the Lawrence Welk one had a red record - I'd never seen one of those before - cool. I didn't actually read the records though. I'm just now getting these listed and I realize that the Coral red record is not Lawrence Welk but actually The Terry Pillow Singers. Phhtt. So I'm selling the Arthur Murray one and just throwing the other one as a bonus.

Sterlite Kitchen Set - See it on Etsy

So retro vintage cool. Found these in a plastic bag and they look as if they were never used. And again, would totally fit in with my kitchen decor. If it doesn't sell soon... it's mine.

Some Thrifting Catch Up...

Having a hard time keeping the blog posts regular, but no problem with regular thrifting. I have a full time job and the photographing, researching and listing on Etsy is almost a full time job. Going to thrift stores and garage sales and antique malls is my release. I daydream about going thrifting. I wish that could be a full time job. Someday...

Anyway, whine over. Let's do some thrifty goodness catch up. Again with the Tupperware. I buy the Tupperware and then I don't want to sell it. I have a pretty good collection... in boxes. I only "use" a few Tupperware pieces. Weirdo. This harvest yellow(?) 1-quart pitcher with push button lid is in near mint condition. Looks like it was hardly ever used. Not stinky either. Sometimes used Tupperware has... an odor. I have a project in mind for my ever-expanding Tupperware collection. Stay tuned.

Got this "Run for President" board game because it's an election year. It's never been used, the bonus cards are unopened, the tally pad is unused, and the board is pristine. Very nice set.

I've got some other election-related items listed on Etsy and I found a couple president/White House books I need to get listed too. We'll see if people are buying election stuff.

Also found this "Game of Good Cooking" board game. It was put out by McCormick/Schilling spices in 1989. According to boardgamegeek.com it only rates 4.5 stars (out of 10), but it's vintage and kitschy and in great condition. So I bought it.

I found this quilted vinyl toaster cover at an antique mall for a $1.00. I like to browse the antique stores for things like this to flip. I get the feeling that some of the vendors in antique stores are of the "technologically-challenged" generation and don't know the potential value of some things. It was kinda grimy with kitchen grease but with it being vinyl, I just threw it in the washer and it cleaned up like new. It doesn't look all faded like it does in the photo, that's my goofy camera. If it doesn't sell, it looks cute on my toaster in my retro, mod, kinda 70s-ish kitchen.

How sweet is this Holiday Party Desserts recipe book by Edna Beilenson and published by Peter Pauper Press (started by Edna's husband in 1928). In the 1930s - 1950s, Peter Pauper's books were sold at "prices even a pauper could afford." This book sold for $1.00 in in 1958. Peter Pauper still publishes books, journals, and travel guides. Some tasty-sounding recipes in here, and some odd-sounding ones... Coffee Gelatine anyone?

An unopened package of Lite Brite refills in a Barnyard Fun theme. The farmer and the farmhouse are so cute. I totally want to open this and put these on my Lite Brite! Yes, I have one. Not a vintage one, a modern one. But a good condition vintage one at a nice price is on my list.

In doing research on these, I realized that the boy and girl on all the various refill packages and on the Lite Brite boxes are the same. They even look the same in different years, just slightly different hairstyles. 

And this set of Scholastic books. I found each one on a separate trip and decided to list them as a lot since they are all "boy" related. 

Remember those Scholastic book fairs at school or the catalogs that got sent home with us. I loved those! I remember in my elementary school the "fair" would line the hallways. The smell of all those books were so tantalizing. I was a frequent book buyer at Scholastic book fairs. 

In April, I blogged about a box of mini purse books I found at GW for $3.00, including the like new plastic tote they were in. There were 50+ in there and I listed them all. Those listings have all expired, except the 15 I've sold at $2.00 each! I'll be relisting those soon.

The Thrifting Did Not Stop

Been a while, I know. Although life got in the way of blogging, the thrifting did not stop. Let's give this another go.

Here is this weekend's haul. Some vintage, some not. Some I'm going to sell, some I'm going to keep. I'm starting to wonder why I shop in regular stores at all. People donate all sorts of brand new or like new things. The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes sells for $12 on Amazon. I got it for BF's Son #1 for $1.00, it only has 1 one piece of paper missing. I've seen BF's Son #1 flipping through this at B&N and he loves everything military so I know he'll enjoy this.

I'm pretty sure those Spice of Life Pyrex canisters are unused. The glass is spotless, not even any water spots. The rubber (or maybe they're plastic) gaskets inside the lids are perfect. Sometimes those are yellowed, cracked and a bit sticky. These weren't that cheap (the prices at my local Goodwills are not that great). But I figure if I can't resell them for a good price, I'll keep them for myself and use them. Those 4 mugs say Big Dipper and Little Dipper. The Little Dipper ones are kid-sized. So stinking cute. The 8-track tape is Christmas Songs. I got a stereo/record player/8-track player a while back.

Got these Ohio Blue Tip matches at an antique store. There are 3 boxes wrapped in paper. I have an opened box of these matches somewhere. Can't decide if I want to unwrap them separately and sell each box or sell all 3 wrapped. 

Got this full bottle of Old Spice After Shave for $1.00. Wasn't sure in the store if this would be a seller or not. The box is dated 1990 and the bottle is milk glass, so with those, I figured I could at least try it out on Etsy. Some Ebay research shows the "Shulton" bottles sell pretty well, and this one is Shulton. Not sure what the Shulton meaning is, will have to research more on that. I wish the box didn't have that $2.49 price tag on it. Cheesy.

This Half Pint Soft-Serve Ice Cream Maker was one of the half-price color tags at Goodwill so I got it for $5.00. I saw it on my way out of the store and had to put all my things down to open it and check it out. Completely unused. I'm excited to give this a try. You put the freezer bowls in the freezer and then the lid is motorized and has a paddle on it and after 6-15 minutes you have soft-serve ice cream.

And of course, I bought several books. I say again, if you're thrifting with me and can't find me, check the book section - that's where I'll be. I'll have to do a book count someday. I'm guessing I've got 300-400 books. I thought the Seven Little Postmen Little Golden Book was an early vintage one because the gold edging is pretty worn and the story and images are so very retro, but alas, this is a reprinted version from the 1980s. The Question and Answer Book is from 1963. 

I also got a set of Tupperware Ice Tups. They were soaking in warm, sudsy water when I was taking pics. I'm guaranteed to buy at least one book and one Tupperware item on any one thrift venture. They are my all-time favorites.

Grandma Goes Shopping

My only daughter is going to have a baby in November and I'm going to be a Rookie Grandma!

Gotta get me this shirt.

In addition to the fact that I have a million things to list already, I decided that I'm going to try to not thrift as much so I can buy lots and lots of baby things. I love baby shopping. I love babies. Especially MY grandbabies. But really, I have a ton of things to photograph, research, and list, I need to set myself some listing goals. Spend a couple hours each weekend photographing, researching, and listing, listing, listing. And then perhaps, a thrifting excursion as a reward. So, what is the first thing I did this past weekend? Went straight to the Goodwill across the street and a few garage sales in the neighborhood. I was good though, only picked up two things. And one is for baby!

Don't know if my girl will have a girl. If not, I can always put it on Etsy. This is a Lefton Praying Girl night light, dated 1985 (the year my daughter was born). My daughter lives in California and I sent her a pic of it lit up and she cried. She's kinda emotional these days.

I also found this Recipe Lectern. So perfect for a mod, kitschy kitchen.

Gretchen & Gary, and Some Mini Purse Books

Gretchen and Gary, J. Ingwersen

I found these two little paintings in an antique mall a few years ago. They are quite popular in the antique stores, but you generally don't see them in this mini size. You'll sometimes see these listed on Etsy or eBay as prints by Judith Ingwersen, although this incorrect. These are actually paintings by James J. Ingwersen.

These prints have a strong nostalgic link to my childhood. They were hanging in our home when I was a kid for as long as I can remember. In our bathroom, which is where I have mine hanging now. My younger brother and sister have blonde hair and me and my mom and dad have red hair. I can remember looking at the prints hanging in the bathroom and wondering why my mom hung paintings of my brother and sister and not me!

Speaking of things in my childhood home, I found a box of 50+ of these vintage mini mags or pocket size "purse books." You know the ones at the checkout counter in grocery stores? It's been interesting to read through these books mostly from the 70s and 80s, but some from the 50s and 60s.

The Watson Calorie Counter for Reducing Weight,
Copyright 1953

This book has a 15 day diet on the first few pages. The lunch on the 2nd day consists of Combination Salad (without Dressing), 2 Hard Boiled Eggs, and Sauerkraut Juice. Not exactly sure what a Combination Salad is, perhaps a garden salad, but I couldn't find Combination Salad listed in the calorie section anywhere. And I suppose the Sauerkraut Juice is to be used in place of a dressing, but I couldn't find that in the calorie section either.

Some interesting items I did find in the calorie section: a Tom Collins cocktail has 182 calories; Muffets (shredded wheat cereal) has 86 calories per biscuit; Oreos are listed under Crackers - Sandwiches at 62 calories for 1 sandwich; Junket (a custard or very, sweet cheese dessert) has 107 calories; Bacon Fat has 126 calories per tbsp.; one piece, about 3", of raw Green Turtle has only 89 calories; Hershey's Syrup (used to be spelled Hershey's Sirup, in this book anyway) is 69 calories per ounce; 3/4 cup of cooked Swamp Cabbage has only 18 calories.

Lakewood's Tips for Easy Beauty
Copyright 1981

I'm pretty sure the "beauty" in the lower right corner is Sela Ward. Agree? A few beauty tips from the 1980s:

• Too much alcohol quickens facial aging.
• See-through clothing is no protection from the sun.
• Heating the tip of a hard-edged makeup pencil with a match will soften it enough to work with. (I kept a lighter in my makeup bag for years.)
• Spend at least 20 minutes a day on stretching exercises. The Royal Canadian Air Force program provides some good, basic ones.
• Beer straight from the bottle or can may be used as a setting lotion after shampooing.
• If you're having hair problems that don't seem to get any better no matter what you do, such as breakage, loss, dandruff, brittleness, oiliness, dryness; make an appointment to see a trichologist. A what?!

Dell Purse Book, Outdoor Cooking
Copyright 1964

Lots of information about the different kinds of grills, accessories, and fire starters. Some good tips on shortcuts, foil cooking and clean up. A section on safety suggests a "chief fire-watcher" be appointed at all cookouts and a safety kit is always available (burn ointment, gauze pads, bandages, aerosol extinguishers, etc.)

A few tasty recipes include:

Flambe Steak: Add 2 jiggers of whiskey or brandy to 1/2 cup melted butter. Warm; ignite and pour over sliced steak just before serving. (See page 14 for safety tips.)

Burger Pies: Make large, thick individual patties, forming a deep indentation on one side. Grill indented side first. Turn patties. Fill indentation with creamed or sauteed fresh mushrooms. Finish grilling. (This sounds pretty good.)

Liver Kabobs: Alternate liver chunks wrapped in bacon with tiny, whole (or parbroiled) onions. Grill. 

My Vice: Tupperware & Books

If I come across vintage tupperware (and even non-vintage) at a garage sale or thrift store, I will undoutedly buy it. Books too. Vintage and non-vintage. I have hundreds and hundreds of books. And I'm working a pretty good tupperware collection too. The vintage stuff is so indicative of the 1950s.

My haul the last few weeks has been pretty good. I haven't posted much because I wasn't able to get good lighted photos until the recent time change. Also, I'm going to be making the move here in the next month and to cut down on the packing, I'm going to have to take a break from thrifting. Ack! Not sure if I'll be able to do it. Especially since there are 7 or 8 thrift stores within walking distance of my work. Maybe just one more trip tomorrow.

Books. I cannot pass up shelves of books. If you're thrifitng with me and you can't find me, check the books shelves. Books about homelife back in the day are so fun to read. I have a lot of the Heloise books and Good Housekeeping cookbooks as well as vintage children's books. I think I'll do a separate post just on the books I've recently found. Stay tuned.

How cute is this flyswatter? Not only is it 50ish and red, but it's from Nebraska. I live in California and I love to find things from the different places I've lived. Key West, Nantucket, Virginia, San Francisco, Greece, Nebraska...

The Peeps aren't vintage but I got them for $.25 and they are stinking cute, no? I got all this great Tupperware for a bargain. The little Pak-n-Carry lunch tote is adorable and is in mint condition. Some little tot did not get to enjoy this as much as I would have if I'd had one back then. I may not be able to let this one go.

Romper, bomper, stomper boo... I guess Romper Room was our version of Barney. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do... I must have been really small when I watched Romper Room because I can barely grasp a memory of it. Magic Mirror, tell me today... I do remember actually standing up and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Have all my friends had fun at play? I remember her magic mirror in which she said this rhyme but never my name. I can see Scotty and Kimberly and Julie...and all of you boys and girls out there. Do you remember? Disclaimer: Yeah, I had to look up most of the lyrics.

Rocking Nuns, Archie Andrews and a Score!

Finally able to get some thrifting in the last couple weeks. Took my Aunt Margaret with me this past weekend. You could tell we're totally different generations - she was chatting everybody up in the stores, telling them what great stuff they had and how her niece finally took her to her secret stores of vintage goodies. I'm not a chatter - just want to get in, rummage through everything and get out with my finds. At one point she couldn't find me and was roaming the aisles hollering my name. I just ignored it and she eventually found me... "Oh, there you are. Didn't you hear me calling you?"

Didn't find a whole lot of things. I'm going to be on the move in a couple of months so I can't buy any big furniture type things - which is really, really hard to not do. But the smalls (a vintage finding word I learned from Sue @ Vintage Rescue Squad) have been pretty good finds. The china is Noritake Reina and I got an exceptionally good deal. This is the Score! I refer to in the post title. There is a teapot or coffee pot out there somewhere that goes with this line and I am on the HUNT to complete this set. It's such a pretty set, it will be hard to let it go. But when do I ever have tea parties? Someone out there will put it to good use. Right?

Check out these rockin' little ladies. Too cute.

And this lady? I know she's Avon and not very vintage, but she is beautiful and she was another good deal (it was 50% off weekend at the Salvation Army). When my aunt saw her, she about fainted. She held her the whole drive home. Mine.

Archie! I love Archie comics. These aren't old, as you can see by the price, but they were a quarter each. I used to collect the really old Archie comics and had quite a collection but in eBay's early years I sold them. Got a good deal on them, but now wish... oh well.

This little dish I bought expressly for this reason - to hold these adorably cute little sugar flowers. I got the idea to make them from Jessica @ Such Pretty Things. Totally easy and totally cute. And tasty. Totally.

Since I'm moving soon and am going to do a vintage store booth when I get there, now I gotta pack all this stuff up. I think I'll keep the Archie comics out and read 'em.

And oh, I taught myself to knit this weekend and made a loaf of beer bread. I got hobbies all over the place!

Maiden Post

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm launching Finding Vintage with a pink theme. I'm not all that keen about it and will likely change it, but I wanted to get this blog thing going.

Finding Vintage... one of my greatest joys is walking around an antique store, a thrift store, a garage sale... looking for vintage things. One of my longest running dreams is to have a booth in an antique store displaying (and selling) all of my vintage finds. My life is "on the move" yet again and I'm not quite settled where I want to be; so until then, I'll just blog along the way.

Need to give a shout out to a couple of bloggers who inspired me to get going - Jessica at Such Pretty Things, such a pretty pretty blog - design, photos and crafts; Suzy at GeorgiaPeachez, her creations are divine (and I saw one of her aprons in a magazine at Barnes & Noble just yesterday!); and Colleen at freshvintage. freshvintage was the first blog I happened upon on a sick day home from work and I was hooked. I read every one of her posts and her other blog - FreshBlogTips - was the kick start to my blog journey.

So on to the vintage things...

I found these things at various thrift stores over the past few weeks and probably spent no more than $20 total. I ♥ the metal wall shelf and basket - which I painted pink, they were originally purple and brass - I'll have to think twice about re-selling those.

Do you know what this is? I'd never seen one of these before and didn't know what it's use was, but it was $2 and really cute. After some research (thank you Google!), I learned that it's a sugar scuttle and usually has a little scoop with it. Wish I could find that. How cute would that be? In it, I've had M&M's, altoids, red hots, etc. Candy didn't last long, so now it's got little flowers.

And my favoritest find of this bunch...

I am a '50s freak. I was born in the '60s. The late '60s. But I ♥ everything '50s - kitchen stuff, furniture, cars, music... I think my parents kept all of their '50s stuff for a good 20 years and I was just so used to seeing it. This Yellowstone Park travel bag just screams '50s to me. I found it at a thrift shop for $1 and it was in bad shape. It had a bunch of puffy Christmas stickers on it and the prior owner had written her name on the bag in the little name tag windows (her name was Ethel - totally '50s huh?). But I cleaned it up pretty good and I'm gonna have a hard time giving this away. And... I would so totally carry this on a plane.