freshvintage

Chris' Totally Awesome Auction Finds

Here is one week's worth of Chris' auction wins. Well, the good stuff, anyway. He seriously bought all of this without my help. I know - crazy! I am a little embarrassed because it is way better than most of the stuff that I've scored lately.

He paid $114 for everything in this photo.  Except for the green & white rug - that is ours and it is from Walmart.

 

He bought a pair of these Vulcan Horse Nails boxes, but already sold one last week at Perkiomenville Auction & Flea Market. That was his first attempt at selling by himself, and he did a great job. He said that he seemed to sell more than any of the other vendors. Which probably means that his prices were too low. All of the other dealers swept in and bought some new inventory for their tables. Whatevs. We got rid of a lot of stuff that we didn't want anymore, or wouldn't sell at the store. Including this super cool, but extremely smelly red trunk that Chris bought for five dollars at an auction.

He knows I have a thing for metal office card catalogs...

But this one is extra-special because it has a huge stack of index cards used by for clothing sales. See the dates along the top (1940, 1941, 1942, etc.)? There is also an S and F for each year, which specifies whether the purchase was for the Spring or Fall.

This tattered & taped-up little book about Paris was purchased in 1918.

How do I know that? A family member put this label inside the back cover:

It is filled with colorized photos of French landmarks.

 

And a few other travel books...

Chris bought a box full of James Keiller & Son's Dundee Marmalade jars and Wm O. Hartley's Marmalade crocks. Most of the labels on the Hartley crocks are completely or partially missing, but there are a few that have the label intact. I'm not sure what those are worth, since there aren't many to be found online. Have you ever seen the Hartley crocks before?

He also bought two industrial work stools made by Lyon.

This Calf-teria bucket makes me want to buy a cow so I can milk it into this bucket.

 

A pair of wooden folding chairs:

I love the red-orange-black patina on these.

Turn-of-the-century lidded box from J.S. Ivins' Son Steam Bakery in Philadelphia. I wonder what steamed goodies filled that box back in the day.

Chris knows that I like to buy feed sacks or grain sacks or any kind of sack when I see them. We bought a lot of 24 five-pound sugar sacks at an estate sale a few weeks ago. I'll show you those in a future post.

But when he texted me a photo from the auction of a huge galvanized tub filled with these grass seed sacks, I almost peed my pants. Most are green, and some are white. They aren't all in good shape, but they are really cool, even with a few stains and fading. There's around 30 of them.

Speaking of sacks, when Chris was in college, he and his friends played a drinking game that involved a box of wine. Before I even continue, I bet you have the same question - why the hell would college-age men even buy a box of wine? My theory is that they stole it from someone's mother. Anyway, they would take the inner bag out of the box. And then they would just pass the bag of wine around to each other and each person would drink from the spigot. They called it Lick the Sack. With a name like that, I guess it could have been much worse.

Swizzle, Dribble and Hump

I thought I'd share a few of my more humorous finds of late.

This is a set of seven books in the Plain Language Money-making series. My favorites are "How to Scheme Your Way into Profit" and "How to Legally Avoid Paying Taxes". These are from the 1960s, so I think some laws have changed since then (probably because of these books). To the man at Clover Market who bought them from me: Please don't drag me into any future law suits!

 

Boy, was I happy to find this sign. I am hoping it will once and for all keep the perverts from approaching my minivan. I'm always like "Get your leg off my bumper, you dirtbag!" Now, I can just point to this sign tucked into my windshield:

I bought it from the same dealer who sold me the Beaver Heaters.  Here's what the sign really means. Should I still put it in my window? Probably not. I don't feel like explaining it to the kids.

But really, why the hell should I be worried about explaining the word "hump" when I should be more concerned about the look on my daughter's face after a woman told her that she could have these "butt sticks" for free at a yard sale.

Oh, the joy!

And, just to clarify, it was Maeve who referred to them as butt sticks, not the woman.

Maeve was SO EXCITED to show them to her friends when we got back from the yard sale. She ran into the backyard and was all like, "Hey guys, look at my butt sticks!" You would have thought that someone handed her a bunch of Zoobles, or maybe some new Wii game. Nope, just four vintage "Bottoms Up" swizzle sticks. THAT I SAW FIRST!

I bought this giant pin just because it had 69 on it.  Purely a Beavis and Butt-head moment.

This is the second Dribble Glass that I've found in the past six months. I think these glasses are funny, but the text on the box drastically overstates the humor: "The funniest of all funny jokes" and "The funniest joke you ever saw...The victim just drools...Doesn't know what's wrong".

I am not showing a photo of the actual glass, because I want to try it out on my neighbors the next time they come over for a drink. I can't wait for someone to say "I don't know what's wrong!", and then frantically dial 911 because he thinks he's having a stroke. Now that would be funny. I mean, strokes aren't funny. Not at all. But someone thinking that they are having a stroke but they are really just drinking from a dribble glass is definitely funny.

Road Trippin'

We had another successful outing at the Clover Market last week! This was Chris' first time selling with me and and I am happy to report that we did not kill each other. This was also our first time using Square to process a few credit card purchases, and it worked perfectly.

Our theme this time was "Summer Road Trip". It really should have been "Ohmigod, That's a Hell of a Lot of Vintage Metal Lawn Chairs", but that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

In keeping with the summer vacation theme, I made price signs that looked like the old "Greetings From" postcards. And I asked every person who walked into our tent, "Are we there yet? How much further? I need to pee really bad."

I only had a few things that actually went with my theme, including a stack of souvenir state plates, postcards and my Florida tablecloths. I sold all five of them (I kept the pink and aqua one for myself).  

I love these souvenir postcard booklets - they all have the same style of vibrant images. I sold a few of those.

And let's assume that you like to go fishing on your summer road trip. Well, here are enough minnow buckets to bait a great white.

Here's my husband, Chris, manning the register in front of our neighbor's Tastykake truck:

Since we had the truck, I figured I had to bring some Tastykakes. The box of mini coconut donuts went really fast.

There's that Gimbel's sewing machine that I gave you a glimpse of on Facebook.

I couldn't find much information about it, but I think it was from the late fifties/early sixties. It actually works.  And it came with a matching sewing accessories tin.

 

I designated this area the "Granny Corner" because of the chair and the hanging light fixture and the birdcage. Apparently, this Granny is an archer, because she has a quiver on her shelf.

Isn't this feed sack totally awesome? I love the colors. We found this in Galena, Maryland.

We had a bunch of little bags of random game pieces and flashcards for sale, too. They are always great sellers for us.

That reminds me - I'd like to give a special shout-out to the man who opened all of the two-dollar Scrabble bags, dumped them onto our table, and then asked how much it would cost to buy just the letter "T".

Oh - and another shout-out to the lady who wanted my circus signs (in the photo below). You wanted a 50% discount on something that costs $5. And when Chris said no to your offer, you said "But it is just a piece of cardboard!" Thanks for that. We had a good laugh.

And I'd like to give huge non-sarcastic shout-out to all of the people who admired our nine metal lawn chairs. It was nice to hear so many people getting all nostalgic over the chairs that their mom or grandpa or uncle used to have. And it was fun to hear three different people talk about the tiny squares that the woven-style chairs would leave on the backs of their thighs when they sat on them as children. We didn't sell any of the chairs, so I brought them straight to Brandywine View. They look really cute all lined up along the wrap-around porch there.

Our neighbor, Mike, kindly drove the truck to Clover in the morning, and we followed in our minivan. And then he told us that we could drive the truck home on the way back. One problem - there is no passenger seat. My tufted yellow chair didn't sell, so we wedged it in the aisle between the shelves that lined the back of the truck. It was comfy, but a little tough to see out the front window since it is so low. Oh - and also a little dangerous because tufted yellow chairs don't come with seat belts.

Here we are after a long day. We will be back at Clover Market on October 16. Please come see us again!

Do You Know Your BEST Four Curls?

My collection of crocheted genital-warmers is growing. (You don't hear that sentence very often, do you?!)

You remember my Super Guy gift from Sue and our Allison family heirloom, right? The little orange one is jealous for certain.

Well, if a man can have a Peter Heater, shouldn't a woman have the equivalent? I found one at the Head House Square Flea Market on Doomsday - May 21, 2011. If this find isn't a sign of the Apocalypse, I don't know what is.

Here's the box it came in:

 But wait! I didn't get just one. I bought two from the same vendor, Lo and Behold Antiques.

Here are Mi Lady's matching beauties. One is a tad dirtier than the other, but I am really trying not to think about it too much or else I'll vomit a little in my mouth.

And don't you love how the colors match the "Super Guy" in the first photo above? They were meant for each other.

The button in the middle actually opens to reveal a hole.

The "instructions" that are printed on the box lid are completely inappropriate and insensitive. But, at the very least, they give us an idea of when these were made.

My favorite line is: "attach at each corner with BEST four curls". Oh, so that's how it's supposed to be attached! Silly me, I was picturing the careful placement of barrettes and bobby pins and maybe a little hot glue.

Now....the big question: What shall we call the female version of the Willie Warmer? I came up with a few names (with some help of my sisters and husband):

• Woo-Woo Warmer
• Carpet Carpet
• Mi Lady's Muff Mitten
• Beaver Heater
• Welcome Mat for Penises

What's your favorite name? Can you think of any others? Are you totally repulsed by this blog post? Did you just unsubscribe and remove me from your favorites?

My attempt to squeeze some antiquing into our family trip

Here's some of the lovely junk that I picked up during my vacation in April. My in-laws met us in Savannah, and we all drove back to Pennsylvania in our minivan: four adults, two kids and lots of luggage. This did not stop us from filling any available space in the van on the way home from Georgia. The cubbies and the green cart (pictured below) were not purchased on the road trip. Those were found a few days later while we were antiquing at some local shops. But I was still on vacation, so I am counting those in my pile of "vacation finds". And I didn't even take pictures of the stuff that my antique-dealing in-laws bought. They had to ship a few boxes back to Yakima!

I love this metal No Parking sign - it was hung along the streets of D.C. during Johnson's Inauguration. My dad was involved in politics long ago, so I am always attracted to stuff like this. I found this at Keepsake Corner in Selma, NC. (Hi, Amy!)

At the same shop, I found a pair of Peters' red children's skis and poles from their Juvenile Ski Line. Skis are always a huge seller in the winter. My grandfather, dad, brother and nephew are named Peter. And I have a Peter Heater.

Would you like to touch my Pet Coolie...

sign? I said, "my Pet Coolie sign", you pervert.

Coolie fruit drinks were made by Pet Diary, and came in little cartons that were served in school cafeterias. We didn't have Pet Diary in NJ growing up. Did you ever drink a Coolie? Chris bought this enamel sign at Reid's Country Sampler in Selma, NC.

Cubbies! I have no idea what they were used for, but I think there used to be a door on the front.

This Golden Seal blanket still has its original $1.95 price tag. The colors are right up my alley.

My father-in-law, Jim, told me that this green cart was used on the Railway Express Agency.

 I immediately pictured some poor soul dragging it along railroad tracks across a barren stretch of land, a la O Brother Where Art Thou. But, of course, I was wrong. Railway Express Agency was the train version of FedEx. This cart was used to move freight & packages to the trains for delivery. It was not actually used on the tracks, dummy.

There's been a lot of hub-bub lately about finding vintage dressforms. Well, I found one, too! Meet Sally Stitch. I adopted her from the enormous Blue Crow Antique Mall along the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Sally sat snugly between the kids in the back row of our minivan during the last 5 hours of the trip home. They hate her.

I found this mantel shelf at Blue Crow, too. My father-in-law kept telling me not to buy it because "they are a dime a dozen". Maybe in Yakima, Jim, but not in PA! That long white thing beneath it is a painted safe deposit box with a key.

How about this porcelain shower head!? Have you ever seen one before? It looks like a giant cabinet knob with tiny holes. The milk glass jars came straight from Mary Kay Andrew's booth at Seaside Sisters. I'm trying to decide if I should keep them or sell. I love the blue lids and art deco style.

I love this basketball chalkboard by Korney Board Aids (I know - weird name). I found this in Selma, NC at His n' Hers Antiques.

I grew up with a dad who was obsessed with basketball. We went to Sixers games and we watched college basketball, especially the Big Five teams from Philly. My Dad still has the Villanova NCAA Championship game from 1985 that he videotaped while we were on vacation in Florida. We just wanted to go to the pool and meet boys, but he insisted that we watch this local team upset Georgetown.

My sister, Erin, and I played basketball in grade school and in high school. But, guess what? We went to different high schools, so we played against each other. It was a big family occasion when our teams duked it out. In one of our first games, Erin drove up for a shot. I immediately put my hands in front of her eyes and screamed into her face. She was way taller than me, so it was the only thing I could do to prevent her from scoring. And I didn't touch her, so it wasn't a foul. She missed the shot, and was furious. She got all pissy, and her coach took her out of the game. Woo-woo!! I loved watching her face turn the same color as her red hair. She one-upped me when she went on to play in college and was really good and won championships and whatnot.

But, sometimes when we are at yard sales together and we both see something good at the same time, I cover her eyes and yell into her face. Aw yeah...I still got it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a list of the stores that we enjoyed on our trip. There were a few others that we visited, but they might have been too expensive for us, or just weren't our style.  And believe me, I wish there were many, many more on this list. But, as my husband had to constantly remind me, this was a family trip, not an antique-buying trip. Buzzkill.

Georgia

• Seaside Sisters, Tybee Island
• Wright Square Antique Mall, Savannah
• Paris Market & Brocante, Savannah (the only thing I bought was the metal number 4 in the top photo, but I LOVED this place.)

Selma, North Carolina (all within two blocks)

• His n' Hers Antiques
• Reid's Country Sampler
• Keepsake Corner

Virginia's Eastern Shore

• Antique Addicts, Exmore
• Blue Crow Antique Mall, Keller

Accepting Credit Cards On-the-Go with the Square App

I mentioned a few days ago that we would be selling at Clover Market on June 5th. At the last market in April, we had a few customers ask if they could pay with credit cards. Sadly, the answer was "no". But we are getting our asses in gear for the June show, and we will finally be accepting credit cards!

I thought I'd let you know about the service that we will be using, in case you are a dealer who sells at one of those fabulous vintage markets like The Farm Chicks or 2nd Saturdayz or Luckett's Spring Market or Summer Retreat.

It is called Square, and you can sign up free on their website. They send you a free swiper that you plug into the headphone jack of your iPhone, iPad or Android phone. I received a FedEx package in the mail three days after signing up:

 

Square only charges 2.75% per swipe, with no monthly fees. (Don't worry - customers don't have to pay anything extra, and their credit card data is completely secure - sellers don't even have access to it.) You get your money deposited directly into your bank account the next day.

After I received the swiper, I installed the free Square app onto my iPad, and plugged in the swiper (which is officially called a "dongle", my most favorite computer-related word ever):

I tested it out by charging one dollar to my credit card. It took a few swipes for it to work (my own fault), but then it went through just fine. I even had to sign my name on the screen - just like when you get a FedEx or UPS package.

The cool thing is that the customer can enter their email address or phone number to receive a receipt electronically. No printing required! 

If you are a seller who accepts credit cards, how do you do it when you are on the road? Have you ever tried Square? I would love to hear your feedback.

P.S. Although this seems like a commercial for Square, I have not been compensated. It just seems like a totally rad service that I thought some of you would like.

Fabulous Memories of Florida

Chris and I went to an estate sale last week. He spotted these tablecloths first, and then beckoned me into a room that was filled with Florida souvenirs and flamingos. There must have been at least fifty Florida state plates, along with trays, salt and pepper shakers, signs, glasses, flamingo-shaped cheese spreaders and more. Most of the stuff was not vintage. These were the best of the bunch, and I can't believe they were still at the sale when we got there.

Six 1950's souvenir Florida tablecloths. All in relatively good condition (one has light stains, and one is half-faded).

I bought two of these, one square and one rectangular:

This pink and aqua one is my absolute favorite:

So, what makes this stash of Florida tablecloths so special to me? Especially today?

Chris and I were married in Key West, Florida TEN years ago today! 

We picked Key West because we knew that half of our guests were going to have to fly somewhere (since I am from NJ and Chris is from Washington). Neither of us had ever been to Key West before we chose it, but we knew that it was a fun place.

About six months before the wedding, I took trip there with my mom and sister, Heather. That's when we picked out the venues for the ceremony and reception and got to taste all of the yummy food. We kept the wedding party simple. Chris asked his childhood friend, Mark, to be his best man. My sister Erin was my matron of honor, and I told her to wear whatever she wanted. No bridesmaids or groomsmen. Tons of drama averted.

I thought I'd show you some photos, and let you know the Top Ten absolute favorite parts of our wedding experience:

1. The sixty fabulous people who flew from all over the country (including Hawaii!) to attend our wedding. What is the best part of having a destination wedding? Only fun people come to your wedding.

2. The roosters that were casually walking around our ceremony. Instead of "I do", all you could hear was "I cock-a-doodle-do".

3. The Junkanoo band that led our guests from the ceremony at the Audubon House to the reception across the street at the Westin (which was a Hilton when we were there).

4. Our outdoor sunset reception, where the photographer made us take corny photos like this one of us kissing each other through the setting sun.

5. My bright orange and yellow and red flowers.

6. Our big brown wedding cake. We love chocolate and it was our wedding, dammit! White cakes are for wussies.

7. Going out to the bars after the wedding. At Irish Kevin's, the owner/entertainer Kevin recognized me from a few nights earlier during my mini-bachelorette party. He invited us on stage and bought Chris an Irish car bomb (a pint of Guinness with a shot of whiskey dropped into it). I still can't believe he chugged it so fast. Yes, I was still wearing my veil.

8. Honeymooning in Jamaica. We had spent five days in Key West, so we planned a "real" honeymoon without our families in tow. This was the view outside our window: a private island owned by the resort. You had to be nude (or at least topless) to go there. We did not go.

9. My wedding gift for Chris? Binoculars.

10. My husband, who puts up with my nonsense. I love you even though you were trying to look at nude women on our honeymoon. Here's to ten more years! (And maybe some more after that.)

The East Coast Farm Chicks Alternative: Clover Market on June 5th

I know that some of you vintage-lovin' Pacific-Northwesterners will be visiting that tiny show called The Farm Chicks on June 5th.

On that weekend each year, all of us jealous Mid-Atlantic antiquers just sit at our computers and read everyone's Farm Chicks recaps. And wish we had somewhere equally fabulous to shop.

Stop sulking and join freshvintage at the Clover Market on Sunday, June 5th!

We weren't originally planning to set up shop there in June, since Erin already had plans that day. But, at the last minute, my husband Chris and I decided to get a babysitter for the day and book a spot in June. Luckily, we grabbed the last space available. Lisa from Brandywine View Antiques will be there, and so will the mother/daughter duo of Gloria and Ali from The Cottage Home in West Chester, PA.

We are going to have a Summer Road Trip theme this time, with lots of sunny vintage finds for you!

And, we will be accepting credit cards, through a new-to-us service called Square. I will tell you more about that in a couple of days.

The Clover Market runs from 10am to 4pm, rain or shine (unless there are horrible, mean storms that day). It is located in Ardmore, PA.  This is the last one until September, so don't miss it! I wrote a little about it when we sold there in April. And you can visit the website for more info, too.

Doors, Doll Chests and an X-Rated Chalkboard

These were my finds from two weekends ago. It was a whirlwind trip to two township-wide yard sales and one barn sale. I had the kids with me, which meant less room for furniture purchases, and a greater need for random crappy toy bribes to keep them occupied. But the upside is that they always provide some comic relief.

I paid $56 for everything in this photo (not the black bench on the right - that's all mine!). I bought the chippy blue door at a barn sale, which happened to be the same place where I bought that black bench last year.

I love this green McCoy Windowpane bowl. It has a hairline crack in the side and it was only five bucks. I might keep it for myself.

I still can't figure out this tole painted wreath with a metal bow and leaves. It looks old, and is a little chipped, but I don't know its origin. The flowers seem to be sculpted of clay, but the rest of it is metal. Has anyone seen this before? I gave it to my mom for Mother's Day because it matches her decor. Oh - that's right, I already said that all of these things cost me a total of $56 dollars. Just so you know, Mom - this cost me $55. Everything else in these pictures cost a dime each.

These two charts are from the Pennsylvania Game Commission, circa 1965: Birds of Prey and Marsh and Water Birds.

That brown lamp is a Dazor Floating Fixture, and it super heavy. I bought it for two bucks, because it needs re-wiring.

Yeah, I realize now that the door is upside down in this photo.

This light blue wooden box has a paper-covered insert. When Lisa from Brandywine View Antiques saw it, she said it was a doll chest. And it would be worth over $100 if someone didn't paint it light blue.

What do you think was the first thing that my 8-year-old, Finn, noticed when he looked at this chalkboard?

"Ass Toys", of course. Which is really Cass Toys. I can't wait to see the Google Search traffic from that phrase.

I've sold a few of these letter holders in the past. This is a neat-o way to organize papers and magazines.

I had all of my stuff on the front porch when I took the photos that I just showed you.

I am planning to leave the blue door right there, to distract and confuse the Jehovah's Witnesses who visit us every few months. I am hoping that they will knock on the blue door, and no one will answer. And they will take their pamphlets and leave. The odd thing is that they don't knock on any of our neighbors' doors. It's like they have our names on a special list that has the phrase "MUST BE SAVED" rubber-stamped across the top.

Dear Whomever Bought the Cement Blessed Mary Statue: Please return ASAP! We need to put her on our porch so that people think we are saved. Thank you.

Restoration Hardware Baby & Child: Pint-Sized Industrial Chic

Can something be industrial and unbearably cute? Have you seen this playroom in the new Restoration Hardware Baby & Child catalog?

   Photo Credit: Restoration Hardware Baby & Child Website

The catalog and website are packed with other ridiculously adorable nurseries, bedrooms and playrooms. For rich people. The prices are similar to Pottery Barn Kids, but the style is definitely more cutting edge.

I added up the cost of everything in the room, and the total is $5,824. That's only about $5,800 more than I spent when I spruced up my kids' playroom.

As soon as I saw this room, it reminded me of a customer at Clover Market who is creating an industrial-style bedroom for her young son. She bought our stack of industrial bins to hold his toys, and a canvas U.S. Mail bag, which was going to be made into a floor pillow. I would love to see the after photos of that room. (If you are reading my blog, please send them to me!)

I mean, I love everything in this catalog, but isn't it so much more fun to dig through a flea market to find the REAL thing, than to pay thousands of dollars for the reproductions? Or just make it yourself?

Take that play table, for example. Gina's husband recently covered their dining room table top with zinc. Just chop 12 inches off of the legs, and you have the perfect kiddie-sized table.

And no one should have to pay $229 for a pinboard. That's just crazy talk. For one that large, just get some cheap molding, a miter box and some cork panels that you cover in cute fabric. Voila! (Or, for a smaller board, follow my tutorial.)

I know that cubbies & metal bins can be tough to find, but if you scour enough flea markets and yard sales, they are there. And I've certainly never paid $799 for cubbies that size. More like $35 at a flea market.

I'm preaching to the choir. So I will shut up now. 

Have you seen the Restoration Hardware catalog or looked at the website? What do you think?

Updated: My sister, Erin, just found the same chairs at a yard sale! Check them out on the freshvintage Facebook page.