In one box lot of toys we bought recently there was a coffee can full of what most would only call junk. A bunch of game pieces, toy parts, and bits & bobs, apparently saved by someone who either repaired such things — or just knew that someone would come looking for “it”, so it had better be saved.

I myself admit to such a philosophy. I’m continually saving things, grabbing them with a hearty, “Somebody wants that!”

I sorted through a number of old wooden bingo number chips, the springs from ballpoint pens, numerous sized wheels for toy cars, whistles, wooden Tinker Toy parts, little green plastic trees, and all sorts of dusty & dirty wooden, plastic and metal things. (Surprisingly, only one doll part — and arm, reaching impotently for help out of the old can.)

I have to say that this vintage wooden checker piece with it’s plastic bug gave me a good pause — who can tell for certain there wouldn’t be real bugs in this coffee can?

Many would have tossed it, or given up part way through searching. But not me. I’m insane like that.

I looked at each & every piece in that coffee can of junk, like some might investigate a pirate trunk. Even though I can barely snap a Barbie leg or truck wheel back into place, I knew there would be cool things inside…

These are a few of the treasures I’ve decided that somebody must want.

(If you see something you want, let me know!)

#1 A vintage Cootie head, with eyes. (There were a few Cootie legs in the can too… Eventually, I will piece together a whole Cootie — maybe even an entire vintage Cootie game this way!)

#2 Two teeny-tiny “Indians”. (The prongs stick into horse sides, so they can ride.)

#3 A metal Playskool wrench. (That seriously could come in handy!)

#4 A scary old clown head. (All clowns are scary to me.) This one looks a lot like Reddy Kilowatt… He’s got a hole at the bottom to stick onto a neck — maybe it was a plastic lightening bolt body? Hubby says, “No.” But I’ll be keeping my eyes open, just in case.

#5 Four matching vintage metal helicopter blades. You only had three on this model, anyway… But we’ve got four. Makes me wonder if they had more than one boy who played with (and broke) helicopter toys.

#6 Plastic Rat Fink charm. Very small, but it’s him.

#7 A retro made in Hong Kong Dume Buggy. Not, that’s not a typo — at least not my typo; it says “Dume-Buggy” on the bottom black plastic part. I’m still giggling about a vehicle to ride sand dumes.

#8 Cowboy & Indians sliding puzzle game pieces. This has got to be one of my favorite finds. You know I love a good puzzle, but how challenging to find the missing pieces and put it all together!

#9 Vintage plastic tire — with built-in flat? I have no idea what sort of toy car or truck would have a flat tire… There are no markings to help with this either. (Nearly 2 inches in diameter, if that helps anyone identify the toy vehicle.)

#10 A weird Asian face. I have no idea… It’s not a complete head. On the back is a prong, like on Mr. Potato Head parts, to stick it into something — or someone… He does look like he is wincing. Less than one inch tall. Ideas?

#11 Vintage red & green plastic covered wagon pieces. There’s enough here to put the cover on the wagon, and the two tiny pieces seem of the same hard plastic and matching color, perhaps to drive the horses? Wagon is just over an inch long.

#12 Blue plastic spacemen pieces. We figure these three go together, but have no idea what game or toy set they belong too. The two standing spacemen are not identical, and stand a bit over one inche tall.

#13 A very small cameraman piece. Lots of detail & painting on such a small piece. Again, no idea what set or game this belongs to; do you? And do you want it?

Somebody must want this stuff… If you do, or know someone who does, let me know!

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I shop the estate sales, auctions, yard sales, antique malls, and thrift shops a lot! But one thing I rarely find is an antique hat pin. I think collectors keep them to themselves, not sharing with newbies who might want to get into that area of hoarding. I have only found them when they are either a) quite common with just a ‘bead’ top, or b) reproductions or those that have been formed from other sources and ‘married’, or c) magnificent and extremely expensive.

I recently purchased a value guide on “Hatpins and Hatpin Holders”, an older book from 1983 (more recent ones are of course available.) It has such lovely pictures and a provided a lot of information; it has been quite an interesting read. The book by Lillian Baker begins with a brief introduction and states that “A hatpin was used to securely fasten a hat to the head of the wearer.” They measured from 4” to 12” in length and were worn from approximately 1850-1930. Because of the various sizes, it was common to have more than one of them. But while this was a functional item, it also enabled women to discard the bonnet strings (some felt it liberated them from apron strings as well) and adopt the masculine attire – the hat – as their symbol of equality.

Hatpins were not only utilitarian but were “also a jeweled accessory which surely was the most decorative and functional in the closet of women’s fashionable deceits.” There were actually laws written which governed the length of hatpins, how they could be worn and further restrictions placed upon them relative to public accomodations and transportation. A headline in 1910 created the “international hatpin crisis” and called them society’s newest and most dangerous lethal weapon. Another article in The Paris Mail of 1909 reported “From Illinois: To limit the length of women’s hatpins to nine inches, and make them take out permits for longer ones, just like all deadly weapons.” Laws began to require that all dangerous points of hatpins by covered by guards. Another story in London’s popular Daily Mail of 1908 printed a story about the jailed suffragettes. They were allowed to appear in court with hats, but without hatpins! The removal of hats was tantamount to a forfeiture of dignity for no lady would be seen bare-headed in public, no less a courtroom!

I found it to be a fascinating book, not only for the historical insight if offered but the description and nomenclature of period hatpins and how they were originally made.

It is most likely that collectors of today add to their selection because of the beauty, various metals and precious stones used and the works of art they incorporated, rather than the history of these pointy objects. The Satsuma hatpins were exported from the Japanese Islands in the early 1900s and are fantastic! Hand painted, many with real gold paint, lots of beading, or moriage, and Asian symbols such as fire-breathing dragons.

Others examples were sterling with art nouveau stylized women, arts and crafts designs, and figurals such as a shoe or sweet pea.

 Some of my favorites are the art nouveau pieces circa 1910. They were made of brass with a lot of filigree work and faceted stones.  

Others were made of cloisonne, or hand-painted china. Gorgeous pieces of mini-art!

And, of course, you need the proper display vehicle, the hatpin holder for m’lady’s vanity or dressing table! Makers included W.A. Pickard, Royal Doulton, Schaffer & Vater (S&V), SNE of Nagoya, Nippon, and many Bavarian and German porcelain companies.

I have been told that I already have a lot of collections, and where will I find room for more. Well, collecting hatpins just might be the answer. Small, you can put 4-6 in one little holder, and quite beautiful. Let the search begin!

 

 

We Found This Site For Collectors Or Interested Parties.

I don’t really collect salt & pepper shakers. I’ve a few vintage glass shakers for my table that we actually use, but I am more drawn to the vintage animal s & p shakers and it seems that whenever those are up for auction or for sale, the prices are too spicy for me. Sure, I’ve rescued a few single shakers, an odd elephant dressed as a policeman and a cat in a king’s robe; but that’s only two, not a collection, right?

But not too long ago I stumbled into these.

I got them, along with the matching cruet, not because they were uber cheap (though one could hardly call $15, or $5 per piece outrageously expensive), and not because I could see them as part of my animals with red polka dot bow ties collection (because these bow ties are stripped, not dotted — and I am fussy like that); but because they puzzled me.

These shakers and the taller cruet are part of a vintage ceramic figurative table wear set which was made in Japan. This I know. What I do not quite know is what the animals are supposed to be: pigs or cats?

Now I’ve made it through school, including college, thank-you-very-much, and I can tell a pig from a cat under most every other circumstance. But tell me, please, what you make of these?

Sleek black animals with pointy ears & whiskers, like cats. But then they also have pink pug-ish piggy noses, and curly tails. And their feet are painted in metallic gold — more like hooves than paws too. So I really don’t know what to make of them.  Other than to find them, like any genetic mutant, utterly fascinating in their combined creepy cuteness.

Until you can prove — or at least make a great argument for — one or the other, pig or cat, I call them the black pig-cats.

The lowest number considered to be a collection is three like items, I just pass that with our collection of wall pockets. One of ours is new, resides in our main bath and was purchased from an art glass studio to match the design on a custom made fused glass framed mirror. The fused glass is iridescent with green, blue and pink tones.

The three on our living room wall are all from Japan and have different shapes. We have them arranged to fill an area that would normally have a picture. The arrangement is convenient, fills the spot without the necessity to add to our collecting.

While I was able to find reference books on McCoy and Roseville wall décor, it has taken some searching to get tidbits of wisdom on the history of wall pockets to share with you. First, the material used is varied and although we think of these hangable vases as mainly ceramic, they have been made with glass, wood, tin, copper, and cloth. Early references mention wood boxes hung on walls at strategic locations near entry doors or by the hearth, holding candles, matches, or eating utensils. Pockets made from scraps of cloth would hold sewing items - scissors, thread, thimble or darning egg. Early autos featured a pocket vase for flowers mounted in the interior. (Now an attraction on recent VW Bugs.)

Our collection starts with this pocket with the vertical row of three dimensional flowers, green leaves and blue striping on the bottom. Marked only Made in Japan with its matte finish and traditional shape, we assume it’s from the teens or twenties.

A green stamped mark under glaze on the back has an “H” in the center of a five pedaled floweron this example. The bird has layered enameled feathers, and sits on a branch with white flowers and green leaves. The top is luster painted, it has an arrowhead shape.

The last one on our wall is from Noritake. The shape is referred to as a trumpet style and has a beautiful hand painted lake scene at dusk with swans in the water. Probably pre-war, it’s a very fine specimen.

Potters we have identified as having wall pockets as part of their offerings include; Hull, McCoy, Weller, Shawnee, Noritake, Abington, American Art Pottery, and extensive examples from Roseville.

The shapes we show are some-what traditional, but you will find all manner of figural wall pockets to suit your every decorating need or to complement other collections.

With all of these manufacturers producing from the early twenties through the fifties or sixties, we would expect to find lots of examples in our travels hunting for collectibles, but I have not found one good wall pocket this year. In the past we usually see several great examples to add to our saleable inventory, but if a Roseville Futura ever pops up, you can be sure it would find a place on our wall.

Learn more on the subject of wall pockets with a visit to your local bookstore, or a visit to one of the on line book sellers.  Good hunting, just leave a few out there for me to find.

After some early luck at the Buffalo farm house estate auction, we got hot dogs & chips and, like everyone else who hadn’t brought their own chairs or arrived by riding lawnmower, sat on (sturdy) chairs which would be up for auction later.

This is a dangerous thing. Not because of the age of the chairs, but because Derek knows I ought not be near the furniture. I have a terrible time not bidding on antique furniture because it sells for such a pittance I get ants in my pants. But we’re there now… Getting him started on a tour of all the long rows of furniture will be easy if I get him talking about it, so I point to a big I-don’t-have-a-clue-what-it-is and say, “What is that?”

With each step towards it, his intellect is further engaged and he becomes eager to explain to this city kid what every farm kid (his age & older, anyway) knows. “It’s a cider press,” he says.

What little I know of cider comes from jugs of it at the grocery store, so it’s fascinating to see how it once was made. Being mostly wooden, it’s quite impressive… And I begin to wonder what I could do with it… Dangerous thinking. Especially with curious children whose little fingers might like to play with those giant gears. So I look around to distract myself — I don’t have to look far.

Next to the antique cider press is a less attractive (to me) metal I-don’t-have-a-clue-what-it-is…

This is a cream separator — a De Laval Cream Separator, number 16, to be precise.

My city-kid-brain is beyond boggled. I’m more than a bit afraid he, a non-dairy farming farm-boy, will tell me things that I’ve managed not to learn having lived nearly 40 years in the dairy state of Wisconsin. So I point to a row of chairs and skip on ahead, leaving him to follow me. (I do have the bidding paddle, so he’s best off to know where I am at all times. *wink*)

As we stop and look at a section of not-so-well-cared for antique chairs I spot a real beauty. She’s in need of some serious work — everything from the frame to the upholstery needs help.

But just look at the lovely carved arms! I called them dragons, hubby called them lions; I said, “Dragons, lions, foo dogs — whatever. They are gorgeous.”

At my right I hear, “Isn’t that a pretty chair?” And soon we are chatting with a relative of the woman whose estate sale this is. First we talk chairs. She’s after a green & white antique chair, missing its caned seat (a bit of is is seen in the bottom right corner of the photo below). “I have one at home, given to me by her, with a plant in the broken seat. Chairs number two, three and four are here and I’m hoping…” she says. “Don’t bid on them, will you?” she adds hastily, wistfully. We assure her we won’t — and that we don’t have the room for all the lovely things we see here today, no matter how I wish it weren’t so.

“What will happen if it all doesn’t sell today?” I ask her. Her answer confirms my worst fears, “They’ll dump it, I guess.”

I’m sure my face conveys my horror. But there’s nothing hubby and I can do with our small home & even smaller wallets. But from here it’s easy to get hubby to stroll the big rows of antique furniture with me; it would be rude not to now.

We both admired this pretty antique hall mirror with green painted accents.

And it’s been quite some time since I’ve seen an old wooden wheeled service cart like this — complete with doily under the glass!

When Derek was taking this photo of an old ice box, a woman walking by asked, “Selling it on eBay already?” It was more of an accusation than a question. We both laughed because if we could afford to bid & win, we certainly wouldn’t have sold the old beauty. As a woman, I find such cubbyholes and storage possibilities too delightful, and the wood was just beautiful — what a wonderful, practical piece.

We hurried back to the auctioneer, so that we would be able to bid on that fourth trailer which had all the boxes of books we were interested in.

Back at the trailer area, we arrived in time to hear the auctioneer’s announcement that inside the house was an “antique ornate leather sofa” which they could not remove. It had been put into the old farm house back when the front porch was an open porch, but years later when the porch was made more functional as a walled-in addition, they had not found a way to get the old couch out of the house. “Buyer was responsible for its removal — and they could not hack a hole in the house to do so. Serious buyers should contact the staff or family to see it.” While I was dying to see it, I was not a serious buyer — not in terms of cash, and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face at the buyer’s predicament either. *wink*

Now the bidding on the fourth trailer would begin.

Again, I remind you that we were up against some serious collectors and dealers here; we weren’t sure what we could hope for.

Long story short, we ended up winning a few rounds at “choice” bidding (in which you bid a rate per box, then get your choice of boxes — each times that rate). But the holy grail was when the bidding per box was at $5. The auctioneer then set the bidding to be for all the boxes which remained; at this point, that was about 1/3 of a eight foot wide by 12 foot long trailer. The auctioneer started the bidding at $25. No takers, so he lowered the start to $5.

Derek bid.

I held my breath as no one else bid… I was afraid to say anything — or even blink — for fear it would bring attention and another bidder. But going-going-gone! And we were the winners of all those boxes for just $5!

We should have — would have — taken a photo, but it was time to move all of that into the van. We had so sort books quickly (making over half a dozen boxes of Readers’ Digest Condensed books to donate on our way back into town), and pack and re-pack the boxes so that everything would fit. (Fifty plus flats of National Geographic magazines just had to be dumped loose between the seats, so that the two of us could fit inside the van too.)

While we did so we were asked the usual questions:

“What are you gonna do with all of that?”
“Do you own a book store — are you going to open a book store?”
“Do you sell online?”

(Apparently no one believes us when we say we read and love books, so the questions kept coming.)

The van was packed to capacity.

Not just the inside, but the weight. Look how low the van sat with all that weight.

By the time we were done, we were hotter than heck — but our glow wasn’t just from our sweat. We were beaming with excitement & looking forward to rummaging through our new loot. (We’ll be sure to share the details of all the books, including at least 5 different sets of antique encyclopedias, with you in the future.) It was enough to make me, temporarily, forget about not being able to stick around for the furniture sales.

If this day was a MasterCard ad, it would look something like this:

Lunch: $6
Winning bids at auction: $72
Day with hubby: Priceless

PS The $6 lunch now seems a ridiculous price to pay… I wonder what part of a trailer — or a furniture lot — we might have got for that? If we only had the room…

PPS I had a dream that night that the lady we met at the auction called me & told me that all the unsold furniture was still on the lawn — the junk man would be by to burn it and scrap it later in the week. If we wanted anything, we should come get it. I really wish I had given her my number… Just in case.

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