Why I Oughta...

A few weeks past, I posted a photo of a couple of soda pop bottles that I picked up for my Dad at a garage sale down the street .  In that post, I mentioned that I bought a desk chair, too.  This, is that desk chair.  It isn't destined for my desk, but rather for my office as a chair the kids can sit in while they're in there with me.  The chair was priced right and didn't require any haggling, so I snatched it up and put it in the back of my car.  It is well worn, but still rocks and spins and seems to be very solid.  After I got it home, I noticed a few tags on the lower parts of the chair that tell the chair's story.  Check out the tags below.  First one says:  U.S. Department of Agriculture.  F.S.A. Farm Security Administration.  It appears that the number for inventory control has been scratched out.  On another leg, there's another Department of Agriculture FSA tag with the letters "U" and "S" on either side of the tag.  O

Growing up, my Dad collected bottles.  Mostly soda bottles.  He kept them in various places including on top of the cabinets in our laundry room.  He even got into collecting cases.  There were plenty of Coke and Pepsi ones, but there were also a bunch of obscure ones.  Some from the 80's but mostly older than that.  When my parents moved out of my childhood home a few years ago , they had an Estate Sale.  And guess what?  A bunch of my Dad's treasures sold.  That included many of his bottles.  I think he kept a few on hand, but for the most part, he parted with a long-term collection. So, when I was at a garage sale on our block a few weeks back and I came across these bottles, I had to grab them.  I mean...look at the prices:  five cents a piece.  That's nuts, right?  I mean...even if they were junk, throwing them away cost only a dime. The 7-up one is from the 50's according to my Dad.  The Ting bottle is old, but has a zip code on it from the bottler.  Turns

At a Garage Sale down the street from us recently, I couldn't pass up this American Legion School Award medal that was in a $0.25 bin.  I mean...come on, right?  I grabbed it and scurried home to find out that it is a 1925 medal given to girls.  On the side you see above it reads:  For God and Country. How do I know it is from 1925?  From this piece where it shows both sides that match to the medal I now have in my possession.  1925 is the first year they gave away awards to girls , so this one is the inaugural version and is listed on eBay across ranges from $29.99 to $89.99.  To me?  It is priceless and will go into my stash box...or maybe even a gift to my Dad for him to treasure.

I came across a garage sale up in Twin Lakes earlier this summer that I was drawn in via a vintage bicycle (that turned out to be a reproduction and was too expensive for me!) and ended up buying this silly coffee mug for $0.25.  It has this husband/wife and a pig on it and just spoke to me for some reason.  It has a comic strip kind of quality to it, but I can't quite place it. Not Frank and Ernest .  Not quite Beetle Bailey .  Kind of like a hillbilly Blondie ? The same mug is on eBay for $19.99 , which seems nuts, right? Oh, did I tell you?  This got a MAJOR eye roll from Nat.   I made the mistake of leaving it in the front seat after I picked it up and she came across it before I could put it away. It has some crazing going on and I have to think it will survive the dishwasher if it still looks like this after 40 or 50 years, so I stuck it in the cupboard in Twin Lakes and I'll use it when I can. One of the big reasons why I bought it?  This "Made in Japa

I scored another vintage Marshall Field's Christmas mug at a Garage Sale a week or so ago - this time from 1983.   If you recall, I posted a few years ago about the two Walnut Room/Marshall Field's Christmas mugs that I picked up at the Elmhurst Goodwill .  They were 1980 and 1981 years.  There were four total mugs (two from each year) and my sister Vic has a Marshall Field's collection of sorts, so a pair of them were destined for her collection. If you go back and look at the other post showing the 1980 and 1981 mugs , you'll see that the 1980 version is one of these 'hot toddy' mugs while the 1981 one is a normal mug shape.  The '83 version went back to the taller, 'hot toddy' version.  But, the character is just as interesting. 1980:  A teddy bear, Christmas tree and presents under the tree. 1981:  Contortionist Santa. But, in 1983, they used Uncle Mistletoe.   Don't know who he is?  C heck out this piece about Field's from the

A few days ago, I posted a photo of a little brass letter rack that I picked up at an Estate Sale recently.  I also stopped at a garage sale or two on the same trip including the one where I bought a few vintage Christmas items  - one of which is this flat Santa Mouse felt ornament.  He has a cute little bow that has a couple of bedazzles on him and he reminds me of both the vintage felt ornament that I made when I was a kid and this flat Mrs. Claus felt ornament that I picked up last year at an estate sale. This year, we'll be back to decorating our *own* place and having a tree (or two?!?) and we're always looking for 'low-hanging' ornaments that the Big Beef/King of the Ball Tossers can reach and not shatter/break.  So, I'm sure this one will find a home somewhere low this season.  Should be a nice addition to our holiday.

We spent a few days up in Twin Lakes Wisconsin and besides the beautiful views and lovely screened in porch, I was glad to see that just like in Coloma, there's a pretty active garage sale circuit that one can run on the weekends.  Maybe it is a 'lake house town' thing? I found time to stop at one and picked up a few items including this angel above.  She's old, but not *that* old because her head is squeeze-y rubber.  But she's in impeccable shape.  Super bright white.  No dirt or marks on her.  I also bought a plastic blowmold Santa that takes a light in his back.  It is the same one that Nat's parents have on their counter during Christmastime and I *think* it dates back to her Dad's childhood.  Which...means it is from the 1950's - 60's?  But this one that I bought, just like the angel above, was in just about perfect shape, too! We left the Santa up in Twin Lakes for Grammy and Granddad and who knows?  Maybe he'll get a shot at the bi

Over the weekend, the kids and I went out and changed the oil in Nat's car, hit up Delta Sonic for a detail job on the rolling dumpster that is the backseats of our van, a quick stop at Menards for some mouse traps and candy for the girls and then we wandered around and found a few garage sales and an Estate Sale. At the Estate Sale - which was in Elmhurst just north of St. Charles -  they had a whole table of milk glass.  See all of the stuff they had below: Plenty of it was hobnail as you can see.  I took that photo and texted it to Nat and the only thing that jumped out to her - and me - was the pitcher in the back row.  So, I grabbed it, and a few other things and went up to the table to haggle with the hosts.  I'll post the other things later, but as everyone says: I got a great deal!  This time, it is true, though....

Another weekend, another stop at a few garage sales.  And...another vintage book added to the collection here on the blog .  This one is a Golden Book titled "Walt Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Patch".  It has a 1980 date printed on the inside and with Pooh Bear being The Bird's favorite (or all time!) and him being generally a big deal in our house, I couldn't pass this one up.  This will make for some good bedtime reading together!

Last weekend, I posted about the vintage Golden book that showed some sweet 1970's cars but above is another book that I picked up at the very same garage sale that is part of the "Mr. T and Me" series called The Best Bike Ever. From Awful Library Books , you can see the synopsis: The plot concerns a girl who spends more time washing and polishing her bike than riding it. When Mr. T makes an appearance at a local mall, her older sister steals the bike and dents the fender on her way to see him. To the younger sister’s horror, Mr. T grabs the bike and rides around gleefully, then lectures all the kids on honoring god rather than their possessions – I love how intently the kids are listening! Mr. T pops the dent out, lesson learned, everyone goes home a little wiser. The girls will love Mr. T, won't they?  #IPityTheFool

Well...we don't actually have it on hand, but I've cut a deal and my Dad is picking it up this week while he's in Coloma. That's right, we're the proud owner of that beauty of an apple press.  I found it at a yard sale up in Coloma and after passing on it initially, we went back later in the afternoon only to find it closed.  The woman told me that they bought it from a farmer back in the 1970's but she had no idea how old it was.  It has two parts: a grinder in the box (that's the wheel on the side) and the 22 lb press on top (that's the handle on top). Fortunately, the house was for sale, so I took a shot and emailed the agent with my story about wanting to reach the owner of the house she was selling to try to buy their apple press.  Well...a few days later a lady calls me and....yada, yada, yada....we now have an apple press.  (Or...we will have it this week when my Dad comes home from Michigan!). And...yes...I yada-yada'd over the good p

Just like the Mr. T bicycle book I posted earlier this week, I picked up this sweet vintage Golden book for the kids at a garage sale for just $0.25.  The vintage cars and trucks alone made this un-passable.  If you look at the 3rd photo down, you'll see the 1973 date in the edition.  The cars are pretty sweet, but the work trucks and jeeps make this a keeper and worth adding to the 'vintage books' tag here on the blog . Look at those rides?!?!? Soldiers?  Criminals?

If you look closely at the mark on the bottom of this sled, you'll see the words "Made in Occupied Japan" and that's the very reason why I couldn't pass this Santa and reindeer by at a garage sale in Elmhurst a few weeks back.  I've posted many a time about the vintage Christmas stuff we've collected at garage sales, estate sales and antique stores here on the blog , and MOST of them have a little sticker on the back of the figures that reads 'Japan'.  But, this is the FIRST piece we've ever bought that says "Occupied Japan". This story says that items marked this way were made in between 1945 and 1952 when the Allies 'occupied' Japan and to encourage the growth of the economy, we imported items during those years as long as they were marked thusly. This is, I think, called celluloid and it is pretty delicate, but it still works.  When you roll this forward, the wheels under Santa move and ding a bell every time they rol

Another weekend, another garage sale find.  This one is a book that I picked up for the girls.  And with our trip planned for Paris, this Madeline booked seemed super appropriate.  And look at the adorable drawings inside: And this little intro blurb - that isn't an intro blurb: But...*this* is what sealed the deal!  Look at this adorable little note that one young lady wrote to her 'new friend Susanne' when she gifted her this book.  Get together and talk about it at the Medina Pool?!?!  How awesome and perfectly entitled is that?! Added this one to the "vintage books" tag page here .   Check it out to see other posts featuring some garage sale/estate sale finds we've had in the book category .

I came across this wood rocking horse that was too cute to pass by at a garage sale recently in Elmhurst.  I took a photo of it and texted it to both Nat and her Mom - who is kinda *into* horse stuff.  Either way, I was going to buy this thing. Nat's mom raised her hand and this awfully cute red Wonder Horse has found a new home in Naperville for a whole generation of grandkids to ride on.  The price was too good to not put this into our van. In poking around on the web about what exactly this thing is, I came across this story about The Wonder Horse  and the history of the company who made/make it: Children of the 1950s remember the most popular horse from their childhood: the Wonder Horse. The all-wood painted horse was supported on a wooden frame by metal springs. The child rider could bounce up and down. The Wonder Horse was made by Wonder Products, now located in Bossier City, La. The company made its first horses in 1949. It continued making the same type until 195

I mentioned in the post from earlier this week featuring a vintage angel Christmas ornament that we were out garage sale'ing this weekend and that there were other treasures that came home with us on Saturday.  Above is one said treasure.  This pair of carolers were on the table amongst other Christmas stuff, but they were the only things that jumped out to me.  They, too, have the same eyelashes as the angel and reindeer , but they also have this on the bottom: Made in Japan?  Priced right at under a buck?  Sold! I brought them home and snuck them into one of the tubs that are remaining in our garage that are still full of Christmas stuff.  We've hauled off most of the stuff to our storage unit, but there are still a few that are on a rack awaiting for me to rent ANOTHER storage unit because the other three are jammed full.

Another day, another post about a garage sale find that happens to be a vintage Christmas item.  We picked this Santa Claus up a few weeks back at a garage sale around the corner from our house.  He's the biggest vintage Christmas thing we've ever bought, but was still just a dollar.  He's maybe 12 inches or so tall and he *kinda* stands up on his own.  I forgot to take a photo of his shoes, but he's marked "Made in Japan" and while he's a little bit dirty, he is in great shape for being fifty or sixty years old. The lady we bought him from said, "Oh...I remember that Santa!  He was out every year for Christmas for our family.  He was so great." Which...makes me wonder why, she's parting with it?  I guess, at some point, when you are cleaning out your parents' house, you have to divorce yourself from the sentimentality of items.  If you don't, you'll end up being a hoarder, right?  Can't hold on to everything? At least s

Over the weekend, the kids and I piled into the minivan and ran some errands around town that included a bunch of stops at various garage sales in and around Elmhurst.  On one of those stops, I came across this little angel ornament.   She has those *big* eyelashes.  They totally remind me of these 'lashes on this reindeer ornament that I found a few years back . Sure, she's cute, but when I turned her over, I was sold.  After all, this thing was, indeed, made in Japan, but exclusively for Lee Wards in Elgin, Illinois .   The asking price?  A mere $0.25.  She's gone to a good home and will (hopefully??) make an appearance on our tree this year (or...if we're still not in our house, then maybe next year!

Found this at an Estate Sale in Elmhurst along with some 70's era Shell Oil/NFL themed drink glasses and couldn't pass it up.  It is still full and how about those graphics on the front of this can?!?! If I'm being honest, this can isn't quite a perfect fit with our other vintage Christmas stuff (mostly Santa figures), but it will look cute in our china cabinet along with the other vintage holiday/Christmas stuff, won't it?  And, it was just $0.25. And, you guys know that I have a soft spot for things that I feel like I am rescuing. Meaning...rescuing them from the dumpster.  If *I* didn't buy this old can of spray-on snow, I'm thinking nobody would.  And it would have disappeared.  Maybe one of my kids will have an affinity for it as they grow up - and they'll value and be attracted to some old things like Nat and I are today.  Or...maybe it will end up in a dumpster eventually anyway. No matter.  It has at least a (temporary??) new lease on li

Whether you decide to build or buy, this book tells you how and why.  That's the promise form Howard H. Morris in this book that I found at a barn sale up in Coloma.  What's a barn sale?  Well...it is kinda just like a garage sale, but inside a barn.  There was lots of junk, but a few interesting items like this book.  Since we're *kinda* in the market for housing, this one jumped out at me.  Too bad the guy wrote [50 cents] on the cover in Sharpie, because he kinda ruined the cover.  Bummer. This is the second vintage book that I've posted about here on the blog.  Other one here is a vintage Red Cross text book and manual .