Why I Oughta...

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

That above is a cabinet of little vintage Christmas items that is located in a booth in the Great Lakes Antique Mall in Coloma, Michigan.  I've documented this very cabinet for the past few years.  I don't appear to have taken a photo of the cabinet in January of this year, so this one is about six months later than normal. Here's a post showing what the cabinet looked like in January of 2015 . Here's the photo from our 2014 trip . And... here's a photo of the case from 2013 trip . I've looked back and forth between today's image and the one from January of 2015 and I see VERY little difference.  Wonder if the stuff isn't moving?  The shelf in the middle looks a bit more crowded, but I can't confirm that there are indeed, more or less.  Can you?  

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!

These pair of merry guys with pretty nice mustaches were found up in Coloma at our usual haunt.  They're Christmas ornaments and were sold in a pair for just fifty cents.  The one on the right with the red hat is missing a pearl pin in the center of his hat on the front, but otherwise, these things are in pretty great shape.  Especially for being decades old.  Hard to believe that someone kept them for all these years only to let them go for just a quarter a piece? They'll go great with the rest of our vintage Christmas stuff , won't they?

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

A few weeks back, Nat and I stopped into Affordable Antiques in Naperville to just poke around.  On that day, we came home with exactly nothing.  But that's not because there wasn't some interesting things to see there.  There were.  I think that we just weren't in the mood to actually buy anything.  Between the housing situation and the numerous unknowns ahead of us, it just isn't a time in our lives to be able to bring home treasures. One of those treasures that I came across was this lovely vintage Christmas Angel tree topper.   I've posted about other Angels that we have here .    This one priced at $36 seems pretty steep to me, but she is pretty awesome.  She's in great shape, but has had her 'cone' under her tinsel skirt rebuilt, which for purists might be a problem, but is totally fine for me.  She has the usual pipe cleaner-arms, but it is her skirt that makes her shine.  She's not destined for our tree, but I'm sure she'll find a

 That's Santa sliding down what looks like a handle protruding from a chimney adorn'd with a wreath.  There's a lot going on there, eh?  I added this little Enesco pot to the collection and I'm thinking this was a florist piece back in the day where someone would send an arrangement in this pot with a handle.  For us?  It'll probably become a candy cane holder.  But, in order to see the light of day, we have to figure out housing situation out for 2016.  That's an emerging theme.  Can you tell?!?! BTW...this appears to be the final post about this vintage Christmas haul from 2015/2016's trip to Michigan.   Lucky you guys, right?

 At some point, I had a focus on spaghetti-trim'd Santas and was diligent about trying to add them - and only them - to the collection.  But that quickly goes out the window when I see a garage sale find that I can't pass up. But, when I *do* come across a spaghetti-trimmed Santa like this candleholder, we just *have* to buy it.  He's marked nicely with a 'Japan' sticker on the bottom and he likely had a partner that didn't make it over the years.  I'll be watching to see if we can ever find his partner so we can end up with a proper set one of these days.

This Santa is both an ornament AND something that could be a tabletop decoration as someone has put a little base with green 'feet' on the bottom of his glass ball.  I really like this guy as he's kind of a mash-up of Santas with felt bodies + Santas with pipecleaner arms + a vintage glass ornament. He, too, was bought up in Michigan at the first of the year. He'll look great next to the rest of our Santas next year.

Another day, another vintage item from the Great Lakes Antique Market.  This time, it is a vintage plastic nativity scene ornament that has what looks like a 'wise man' and his camel.  We have a few of these plastic ornaments with cut-outs on our tree and I really like them - both for their look, but also because they can handle a bit more abuse than a normal vintage glass ornament can.  The kids are savages when it comes to handling the tree every year.

Take a look at this Santa beauty from Holt Howard.  It is an electric coffee/tea pot that is being sold on Ebay for $120.00 .  Let's just say we didn't pay *that* much.    His face is faded, but other than that, he's in great shape.  His top - which is a Santa hat - is there, but the plug isn't.  Don't think that's too terrible of a thing because we're never going to put him into service I would think.  We have some Santa mugs that we've picked up at various garage sales that seem to match him, so maybe we'll end up collecting a 'set' as it were. I can't wait to get our house/home so we can start to think about what Christmas looks like next year.  That's my northstar right now:  get our program going on the house/home so we can have Christmas to look forward to in 2016.

 Maybe my favorite item from this year's post-Christmas vintage haul is this guy here:  a pirate snowman.  I mean...guys....who doesn't adore a vintage pirate snowman.  Complete with eyepatch and gold ring in his year.  And that swasbucklin' belt?  Perfect. He's marked "Made in Japan" and will be a welcome addition to our tree next year right next to these two vintage beauties .

 Every year, we spend NYE up in Michigan and one of the things that we regularly do is to head to the Great Lakes Antique Market to gobble up some Christmas savings.  They normally have some of the booths marked down (sometimes 50% off) for Christmas stuff. We've picked up pots and planters and other stuff in years past.  If you look in January of 2015 or 2014 or 2013 , you'll always see a string of 'vintage Christmas' posts.  And this January will be no different. Consider this the first of a few 'haul' posts showing what we picked up this year.  Starting...with this - which is a first for us - a yo-yo.  He was just too cute to not buy for $0.50.  He's marked 'Kurt S. Adler INC, New York, NY Made in Hong Kong'. The yo-yo is kinda like the little Santa pin we bought last year .  Doesn't quite fit in with the normal collection, but irresistible (and priced right!) so we couldn't pass it up. How could he not come home with us, amiri

These photos are about the best we're going to do in terms of documenting our Christmas Tree this year.  Nat picked out a Douglas Fir for the first time after having gone with Fraser Firs for our entire time we've been buying live tress together. And...for the first time, we put that tree up NOT in our house.  But in Vic and Equation Boy/Man's house down the street in Elmhurst where we've been living.  The reason why these are the best photos I'll get is because we took our ornaments down from the tree and packed them up so the Swiss Family(!!) could come home and decorate their own tree.  We left the tree behind for them to enjoy.  We'll be opening our presents under the tree(s) out in Naperville which will be a really nice memory for Nat and I and (hopefully) the girls. It was a beautiful tree, if it was a little small.  Here's a photo of me picking up the Babe so she can put the angel on top of the tree.  I'm just a bit over six feet tall and

Over the weekend, I made a stop at the Elmhurst Goodwill to drop off some things that have been lingering around the garage.  While I was there, I went in the store as I usually do.  However, this time, they have a special Christmas section set up in the front of the store featuring a bunch of Christmas items.  From ugly sweaters (which looked like a BIG SELLER) to vintage stuff, they have a lot of the Christmas decorations bases covered. After looking at the racks, there were a few items that were of interest to me including these mugs.  They're from Marshall Field's Walnut Room from 1980 and 1981.  As I've mentioned before, my family makes an annual pilgrimage to the Walnut Room and as part of that experience, we've been getting these glass mugs for many years. Our mug collection goes back just a handful of years, but my sisters' have more mugs and years under their belt.  (I think there were a bunch of years when I was single that I attended the Walnut Room

Looks like the folks from the Elmhurst History Museum are getting in on the holiday shopping spirit.   In the old Cocomera spot on York , right across from the York Theatre, they've opened a Pop-Up Shop  featuring items related to their collections it seems .    They're joining the Maxine Pop-Up that is on the other side of York Street just a bit south of this location. They posted the hours on the window and they're going to be open on the weekends.  Friday, December 11th from 4 to 7 pm.  Saturday December 12th from 11 to 3 pm and Sunday, December 13th from 11 to 3, too. Seems like a nice use of the space and a good addition to the City Centre during the holiday season.  

As I was cleaning out the garage recently, I came across a few garage sale 'treasures' that I picked up over the past year.  This Santa Train was one of them.  It has Santa on the locomotive and one car behind him attached via a small chain.  That car has another chain coming off the back of it, so I'm assuming that there was another car attached at some point, but it wasn't there when I picked this guy up.  We're not in our hold house this Christmas, so I'm not exactly sure where he'll go, but for now, he's on top of the tv console in the family room.  I'll have to keep my eyes open for the caboose - which we all know will be basically impossible to find.  I guess that's why I'm up for the challenge.

This past weekend, we stopped at an Estate Sale on Saturday morning in Elmhurst and I immediately headed right where I usually go:  the basement.  There I found a bunch of 90's Christmas stuff and then after looking around, I spied a box of older Christmas stuff under the tables on the floor.  Digging through there, I found this beauty of an ornament. This appears to be a homemade/handmade ornament from who knows when, but it isn't new.  It is based on a styrofoam egg with quite a bit of pined bedazzling going on.  There has to be close to 100 pins of pearl around this thing and someone with a lot of patience put it together. On the front, there's a little plastic angel playing a violin with a little mirror behind her.  She's surrounded by gold and pearl. When I picked this thing up, it felt good.  Felt substantial. I know - based on where this was in the basement and the fact that this was the second day of the Estate Sale - that if I didn't buy this thin