Horsin’ Around

We had enough of a snow storm yesterday for a snow day!!! Woo Hoo, grown-up snow days are the best. Hubby left for work, but went a couple of miles, turned around, and came home. His usual hour-long commute was going to take him more than an hour and a half, and it just wasn’t worth it. I ignored my shop, as no one could get there, and CSU closed the campus. We all stayed home and drank hot cocoa. It was awesome. Best part is that it was on a Wednesday, and roads will be at least passable on Friday, so we can shop as usual.

I have some odd stuff and then a few things I gathered on my travels this summer that I wanted to share and keep forgetting to take photos of them. So you get some goodies at the end, but till then, well you know what it will be like.

We will start off with some pretty china, as we just can’t resist:

There were just a couple of plates, but we thought it was a more unusual design. It was an earlier pattern than we regularly see, as well. Probably to the teens or even earlier. I guess the rest of it went by the wayside over the years.

Honestly, if either of us were gluttons for punishment, we would have bought this:

The price was reasonable, although I can’t remember what it was. This was a pretty monumental TV lamp, and a horse is a whole lot rarer than the ubiquitous panther. Neither of us wanted to be the one to figure out how to pack it for a sale on Etsy, so we hope some horse-loving mid-century collector got to it before a rabid flea marketer found it. Just imagine it with some nice plastic flowers in front!

We have questions, lots of them:

I applaud being able to win £50,000, but why do we need an ashtray to honor the chance? Is this a souvenir of winning? If so, just give me the cash and keep your pottery. If I didn’t win, I would just be bitter and want to dash it against anything large and concrete, and while therapeutic, not really helpful. If this is a gift for all the hard work folks put in to make this happen, see above. And while we are pondering, how did it get to Fort Collins? So many questions, so few answers.

I probably should have put this right after the TV lamp, but I wanted to ease you in gently:

On the surface, and from a distance, this doesn’t look too bad, but it was not improved on closer inspection by the rather moth-eaten looking fur that it was comprised of. Someone went to a whole lot of trouble to make this, and then it was given as a gift:

It was presented on the purchase of a farm, but we were more interested in the English origins of the piece. I went and looked at some pictures of Matlock. They should have just sent a postcard.

This was kind of cool:

It was a very early trunk covered in canvas, see up close:

The inside was not fantastic, but it wasn’t beyond repair either. We like the extra time taken to put the stenciled design on it. It was sturdy and useful, and even on the decorative side. Price was reasonable, and I am sure it was snapped up right away, but not by us. By the time we got to this part of the store, we were so cranky about ARC’s new pricing that we just passed it by, not that either one of us needed it. Don’t you wish it could tell you where it had been though? Some hopeful person passing the Statue of Liberty was probably more that grateful to be able to bring it and its contents to a new start in a new land. Hope they lived a prosperous life.

We think the thrift store elves have been at it again:

Honest, we didn’t do this. That deer is being VERY inappropriate, and that poor doll is taking it sitting down. To top it off, we don’t think he likes what he sees, and he is the one instigating the whole incident, we think he should just stop and put everyone out of their misery. [Deb here. As our editor, B.H. is insistent that Miss Doll instigated the whole affair by jumping on the poor deer just minding his business. I guess there are two sides to every story.] They must have been really bored in the back room.

OK, on to the treasures. I picked up three VERY vintage patterns last fall. I have sold one, still have one listed, and just cannot bring myself to list this one, as how often do you see a pattern this old:

I will give you three guesses how old it is and the first two don’t count! The iconic flapper dress it is! I was very interested to see that this was an actual printed pattern, as many patterns from this time period are just plain shapes of tissue with perforated holes to mark the piece numbers. Some of them, you even have to add your own seam allowances! The pattern is complete with all pieces, so it could even be used. I may try and do a doll size version of one of these, but for now it will rest in my tiny collection of vintage patterns.

And now for a couple of pieces of jewelry. This first one is another that I intended to sell, and that didn’t work out:

I like V for victory WWII stuff, so this is pretty cool. I have no idea whether it was commercially made or not. The top penny is dated 1929, and the bottom one is dated1940. The V is stamped into the penny very heavily and then painted on the top side. It has a small safety pin soldered in place for the pin back and a brass jump ring connecting the two parts. I would love to know if a man or woman wore this, and if it was homemade or not. If you have anything like it, drop us a line.

And now this one, that I never had any intention of selling:

This is a large pin at well over 2.5 inches long. It is a porcelain plaque hand painted with a portrait, of Lillian Russell, so it says. These are fairly rare, according to the research I did, and it was super pretty. There are some small paint losses on it but not bad. I picked it up thinking it was pretty, and kept it thinking it was so interesting that it needed to be a part of my collection. If you get a chance, go read the linked article. She was quite the gal. Her popularity explains the existence of this in the first place. It would have been a rather pricey piece to begin with, and was probably precious to the owner.

Well, off to do some catch up. Here’s hoping you all get a for “reals” snow day this winter, and get to enjoy it like I did.