A Little of This and A Little of That

Life is so busy

or is that just an excuse I use?

I am finally getting to see a wall in my living room.

The living room is always a treasure trove of items that have been finished and cannot

take either the heat in the summer or the cold in the winter.

We - well I use that term lightly, because it is Mr that does

all the heavy lifting around here.

Ahem, we..., are using up some of the items we have had

stored in the living room. 

For instance - I don't have a Farm Table in the center...

yes, that is where they go when they are finished.

Sometimes, there are two...

I do have a stack about two feet high of

old bound volumes of a local newspaper that went out of business.
Read about them here.

I am trying to figure out how to make some money on these

very large books that were donated to us.

I see that the University Library has the same ones in a Special Collection Section

of the Campus Library. They are not allowed out of the room.

Here they are, sitting in my living room, right next to a few oil lamps,

a wine bottle opener that we will sell, a bookcase, some back issues of some magazines

and so forth.

They are rather interesting to look at, but other than that...

Dating back to 1868 to 1944 - now that was a long time ago -

you can see the improvements to the city,

the cost of goods - incredible in these high inflation days.

Pictures of women's fashions, grocery ads,

news from the war front.

We went to a show yesterday, almost in our backyard.
It was called Mes Amis
(no, I can't say it either)

Here are a few pictures taken by Mr with my cell phone.

We were based on a little patio area and because of our E-Z up canopies, had shade the whole day.

Some others were based on the street under natural canopies of trees.

It is still in the 90's here in September. And, yesterday was no exception.

Notice the wonderful Farm Table and I see "me" in the background.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, likes the island in the background.

Here is a closer picture.

You can kinda tell when someone likes something, they come up to it and "pet" it.

We sold things that we really, really liked. But, we have plenty for our next show in about 3 weeks.

Does this remind anyone else of that children's book "Hats for Sale"?

A corner of a table was devoted to a "Wedding" Theme.

Well, that is all I have for now.

When we "do" a show, it is like moving twice in one day.

You get where you are going, unload, set everything up like in a house,

then, a few hours later, you pack it all up again and load it up.

We had a helper, in the form of a friend, "Frank" who wanted to help us

load up at the end of the day. He really put away some "gold, silver and precious stones"

with all his hard labor.

Thanks again, Frank.

Vintage Newspapers - What to Do... Give Me Some Ideas

In today's world, a newspaper seems like a waste of good trees, doesn't it? Except for the facts that you can hold it in your hands, come back to it when you please, and see a little of history, what is an old newspaper worth? These days we have instant knowledge, I can't tell you how many times I go and 'google' something for information, prices, general knowledge and such. A vintage newspaper captures the day it was written, so what to do with it?

A while back we were gifted with some newspapers. A couple wanted a table, we had to modify one we had and they came from about 50 miles away to pick it up. In the phone conversations before they actually arrived, they said they had some old things and they were looking for a home for them. Among those items were some newspapers. Well, I thought, sure, bring them on.

The newspapers turned out to be bound volumes that were from 70 years old to well over 100...!

They are large, very large, the whole page is bound.

The oldest of the volumes is from 1869. I wasn't even a thought in my parents head then...

I love the old ads, imagine using an upper set of dentures to advertise!

Hats and caps. "New styles received every steamer". Those came by steamer boat from San Francisco, up the Sacramento River.

Gentlemen's Clothing

How about a lost horse? Reward offered if you see him. I think $20 was quite a bit then.

Then, we move into the 20th century and the war year of 1944.

Shoes - non-rationed for only $2.79!

Fashions

News from the war front.

And political cartoons.

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Well, any ideas of how to sell these?

I have 10 different years with one duplicate.

A local University Library has copies of these in their Special Collection Section.

I have emailed them and have not received a reply. Maybe because I said I wanted to sell them...

I am looking for ideas (beyond donating them ;-)

Put your thinking caps on and give me your best.

Ramblings about Hankies

When I was a child, long, long ago. It was common to receive a pretty hankie in an envelope along with a card. Being raised sorta on 'the other side of the tracks' (meaning that I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth), I thought, what in the world was I supposed to do with this? Not actually wipe my nose... It was too pretty and it would lose it's starchy stiffness, and besides, it scratched. As a kid, my sleeve was just too handy. On special days - like 'hot lunch' day at school, my mother always put my quarter in the corner of a hankie, tied it up and then pinned it to the inside of my pocket. I must have not been too trust-worthy...

Now, in contrast, or whatever, my aunts always carried about -- disclaimer if you are faint...are you prepared for this?  a "snot rag". They were small fabric squares, just the size of a hankie, and they had a stack of them in their laundry closet! I remember folding them as they were often laundered...hmm, they would be over 100 years old now (my aunts, not the hankies) ... now, I want to make it clear that they had proper hankies when they went out in polite society.

yuk!

My grandmother had a 'hankie' tucked into her sleeve. But, these were days when a trip to the store meant you wore a hat, you dressed up to 'run to the bank'. (Do you remember when there were 'banking hours'?) Men wore a hat and 'doffed' it at lady's presence. And they always carried not one, but two hankies, one to use and one to give to a needy young lady or spread on a bench for them to sit on. Oh, the days, no jeans and T-shirts then.

How about the crime being solved because of the monogram in the corner of the hankie that was left at the scene of the crime?

I think that hankies were part of the 'well-dressed' young lady's wardrobe.

Now, we have advanced - we use disposable tissues. I'm sure they cut back on passing along colds, coughs and viruses. But, they are certainly not as pretty. Can you imagine a young man retrieving a dropped 'kleenex'? Or, saving it in his "handkerchief drawer" to remind him of his lost love?
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Well, along my finds, I got a whole lot of hankies. I gave them a good soak in a fabric bleach for a day or so and then laundered them. I am now in the process of ironing them pretty. I have ironed 21 now and I am about half done. They have turned out really nice and I hope to sell them, if I can just come up with an idea of how to market them in a society that doesn't use hankies.

An outing to the Coast

Recently, we went on an outing to the coast.

To the sleepy little village of

Moss Landing

http://www.seemonterey.com/moss-landing-california

On a good day, the population is around 200.

When they have their annual Antique Street Fair,

it swells to over 8,000!

In its 42nd year, it is looked forward to by shoppers and vendors alike.

Just outside the "city limits" (about 100 feet down from the previous building)

is where the 200+ vendors set up their wares, along both sides of "Main Street".

Here is that same general area

We set up there also.

you can see a tiny portion of me (when do you ever say that)

more of our products

I tried my hand at this table display

Silverplate place settings on ironstone plates with pewter teapots
on one of Mr's farm tables.

It was a lovely overcast day. Beautiful weather.

about 65 degrees

There was food (artichoke cupcakes???)

And more food

This (all those empty chairs)

Turned into this:

Hardly a spare chair to find to eat your lunch

Along the way, a street musician - set up.

There were the true antiques

 along with

bangles and bracelets and designer styled jewelry

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At the end of the day, we recieved this

Boy, was I surprised!

To see more photos
https://picasaweb.google.com/bustoshelen/MossLanding#

Mother's Day Downtown Weekend

Once a month we go to a show that is held in downtown Sacramento.

This month, it fell on Mother's Day. We arrive at 3am. Unpack, set-up, hopefully sell some of our stuff, pack up and are on the road to go home by around 4pm. It is a long day, but it is our job.

Here are a few photos from the show, wish you could have been there. The weather was very pleasant and very "May".

One side of our space, notice the concrete freeway overhead. It provides both shade in the summer and shelter when it rains, but it does also provide lots of roadway dust that I don't notice until I clean up.

We had lots of "smalls".

Ladies love the jewelry. I pick it up at yard sales to resell. I also have knives, cuff links, and some belt buckles for the masculine interest, although there are men that go through the "jewels" looking for a looked-over piece of gold or sterling silver. (I have already looked...:-)

Here is a view to the other side. We have nightstands, chests, planter boxes, patio table with chairs and an unique coffee table that Mr dreamed up.

In the early morning, Mr bought this bin table (which he wants to fix up), but we put a price on it and it was a hit for people to reminisce with.

Here is one of the fabulous farm style tables that Mr has redone.

We had several items that could be called "children's" things. There was a cradle/rocking chair, a table with two chairs and a rocking chair. I made a few cushions for the areas that needed them.

Here is a shot of Mr's coffee table. It originally had a glass top, but after it broke, someone sold it to us. He put a piece of metal on top, added casters and knobs to match. A happy family took this home to use.

This is what we call a kitchen island. One this particular one, the sides hang over and a bar stool could be used for seating, beside being used for food preparation and storage. I think it is rather unique. Notice the "picker bucket" on its side. These were used by fruit pickers. They hung over the shoulder with a strap and the shape fits into the hip.

Here is a garden/potting/plant table.

Another view of the farm table

Here is another "picker bucket" on the patio table.

Our children's items with a cute little desk and chair.

There are two metal signs here, one behind the other.

Some chests and nightstands.

This space belongs to my daughter/friend and decorator extraordinaire, of the "Vintage Bricoleur". They have space at the same antique mall we do and their space is a showcase for advertising the mall. Whatever decorator skills Terry has, she did not get from me! I can only copy...

Danny (just a side of his head), Terry and Don are talking this customer into buying this chandelier. They seem to be pretty persuasive.

Danny, in the black sweatshirt, is checking out how to best help this customer.

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Well, another day in the life at Wildberry Ranch. Hope you can come next time...