Schmidt's Ho

Back in the day, local historians claim, Philadelphia had about 1.2 zillion breweries, plus or minus a few hundred thousand. 

Schmidt's was the last man standing. 

Until they folded circa 1986. 

This cool boat made of Schmidt's cans remains.

OJ

Isn't my little Occupied Japan girl sweet?

the ultimate in shabby chic

I got this darling, darling old rug several -- well, more than several -- years ago. 

I've offered it for sale numerous times, but I always price it too high to actually sell.

I don't think I could bear to part with it.

Happy Fathers Day

The movie star handsome guy with the toothy grin was my dad. 

He's currently in Heaven, doing all the things he enjoys: watching WWII-related stuff on the Heavenly History Channel, eating vanilla ice cream, and fishing.

Happy Fathers Day, Dad.   

I'm on the fence

Something's telling me a) to move. As in sell the house; and b) to get rid of ALLLLL my merchandise by dropping it off at a live auction, even the stuff that's currently listed on Etsy and FeeBay.

I'm not on the fence about moving. That, I realize, is a must-do for reasons I will withhold until I'm firmly esconced in my next house.

But if I pull the stuff off of Etsy, what happens if I make a big sale while I'm on the way to drop off everything at the auction?

"So what?" you ask.

Well, here's the thing(s): a)today I sold a big Holly Hobbie doll that was fated for the auction, and I got more than I would have if the auction house sold it; and b) I'm a Libra and, as such, am cursed with indecisiveness.

Wanna see the doll?

  

Old Vic

I bought this a couple weeks ago at the Sal (i.e. Salvation Army) and spent way more than I usually do.  When I got it home I looked at the bottom and the marks didn't look "old" to me.

I mean, duh.  Forget the marks, the design is screamingly late Victorian.  But the misery center in my brain had engaged and was telling me that I had wasted good money that I could have used to put gas in my car on a mid-20th century repro.  Which, objectively, is completely ridiculous.  No way in Hades is this a repro.  But my misery center... 

Anyway, this was rolling around my living room rug for the last two weeks while I agonized what to do with it.  Then what happens today is that I get a Kovels Komments* email, which includes a photo of a nearly IDENTICAL item, and a letter from a lady asking about its history and worth. 

Turns out it's from 1898 or earlier, and they claim these sell for about $250. 

Danged misery center. 

*Mr. and Mrs. Kovel publish books on antiques, mainly related to values.  The books ARE good for identifying antiques, like my pitcher, but the prices they quote do not reflect reality in any way, shape or form.  I've been doing this for 18 years.  I should know. 

Anyway, I would encourage you to sign up for their email list because some of the emails are pretty interesting.  Just ignore the prices. 

Sign up at http://www.kovels.com/

Here Comes the (green) Bride

This is an utterly gorgeous vintage Laura Ashley wedding gown, in heavy printed cotton and with NO train.   

There is, however, a lovely charming gathered bow thingummy on the back.  So in addition to being green-friendly fabric, and pre-owned, it lacks that total waste of fabric known as the train.  

Can we talk trains?

I have never understood the appeal of a train on the back of a bride gown.  Never.  They seem to me to be good only for picking up dust and getting stepped on. 

Even if the Laura Ashley gown were bo hideous (which it completely and totally to the Nth degree is not), I'd give it points for being trainless.    

One Giant Step..

...for the special effects industry.

In a little over a month, NASA and space nerds everywhere will celebrate the 41st (faking of) the moon landing!   

I haven't ever found much in the way of contemporary commemoratives for this event, which is kind of surprising when you consider the enormous business in commemoratives today.   However, I did recently come upon this cute bank, which is marked on the bottom 'Apollo Moon Bank,' and dated '69 on the underside.

A disclaimer: My primary reason for alleging the moon landing was faked is that the assertion turns space nerds into angry rabid wolverines.  My secondary reason is that it probably was.   

She Was a Gypsy Woman...

from Japan. 

I ADORE old Made in Japan figurines.  I used to have a collection of MIJ animals, silly and insanely colorful representations of cats playing fiddles and dogs posing next to top hats and roosters in red jackets.  Then my finances took a nosedive and the collection was sold at auction.

For next to nothing, which breaks my heart whenever I think about it.  

Sniff...

Back in the day

This album cover really appeals to me, for reasons I can't quite articulate.

Part of it is, I guess, my fondness for a world gone by, when grown-ups dressed and acted the part, and public discourse was largely snark-free.


Even without the hearts, there's something very sweet about it.