Happy Easter!

The boy and I went to the 6:30 a.m. Easter sunrise service at the Glen Foerd mansion on the Delaware river.  On the drive up, the sky was as beautiful as I've ever seen it, and once we got out of the car to walk to where the service was being held...  I just wish I'd bought my camera.  Due to some light fog, you couldn't tell where the sky ended and the river began, and in the middle was silhouetted the old cast iron statue of Little Ugly, the beloved family pet who sloughed off his mortal coil in 1871.  It would have made a stunning photograph.

Above is somebody else's photo of Little Ugly.    

decan't always get what you want

But if you want a beautiful (and heavy!  Really heavy.) Bohemian or possibly Italian art glass decanter, I gotcha one right here:

Those dark areas aren't painted.  They're cutouts in the glass.  

Note that this is about 400% cooler in person than what you see in the photo.

that does not compute...

... said the robot on Lost in Space. Delivering that line and also 'Danger!  Danger!' were pretty much the extent of his role.  They're also pretty much the extent of my Lost in Space memories. 

Below is Robot 7.  Unlike the one on Lost in Space, he keeps his opinions to himself.

plastic jewels

It's pretty mind-blowing what old plastic jewelry goes for these days. 

And I'm not even talking bakelite.

I'm talking plain vanilla plastic.

Fortunately for me, I have recently been able to find a few nice examples for less than what my monthly mortgage costs me.  

Have a look!!

material culture

I've recently come upon some really neat prints on vintage clothing:

 The skirt above is from the 1930's.  The print features everything from volcanoes to pirate ships to Helios driving his chariot across the sky.  

 A circa 1950 Pennleigh cotton seersucker shirt with BRIGHT Hawaiian motifs.  So much more comfortable for hot weather wear than rayon.  

 A 1980's Italian silk scarf with bicycling print.  Exquisite!

Deco at its deco-ist!

Try as I might, I couldn't get a really good photo of these two salt-&-pepper shakers, but know that they're about three times as awesome as they appear in the picture.

The design is SO clever.  The salt comes out from holes on the sides, and it's not immediately apparent how you get it in there to begin with.  Fortunately, the lady I got them from knew: 

Flower Power

Hugely popular in the mid-to-late 1960s and early '70s.

These, like the owl pendants from the Seventies*, are getting harder and harder to find.

Owl pendants based on the old designs are currently being made in China.  If you come upon a vendor at a flea market, antiques show, etc. etc. etc. who seems to have a lot of them, with multiples of the same designs, it's more than likely they're brand-new, not the genuine vintage article. Especially if they feel very light.  The real thing has some heft to it. 

Fortunately for us purists, they haven't got around to reproducing the flowers yet.