collecting — Page 52

Vintage Find: Necco Candy Jar

November 27, 2011 at 10:43 am by Claudia

Don and I drove to a favorite antique shop yesterday. The day was so beautiful that we had to get out of the house and pretend it was spring! Anyway, my plan was to look, not buy.

But then I saw this:

This is a vintage Necco Candies display jar. It’s about 11 inches tall.

Look at the Art Deco-style graduated glass sides. It reminds me of the Chrysler Building. I’m a sucker for this style.

Swoon-worthy Deco graphics. Well, swoon-worthy for me.

I saw a vintage jar lot (4 or 5 fabulous designs) at auction last year. I bid on them, but they quickly went out of my price range. I’m fairly sure this jar was part of that lot. Since the auction is local, the buyers are usually local dealers. Several months ago, I saw an Art Deco-style jar with ridges in the design that I recognized from the auction lot in this very shop. I didn’t buy it and I kicked myself for it later. But, wonder of wonders, I got another chance.

I still hemmed and hawed. Could I justify the purchase?

Don started to list all the treasures I could display in the jar. (He gets us, ladies.) He suggested that I use it for a rotating display.

Okay, you talked me into it.

I’m not putting this in my studio. It will live in the living room and kitchen.

Would you leave some suggestions for treasures to display in the jar? Obviously, with Christmas coming, my first thought is vintage ornaments. Or pine cones (I have a slew of them, gathered from all the places I’ve lived.)

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

By the way, I used to live fairly close to a Necco factory in Cambridge, MA. And I love Neccos. So, it’s rather perfect, isn’t it?

Vintage Books

September 30, 2011 at 12:00 pm by Claudia

Greetings from the water-logged Northeast. The rain keeps on coming. I do spy a bit of sun at the moment, so fingers are crossed. It’s been so bad here for the past 2 months that there is a patch of our front lawn that I still haven’t been able to mow. Because it is at the bottom of our little hill, all the moisture seems to collect there. It has yet to dry out from the hurricane, much less our most recent rains.

I seem to be featuring the den lately. This little vignette sits atop my music cabinet just to the left of the stairs. Before we go any further, say hello to Monty:

How could you not love that face?

But this post is about books. To the left, you will see some vintage books.

I’ve found a few well-loved vintage books that I treasure. I don’t buy them just to buy them. I know many of you buy them for crafting purposes or for display. Try as I might, I simply cannot take a book apart and use it’s pages for something else. I’ve done it with sheet music, but that’s as far as I can go. Books are living things to me and I just can’t do it. Must be genetic.

If I buy a vintage book, it is because I love the author and it has meaning to me. That book on the left, Lyrics and Love, is full of beautiful poetry about house and home and is in near perfect condition. A Girl of the Limberlost is a favorite from childhood; I have two copies and this particular one is the oldest. Claudia has obvious meaning and was given to me by my friend Spencer. And the Jeeves books are favorites of ours – Don has played Jeeves onstage. If you have never read Wodehouse, you are missing out on some of the funniest characters ever written. You will laugh out loud.

This vintage book is priceless to me because my grandmother gave it to my great-aunt Rhoda for Christmas in 1912. Rhoda died a few short years later, a victim of the flu epidemic. The pages are so fragile that I rarely open this book. This is the color illustration inside the front cover:

And this book, equally dear, was presented to my grandmother in 1904 as a prize. She had memorized the most bible verses of anyone in her class.

I have some first editions that I love, a signed copy of To Kill a Mockingbird that I keep in a safe place and others that are dear because I’ve read and re-read them so many times.

Oh, and I have this book:

We bought it on our honeymoon. It’s been well-thumbed because it was formerly the property of Grass Valley High School

I pressed some wedding flowers in it.

And a four-leaf clover or two.

And it has some beautiful illustrations:

But I do accumulate more books than I have room for in our tiny cottage. The other day, I was in purge mode. I attacked the bookshelves that are on my side of the bed, ruthlessly pulling out books I knew I would never read and/or consult again.

Our little library has need of books for its shelves and also has a book sale every year. I will be donating these to the cause so that someone else will have the pleasure of reading them.

Long live books! And by that I mean the 3 dimensional kind.

For those of you who participated in my modest little meme, Reality Shot Thursday, my thanks. I loved your posts. I’d like to keep this going for a while and I’d be most appreciative if you’d spread the word. I don’t know about you, but I love shooting a no-pressure-real-life photo. It’s refreshing!

Beverly suggested I link with Pink Saturday since the cover of Alice in Wonderland is pink!

The Unseasonal Decorator

September 27, 2011 at 10:31 am by Claudia

I know this might be a form of blasphemy in this nesting, decorating blog world….but I’m not much of a seasonal decorator. There, I’ve said it.

First of all, I don’t have much room to store that kind of thing. Furthermore, all I have to do is look out my window or, better yet, go outside, to see seasonal decorating in all its glory. Why compete? I know I’m blessed (or cursed, depending on the season) because I live in the northeast, where each season is distinct and beautiful. I’ve been trying to remember if I did more seasonal decorating when I lived in San Diego where the seasons are two: gorgeous or rainy. I don’t think I did.

I decorate the living room area for Christmas, never the rest of the house. No red, white and blue on those patriotic holidays. Maybe a fabric egg or two at Easter. I don’t change out pillows or slipcovers for the seasons, either. It’s just not my thing and besides, our little cottage is only 1200 square feet. Where would I keep all that stuff?

At this time of year, I usually buy a pumpkin or two. That’s about it. Last year, I searched high and low for white mini pumpkins. Tracie took pity on me and sent me some. This year, I was pleasantly surprised when I found some at my local market.

These and maybe a pumpkin on the porch will be the extent of my fall decorating.

I do love white mini pumpkins.

The wicker rocker is now in the bedroom. No, it hasn’t been fixed yet. Don commented more than once about how much he liked the more spacious feeling in the living room in the rocker’s absence. So I tweaked a few things in the bedroom and there you have it. The room is definitely closer to something-like-charming with the addition of the rocker. Next up: painting all the darker pieces of furniture. Maybe with chalk paint?

I found another piece of miniature pottery the other day.

A little creamer, most likely a souvenir, from Barbados. I fell in love with the colors and the design. Isn’t it sweet?

A reminder about Thursday:

I hope this will become a weekly meme. We’ll see. Share a photo from your home or yard that isn’t staged….you know, the mess that is just to the right of your staged, pretty photo. Just a quick slice of real life. I’ll put up my post on Wednesday evening and will figure out Mr. Linky before then. I know there are a lot of memes out there and it can be hard to take part because of life’s daily demands. If you feel like joining, great. If not, I’ll merrily keep on posting my reality shot every Thursday.

The button and code are on my sidebar.

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Vintage Find: Necco Candy Jar

Vintage Books

The Unseasonal Decorator

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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