Merry Christmas!

Wow it's Christmas Day!

 

When I was a kid,  there were three days that I looked forward to.  They were Christmas Day, my birthday, and the last day of school.

Now that I've grown up, I look forward to Christmas to see what kinds of gifts that I can find my friends and family.

I hope that you get all of the gifts that you were wanting this year, and have a great new year!

The ever-changing market place

Today's hot buys in the second hand marketplace might be stone cold by the time you decide to begin unleashing them on the public.  Buyers are very fickle when it comes to what they buy.

Shabby chic could be in one year, then fifties modern the next.  It could be Depression glass even.  Several years ago here in my area, Jadeite was white-hot.  You could not keep it on the shelves, no matter what the piece (or the price) was.  You know what?  Now you can't give it away, even if you mark it as "FREE."

As a dealer, you must be willing to change with the times.  You might love kerosene lamps and high priced granite-ware, so you've filled your shelves with them.  The guy next to you is unloading advertising signs and designer marked jewelry.

You have to learn to watch.  Then you have to anticipate and move or the crowd in the isle will pass you by.

Telephones for everyone!

Telephones looked completely different when they first came out than they do today.  There were no cordless phones, and cell phones were nowhere close to being an idea when phones first started.

Alexander Graham Bell was the first person to be awarded a patent for the electric telephone March 1876.  Shortly thereafter in the same year, Hungarian engineer Tivadar Puskás invented the telephone switchboard.

With the long amount of time that the telephone has been used, the amount of collectibles on the market is quite large.

You could collect signs:

And you can even collect the phone themselves.  There is the old wall phone with the wood case:

*picture courtesy of Wikipedia.com

The candlestick phone (which looks like it could actually be used to hold a candle):

*photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com

The rotary phone:

*photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com

Even the push button models like what we have today. 

*photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com

You can not only use them to decorate with, some of the items can still be used today.  If you are going to use one, you need to make sure that it is good shape (especially to the wiring in the phone).

You can see the signs on eBay here.  What kind of finds have you run across?

Big Wheels

As a kid, my favorite mode of transportation my driveway was my plastic blue and yellow Big Wheel.  The Big Wheel even let you do things like spin it out very fast and go the opposite way very fast.

These were cool to have.  Even though they were made of plastic, they stood up pretty well.  The front wheel seemed to get damaged first (the Big Wheels that I had would crack along the seam and slowly become flat spotted).

I wore out at least 3 myself—pedaling until the plastic tires were so flat they no longer worked.

I have often wished for a grown-up size version Big Wheel.  No other toy offered as much speed or even freedom.

Did you own a Big Wheel?

*Picture courtesy of Wikipedia.com

Fun facts about Chippendale furniture

Chippendale furniture is the most recognizable style of furniture out there.  This style started in the mid 1700's and ran until about 1790 and was named after the English cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale.

Here's some facts about Chippendale furniture:

Being named after Thomas Chippendale, this was the first style that was named after a cabinetmaker, not a monarch.

Chippendale designs fall into three main styles: Gothic, Rococo, and Chinese. Chippendale blended these disparate stylistic elements into harmonious and unified designs.

The term Chippendale specifically refers to English furniture of the 1750s and ’60s.  This furniture was made in a modified Rococo style.

The most common wood that was used in this style was mahogany.  It was also made out of solid wood more often than not to accommodate the elaborate carving found in this style (although veneers were sometimes used).

What kinds of pieces have you found in the Chippendale style that you fell in love with?

You can serve tea-for-two!

Listed in my Etsy store is an example of the once popular tea-for-two set that came into being during the Prohibition Era (which ran from 1920 to 1933).

It grew in favor because of the need to hide what “bathtub gin” you might be drinking during that time.  Fancy ladies of the day preferred to sip their illegal hooch from tea cups.  Now these sets are beginning to reappear in restaurants (some as far away as England), especially those that can say that they were operating during Prohibition.

Also piggybacking on this idea are the fans of Downton Abby who happen to enjoy “high” tea.  Some more contributors to this comeback are tea infused liquors found on today’s store shelves.

This set can be found in my Etsy store here.

This set dates to the 1920’s, and would be the perfect set to have your special “tea” blend with.

Isn’t this a great idea for when you have company over?