It Has To Be You™: Brimfield, September 9th: Treasuring The Day

The final Brimfield Antiques Show of 2016 proved to be a hot one – and the deals were hot, too! I did bring a shopping list with me, but didn't take it out of my bag even once.

One of my main goals was to find my sister's birthday present, which wasn't too difficult (it helps that she's easy to shop for). In addition to a flower-patterned drinking glass, an orange and black beaded necklace and a goldtone kitty slide bracelet, I found this kitty-in-a-basket cookie jar...

Cookie jar front

Cookie jar back

This piece has no markings on it, but after doing a bit of online research, I learned that it was made by the American Bisque Pottery company of West Virginia (in business from 1919-1982). In its heyday it was a competitor of the famous McCoy Pottery Co.

Some online vintage sites identify this cookie jar as a Hull piece, which is doubtful because most Hull pieces were/are very clearly marked. The online sites also date it anywhere from the 1930s to the 1950s. To me, it looks 1940s – sweet, innocent and whimsical. It's quite heavy with some crazing on the inside bottom, but no chips, and a genuine bargain at 10 U.S. dollars.

The piece was cold painted, which means it was painted after being fired and glazed. This is why a lot of the paint wore off over time. Apparently, some of these had paper labels on the bottom, which may explain why it has no surface markings.

Every so often, people (mostly dealers, as well as friends and acquaintances) ask me, "What do you collect?"

The answer is really anything and everything, but this Brimfield definitely involved finding and buying items to add to existing collections. I didn't plan it this way. It just happened.

So... I ended up with more vintage tablecloths, neckties and Christmas items, as well as Blondie/Debbie Harry memorabilia.

The first purchase of the day was this Florida tablecloth, faded to vintage perfection, with no stains on it. Another bargain at $15.

Florida vintage 1950s? tablecloth, approx. 48"x48".


Detail of southern Florida.

Love the Gasparilla pirate ship and the Key West fishermen.

Next, more skinny neckties from a large booth where everything was $1 each...

The red one has a cool scripty "M" on a random part of the tie. There are no labels or markings on the back.

The blue patterned one has a label and two markings on the back...

Cool original store label sewn onto the back – most likely dates to 1950s.

Di Tucci® was probably the fabric house/brand name.


"Auteuil" is printed onto the silk. The word is French and may refer to an area of Paris?

And, as a longtime Blondie fan, I couldn't pass up a cool "Debbie" poster and an Autoamerican wall calendar from 1980-1981...


Debbie Harry 15" x 32.5" poster backed with foam cor. This looks like it's from a 1979 Heart Of Glass TV performance with Debbie wearing the Stephen Sprouse one-shoulder dress with matching scarf/veil.


Autoamerican wall calendar. Measures: Approx. 9" x 13". I'd never seen this piece before – maybe it was a freebie at some record stores back in the day?

This must have been an interesting graphic design challenge –
how do you make it readable in this format?
It's actually not important, is it?

The bottom says, "The Album CHE 1290 Produced by Mike Chapman Direction: ALIVE"

Finally, Christmas comes early this year...

Hard plastic light-up "Sno Man" in its original box – probably 1950s.
Love how the illustration makes it extra clear that it's electric.


Made in Pawtucket, RI. I've seen many examples of this exact snow man on eBay and Etsy as a candy container. I think the light-up version is much rarer.

This Christmas I'll display the mini-me snow man next to the larger gangster snow man I already have.
I'll call them Big Pat and Skinny Joe.

Every Brimfield show I see fun, unusual items (often oversized and carnivalesque) I've never come across before, in addition to some unforgettable displays. Here's a sampling...