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...

Open wide and say, "Ahhhhh."

You deserve a break today.

All hands.

Womannequins.

Put the needle on the record, put the needle on the record, put the needle on the record.

Santa Now Entering Harley Davidson Country.

Yes, Brimfield 2016, it was a very...

P-Town Playtime

My annual getaway to Provincetown, MA the second week of August did not disappoint, largely due to the super-hot summer we've been having in these parts. With temps mostly in the 90s, it makes going to the beach almost an obligation. So, I rented a bike and made the short ride from my B&B to Herring Cove Beach.

A sweet day at the beach... Interestingly, the date is incorrect. Friday was actually August 12th.

Sun, sea and sand prevailed, with an occasional rock tower offering to the beach gods...

Strolling up and down Commercial Street always results in something fun and unusual, with no shortage of humor and whimsy...

Who ya gonna call?

Who ya gonna vote for?

Naturally, there are plenty of food options and places to stop for treats...

Gimme a great BIG kiss, like that one!

The best lobstah roll in P-Town is at The Red Shack. 

 

 

 

Get the Connecticut, featuring a hot buttered roll stuffed with two large claws of lobster meat. The New England clam chowdah is equally delicious.

I always see at least a couple of shows. This year it was Varla Jean Merman in "A Little White Music," a hilarious spoof on growing up with, well, white music. Anne Murray, The Carpenters, Rick Astley, Olivia Newton-John, Josh Groban, Taylor Swift and more were all fair game.

And no visit to P-Town is complete without seeing Miss Richfield 1981, whether at her show or riding her bike down the street. This year's show was especially au courant.

Every year, I do at least one thing I haven't done here before. This time it was to get a pedicure at the West End Salon. I was able to get a same day appointment and the people were really nice.
Don't you get a kick out of these cool door handles?

August is truly prime season in P-Town, and probably the biggest week is Carnival. This year it was the third week of August and the theme was Back To The 80s.

I love how it says, "BED & BEVERAGE" on the B&B sign.

HAPPY HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME!

Glitter Butterflies vs. Gypsy Moths

Lately, I've been on an unplanned butterfly kick. I suppose it may have a lot to do with color and pattern — two of my favorite things! — and the natural beauty of these two attributes you often find in butterflies.

I recently started coloring butterflies in my newest square coloring book. Each page is one-sided and approximately five to six inches square.

The first one I finished on my lunch hour at work, using Tombo markers in warm hues of red, orange, yellow and pink. I cut it out and clipped it to my Joe Fresh shopping bag.

For the second, I used Prismacolor pencils in all purple hues.

It was more difficult to stay between the lines, but I like the contrast of the lavender and darker purple and violet.


      Now, onto the gypsy moths...

As many of you New Englanders may have noticed lately, the gypsy moth population has reached plague-like proportions. Fortunately, the caterpillar stage is over, and now thousands of gypsy moths are fluttering around and flying into everything, including people.

I attended the July Brimfield Antiques Show this past weekend, and they were impossible to ignore. There were so many hovering inside of tents and in the open fields, you couldn't help but comment on them to total strangers.

Amongst the gypsy moths, I did find a few butterflies. These happened to be made of cardboard paper and wire, with lots of glitter covering them.

On the backs of each one, there's a label that says Wolin in script lettering, then below it "JAPAN" in all caps. I suspect these date from the late 1960s. I bought the bag of six for $5. (I checked on ebay and found a similar set of eight for $45.99 – yikes!)

 Moving from sky to land, I found a few other vintage Brimfield treasures, including this faux tortoise flower necklace, which I'm giving to my sister.

Three of the flowers contain large, sparkly rhinestones. I didn't see any markings on the piece. Perhaps it's from the 1970's?


Serendipitously, I also found this goldtone tie clip for $2. I already had the matching cuff links.

The back has a copyright symbol, followed by "SARAH COV," (short for Sarah Coventry) which, according to my online research, means it was made sometime from 1953 or later.


Being away from the city for a day, I was feeling a bit country, I guess, so I went for this vintage gingham western shirt with pearlized snaps.

I'm planning to wear this with my favorite jeans and black and white saddle shoes.
Maybe next time I can find a vintage Sears faux sherpa vest to go with it – yee haw!

The label at the back neck says "Craig Andrew."
There's another small tag that says 65% polyester, 35% cotton, Permanent Press, Made in Korea. I'm guessing this is probably from the 1970s – a bargain at $10.










Finally, here are a few more visuals from an all-around fun day out, despite the gypsy moths.

I took photos of these concrete swan planters because I remember my grandparents had a pair at the end of their front stoop. 

One of my aunts also had one at the end of her driveway capping a stone wall.

 I'm guessing these might be from the 1940s? I'll have to do a little research to be sure.

And it just wouldn't be Brimfield without a little Christmas in July...

Register 2 Is Now Open!

Yesterday was the official kickoff of outdoor antiquing season for me with the first Brimfield Antiques Show of 2016. This is about the 20th year in a row that I've attended, and it did not disappoint.

It was a gorgeous day to be out and I don't think I've ever seen the show more crowded. Even though I had less time to shop because of my late arrival (car traffic on Route 20 was backed up as soon as my friends and I got off the Mass Pike exit), I managed to find a handful of treasures, including one TOTALLY unexpected purchase...

A vintage checkout register light post.

The fixture is approx. 48.5" tall from top to bottom.

The four-sided plastic top measures
approx. 5.75" tall by 4.25" wide.

I imagine this may have come from a long-out-of-business grocery store or discount department store. The item was marked $50, but it was nearing the end of the day so the dealer sold it to me for $30 – no coupon required!

This shows the toggle switch at the base,
and you can see the holes where the fixture was originally screwed onto a counter top.

The logo says "Moon Mfg. Co." I tried doing some online research, but couldn't find any info on this company.
Judging by the logo, I'm guessing this piece might be from the late 1960s-early 1970s, but I can't be sure.

Here it is all set up in my home office/playroom.

Of course, a Brimfield day isn't complete without a few vintage Christmas treasures...

Angel ornament, probably from 1970s, made from a do-it-yourself kit.

Bicentennial? sequinned bell ornaments, just in time for Memorial Day/July 4th.

And, last but not least, I found these out-of-this-world, silver atomic cuff links for $2.

I love the boomerang shape and the unique pink and black painted design in the center.

Rrrrrr-etro COOL!
I noticed two markings on the undersides of these.
One side says "USA." On the other, it looks like "NICKOK," but it's difficult to see.

Hopefully, there will be more awesome treasures to discover at July's Brimfield show.

Yours In Treasure Hunting,

Interior Designer Joe

Beware, Alien Dandelions are everywhere!

Is Your World Looking Blah? Color It.

Or, as the British say,

Colour It.

Last December, one of my bosses at work gave us a coloring book for the Creative Department to share. This "adult coloring book" trend has been in bloom for quite some time, and I finally got to give it a try.

Our boss gave us the really good quality coloring book, Secret Garden Artist's Edition by Johanna Basford. This is the only only one I've seen that measures 10"x13" instead of square, and the black and white illustrations are on thicker cardstock, so you can pull each one out and frame it if you want.

Here's the link in case you want to learn more about the author, etc.: Click Here.

My first coloring I called The Golden Door...

I used my Berol Prismacolor artist-quality pencils for The Golden Door.
Clearly, I'm not a minimalist when it comes to color. I intentionally chose dark and doomy colors for below the door and lighter, brighter hues above.

My second coloring is The Secret Garden Owl...

The Secret Garden Owl, also done using Prismacolor pencils with lots of saturated hues.
The owl is definitely female, and I chose blues, greys and purples for her.
I photographed this on my vintage 70s, La-Z-Boy rocker recliner with chartreuse chenille upholstery.

 My third coloring is The Secret Garden Preppy Tree...

The Secret Garden Preppy Tree... I used Tombo markers for this because the lines are so fine and you have more control than with colored pencils. I drew the wide stripes myself to give the piece more verticality and graphic punch.
I photographed this on my pair of Ralph Lauren floral print shorts.

I realized after I completed this – I should have
made the stripe over the tree trunk in
yellow instead of blue for better contrast and visibility.

My fourth coloring is Garden Pinwheel...

Garden Pinwheel was done in Prismacolor pencils. I added the "handle" (using a Tombo marker) in the center to create a pinwheel. I intentionally chose darker hues for the center with lighter ones at the edges.

I find the whole coloring process very therapeutic, and it's a great way to de-stress and stretch your creative skills as well. Also, you don't have to be a fine artist and there are no deadlines to meet.

It's just great colorful fun!