Wednesday, December 31, 2008

From An Old Calendar

On this, the evening when you may toss out this year's calendar and begin anew with one for the year ahead, I thought I would show you
these images from a 1926 calendar I found at a yard sale. A small calendar booklet, it measures only 2&1/2 by 4 inches, and it's Italian - printed in that language in Italy. I love some of the images contained within. I call them "The Well-Dressed Couple":
"The Manicure":
"The Well-Coiffed Lady In Her Ball Gown":
and "The Greek Bathing Beauty"
Aren't they lovely? Have a safe and festive New Year's Eve!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Amsco Doll-E-Toys

These fabulous Amsco doll toys ( in this ad from 1952) were among the best playthings ever created, in my humble opinion. Well designed, well made, and a delight for children to play with. Yes, I do speak from personal experience! We had the crib with the "adjustable dropside" you see in the second picture - ours was green. I also have what I think must be half of this bunk bed set - I just thought it was a toddler bed (mine is blue), and I have the little mattress that goes with it:
There were so many great pieces in the play kits! I'm such a freak for vintage doll stuff - I wish I had them all!
Hey - good practice with the set you see below for doing the Big Girl dishes when you grow up, right? I remember a time when my oldest sister didn't feel it was fair for the younger two of us to do the dishes together - (one washes, the other dries), while she had to do them by herself! That's understandable - I wouldn't have liked it, either!
I have seen the "hichairs" in antique shops, but they were always too much. SO cute! And I've always wanted that little enamel pot that holds the baby bottles.

Absolutely adorable.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Elzac

I showed you my precious Pegasus brooch once before here on my blog. I have had him for many years, and I just thought he was a beautiful little thing when I found him! I didn't have any idea who made him. Well, much later, through Ebay, I guess - I was able to discover that he was made by Elzac. You can Google it and find out more than I will write about here. I even found that the patent for his design was dated 1943!:
I found this Twins pin, below at a barn sale a few months ago. Again - I knew I liked it and thought it was neat, but that's it. And then later I discovered - you got it - Elzac, again! Hmmm, no wonder it appealed to me when I saw it! I think I paid 50 cents:
But, when I found these next two a couple of weeks ago at a thrift store, together in a bag - I knew exactly what they were - Elzac! I love this rabbit with his little green Lucite ears and tail! His one ear might look chipped - it's not - he is perfect. Score!
And I haven't yet found an example quite like this little pup, but I'm virtually positive that he is an Elzac, as well. They made all different types of little embellishments and trims for the various styles of pins - his little ears seem to be some real type of fur or hair, and the red hats on the little twins above are leather :
I was SO excited to find those last two. Totally made my day. I love vintage jewelry, and the more unusual or unique, the better.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

McCall's - Betsy and Christmas

When my sister came over on Christmas Eve day, she showed me this great magazine she had gotten recently "McCall's Christmas Make-It Book", from 1958. It contained the three delightful pages (among many others!) that you see below inside:


Besides loving the picture of the 8 inch vintage Betsy dolls in their handmade clothing, I knew that something looked familiar, and I went into my drawer and found this page from McCalls Magazine December 1958 issue:
...which I had only because it happened to be on the reverse side of this page from my stash of Betsy McCall pages that I often display with my decorations for various holidays:

And then, the next day, guess what I got for Christmas from my other sister?? This original Betsy pattern!
How cool is that?

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Then And Now #24 - Lee Riders

Lee Jeans - Riders, featured in this 1956 advertisement from a December Life Magazine (I had to scan it in two portions - sorry - see the Riders at bottom left, below):


And another ad - for cowboys! (this one from 1961):
And now:
I even bought a pair - and in a smaller size than I wore previously, I'm happy to say!
I do love blue jeans - especially comfortable ones!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Not Quite Done With Christmas

Well - I'm never really ready for it to be over - after all of the preparations, I want it to last for more than a day. At least my decorations will be up until the New Year arrives. The saddest day for me is after New Year's, when my husband declares it all to be over by going around and unplugging all of my timers! In my dollhouse, they enjoyed a very Merry Christmas. The house was all decorated, complete with lights on their main tree in the living room, and stockings hung by the chimney with care:
Each of the two upstairs bedrooms has it's own tree, as well, though you can't see them very well in my pictures!

I even thought I spied Santa and his reindeer "up on the housetop"!
Hope your day was merry!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

To all of my very dear blog readers, here's wishing you a wonderful Christmas!
I'm sharing with you today a few more of the antique postcards from my collection. This one:
And two more of my framed ones (I showed you some of these last year, as some of you may recall):


May your holiday be merry and bright!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

My Christmas Books - Part Four - The Night Before Christmas

On this, the day of The Night Before Christmas, I decided to share some of my books which feature the story "A Visit From St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore. First up: this big Whitman book with the "fuzzy" cover, published in 1958 , with illustrations by Florence Sarah Winship:
We have a weather vane similar to the one shown on the first page of the story below, atop our garage! (Ours has two horses.)

(My books number so many that I had to remove other books
from my shelves to display some of my Christmas books this year.)
Next up is Tasha Tudor's lovely version, published in 1999, and featuring her beloved Corgis!
A Little Golden Book from 1949, with illustrations by Corinne Malvern:
Another LGB, this one with Eloise Wilkin's adorable children, from 1955:
And another , published by Whitman in 1960, with beautiful illustrations by Catherine Barnes:
And, even though this last one isn't a book, I felt I needed to include the sheet music featuring Rosemary Clooney (whom I ADORE) and Gene Autry:

"Happy Christmas To All And To All A Good Night!"

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Irving Berlin's White Christmas

Years ago, one day at work, the question was posed: "What is your all-time favorite movie, if you could choose only one?". After going through numerous titles in my head, many of which are listed here on my blog, I concluded that I simply could not choose only one. My friend Denise said "Oh, I thought you would pick White Christmas!" This, because I had recently gone on about my sheet music collection, and my quest to find every song from the film in sheet music form.
Duh!! White Christmas! I hadn't thought of it, probably only because it's rather a seasonal film (although it's true that I can enjoy it any time of year). Yes - if I were truly pressed to choose - it would indeed be the film I would pick. I've written before on my blog about my love for Bing Crosby - and Danny Kaye. I feel the same way about Rosemary Clooney. All three of them in one movie? Heaven.
I LOVE Irving Berlin's music (and not only his songs in this film!)- truly he was an absolute treasure, one of our greatest and most prolific songwriters.
Thus far, in my search for the sheet music, just three of the song titles have eluded me. Shown in the next two pictures are the ones I have found:
I'm still searching!
On January 3rd of 2007, I was treated to a very special evening out, compliments of my two sisters. My ticket had been a birthday gift from them - and we went to see the musical play at the Community Center Theater in Sacramento. It was fabulous.
But you still can't beat Bing and the gang in the movie- you just can't! "May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white."
(P.S. Added on December 24th - It was on last night, and even though I have the video tape, I sat and watched it on ABC Family. No matter how many times I see it, I cry at the end when they all surprise General Waverly. Every time. I love it.)

Monday, December 22, 2008

Our Christmas Home - Collections

A few more glimpses of Christmas at our house - this time focusing mostly on some of my collectibles. What you see in the first two photos are the shelves in our entertainment center, which I empty out and replace what it usually there with most of my vintage angels and carolers. The left side:
and the right side (oh, and some of my vintage hankies lie beneath):
The Holt Howard Santa dish and the napkin holder shown below belonged to my mother-in-law. Last week, I found the salt and pepper shakers and the bell-ringer Santa (not HH), at a thrift store for $5 - I was thrilled- I've been watching them on Ebay for years! Nowadays, the shipping alone would be more than that!
My red hutch in the sunroom - this year I took (nearly) everything out and replaced it all with Christmas, or at least Christmas colors. Some favorites - the little Tasha Tudor mug, Santa mugs, the matching tin and tray, vintage Poinsettia glassware:
The bottom shelf in the same hutch, with racks of Christmas glassware, shelves lined with vintage linens, more Poinsettia glasses,and some of my green glass:
It took me YEARS, but I finally managed to collect enough of my favorite glasses, the forest green "Open Sleigh" by Anchor Hocking, so that I can place one at every setting for a big Christmas dinner. I collected the Charm pattern and other ruby red and forest green dishes also, which I use with simple white plates, and vintage silver at the Christmas table.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Christmas Aprons

My Christmas aprons: this first one in bright apple green polished chintz with appliques belonged to my mother-in-law:
I can't even really remember where I got some of these others - guess I've had them awhile! This one is a semi-sheer fabric, I love the black stars in the background:
Poinsettias, pretty and bright:

I just love the fabric this one is made from:
And I love the trees, birds, and ornaments on this one, too:
This one is the smallest of the bunch, and it was the first one I ever got:
You know, a couple of them have a little stain or two - I don't mind - so they were used and loved by someone else before me. This last one is the most practical ( and the most used) of all- it belonged to my mother-in-law, as well. Terrycloth- now that's what I call a work apron!