Stag Famous Firsts

Just in the nick of time for your New Years Eve party are these helpful party and snack tips from the folks at Stag Beer.  There's no date on this, but based on the hair and clothes styles, I'd put it late 1950's.

Revlis Starlite Christmas Tree

There's a neighborhood garage sale in Affton, Missouri that's held annually in June to which I've been going since discovering it about 3 years ago. It's an older neighborhood and always seems to bring out some good items. This year, I came across a beaten up box filled with what appeared to be white branches to a Christmas tree.  Further digging revealed they were indeed that and that the box also held the trunk.  It looked similar to the silver aluminum trees I'm more familiar with having 2 sections of trunk that fit together with holes drilled into the trunk to receive the varied sized branches.  The needles weren't aluminum, but rather plastic or vinyl. 

It wasn't marked with a price, so I asked the woman who was hosting the sale.  She said $10.  Not knowing if all the branches were there, I was a bit hesitant and put the tree back.  As I was getting ready to check out with my other items, her husband whispered, "I'll let you have it for $5".  So I went home with it.  Setting it up, I found it was missing just one branch which didn't really affect the look.  I put it away in our attic and almost forgot about it until this past week.  I dug it out and set it up and decorated it using just red, green and gold glass ornaments and an atomic tree topper (another garage sale find).

Santa's Surprise Book (The Surprise is the "Follow the Dots" Are Really Easy)

The week of Christmas is upon us already.  If you need something to put you in the spirit, here's Santa's Suprise Book, courtesy of Walgreen (or Walgreen's, as we always called them).

Surprising Die Cuts

I picked up this vintage plastic wreath a couple years ago and it has sat in the box since then. Normally, we hang a "fresh" wreath, but to be honest, I usually wait until a few days before Christmas to buy one because they go half-off (yes, I'm cheap).  So I thought I'd hang this plastic one in the interim this year.

Trashed Santa

 Not a Santa that went on a bender, but rather a Santa literally thrown in the trash.

Last winter I while driving my daughter to school, I saw a debris pile in front of a house being renovated.  Actually, what caught my attention was a large dollhouse next to the pile.  I thought my youngest daughter would enjoy that, so I stopped to pick it up. After loading that up, I glanced through the other items thrown out and saw a Santa Claus figure covered in snow and leaves.  I initially dismissed it as a modern decoration, but figured I might as well take a look.  As it turned out, it was a Harold Gale piece, made most likely in the 1950's.

Here he is, still covered in dirt and leaves.  He stands 22" tall to the peak of his hat.

Behind the Scene or What's in a Frame

A year ago last summer (2019), I walked into a garage sale in Sappington, Missouri where nothing was marked.  The host said "Everything is for sale".  I noticed a framed print hanging on the wall of the garage and pointed at it and asked if it was.  "Sure. $3," was his answer.

It wasn't a particularly nice frame and the print was deteriorating, but I liked the subject and bought it.