Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

When I would visit my grandparents when I was little, eventually the thrill of the visit and the conversations of the adults would begin to bore me and I would head to my Great Aunt's room upstairs.  My Great Aunt Susan, whom everyone called "Tudy" had passed several months before I was born, so I never knew her, but I had a connection with her through the buttons she kept stored in the drawers of her old treadle sewing machine.  I would sort the buttons by color, shape, and size.  I'd count them, string them with a needle and thread or use them in games I'd make up.  The entertainment was endless.  Button saving seems to have died along with saving butter tubs.

When I saw these at a garage sale marked at $4, those memories came back and I bought them.

Some of the buttons are still on their original cards from the store, marked as low as 25 cents.  Many were made in Japan:

One oddity I found was this little face.  Not a button, but still ended up in the pile:

My youngest son and daughter played with them for about an hour, but then lost their interest.  I guess buttons have a hard time competing with television, video games and computers.

Forgotten Faces

I found these photos in a box of miscellaneous travel brochures from the '60's.  These 2 young girls are Reba and Credithe, as noted on the back.  Not sure which is which.  Your choice.

They stare out at us from more than a century ago.  I would place these two in the 1880's or 90's.

The entire internet knows of only 1 Credithe.  She lived from 1893 to 1974 and is buried in Indiana.  A possibilty, although a slim one.  The most popular Reba on the internet is this one.  I don't think it's her...

There was no label for the next picture.  There's pencil script below right of the picture, but I can't make it out.  Some better photo editing software might be able to enhance it.  She's an attractive young lady and I've decided she was a schoolmarm.  Hey, it's my picture now.

The moral of this story is, label your photos well.  You never know where they may end up a century from now. 

"Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph.  Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you." 
- "Bookends" by Simon and Garfunkel.

Motor-molda TV

A week ago Friday, I went to an estate sale in Affton on Valbrook Lane.  Some of the photos from the sale featured items in the basement which appeared to be mold-covered -- never a good sign.  I've been in some pretty bad sales where the basement is almost intolerably moldy to the point of making me sick.  But it was close enough on my lunch hour and had some promise, so I gave it a chance.

I had seen this on the posting for the sale:

It Was the Summer of '69!

No, not the Brian Adam's song.  This is about one couple's trip to Wyoming, South Dakota and California during the summer of '69.  Yes, it's time for more slides.  These come from a large lot I picked up a few weeks ago at an estate sale.  More to come.  Hopefully, you will notice an improvement in my captures.  I finally sprung for a slide scanner.  I bought a standalone model, the SVP FS1700.  Not a brand I had ever heard of, but it received good reviews.  I've been very happy with it so far.  It only takes a second to scan a slide.  The loading mechanism is a little clunky and limited to 4 slides at a time, but once you get in a groove, it moves along pretty quickly.

 

Remember, don't feed the bears.

Is that bear missing an eye???

Sam's Roast Beef Samwich (yes, SAMwich), in Downey, California.  A Banquet on a Bun!  Next door is an awesome Color Tile sign.

Here's to one-eyed bears, Samwiches and YOU!!! (with apologies to Charles Phoenix!)

Square Bear Don't Care

I found this 1971 Hanna Barbera Square Bear mug for a quarter at a garage sale yesterday.

Square Bear is from the awkwardly-named show "Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!" a show which I was never particularly fond.  It was a little before my time and by the time I did see it, was very dated.

It's not worth a lot, so it will get added to my collection of character glasses.

(Not So) Picture Perfect

About 25 years ago, I bought a Kodak Target Six-Sixteen box camera from my then girlfriend's (now wife) Aunt at her garage sale for $1. 

Shining Light on the Mid Century

I've made mention numerous times on this blog about my quest for Mid Century Modern furniture.  And I've also been asked to explain what "Mid Century" means.  By definition, Mid Century refers to the middle of the Twentienth century, ie: 1950 (or 1951 if you want to argue about when a century begins). When it comes to Mid Century stylings, whether in architecture, furniture, design, etc., it typically refers to the span of years just post World War II to about 1965, although officially the design concepts date back to the 1930's.  I'm no expert by any means and you can read more here, but it's a style I've come to embrace in the past 10 years or so.  Unfortunately, so has a large portion of the public thanks to shows like Mad Men.  I watch and enjoy Mad Men myself, but I was a fan of the era before it made it chique and tuned in because of my interest in the 1960's.  To be honest, when I was younger, I hated Mid Century design.  I thought blonde wood was hideous, maybe because our house was full of it and I considered it outdated by the time I was living with it in the 1970's.  And I was baffled, not unlike Charlie Brown, why anyone would want an aluminum Christmas tree when a real tree could be had.  But after a fascination with the 1880's, a brief stop in Victorian times, and a layover in the 40's, I've currently settled in the early 1960's.  How long the stay will be is anyone's guess.

But back to my quest.  There have been a number of misses at estate sales the past couple of years, some of which I've detailed in this blog.  But this past Friday, I finally made a score at a home in Lemay on Buckley Meadows Drive.  I initially saw this lamp on estatesales.net: