Of Sewing Machines and Tomato Soup

We've had really nice weather this summer.  I mean REALLY nice weather.  It's been 70 - 90 degrees consistently with hardly any rain so far this summer.  Yeah, I know we need some rain, but I can't help but enjoy the sun.  Normally, the only month you can count on to be rain free is August.

What's a girl supposed to do when it's hot and sunny?  Why, go to the river, of course.  So a few Saturdays ago, my friend Ian picked me up and we headed out.  But not two blocks from home, what should I see but a giant pink sign hailing me.  ESTATE SALE!!!   It was actually flapping in the breeze, waving me down, imploring me to stop.

I had no money on me, but it couldn't hurt to look, right?  So after agreeing to take only five minutes (because Ian knows me) we stopped at a small family-run sale.  I did a quick pass through the house, and saw nothing remarkable until I got into the back bedroom.  There I found a nice little sewing table for only $10.00.  I have been looking for one for a few months to fit my Kenmore Model 1302 machine that I purchased years ago at a rummage sale for $3.00. 

 

 My Kenmore model 1302 sewing machine.

 Most tables I see fit Singer machines, which have rounded corners on the base.  My machine has square corners.  So I was very excited to see a suitable table for such a good price.  There was already a working machine in it, but I'd worry about that later.  Since I had no money, and the table would not have fit in Ian's car, anyway, I called my folks and asked if they would be willing to come get it for me.

Me:  Hey Mom, I'm at an Estate Sale right around the corner from you, and they have a sewing machine for $10.00.    Could you and Dad please go to the sale and buy it for me?

Mom:  An Estate Sale?  Two blocks away?  Where's my purse?

By the way, what do we need with another sewing machine?  We just bought 3 of them last month!

Me:  I don't want the machine.  I just want the table for my Kenmore.

Mom:  (To Dad) We have to go to an Estate Sale.   Right now.

Dad:  We HAVE to go to an Estate Sale RIGHT NOW?  Why am I even asking?

Mom:  We need the truck.

Dad:  Why do we need the truck? 

Mom:  We have to bring home a sewing machine in a table.

Dad:  ANOTHER sewing machine?  I don't even want to know.

 

 

When I returned from my day at the river, this was waiting for me.
 Pretty nice for $10.00.  Please excuse the lousy picture and all the junk.

 

  

The machine inside the table is a Kenmore Model 52, a mid-century machine with a very good reputation.  I will probably give it to a friend of mine who is interested in learning to sew.  It should clean up nicely. 

The prices at this sale were so good, Mom and Dad couldn't resist buying a few other things.

 

Kitchen wares for 10c -25c each.  Mom was especially pleased to find a Pyrex refrigerator dish lid.

  

This chrome cake cover and glass plate cost a whopping 75c.

 

 This train case was $3.00.  We've never seen a Forecast brand before.  It was sold by Sears in the 1960s. 

 The mirror is missing, but the rubber frame that holds it is still there, so Mom would like to try replacing it, but first we have to practice cutting curves in mirror glass.

 The Forecast appears to have been an inexpensive model.  It's a plastic case, without a fabric lining.  It originally came with a cloth bag that snapped to the inside of the case, but ours is long gone.  It's still a sturdy hard side case with lots of use in it yet.

Mom bought a few pieces of broken jewelry at 10c each for crafting with,

 including this lapel pin.  She thought maybe it was for a college or a professional organization, but couldn't find out anything about it.  Anybody recognize it?

 Mom also found a few booklets for 25c.

 

I already have a vintage fondue set, so she thought I could use this.

 

She knows I want a vintage Waring blender.  This is for a 1968 model.

 

 It's always fun to look at mid-century cookbooks. 

Let's see what they have in this 1968 edition.  

Do you like that my nail polish matches?

 

 Surprise Cake - The surprise is that the cake tastes like tomato soup!!?? 

"Jackie, what the He**!?"  (Gotta love "That '70s Show")

I am a big fan of Campbell's Tomato soup.  And I love to make cakes.  But I can tell you right now, I don't think they belong together. 

 

 

 They are not satisfied with messing with cake; they have to redefine "Cocktail."  I am a big fan of cocktails, too.  They are supposed to be colorful, flavorful, fun concoctions served in elegant or playful glasses.  Cold soup and beef broth with seasoning does not a cocktail make.  Blecch!

 Ok, this page looks a little better.  The Chili Beef Franks recipe looks normal.  But wait... Creamy Peanut Butter Soup?  Tomato soup and peanut butter?  Here we go again.  Did they just draw random ingredients out of a hat?  But since I can't even imagine what peanut butter and tomato soup would taste like, I'll concede it might be okay.  But what the heck is so "Special" about chilled pea and potato soup?  Sounds terrible.  I wonder if anybody actually used these recipes.

I think I'll just stick with grilled cheese sandwiches with Cream of Tomato Soup on the side.

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Treasure Hunt Thursday

The Week in Thrifting: Feb 22-28

 Last week I did a small amount of thrifting and spent very little but was very happy to find some things I had been specifically looking for.

I have a friend from church with two lovely little boys and my boyfriend and I had wanted to thank the family for help with something recently so we've been on the lookout for a toy and a book for their 2 year old that the infant can enjoy when he is the right age.

There is a small independent thrift store in town that I hadn't been to in about a year so we stopped in last week and discovered that two days a week everything is 60% off and we were there on the exact right day!

 

 

 Everything in this picture was $0.98!  The Brown Bear book and the Fisher Price Corn Popper were bought for our friend's son and he loves his "pop pop" toy. They cost a total of $0.25 because you get a free toy with each purchase.  We will definitely be going to this thrift store more often.

 

This Bear Scouts book was only $0.25 and begs to become a spiral notebook.  There are some really great illustrations inside including Father running from alligators.  (I love alligators).

This little made in Japan Christmas Pixie had a friend who was broken beyond repair, which was disappointing, but this one was only $0.40 and I brought him home for Mom. 

 Later in the week my mother spotted a Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox in the photos of an estate sale and called my boyfriend to see if he would want to go look for it as a surprise for me.  (You can read about my Strawberry Shortcake Dollhouse here)  He blew the surprise with good intentions and we went together to find it.  The lunchbox was gone but I did get some treasures. 

 

Each item in this photo was only $0.50 totalling a big $2.50.

The pastry blender and cupcake papers are just because they're useful while the measuring spoons and strange brown and orange thing are for a swap I'm involved in on Ravelry.

 

These little beauties are wine charms that will eventually become stitch markers or adorn a charm bracelet, whichever I need wine-themed charms for first.

This "strange orange and brown thing" is a handle-less Terra Pyrex mug.  Terra is an uncommon pattern of Pyrex, produced in a matte finish.  It is a chocolate brown with concentric circles of burnt orange throughout.  These handle-less mugs are 13 oz and Terra is the only pattern they were produced in.  Several years ago I found one of these at a Goodwill in the next city over.   I was overjoyed to find it at this sale as my swap partner's favorite color is orange!  The large size makes for a great pen holder if she doesn't want to use it as a mug.

The next sale was a blessing to find!  My mother found an estate sale listed online with photos of HORIZON BLUE PYREX BOWLS.  I have been looking for Horizon Blue Pyrex for several months as a wedding present for a friend.  The shade of blue it comes in is very close to her wedding colors and she only learned this year that Pyrex ever came in colors!  

The last time I found Horizon Blue in the wilds was November 2011 and I passed up a small casserole thinking I would easily find one at a lower price.  Boy was I wrong!

My church has an annual regional convention (4 churches in the area meet at my church for sermons and to discuss upcoming camps and other events in the greater church organization) and this year's convention fell on Saturday.   I went an hour ahead of the sale and was the first person in line.  I was late to church by about 20 minutes but it was worth it since I only missed the greetings!

 My usual price for a 4 bowl set is $20 so when I found only the two smallest bowls for $10 I grabbed them.  Even without the larger bowls I think they make a lovely gift.  The heart shaped jello molds came along for the ride at $2.00 for 8 of them.

Isn't Horizon Blue just such a lovely pattern?  It's a shame that Horizon Blue and it's sister pattern Friendship are so hard to find.

Here's a picture of a set of Friendship cinderella bowls courtesy of the internet.  If I could find it more easily and inexpensively I think Friendship would be MY pattern. 

My father came to the same sale, was in line a few people behind me, and went home with a few small things, all for $2.00.  The two paper fans are from Taiwan.  I lost the cord to Mom's 70's slow cooker a couple of weeks ago, so Dad found a replacement.  (Ssshh... don't tell him I found the cord a few days ago.  He's a hero.)  Not pictured is a large vintage Farberware skillet for my mother.  She is so tired of teflon!

The week was very productive with a grand total spent of $17.48 and having found a few things I've been on the look out for.  What have you been looking for lately?  Perhaps you will find it at the next sale.

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The Estate Sale Doppelganger and Pyrex From Heaven

Several weeks ago my mother and I went to a few estate sales that were practically next door to our house, not expecting to necessarily come back with much, and we were pleasantly surprised. 

Here are some of the things we found.

 

The first sale really was nearly within spitting distance of our house and yielded the most things we just couldn't leave behind and the most things interesting enough to photograph.  This sale was run by family, and they were so happy to get the house cleared out, they priced everything really low.

We bought an assortment of small things from around the house.  A few zippers, a pair of pinking shears, assorted pins and a pair of collapsible embroidery scissors came from the sewing room, while some games, glue sticks and the silver bird plate were in the living room.  

Also in the living room was this beautiful Hi-Fi set-up. 

It was marked only $15 and looked practically brand new, even though it probably dates it to the late 60's or early 70's.  I didn't buy it, but I almost wished I needed another turntable just so I could have an excuse to own something so nice. 

Recently I explained to my boyfriend what macrame is and it has become a running joke that he LOOOVES macrame so when my mother and I saw this - a HUGE macrame hanging table set - we couldn't stop snickering and I needed to share.  That thing was gigantic! It went from the ceiling almost to the floor. 

 

Next was the kitchen.  When Mom in ahead of me, she couldn't believe her eyes.  There, on the shelf above her head, with the heavenly light shining on it and the choir of angels singing its' praises, sat a pristine 471 Pyrex Bake-Serve-Store in aqua Butterprint FOR 25 CENTS.  Of course we took it home, what do you think we are, fools?

 

A friend's little boy turned 2 recently and was given a toy kitchen so we picked up the tiny Tupperware cream pitcher and canape cutter for him but the citrus peelers are for us.  The tea tin has a flat back for a semi-circular shape.  I just love the butterflies and flowers.

On our way out of the sale, Mom noticed a pile of resin planters, and decided to call my father to come look at them. This is how the conversation went: 

Mom:  Hey! You know those planter boxes you're going to build to put along the side of the house? 

You know, where you keep your collection of crapola?

Dad:  I was going to build something?

Mom:  Yeah, remember last month, when I said... um, I mean YOU said you would? 

Dad:  Ummm sure, I'll get right on that. 

Mom:  Well, maybe you don't have to.  They have a ton of resin planters at the estate sale that you didn't want to go to and you can probably get them for pennies, but they have to ride home in your car because some of them still have dirt in them.  

Dad:  I'm kind of doing something.

Mom:  Did you get the part about if you buy them I'll stop asking when you're going to build those planters?

Dad:  I'll be right there.

 No sooner had we put our purchases in the car, than I saw my father walking up to the house.  Or so I thought.  Five-foot-nine, 160 lbs, hiking boots, blue jeans, brown T-shirt covered by an unbuttoned flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, ball cap, glasses, beard, about 60 years old... wrong face.  It was eerie, and he was heading for the gardening supplies.  Mom called Dad again and said, "You better get over here, your doppelganger just showed up and he's buying all your stuff!"

When Dad arrived, he and Mom went into the garage, and Dad zeroed in on a pile of metal plant stakes.  As he picked one up, Mr. Doppelganger said, "Those are mine, but there are more over there."  Mom and Dad burst out laughing and then had to explain, and everybody laughed at the whole situation. Then Dad bought a whole stack of planters.

At the next sale, Mom was thrilled to find an 8-cup Pyrex measuring cup/mixing bowl for $3.00.  It's huge, and SO useful.

This lovely Pyrex citrus pattern juice carafe was $1.00. I already own one of these. Mom bought this one for holding her Crystal Light in a much classier container than vintage Tupperware.  Because Crystal Light should be in crystal, right?  Well, crystal is too expensive, so glass has to be good enough.  

 

This was not found as a record bowl but as a RED record - A tribute to Artie Shaw to be exact.  I snapped it up and made the bowl for my boyfriend for Valentine's Day and he loves it. 

I think it's the prettiest record bowl I've ever seen.  It's too bad colored vinyl is so hard to come by. 

I really wanted to take this home with me, as alligators are just about my favorite animal, but I couldn't justify the $5.00.

The third sale was run by a woman who buys storage unit contents at auction and sells the crud she can't get much for very inexpensively.  We bought a whole bag of stuff for $4.00 - many small things, including a wool/angora sweater for unraveling, a bunch of jewelry bits that will probably show up in another post, some more toy kitchen stuff and the most interesting thing we found. . .

an Aladdin Pump-A-Drink.  It's hardly been used.  Mom remembers when these were all the rage in the 70's.  Everybody had to have one.

They came in a number of styles.  No need to pour the coffee; just push the button on the top.

So, with a trunk full of purchases, Mom and I headed for home.  Later, as I'm unloading my stuff from the car, I hear:

Mom:  Let's go to the store to look at paint for those planters.

Dad:  I'm going to paint something?

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Thrifty Finds & Vintage Recipes

Sometimes I find just WHAT I was looking for, but not WHERE I was looking.

I was out running errands the other day and Mom called to tell me about a great sounding estate sale she found on Craigslist, so I hustled on over and found...

nothing I wanted.

But as I was driving away, I passed a yard sale, and thought, "Why not. I'm already here." And boy, am I glad I stopped.

Pretty, pretty, Pyrex. The large Pink Gooseberry 404 Cinderella bowl, a 401 Scroll bowl, and

TWO of the Spring Blossom Cinderella bowls (441,442). All on my wish list. All for $12.00. They have some scratches, but are still shiny. The seller also gave me a Butterfly Gold butter dish for free.

A few days later, Mom and I went to an estate sale and bought...

an unopened can of baking powder and
a half a bottle of 409 cleaner (to test for bakelite).

Whoopee! (not)

But once again, as we were driving home, we stumbled upon another estate sale.
This is what we got:

I had been looking for a cake pedestal and dome for months. The only place I could find one was at the antique malls, and they wanted at least $28 - too pricey for me. This dome is not quite as big as the pedestal, but for $5, I'm very happy.

We also got: a pressed wooden cheese plate that can also be used with the dome, a little pink pitcher to hold toothbrushes in the bathroom, a little blue stool, 2 small shelves (not shown), a ricer, a salt & pepper set, a Campbell's soup spoon, two wooden pestles, and some free vintage magazines, pamphlets and cookbooks.

I love looking at vintage recipe books. This one is quite unique.


Printed in 1960, it seeks to capitalize on the popularity of tv, by photographing each recipe as it is made, "just like the recipes that you see demonstrated on television." Some of the recipes are quite appealing, such as:

height of sophistication... celestial concoction... perfect...
(I guess they didn't worry about raw eggs and salmonella back then.)

Others are quite appalling:

Tempting combination of flavors... Cottage Cheese and Kidney Bean?? Who are they trying to kid? Tempting to hide it in a napkin... tempting to slip it to the dog... as if he would eat it... tempting to throw it in the garbage...

And this:


Appetizing... Aw come on! What did we Irish Americans do to them? Italian-Americans have pizza and pasta and marinara; Mexican-Americans have tacos and enchiladas; Asian-Americans have egg rolls and lo mein; Irish-Americans have... well, one dish, and they have to go and muck it up. Why? Were they mad because Kennedy was running for President? Was this some sort of a political plot?


A cookbook featuring Campbell's convenience foods - meaning food in a can...

like barbecued beans, which can be used as a base for:

Beans & Franks Apricot Garnish - okay, franks & beans, not bad...

Or Skillet Chops 'n Beans - a little heavy on the beans, but still pork + beans, ok...

Mexican Bean Burgers - what the heck? Since when are pork 'n' beans Mexican cuisine? And pork 'n' bean sandwiches?
Oh, I get it. A burrito has beans in it and it's kinda like a sandwich, so we'll just call it Mexican and nobody will notice how stupid...NO, NO, NO!!

Barbecue Bean Salad - Holy Mother of Pearl!
Salad greens topped with cold beans, then topped with mayonnaise...YIKES!

In fairness to Campbell, I should mention we received a free cookbook from them a few years ago and the recipes have improved greatly over the years.

We also got the Dec 1966 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine.
Here's an ad for Fisher Price toys.

I love that toy iron!

And a very interesting Kraft cheese ad.

Putting a little girl in a bubble bath to sell cheese...hmm... Not sure they'd do that today. But I am loving that cool modern bathtub. I wonder if it's a real tub or just something invented for the photo shoot.

And look at this 1943 Kerr Home Canning Book.

Apparently not all the government research was channeled into nuclear weapons. It would appear the National Nutrition Program was creating peaches as big as a human head. Yowzers!

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That family with two houses now has an Apricot Kitchen!

My maternal grandmother was the daughter of a navy chaplain stationed in Hawaii in the late 1940's. She was swept off her feet by a young naval officer who was devoted to her. As he advanced in his career they moved frequently and sometimes lived in less-than-stellar accommodations. By 1965, when my mother was in fifth grade, they had nine children. When they moved to San Diego, CA they couldn't afford a big enough house on the private market and the largest one available in military housing was a three bedroom half of a duplex. So my grandfather marched off to the housing office and "convinced" them to give him both halves of the duplex. My grandfather became infamous throughout the neighborhood for getting himself two houses.

Now, in those days, decor in military housing was in the "barracks style". The exteriors of buildings came in three stucco colors: dirty pink, seasick green, and never-to-again-be white and you could have your interiors painted any color you wanted, as long as it was white.

When my grandmother's birthday rolled around, my grandfather asked what she wanted and I am told the conversation went like this:

Grandpa: If you could have anything you wanted for your birthday, what would it be?
Grandma: I'd want the kitchen painted, but that's not allowed.
Grandpa: Details. What color?
Grandma: But that's not allowed.
Grandpa: Details.

Soon afterward, a ripple went through the neighborhood about "That family with two houses now has an Apricot Kitchen!" Complete strangers would knock on the back door and conspiratorially whisper "Do you have an Apricot Kitchen?...Can I see it?"

The most ironic part about this all is that my grandmother had divided the house and she, my grandfather, the toddlers, and the oldest daughter (the presentable family members) lived in one half. Their side was decorated tastefully and shown to company. The other side was where the kids could be kids and family time was spent. Unfortunately the Apricot kitchen was in the half with the toys, kids, and old couch and not the area that company ordinarily would have been shown to first.

Nevertheless they always let people in to see the Apricot Kitchen.



The secret Apricot Kitchen was never formally photographed but I think you can see a stripe of the paint along the door frame.

PS: This was my mother's tenth birthday. Don't you just love her haircut?!