A Purple Vinyl Sofa

Two weeks ago, after having little luck at the thrift stores and with no estate sales in sight, Mom announced she needed a vintage fix and invited me on a trip to the Big City close by. She had heard of a new-to-us store that specialized in mid-century furnishings, and that was known to have a good selection of Pyrex at decent prices. So it was over the river and through the neighborhoods we went.

The entire store was full of beautiful mid-century furnishings, especially the lamps.

I've never before seen so many lamps that I loved in one place. I more often see horrible lamp after horrible lamp at Goodwills everywhere. I even like to play a game where I look at all the lamps in the store and decide what the ugliest one is, have my mother do the same, and compare choices. No chance of playing that game here.

I'm particularly fond of swirly drum lampshades.

I must apologize for the quality of the photographs in today's post. I tried, but I'm afraid my intentions were better than the outcome.

They also had swag lamps and pole lamps.

Hawaii was a popular mid-century theme, from lamps

to sofas,

to barware. They had quite a large selection of Tiki mugs.
My favorite is holding a cheeseburger. It's from the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant in Waikiki, Hawaii.

This is what we saw when we walked into the store -

a purple vinyl sofa with a fold-down center cushion that hides a table and a radio console. I'm sorry the picture isn't better. Those are champagne flutes on the fold-down table. And if you look at the coffee table in front of the sofa, you'll see a pull-out drawer with a stereo inside.
Very cool.

They had plenty of art, including a large string-art on velour sailboat . I guess we have something similar that Grandpa did in the '70s packed away. Mom says it's staying packed. It seems it's an acquired taste.

And she hasn't acquired it.

We saw a few toys,


and all sorts of fun housewares,


including this lovely blue bar set (tons of other barware too),

a Figgjo skillet in the Tor Viking pattern,

and then there was Pyrex.


Apparently the Pyrex in this particular shop is made of GOLD or something. They wanted so much money for things that I couldn't even afford to touch most of it for fear of dropping and having to pay for it. In case you can't tell from my lousy picture, that's $69 for a primary color fridge set.

(Disclaimer: I am cheap on my Pyrex prices. Super duper cheap.)

But they DID have Pink Gooseberry.

And some VERY pretty blue Snowflake pieces,

including this space saver Mom was drooling over.

Everything was in excellent condition,

including this Spring Blossom bake serve store set which appeared to be brand new. So it was a lot of fun to look at, although we didn't buy anything.

They did have some little ceramic planters that weren't very expensive, and when the clerk asked us if we were looking for anything in particular, Mom mentioned baby planters. (I know, "No More Baby Planters," but she asked.) The clerk said that she had a box of them packed away in the back because nobody was ever interested in them. I don't know if that means nobody else likes them or just that people who like mid-century modern don't like them.

There was another store that we wanted to check out. It had seemed quite promising

considering its name.
and when we got to it, a look through the windows showed a trove of treasures. But we had spent so much time looking at all the cool mid-century stuff, that by the time we got to Really Good Stuff , it had closed. We'd like to go back some day, but we're not quite sure what the hours are.

I replaced the earlier picture of this sign with a better one. It says that on Monday he's open from "always late" until "whatever" and on Tuesday he closes "when the wife calls." On Thursday he's open from "sometime early" until "sometime late."

Even though the store was closed, we didn't leave empty handed. They was a box of free vinyl records out in front and I selected a few children's records to bring home,

such as this one.

A trip to The Big City isn't complete without a stop at a real thrift store, so we went to the nearest Goodwill and found an assortment of things, including

the Mary Engelbreit plaque I showed you last month,

Brigitte, the French poodle,

and even a coconut bra (as a gag gift for a friend).

While at the cashier, I noticed a flyer advertising a new Goodwill in a trendy neighborhood full of vintage boutiques. We still had an hour before closing time so Mom and I decided to go check it out, fully expecting that all the good stuff would have found it's way there.

When we got there, boy, were we right. All the good stuff had been picked out and taken straight to this Goodwill, marked up, and displayed quite beautifully.


Complete with hardwood floors and lovely displays, this location is set up to imitate the best of the boutique stores in the area and the items are priced to match. (And why not? A lot of the merchandise in the vintage boutiques comes from the Goodwill, anyway. They might as well try to make the money.)

I saw a lot of designer shoes and leather jackets and some nice vintage clothing.

Although vintage and nice don't ALWAYS go hand in hand.

Here's something we really liked. Aqua laminate and chrome bar cart - $55.
I would have snapped this up if I had been lucky enough to find it at the regular non-boutique price of $10-$12.

I hope you enjoyed our trip to The Big City, and I apologize again for the crappy pictures.

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Estate Sale Finds

I haven't been to many sales lately, but the Saturday before Christmas I went to three estate sales, so I have a few things I've been waiting to share.

I went to the first sale because they posted pictures online and I spied a gooseberry pink Pyrex casserole, and a 7 ft aluminum Christmas tree. I figured I'd never get the tree, but this was a chance to see one up close. It did not disappoint. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I'm sorry I didn't take a picture. The lady running the sale said it was the first item sold and it went for $135.00. I didn't get the Pyrex either. It didn't look like I was going to find much of anything until I saw this 78 record.

You see, back in November, Sherrie at A Conversation at Goodwill had a giveaway and one of the things she gave away was this piece of vintage sheet music from the forties.

I had looked up the lyrics online, and they are so bizarrely offensive to big women, it's amazing they got away with singing it. They'd never get away with anything like it today. So of course, when I saw the record, I had to buy it. I also got a pair of cake cooling racks and a blue glass canning jar.

At the 2nd sale, I found a cake decorating booklet, and this basket; 30c each.

This is what's stamped on the bottom.

233N is a 3 Qt rectangular baking dish.

(picture courtesy of ebay)
It's a bit shorter than my Butterfly Gold lasagna pan, but because the wicker is somewhat flexible, it works with the lasagna pan.

At the last sale, I found these ice cube trays

for my vintage refrigerator,

and this cool Pyrex carafe (that I showed you last week). Too bad it's lid is missing.

And I found

the reamer and juice bowl

for my Sunbeam mixmaster. Now I can make lemonade.

Then I was very excited to see this box.

And when I looked inside, I found

the meat grinder and food chopper attachment as well as

the power transfer unit that is sold separately. The power transfer unit hooks in where the beater goes and then the grinder attaches to it. Both are needed for it to work, so I was really happy to see it. I paid $10 for both of them. After I got it home, I discovered that there is a left-handed wing nut missing. It's not needed to grind meat, though, and that's what I wanted the grinder for. My Dad thinks he can find a nut that will work.

I also discovered that the black thing stuck in the tube of the grinder did not belong to it.

It was a corked lid to something. You don't suppose it might belong to the Pyrex carafe do you?

Why, yes it does! Imagine that.

They also had two sets of Sunbeam mixmaster beaters for $2.00 each, but they didn't match my mixer, so I didn't buy them. I regret that now. I have since seen two vintage mixmasters at Goodwill priced really low because they were missing their bowls and beaters. New beaters are available online, but they cost at least $15. So from now on, I'll buy Sunbeam beaters when I can get them cheap.

The only thing they didn't have at that sale was a Sunbeam mixmaster.
They had a Hamilton Beach one.

I also found two boxes of magicubes which I hope fit my thrifted Polaroid, and
a 1960 S&H Green Stamps "Distinguished Merchandise Ideabook,"

otherwise known as a catalog. I'll show scans of the inside in a later post.

Until then, here's a peek at how they displayed the linens.
Click on the picture to enlarge it.


This 1.5 Qt bowl didn't come from a sale but from a trip to the bins a few days later. It cost 75c and I bought it so that I could have two sets of bowls for my mixmaster. I can now mix frosting in multiple colors effectively and decorate cakes more efficiently.

Looking back at what I bought, most of it goes with something previously thrifted. I found parts for my mixmaster, a carrier for my Pyrex, a cake decorating book for my cake plate, ice cube trays for my fridge, etc. Funny how that works, isn't it?

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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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