Posted by What do you do when you go back to your home town for a visit? Well, of course, you see family and friends. And you eat…a lot. And you drive by your old haunts. And if you’re like me, you go to a thrift store or two!
The Sally Ann (Salvation Army for the uninitiated) in my home town is pretty grubby and unappealing, but I had to go at least once. Slim pickings, but I did find a pristine vintage sweater. The Goodwill in town is small, but nicely arranged, more like a boutique. I optimistically grabbed a basket and perused all the aisles and displays, but didn’t find anything worth buying and hauling back on the plane. 😦
So, I had to head to the antique store in town, right on Main Street.
The antique store is three long rooms crammed with dozens and dozens of dealers so you never know what you’ll find. By the end of my five-day trip, I had been there twice!
And did I find anything?? Indeed I did! Here are some of my favorites…
One of the first things to hit my basket was this 1940s/50s set of vintage His/Hers pink and black crocheted potholders. Can’t you just picture these in a retro kitchen?
I also found a wonderful blue and cream woven blanket/coverlet. It was dated 1836 in the weaving, but I doubted that was the real date it was made. It just didn’t feel old enough. It had a tiny bit of damage, but was so attractive, I decided to spring for it.
Later my research indicated that it was very similar to woven blankets made by Harry Tyler in the 1800s, but (and this is a big but), the lions are different and usually the owner’s name and/or location was woven in the blanket and the details are much crisper.
More research revealed that my blanket is indeed a reproduction sold in the 1980s by the Historic Williamsburg Gift Shop. Even so, one of these repro blankets (in used condition) sold for $107 a few years back, so I should do okay with it!!
Next I bought these goofy, I mean cute, lamb salt and pepper shakers. Not worth much but they had been marked down to $2.50, so I couldn’t resist.
I almost passed by this little glass tray, but when I saw that it was in its original mailing box from Ralph Edwards Productions, Hollywood, well I was sold! Turns out this production company was best known for producing This Is Your Life and Truth or Consequences. Haven’t been able to find a similar tray for sale. Just seems like a cool piece of memorabilia.
Also bought some pretty Weiss earrings.
But my best find (maybe) was this set of old Asian warriors nesting or matryoshka dolls. I saw these on my first visit to the store, but they had no price tag so I set them down. Then I saw another man pick up the dolls and ask for a price. He then brought them back and put them on the shelf. On my second visit, I picked them up again and decided to ask for the price. They still intrigued me! The guy working that day said, “Give me a price.” I thought about it, gave him a price and he countered with one two dollars LOWER than my price. Well, alrighty then…into my basket they went. Later, doing research, I found an Etsy seller who only sells nesting dolls. She has a very similar set for $125 that she dates to the 1800s! Yeah!!! (My set has a few missing as does her’s.)
So, all in all, I got some nice items and had a super great time looking. I think I was in some dopamine-fueled zone of happiness 🙂
And in a few weeks I’ll be ending my job and am so looking forward to this next stage of life! Hope to add these items to my Etsy store soon!
Happy hunting friends!!
Hunting for Vintage 