Travel Woes and Vacation Finds

I like to travel. That is to say I like to be at a destination but not so much the travail it takes to get there and back! My recent trip back to Western New York state was a perfect example. The fall foliage was spectacular. The food and wine delicious. Seeing family and friends priceless. But my trip back to California was thwarted by repeated mechanical airplane problems. I won’t go through the whole litany but I will say my 2.45 p.m. flight finally took off after 8:00 p.m. and I had to dash at Dulles airport to make my twice re-booked connecting flight. (Oddly I got a great seat…I was in the window seat of a bulkhead row just behind first class. I’m guessing no one else wanted to pay the extra money for it which I didn’t either!) But from Washington, DC, to San Francisco it’s over five hours of flying time and by the time I got my luggage and took an Uber home it was almost 2:00 a.m PST/5:00 a.m. EST. I was barely coherent by the end! Still, it was totally worth it.

Nowadays every trip includes a bit of thrifting and antiquing. And gosh I saw so many good things and came home with great stuff, but still had a few regrets on the things I didn’t buy–mostly because the size or cost made them problematic.

Here are a few I didn’t buy, alas, alas…

This mini Polor Cub fan. I just loved the industrial look and color of this and wanted to buy it for myself.

And what about these two huge 1960s/70s mod ceramic ashtrays? These are fantastic. Priced at $25 each which is right on the money.

OMG, aren’t these 1940s wood/tin toy boats cute? The set was priced at $50 (likely negotiable) and I was sorely tempted to buy them. (I should have!)

But I didn’t leave New York empty handed!

I adored this miniature sterling silver candle holder which I believe is for a large-scale dollhouse or perhaps a child or may have been used on a writing desk for creating sealing wax. It’s marked for Gorham and the date marks put it in the mid-to-late 1800s!

I was immediately drawn to this large Persian hand-painted mother-of- pearl pendant. It’s painted on both sides!

This Art Deco sterling and marcasite initial pin looks so sparkly in person. These are not uncommon, but still nice. I picture it worn in a cluster of pins on a blazer.

This sweet glass and sterling powder box would have been part of a larger vanity set. The lid was made by Tiffany. I’ll clean up the bits of old polish left on it.

Southwestern-style jewelry is still popular and sells well for me so I snapped up this heishi shell and turquoise necklace with a real (though worn) Walking Liberty half dollar pendant. I wore it one day on vacation.

Here’s a totally oddball purchase–a leather string of vintage NYC buttons, likely off police or fireman uniforms. Some are corroded and I think I was a bit crazy buying them. Still for the right person….

This worn Victorian gold-filled watch fob with a small opal tugged at my heart. It still has its watch chain, but I think it would make a sweet pendant and it was obviously well loved.

This Taxco sterling silver 3-D floral pin has great graphic quality. It’s signed MR for Melecio Rodriquez and similar pins are priced online at over $100.

And I couldn’t resist this small 1950s Travel Scrabble game. At $18 there’s not much money left in it, but I might save this for whenever my husband retires (hint, hint) and we spend some time traveling!

I tend to be more liberal with my funds on vacation and paid approx. $250 for everything, but I should make a decent profit and I had a lot of fun looking, so I’m a happy camper.

As always, happy hunting,

Karen

P.S. Here are my Niagara County, New York, sources:

• Kurt’s Coins and Collectables, Lockport
• Real Antiques, Lockport
• Just Looking, Lockport
• Lewiston Antique Mall, Sanborn
• Shawnee Country Barns Antique Co-op, Wheatfield