World Kindness Week...

I told you last week that we needed to be nice to November, and, in doing some research, I found that this is World Kindness Week with Friday the 13th being World Kindness Day. I keep thinking if we could just "be nice" that this would be a better world. You can disagree with someone nicely if you think about it, but it seems like name calling is in vogue these days, and, if people do not agree, they do not talk it through. Anyway, I appreciate those of you who come here to read and, hopefully, learn, and I am thrilled by the kindness that you show in your responses to my posts.

Now a book I bought at the flea market this week is the inspiration for today.

The editor of the book, published in 1919, said that Roosevelt said, "I would rather have this book published than anything that has ever been written about one." The letters were messages of "constant thought and love," and, before the children could read, he would send "picture letters."

Now, this new tech world has replaced much of our letter writing...and, so many will say...who has time to sit down and write a letter? Just email!! But, there is something about getting a card or a letter...there is the envelope...the stamp...not the forever stamp, but one of the neat postage pieces...and the joy of sitting and reading.

Letters used to be the main link to the outside world, and the written word provides records and history. What will remain for future generations? Text messages, emails, tweets? They get deleted. Anyone have a stash of printed emails tied up with a ribbon in an old candy box anywhere?

Ancient Egyptians wrote letters to the dead, not to keep in touch but for help. These were mostly done on pottery. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London preserves two such pieces. One is a letter from Qau, from a man to his parents (father on the inside, mother on the outside) and a letter from Hu, from a woman to her husband. In Qau's letter, he asks for help in a dispute over property. He writes on the inside of the bowl to his father, with a shorter message on the outside to his mother. Guess he thought Dad could handle the issue better!

In the 1600s the Dutch painter Vermeer did a series on woman writing, receiving, and reading letters.Victorians were known for decorating their envelopes, and letters were decorated with illustrations, and it is in that spirit that I had Sherri of Punk Rose Designs create some special cards for the shop...we have holiday as well as everyday cards.


Handcrafted and far more affordable not to mention special than Hallmark. How neat would this be for a thank you card for a dinner invite?

Or, this card for a special sleepover...or even to frame and put on a nightstand?

So, it is in the spirit of being kind and celebrating random acts of kindness, drop someone a note...one that you write...handwritten...don't worry if you are not a calligrapher...it is still you...because "Never get tired of doing little things for others. Sometimes, those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts."

November...be nice to it...

November...although the 11th month, the name actually derives from the Latin, meaning nine. When the Romans added January and February to the calendar, they did not bother to rework the months. I feel sorry for November because it becomes lost in the rush to the December "holidaze." Even 18th century English author Joseph Addison maligned November..."The gloomy months of November, when the people of England hang and drown themselves."

November is the month that calls us inside...the leaves are turning...for us at the shore here, the tourists are dwindling...the temps are dropping. But, I find it full of odds and ends. So, in honor of November and moving indoors, here are some interesting odds and ends from the store.

I have several glass knives. They are from the Depression era, and I have one that is in its original box.
The inside of the box provides excellent directions for its use. As a composition teacher, I am amazed by the confusing sentence structure in many of today's guides compared to the precise directions on these types of items.


Obviously the owner of this knife did not follow the directions above...it is a tad ragged.
But, I guess they did not have the 17 cents to send it off to Atlantic City to have it resharpened.
And, the owner of this one was not going to lost it at the church social! Her name is engraved on it. I would imagine this was a shower or wedding gift.

Another item that is fun to collect is the napkin ring. The Victorians did not launder frequently so that each person had his or her own napkin ring which held the napkin for the week's dining. It is rare to find matching sets unless they are engraved. I am fascinated by the intricacy of the simple silverplated rings. Although many search for sterling silver rings, I like the less expensive but no less decorative plated ones. Here are a couple I have in stock now.


Maybe, if you start now, you could find unique rings to put out on the holiday tables.

So, welcome to November! And, in addition to Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving, there is Sadie Hawkins Day, Military Family Appreciation Month, National American Indian Heritage Month and National Pomegranate Month. Also, you can celebrate National Family Week, Cookie Monster Day, National Men Make Dinner Day, International Tongue Twister Day, Marine Corps Birthday, and Buy Nothing Day (I have issues with that...chuckle), and, above all, a celebration for World Kindness.

The last rose

of summer in the last week of October...from my garden...I happened to think of this since I was pricing some "moss rose" items for my shop.

The real moss rose was introduced in 1854 by the breeder Leveque, but the first cultivated Moss Rose was mentioned in the literature as far back as 1696. Breeders now think that moss roses were most likely around long before that.
The moss roses are “sports” according to my research, meaning they are natural mutations. The Victorians loved its intense fragrance.

Kovel’s Price Guide describes moss rose china as common from 1808-1900. “It has a typical moss rose pictured as the design. The plant is not as popular now as it was in Victorian gardens, so the fuzz-covered bud is unfamiliar to most collectors. The dishes were usually decorated with pink and green flowers.”
Most of the china seen today is from the 1940s-50s era and was made in Japan. All of these pieces are familiar in any resale shop, and they should be reasonably priced since they are not from the Victorian era.
Some people do not recognize the difference, but the later china is brighter white and may have remnants of the Japanese paper labels or no label at all. Most Victorian moss rose is marked and the china is heavier and duller.

For those whose souls are truly romantic not just because that is the decorating trend here is Thomas More's poem about the last rose of summer. He was friends with Byron and Shelley so you can imagine what they discussed as they sat in the inn!

Then again, Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein was married to Percy Shelley...so maybe there are some tales to be told!

’TIS the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rosebud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
To give sigh for sigh.
I’ll not leave thee, thou lone one!
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go, sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves o’er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow,
When friendships decay,
And from Love’s shining circle
The gems drop away.
When true hearts lie withered
And fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit
This bleak world alone?

“The most incomprehensible thing about the world

is that it is at all comprehensible.” (Albert Einstein)

We just “celebrated” Columbus Day…a.k.a. day off, no mail, mattress sales! But, the world is still full of discoveries yet to be made despite how far we have come, and one only needs to look at some old geography books to see that.

I bought a stack of them…and a globe…and a framed map last week.
Geography is one of those lost subjects in today’s school sytems when it should be a top priority. Ask someone where Afghanistan is, and you may get “over there.”
It used to be taught...a few of these books are from a "normal" school...now Rowan University.


Interestingly, geography come from a Greek word γεωγραφία, meanng to describe or write about the Earth which was formulated by Erathosthenes (276-194 BC) …I am always fascinated in this research how much the Greeks had to do with our society’s foundation, yet we seem to think we are the center of the universe. We are babes in these woods!



Some people think that if a book is old, it is valuable. Not really. First editions may have some value, other things include if it is signed by the author, owned by someone famous, or owned by someone famous who perhaps made notes in the book, or a book with interesting art, design or type.

Condition impacts value, which always makes me crazy…a book whose spine has never been bent may be worth more than one that has been read. So, why buy a book? Pile them on the coffee table or line them up like toy soldiers on shelves!

That truly is the one aspect of this business that boggles my mind…don’t use it…keep it pristine…I would rather have a book that looks as though someone loved it enough to read it over and over…

But, back to my geography books…or any old textbooks…beng a teacher, I cannot resist them, and, if you are in the area, I can offer you the world...for a price...and, remember, as Jimmy Buffett once said…"Without geography you're nowhere."

A charming woman...

doesn't follow the crowd. She is herself. (Loretta Young)

Charm is one of those multi-tasking words…a woman’s charms, a charming day, fall under a charm, lucky charms…gambling and cereal…candy charms…and, in keeping with our Octoberfest, charms as incantations for bewitching.!
If you are a Harry Potter reader, you will recall the class in Charms. Rowling described the magic spells as being able “to give an object new and unexpected properties.”
Well, that is what my newest shop artisan has done with some chain bracelets I purchased at auction. With baubles and beads and buttons, Sharon has transformed the simple chains into charming bracelets.

Interestingly the Egyptians wore charm bracelets to help the Gods guide the wearer and his/her possessions to the proper status level in the afterlife. Charms served as IDs for quite a while in history, from the Christians and their fish symbols during Roman times to the Knights of the Medieval times.

Queen Victoria brought the charm bracelet into fashion, moving it from practical to fashionable.

Then, WWII created a market for trinkets for soldiers to bring home while stateside, the kids were using the gumball trinkets to create charming creations!

By the 1950s, charm bracelets were in vogue and that continued throughout the 1960s. I remember getting a charm bracelet from a high school boyfriend, and then I added to it as I traveled the world as a young woman. This is one of those from many years ago...
So, if you want to be a charming woman or charm a friend or a significant other…check out these unique bracelets! Remember, these are truly unique...and made in America...and quite affordable! Sharon has created some wonderful bracelets for you as she blends the old into a new artistic interpretation for truly...one of a kind!

“In two decades I've lost a total of 789 pounds. I should be hanging from a charm bracelet.” (Erma Bombeck)

The circle of life...

represented in bangle bracelets...and staying with our welcome to fall, "orange" you glad you stopped by?
Ouch! Bad pun! But, I have some wonderful bangles in stock to complement your fall wardrobe. And, of course, a little insight into bangles. It seems based on my research that India made the bangle fashionable, and that women wore the bangles to indicate they were married. Prior to that, the bangle did exist as "cuff bracelets" worn by men as raw materials were hammered, carved, or molded into the shape desired by craftsmen working over wood fired furnaces in central Asia.

Victorians wore bangles accented with jewels. I saw an 1888 article that mentioned a bangle being stolen, and it obviously was a diamond studded creation. I have a rhinestone jeweled bangle in my stash, but it is plastic...

Today, Bakelite comes to mind when people think of bangle bracelets. A Belgian scientist named Dr. Leo Baekeland was responsible for the invention of Bakelite. In 1889 he immigrated the the United States, and in 1907 while working as as independent chemist he accidently discovered the compound of carbolic acid and formaldehyde. When he tried to reheat the solidified compound he discovered it would not melt, no matter how high the temperature.

The butterscotch colored bangle at the top is bakelite. When the Bakelite patent expired in 1927, it was acquired by the Catalin Corporation that same year. Bakelite-Catalin was sold mainly to companies like Saks Fifth Avenue, Bonwit Teller, Woolworth's, and Sears. Much of the wealthy society fell into difficult financial times during the Great Depression and could no longer afford Tiffany diamonds or Cartier Jewelry.

Bakelite-Catalin took up the market slack with its colorful carved jewelry adorned with rhinestones. This jewelry was within the reach of all, and its popularity grew from the poorest to the wealthiest in society.

In 1942 Bakelite-Catalin stopped sales of their colorful costume jewelry in order to concentrate on the nation's wartime needs. By the end of the World War II, new technologies for molded plastics had been developed. These new products consisted of plastics such as Lucite, Fiberglass, Vinyl, and Acrylic - all which were could be molded.

There are many "fakelite" bracelets around, and it can be difficult to recognize the original plastic. Some common ways to check involve looking for mold lines...Bakelite has none...it is heavier that celluloid, lucite and all modern plastics. It makes a lower pitch when tapped together. You can dip a q-tip in 409 Cleaner, and it will turn yellow if it is bakelite, but there are exceptions if the piece has been highly polished.

Another bangle style in stock is cinnabar so called because of its resemblance to the mineral and the way it was carved in ancient times. These are made from heavy, molded polymers. Genuine Cinnabar, which derives its name from its cinnamon–to-scarlet-red color, contains Mercury. Carved Cinnabar bracelets are a traditional Chinese handicraft dating back hundreds of years. Crafted in red, black and a striking combination of red and black Cinnabar resin, Cinnabar bracelets feature traditional Chinese motifs such as dragons, phoenixes, bats, and Chinese characters, and are available in a variety of widths.

So, round and round it goes...there are, of course, all kinds of other bangles, but I love my fall colored ones...

Autumn is a second spring...

where every leaf is a flower to quote Albert Camus. Well, after this strange wet summer, it will be interesting to see what colors appear. I love orange...the colors of fall...the faded greens, bright yellows, rusty reds.

I thought this fall I would introduce some of the treasures that go with the fall colors. This week, we will take a look at amberina, a blended glass, part yellow amber merging into a ruby red. Interestingly, I only have 2 pieces to show you...several sold before I could get pictures taken...have had a very busy weekend!

Anyway, amberina is created by mixing a compound including gold into the glass and reheating it before letting it cool completely which causes changes to the color of the glass. According to The Glass Encyclopedia, it was first made by Joseph Locke and Edward D. Libbey of the New England Glass Company in the United States in 1883.

While other glass-making companies also made amberina glass, Locke and Libbey patented the glass in 1883, preventing competitors from making it without a license.

The Mt. Washington Glass Company made amberina glass in the 1880s, but, in the spirit of American business, New England Glass sued and forced Mt. Washington to stop marketing any amberina styled glassware.

New England did license the technique to several companies including Gillinder & Sons and Libbey and Co. Libbey produced amberina glass for the 1893 World's Fair and made amberina until around 1920. Companies that still make amberina today include Fenton Glass, Blenko, and Boyd's Crystal Art Glass. Modern amberina tends to have brighter colors, tending to orange rather than the traditional gold and rose colors of earlier amberina.

Remember though we spent the summer smelling the flowers, now it is time to watch the leaves turn!

In the pink

Turning 61 last Thursday and being healthy, I received a wonderful birthday present that day hearing that my best friend who is Stage IV breast cancer received good tumor marker and scan news. It is funny how the older we get, the more we see health as a gift...we want to be in the pink. We know that the pink ribbon is an internationally recognized symbol of hope and awareness in the fight against breast cancer, but we all want to be in the pink.

But, the earliest use of that phrase was not related to health. Shakespeare coined it as meaning the best of something...in 1597 in Romeo and Juliet, Mercurio says, "Why, I am the very pinke of curtesie." It also appears that Queen Elizabeth I also liked pink since one of her favorite flowes was Dianthus...or Pinks as they are called as well.

In Japan, the color pink has a masculine association. The annual blooming of the cherry trees with its pink blossoms each spring is said to represent the young Japanese warriors (Samurai) who fell in battle in the prime of life.




I remember the first time I saw this scene when we lived in D.C. It is totally breathtaking.

But, how do I relate this to something antique/vintage...aha! It is my latest flea market stash...this time Pink Milk Glass...I can transition anything...ask my students! Jeannette Glass Company in Jeannette, PA produced Shell Pink from 1957-1959. The company originally manufactured bottles as Jeannette Bottle Works Company in 1887, and in 1899, Jeannette Glass automated and mass produced bottles, wide mouth jars, relishes and pressed glass products including automobile headlamp lenses, vault lights and glass building blocks. Jeannette was an early American producer of machine made pressed glassware, and, by the 1920s, was producing a wide range of glass products for medical, industrial and home uses. In 1924, they introduced their tableware products, which are now known as Depression glass.

When milk glass became popular in the 50s, Jeannette used some of their regular molds to create the Shell Pink line. They wanted to compete with Westmoreland and Fenton by doing a unique softer look. Many of the pieces were sold to Napco Ceramics in Cleveland, Ohio, and to the florist industry, but they only kept it in production from 1957-1959.

Here are some of the pieces available in the shop...this is called Thumbprint...you will see this in clear pressed also.

This is a candy dish in the grapevine pattern. I imagine many of these lids were dropped as children peeked in to see what was inside.

This is called Baltimore Pear...obviously...the lid is quite unique on the sugar though...



There are only serving pieces and floral items in this pink...no dinner dishes...here is one of the serving trays. I guess women combined the pinks with the whites and the pink depression dishes.
Anyway, I am tickled pink to have all this pink milk glass in stock right now...and so hope you are in the pink...and until next week...

"Wooden" it be lovely??

Oh, bad pun, I know...could not resist...anyway, although country decorating lends itself to wooden bowls year round, I tend to think of them as fall/winter accessories. (Yes, I am one who changes with the seasons!) It is something about the texture and color of woodenware works with the fall/winter colors.

In the 18th century, woodenware was sold by street sellers in cities, and in the country, the utensils were made by hand. Treenware is another term for kitchen woodenware, but ebay and online sellers have taken the term to extremes. Truly old wooden bowls...bowls made from burls (growths on trees) do command higher prices, but the bowls shown here are not precious like a 19th century hand crafted bowl despite what some would have you think. I believe good old woodenware is hard to distinguish without handling. I have even seen flea market sellers trying to pass off resin bowls as wood.

Sometimes the large oblong bowls were called trenchers. Originally trencher was a piece of stale bread, cut into a square shape and used as a plate. At the end of the meal, the trencher could be eaten with sauce but was more frequently given as alms to the poor. It evolved into a name for a plate of metal or wooden bowl.

The one bowl that shows up most in the resale market is Munising. The plant opened in Munising, Michigan in 1912. Their story ends with situations that many small companies are facing today. Here is an excerpt from a history of their factory about their demise. That old "foreign" competition started when we occupied Japan, and Americans desire for cheap and quantity runs through many of these stories.

May 27, 1954
Foreign competition in the woodenware line hit Alger County this week when the Munising plant of the Munising Wood Products Co. reduced its operation schedule to a 4 day week. The cutback to 32 hours per week took effect Monday and will continue into July at least, according to Manager Howard Norton. Inventory at the Munising plant is high because of slack sales.

June 13, 1962
The former Munising Wood Products Co. plant on Cedar St., which for many years made wooden bowls, clothes pins, salad forks and other articles of top quality, is now in the process of being torn down. The long storage shed on the east side was taken down first and now the remainder of the plant, all except the concrete building, are now being razed as well. At its peak the "Wooden Ware" employed 300 people.

Another bowl maker was Parrish. Years ago I purchased a large lot of these bowls with a note about the company's history. It said that the stock was discovered in storage, and that the plant had closed during the depression. Supposedly it was located in Indiana. Parrish bowls sometimes are marked with the name in a triangle on the bottom, but one of the main differences seems to be the size of the bottom of the bowl. Parrish bowls have a larger circumference from my observations.

How to care for these bowls is not difficult.
The old bowls will have chopping marks in the bottom because they were sold with chopping knives. They have morphed into salad bowls also. But, this advice is from Heloise...remember her? First, wash it with a mild liquid dishwashing detergent and warm water. Next, rinse well and dry thoroughly. To restore the patina, coat the entire surface carefully with mineral oil. Let stand overnight, then wipe with paper towels. To keep the wood in tip-top shape, repeat this process several times a year. Wooden bowls and wooden utensils should never be washed in the dishwasher or soaked in water.

I caution about using salad oils to coat wood because they can turn rancid, and I advise against any sealer.

And, remember, life is just a chair of bowlies!

Crystal clear?

As I look at the stash of crystal necklaces and bracelets I purchased at the flea market last week, they are anything but clear...they refract, reflect, rekindle the light around them.
Yet, a crystal ball is clear...
maybe because it really cannot reflect the future? Or, as economist Edgar R. Fiedler says, "He who lives by the crystal ball soon learns to eat ground glass." Bet there are many Wall Street bankers eating peanut butter and glass these days!

But, back to my stash...crystal is glass mixed with lead. It was discovered in the late 1600's by George Ravenscroft after much trial and error, discovering that lead added to glass made it stronger, harder, and more malleable. Lead crystal is also known in home decor for glassware.

Crystals were made by hand at first, but, in 1892, Daniel Swarovski, an Austrian glass cutter, designed a machine to cut facets perfectly just like diamonds. This enabled designers to create uniform jewelery. Now computers are used to calculate statistics for the factors that give the beads their beauty.

According to my research, the amount of lead added ranges from 10% for fine crystal to 25% for leaded crystal. Swarovski mixes almost 34% - making it the heaviest crystal bead. A couple of medium sized crystal beads of Swarovski can often weigh almost one gram. So, the easiest way to identify a genuine crystal bead would be to weigh it and the real crystal beads are sure to be heavier than the fakes.

Dyes or chemicals are added to glass to give crystal its colors and there are beautiful color palettes which make crystal beads look just like real gemstones. Again, Swarovski scores here, having replicated many gemstone looks.

This necklace is unique because it is strung on fine chain...

I love the iridescent quality in this one...


The blues here...




A ruby bracelet is sweet...













So, crystals are not clear, and, as Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and time in which it is used." So it is for this stash of jewelry...may it be worn in good circumstances and good times!