Covid Journal, Day 325: Finds and Booths

Cold, snowy, blowy weather. Little bits of snow that soon melt away as the sun comes out, then more snow overnight, just enough to cover the ground and look pretty. Temps in the upper teens to low 30's.

We took the day yesterday to go looking for stock for our booths--and of course, ended up with things for eBay as well. The weather promised a sunny day after the morning flurries, so we bundled up, made our coffee and packed lunch, and took off for Ohio.

Specifically, Lancaster, Ohio, where I had lined up some things to buy through Facebook's Marketplace. We've talked about doing this but hadn't really planned it out, but last week I did some scouting online, contacted some sellers who were willing to wait until Saturday, and laid out the schedule for the day.

We had a great time. The first seller was not far from Logan, Ohio, on the road to Old Man's Cave, one of my favorite places we've ever visited. From him came a vintage Cosco kitchen stool in near perfect condition. 

Second stop, outside of Lancaster where we picked up an English copper teakettle. Then on to downtown Lancaster to meet up with a fascinating young couple who took down old buildings and had a design and construction business. They have a huge old warehouse, full of old lumber, trim, windows, doors, you name it. They are selling out their stock as they have sold the building, so we got remarkably good prices. We came away with some great windows, antique cabinet doors, shutters, and a couple nice old chairs that you can see in the above photo. We hope to go back again and pick up more, like old beadboard, porch spindles, etc. 

The last stop was on the other side of Lancaster. We passed by the fairgrounds in the middle of town, which brought back memories of when I was a security guard and worked the annual county fair there as a gate guard. The job meant long, boring days in the sun, making sure everyone entering had a ticket. We worked from 7am until about 8pm, on our feet all day with one break for lunch. The pay was minimum wage, but with overtime it meant a relatively good payday. The company put us up, fed us and provided transportation. It was grueling, but back then we were doing whatever it took to earn a living. This was before I went to college. How life changed in those next 5 years--I remarried, had another son, became a grandmother, got electricity in our home, graduated from college and began working full time as a librarian. Whew. 

But back to our trip. The last stop was to pick up this beautiful piece:

It was sold to us as an English baking stand. The lady who owned it said her mother had given it to her' her mother was an antiques dealer in high-end pieces and she bought this in England. My English friends tell me that it is actually a washstand, and that the little cupboard at the bottom was for the chamberpot. Oh dear--but, I believe it would work beautifully as a baking stand, don't you? It was made by the company Hart and Son, in Leicester, England, which I learned is in the Midlands of the country. I believe it to be mid-to-late 1800's. 

The former owner no longer had room for it and had only listed it 5 minutes before I saw it, so I feel very lucky to have been first in line. The only sad part of this story is that I have absolutely nowhere in this house to put it so I can't keep it. But someone, I know, will be thrilled to have it in their home.

We also made stops at several thrift stores along the way, and it was just dark when we finally returned home. Here's a look at what we found.

I have always liked Japanese dishes. My mother seemed to like them too but struggled, I think, because of her deep-seated anger at Japan after World War II. But she did own a few pieces, and I remember some plates like the Nippon ones I picked up yesterday. I believe the biscuit jar is from Japan too, although it is unmarked. The ruby glasses are Anchor Hocking, 1940's era, with what is called a "Boopie Bubble" base. You can't see the base in the photo, but it's basically clear with hobnails that graduate in size from the edge of the base to the center.

The green set is a handmade Saki set, made by a potter in Wheeling, WV. I liked that whimsical cobalt frog paperweight. Behinf the Saki set is a gorgrous Nippon vase, and to the left of the vase is a vintage teapot in the very popular "Singapore Bird" pattern. 

Some oddities here---a handmade wood candleholder, a Fire-King casserole and a black globe. Why black? I have no idea, but hopefully it will fit into someone's decor.

The English copper kettle, which I believe is a Simplex, although it is not marked as such. The pretty wineglasses were all in one box, about 14 of them for 5.00. They'll go on eBay. 

This is an unusual little platter. I believe it is restaurantware, and it's footed--I've never seen one like that. I always buy vintage potato mashers when I see them as they seem to sell quite well; and that little cast iron griddle, even though it's new, is just so darn cute.

That big white bird is one of those things that made me wonder what I was thinking. But he's just so cool. I can't figure out what he's made of. The base sounds like metal, but the top does not. The mid-century platter in chartreuse will go on eBay, as will the cobalt vase on top of it. 

I cannot resist pretty plates, even though they sell so slowly. 

A copper coffepot to go with the kettle? The marks on the front washed right off thank goodness.

These are one of those things bought on a hunch. Apparently they're antique or at least vintage English horse brasses, on leather straps. I don't know much about them, do you? Still researching. The bowl is a nice old vintage piece, and the aluminum coffeepot has all its innards and will make someone a nice camping percolator. You can just see a bit of the big porcelain egg behind the coffeepot. The egg rests on a wood base.

Pretty teacups, another weakness of mine. I am keeping the one in front, which was made in Silesia, so is quite vintage. Here you can see a bit of the base of those ruby glasses, and more of the big egg. The spring-looking thing is a lid lifter for a wood cookstove.

My keeper teacup. A pink and a white rose are painted on the cup. So pretty.

This one is Nippon, and will go to a booth. The peach cup was only 10 cents; I have quite a few Fiesta Ware cups that I am planning to list as one lot on eBay.

The lanterns aren't great--made in China--but will make nice yard decorations for someone, I hope. The oak table we picked up earlier in the week from the nicest young man; the two chairs with the table were Goodwill finds last week that Larry tightened up, as they needed some re-gluing.

Two vintage hand-crocheted potholders are on a small silverplate tray. I always wonder about such handcrafts--who made them, and even more intriguing, why did they end up at a thrift store? Seems like someone in the family would want to keep them.

A few more linens--and I think one of my all-time favorite finds. See the pretty cherry tablecloth? It's brand new, never used, although it's probably 1950's vintage. It still has its 2.99 price tag.  The quilt is odd. Someone made it, backed and bound it, but never actually quilted it. So I guess it's a patchwork blanket, not really a quilt. The two mugs are from the Spode Blue Room collection, and under the tablecloth is a set of new, 1984 vintage coffee mugs. 

That's about everything. The last week was a busy time of finishing up some painting projects, catching up with housework and getting things into our booths--and as always, listing eBay and packing eBay.

Speaking of the painting projects, here they are in the booth: a table and chairs, and a small buffet or server.

I think that catches up the past week. Now I hope I can get back on track with writing on a more regular basis here; I've been lax and I don't like that because there are things I wanted to write about but now will never do because they've gone out of my head. Perhaps that's just as well. If I can't remember for a few days, were they really important anyway?

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Booth Updates: Ravenswood, Noggin Whacker and Marietta

It's been a little while since I posted photos of our booths. Here's a quick tour of some of the changes. 

First, this little chalkboard desk is now in our Marietta booth. (The white desk to its left sold last weekend--you can see it better here). This little teal desk was an old sewing machine cabinet but with a few changes and some paint, it's now a creative center for play.

We sold the round oak table I'd painted white, so we moved in the green cracked ice Formica top table Larry restored during the winter. It's been waiting for its turn to shine.

A few of the "smalls" I've worked on recently: two small mirrors, and a "family" piece with buttons and burlap.

At Noggin Whacker Barber Shop and Antiques we added this nice porcelain top table. It needed only a little TLC and some paint on the legs--and I went ahead and painted inside out outside of the drawer too. I left the turquoise paint on the red Bakelite pull though, I thought it looked pretty cool.

Also at Noggin Whacker, a pitcher and bowl with the mirrored stand found a nice corner for display.

This china cabinet was a recent project. We'd used it as we'd found it to store our DVD and photo albums. It was the usual dark finish of the Depression era, and pretty beat up, missing its door, but it worked for us. But to sell it I decided to give it a coat of antique white paint and some distressing to freshen it up. I waxed it with a soft wax to finish.

And here it is, completed and in the booth at Marietta.

The dresser I'd been working on for a good while is also finally finished and at our Marietta booth. This one took some time, because I layered three colors of paint and then sanded back so the colors showed through, distressed it and then finished with a good coat of General Finishes High Performance Top Coat so it can withstand heavy use.

Here's a photo to show the layering and distressing on the top.

Another small project. this little cabinet was the most appalling shade of yellow with some sort of rough stuff all over it. Sanding, a new knob and paint brought it back to beautiful.

Marietta is my Pyrex place. I have most of my pieces for sale there.

Mid-century also sells better at Marietta than at my other booths. The aluminum canisters probably won't be here for long.

Mid-century lamps and lots of mirrors at Marietta!

And lots of kitchenware too, a steady seller. The blue Fenton water set sold last week.

Glass and more glass. I admit, I'm a glass-aholic. It sells, although not as well as the old kitchen stuff.

Here is the old flatwall cabinet I wrote about here. It's a rough one, but I'm hoping someone else will love its character and take it home. If not, it will come back here for some paint.

Inside I chose more primitive-looking pieces to go with the old look of the cabinet. The bottom of this cabinet reads "Gilmer, W.Va." which I think indicates that it's an 1800's piece.

More Pyrex! This is in a chimney cupboard we recently restored. This cupboard had been in a horse barn and was looking pretty rough. A new back, some new shelves, sanding and paint brought it back to like new condition. I almost kept this one.

A view of our new space at Marietta, although it's changed already since this photo. Change is the name of the game in selling and showcasing our items. I'm kinda sad this dropleaf table with 4 chairs hasn't sold yet. For $200 it seems like a good deal to me, especially since the table comes with three leaves and table pads to protect the top. I suppose this color and style is just out of fashion right now. It may also come home to be painted, but I hate like anything to cover that beautiful wood.

So that's a whirlwind tour of the booths! I am sure that by now some things have already changed since I took the photos. It's a stuff-in, stuff-out business, and that's the real fun of it.