Covid Journal, Day 147: Flat, and Some Cool Finds

70 this morning, humid as can be. It got up to about 90, but now it's clouding up so maybe there's a shower coming our way. I can hope.

I've been working at the antique mall the past two days, re-doing a table I painted. The table had two issues: first, a stain came up through the paint and second, I had not painted the legs because I thought they looked great in their original finish. Apparently I was alone in that thought! So back to the paint. After sanding, shellac on the stain, re-painting and waxing the top and painting and waxing the legs, it looks fine. A lot of work, and the price is still the same. Sheesh. But I am more satisfied with it, and that's important.

We had a couple more big things to bring in, so Larry came over with them later, in the truck. Boy was I glad to see him, because my van had a flat tire. It was low when I got to the mall, and within minutes it was flat as could be. Larry showed up and had the little air compressor with him, so he could pump up the flat a little and get the van to a safe place to change the tire. Hot as it was, he just got in there and did it. One reason I love my man. The lady who owns the bakery at the corner brought him a cold water, such a thoughtful thing to do.

When we got back home, we were both flat-out tired. He went in and took a nap, and I listed things on ebay. Here's one thing I listed today:

This is a huge Blenko Glass pitcher, apparently only made for one year, 1970. I bought it at the mall today. It won't sell fast, probably, so i can enjoy it for a while until I have to send it on its way.

A  few other things I listed today:

I bought this compote at the Marietta mall, thinking it was Early American Pattern Glass, which I would add to my collection. I could not find an ID for it, and finally asked on one of the Facebook glass groups. A member identified it for me as a Cambridge piece, made in 1916. So not pattern glass as it's not within the right timeframe, so I decided to sell it.

Then there are these abalone shell plates. I've had a hard time finding information on them, but as best I've been able to learn these were a mid-century thing, possibly for serving caviar and other seafood. There are two on ebay for 99.00 for the pair, amazingly. I bought the lot for 1.99, so I listed the 8 pieces for 99.00 or best offer. We shall see what happens there.

I listed a couple crystal pieces too, one Rogaska glass and one Waterford cream pitcher.. Learning how to find the very tiny maker's marks on crystal has helped hugely in identifying good pieces, but of course not all of it is marked. Thankfully, these two were.

M.A. Hadley is a pottery maker in Kentucky with a very distinctive style. Every now and then I find pieces of her pottery, like these three plates.

It took me a while to identify this goblet-like piece, and finally I again went to a glass group on Facebook for help. A member who is quite a glass expert identified it for me as L.E. Smith Glass, and it is not a goblet, but a jam stand. That, I would never have guessed. I had hoped it was pattern glass but it's from the 60's-70's era, so it went on ebay.

Identifying glass and the other interesting things I pick up is really a fascinating hobby, but quite time-consuming as you can imagine. I guess it appeals to the research librarian in me, and also to the side of my that loves puzzles. I find it relaxing, something to do when I just need to sit and rest for a while. The only downside is that a lot of beautiful glass ends up coming to live here, and I am constantly having to decide what stays and what has to be sold. But it's a good problem to have.

Monday the van goes to the shop to get the front end aligned and maybe a new tie-rod---there goes money. And new tires. Ah me. Money in, money out. The name of the game, right?

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

Another Update: Marietta Booth

This was a get-back-to-work week for us! We hadn't been to Marietta for a month--the time slipped by so quickly, and then it turned so cold I didn't want to be away from home that long. So we had lots of catch-up work to do.

Sales were good in December but they're in the toilet so far this month, worst we've ever seen. We assumed the lower sales in October and November were election-related but now I am not so sure. Other friends with retail businesses tell me that they're having the same issue--people are coming and looking but not spending. And restaurants are seeing lower than usual traffic too. So we'll see what happens the rest of the month. I'm running a sale for the rest of the month and probably into February, so we'll see if that helps.

Meanwhile, here's a bit of what we did:
We found this table last weekend and the yellow chairs about a month ago. The table needed only a little cleaning up to be ready. We have had the red chair for a while and decided to just put it in the booth, and priced all pieces separately so people can mix and matcg as they choose. The big silver tray was badly tarnished but cleaned up nicely.

Lots of shiny chrome appliances!

Changed up the display on this table to include silverplate, and some candleholders. Sometimes just moving things around helps them sell.

Looking into one of our booths.

Again, changed up the items on display. Next trip we'll be doing some major changes to this area, moving the Hoosier, etc. to give this booth a fresh look.

I love this Hoosier. It has a fantastic capacity, can hold all kinds of stuff.

Peeking inside the Hoosier--nifty cup rack, isn't it? There are two of them. Quite a few Swanky Swigs have gathered in this booth, so I got them all together.

Afghans, quilts and books on this tall shelf because the floor is shaky in this area and it's not a safe place for glass. It's not unsafe, just, you know...old.

This corner cabinet isn't nearly as wide as the photo makes it look!

I gathered up barware for display on the porcelain-topped table.

The old phonograph is still here. I set it up so people could see inside.--and put a 25% off sticker on it.

That's bit of what we did, anyway. I packed up quite a few things to be stored or gotten rid of--sometimes that has to happen too, if something's just not moving and taking up a lot of shelf space. So today I have some sorting and packing to do as we unload the van. It's a stuff in, stuff out business for sure.

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

More Marietta Booth Updates

I took a lot of pictures at Marietta--it's been a while since I've done that, usually just grabbing a few as we left. So here's the second installment. Marietta is actually 5 spaces, scattered around the same general area so we have a lot of stuff there.

I don't have a great deal of Christmas items in my booths, and what I've had at Marietta has sold pretty quickly. This little candle tree is by Avon, but cute as can be.

Wexford crystal is a steady seller--not fast, but steady. It's a great go-to for parties because it's plentifyl and if one breaks it's not a great loss. It's also quite sturdy, making it doubly attractive for parties. And at the prices it brings, it's not much more expensive than plastic.

I've been bringing in blue jars as I get them washed up. We found two totes full of them in the cellar when we cleaned it up last month. I've also been bringing in half-gallon jars because we just don't need that size these days with just two of us here.

A little Fiesta, anyone? I don't carry a great deal of it, but it's very popular with buyers. These pitchers might be due for a price reduction as I've had them for a while.

What Blenko I have in the booth is on the bottom shelf in the above photo. A few candleholders, a Blenko plaque, an ashtray--I tend to keep Blenko for my own collection 😉

Below, a shelf full of various collectible glass.

A Fenton lamp, "married" pitcher and bowl set, a pink milk glass vase, two wall pockets, and a lot of et cetera--which is really the lifeblood of a booth.

 Mugs, measuring cups, Jumbo peanut butter jars, polka dot bowls and more.

I added a lot of tumblers to these shelves--some Boscul, some Kentucky Derby mint julep glasses, some tulip juice glasses, and others.

Mixing bowls, which I hope find a home during the holiday baking season.

I kept this checkerboard table for a while, but finally decided to sell it. It's handmade, around 1930-1940 and probably chestnut as gthe ma who made it seemed to use a good bit of that wood in his work.

Pretty glass--I can't resist it! The green and yellow bowls have matching ladles, proably for mayonnaise. People made their own mayo and served it in pretty dishes like this. Nice!

Cranberry etched shade lamps that Larry rewired, along with more pretty glass. What can I say, I'm an addict!

Another recent addition is the wall-mounted coffee grinder. This was an eBay find--needed the lid and the catch cup which I also found on eBay, to make it complete.

 More bowls! And all sizes. My own cabinets are full of bowls too--apparently another addiction.

Tea cups were a good seller, but have been slow lately, Maybe they'll pick up again in spring, for tea parties.

 Uniforms are regular sellers too, so we pick them up whenever we find them. Even newer ones will sell, probably for hunters?

And the shelf of amberina! I do love amberina glass, and have a good bit at my house (all Blenko, which is called tangerine by that company). These are West Virginia glass makers Kanawha and Fenton, along with some Mosser and Moon & Star glass by L.E. Smith.

Well that's the tour for today! The booths are full to bursting, and I hope sales are good during the holiday season. Things tend to slow down in January and February, so we look for a good December to carry us through. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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

Auction Time

It's been a long time since we attended an auction, but this weekend we decided it was time to get back into the bidding.

We started the weekend with a quick trip to a flea market that happens only once a month, one we've never managed to get to because it seems like every weekend that it's open, we've been busy. Only a few vendors were set up but I found some great deals on vintage glass.

Probably the most intriguing finds were these two paperweights. They are clearly tagged with old Blenko labels but I'd never seen any like them attributed to Blenko. I posted a photo of them to a Blenko group online, and those serious collectors had never seen any like them either--a nice score. I was also happy to find the MacBeth-Evans Monax cups and plates. And of course, I had to get the little coal carved owl.

Lots of great things for the booth, and a few to keep, like the old pitcher in front which will be added to my collection of Early American Pattern Glass pitchers.

The Friday night auction was at a place new to us, a nice drive out in the country. We took a route that took us across our county's only covered bridge, just because, you know, it's so cool to drive across it. When I was a substitute mail carrier, one of the routes I did included this road and I often stopped to eat my lunch beside the bridge, and walked across it, watching the water flow beneath and thinking about all the people, wagons, horses and so on that had been across those boards.

I saw a good reason to be at this auction on AuctionZip: amberina glass! Also known as tangerine if made by Blenko, this is probably my favorite color, and the online photos of items in the auction included some that just about stopped my heart. And I came home with most of it.

These, I think, are the most likely Blenko items with the exception of the. Don't you love the way this glass looks like fire in the light? I have identified two for sure as Blenko, but am still working on the others.

Both auctions yielded goodness:

A lovely old oak secretary that needs a little love to make it shine,

four split bottom chairs,

two old Eastlake style chairs that will be off to the upholsterers soon,

 A lovely little oak chest that needs only a couple knobs replaced,

an old treadle machine that will become a table, and the drawers sold separately,

a neat old vintage bike in almost pristine condition and a newer model box stove,

an oak Mission-style shelf that needs some cleaning to bring it back to life,

and all kinds of other amazing things. The tea cart in the photo below was a find from my trip to Buffalo, NY, and the coat tree and the tall lamp were purchases from a thrift shop but the rest was all from the auctions--

 like these McCoy planters, old crock, the cider jug and the chick feeder,

and these two awesome oak kitchen clocks complete with their keys and pendulums. There were also three Griswold skillets and lots of other assorted goodies--two Amish buggy lights, cast iron stirrups, etc.

Here's the base of the lamp. It's actually a jade green slag glass, darker than the photo appears. Larry put a new plug on it today and it works great.

Don't you love the stopper in this jug? These two crocks were also from one of the auctions.

It was fun to get back into bidding again. We got lots of nice things for our booths and even a few things to keep for our home, and we saw friends, met interesting people and had a great time.

Today I am back into the painting projects, and it feels good to be back to that work too. I'll post pics of the two pieces I'm working on now as soon as I get them done. Meantime, we're loading the van for some booth restocking later this week.

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