What a weekend. First off, Saturday my dad and I attended the summer Palmer-Wirf antique show at the Expo center.  As always, there was so much to look at!  And at the summer show, the upper parking lot is also filled with wonderful vintage delights and we walked away with some swag…here are the highlights:

I got four wonderful vintage patters, a dollar each! I can’t wait until I get the hang of the sewing machine so I can make these swell lookin’ dresses. I also bought some fur earrings…may have to save these for winter.  I also picked up this fun circus-esque skirt.  But hands down the best find of the day was this 1940s cast iron funeral sign.  The dealer we purchased it from said he bought it from a defunct funeral parlor in Kentucky that was selling its goods. What I wouldn’t have done to have been there!

Then on Sunday it was off to the races!  For at least the past ten years, my dad and I have been attending the Baxter Historic Races out at Portland International Raceway, heck we were going when it was put on by Zupan’s!  It’s loads of fun for a great price.  You get to see an amazing amount of old cars and you get to see them out on a track doing what they were meant to do.

I just adore Mini Coopers, and it was wonderful to see a Mini win a race!  I also got a kick out of watching the other Mini on three wheels, as seen in the picture.  You can tell these drivers really love what they do and love these cars.  My dad and I will be back at PIR Sunday, the 18th for the NASCAR event.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Well, these past couple of days have been filled with scorching temperatures for us Oregonians.  It’s currently 93F outside, and we’re suppose continue with 80s.  75 is hot for us!  So, needless to say, am I super thankful to be living in an apartment with air conditioning and a pool! The apartment Patrick and I lived in the past two years did not have air conditioning, nor did the dorms, so we’re thrilled to be able to relax in frozen comfort.  The pool has proved to be quite popular, though it hasn’t resulted in much tenant bonding as I would expect.  Quite an odd array of characters live here…lots of older people, while also quite a few 20-somethings and a handful of families.

Currently, it’s antique fever here in Portland.  Check out this list of events!

Mid-Century Modern League’s Purge-O-Rama yard sale
Saturday Only
10:00 to 5:00
10333 NE Russel Ct.

Antique Alley (where I have my space) Flea Market
Sunday Only
11:00 to 3:00
2000 NE 42nd Ave.

Palmer-Wirf’s Summer Antique Expo
Saturday: 9:00 to 6:00
Sunday: 10:00 to 5:00
Admission: $7.00
Parking: $6.00-$7.00 at Expo, $5.00 at Portland Meadows, or MAX Yellow Line
Portland’s Expo buildings are located off I-5 exit 306B.

Then in addition to all of this is the Portland Historic Races at Portland International Raceway, right next to the Expo buildings.  This event also runs all weekend.  Please look at the website for details.  I highly recommend this event if you love old cars and racing.

As for myself, I will only be attending the Palmer-Wirf show and the Historics.  The racing event has been a tradition with my dad for the past ten years.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and HAPPY HUNTING!

Saturday my mom visited and she, my friend Angelina and I spent the day garage sale’ing.  Mostly in Coburg, which boasted its city wide garage sale.  We also hit up a few in the northern part of Eugene.  While each of us found an array of goodies, one of the highlights of the day was walking into a garage to find this on their wall:

I was in awe.  Here was a man who had actually pinned up (or rather decoupaged) pin-ups in his garage!!  However, there was also a bit of me that was a little sad.  I saw how they were discolored and just falling off of the wood wall, and within a few years, they would no longer exist.  At least they were loved and adored.

Sunday was the Eugene Picc-a-Dilly where I also found some great vintage swag.  I’m really going to miss the flea market, but I think I’ll find myself coming back more often than not to attend.  It seems I just can’t resist vintage shopping.  Plus it gives me opportunities to see my dad and brother.

As for the booty from both events…it is much more impressive than the conservativeness of Portlanding…

Going clockwise…this stellar oriental cocktail dress, which is a bit on the tight side I couldn’t resist because of its cut and color!  Not to mention it was only $20.00! Thankfully, it has some room to be let out!  Next up, the vintage swimsuit, which I’ve been dying to own one for awhile now, and have been hard pressed to part with $50 or more to own one…this one only cost me $25.00.  The score of the day was the poodle, which was mere ten cents!  And the compact next to it was only 25 cents!  Vintage barware is some of the most hilarious, and at times, utterly impractical stuff, but here we have something both great and practical…drink tags!  Each tag clips onto a glass and has the drinks contents and a number so partyers know which is theirs!  For $3.00 I couldn’t resist and can’t wait to use them for our next party!  Then I got these two glasses for 25 cents a piece, I just had to have them since they are just like the ones Don has in Mad Men!

Now it’s back to work…I have three papers due within the next couple of weeks, along with engagement and senior photos soon, and getting grad announcements!

Like always, I spent my Sunday at the Eugene Picc-a-Dilly.  And what a flea market it was!  I found loads of fabulous goodies (and at fabulous prices, I might add), and Patrick was shocked when I walked in the door with my hands full of paper sacks.

The thing I love about flea markets is the more you attend the bigger of a reputation you get.  I’ve been going since I can remember and over the years, even in just the last three years, I’ve developed great relationships with people, and the better the relationship, the better the deals.  So, when you have frequent flea market, like Eugene’s, which is pretty much every other weekend, go often, and build on those relationships, you’ll make good friends and great deals.  Also, they get to know what you’re into, and if they come across something, they become eager to show you it, and sell you it – they may even hold it back for you , knowing you’ll buy it, so no one else can get their hands on it.  It’s wonderful to hear the words, “For you, I’ll do…” and get a better price because they know you, and it’s an honest offer, instead of a fake “car salesman” deal.

And now, for the finds…

First off, this great late-1960s evening dress, sadly, washing has worn away any evidence of the brand, but at $6.00, it didn’t matter, especially since it was in pretty good condition.  These pillows had me super excited the moment I saw them, $20.00 for the pair was a little steep for a young college kid, but I had to have them, and I knew it wasn’t that much in the grand scheme.  This second dress really made my day. I loved everything about it!  I’m thinking I may have it be my rehearsal (and dinner) dress. The pattern is just so romantic (I know it’s hard to tell, but it’s a raised rose pattern) and the cut is just so 60s, and for $20.00, I couldn’t resist!  I also found this amazing TV antenna, which is also a prop in Mad Men! It’s in Joan’s apartment! And for $6.00, it’s a stellar convo piece.  As you may know, I’m a sucker for turquoise, diamond shapes, so these glasses had my name on ‘em! $9.00 for the set of six!  Then I found these pin-up, and despite her rather tragic condition, I couldn’t leave her, especially since she was a red head, and I had to part with $5.00 to take her home.

My fabulous day didn’t end when I got home from the flea market and work.  Around 7:30 my friends Angelina and Kali swung by to drop off a belated birthday present…the promotional 45 of That Thing You Do! Which I have been searching for for years!  I and I mean years, but could never part with the money to buy one off Ebay.  Needless to say I was ecstatic!

I’m thrilled to have had such a high this weekend prior to a week where I have to crack down and crank out three essays and a presentation.

First off, this is my 100th post!!  Woo!  Okay, with that said, I’m here to share the lovely items I picked up at the Picc-a-Dilly yesterday.

First off, this adorable woven straw and lucite handled purse.  I just fell head over heels for this purse when I saw it.  What made it even better, was that it was only $12.00. I couldn’t argue with that! Next up, this great ceramic poodle.  I love how it has earrings and such a snooty look on its face.  It has some condition issues, such as the ware on the bow and nose, but it was only $3.00.  And finally, a great Bakelite poker chip and card caddy.  I’ve been meaning to get one of these for awhile for poker nights, but they are always so gosh darn spendy, but for a mere dollar, I couldn’t pass it up.

Additionally, Wednesday is my birthday, twenty-two years old! Weekday birthdays are never cool, so I’m hosting my Mad Men-themed soiree this Saturday night.  So this week, I’m gearing up, purchasing all the necessary libations and treats.  Everyone is, of course, coming dressed up, and they’re be cocktails all around.  It’s gonna be swell!

This weekend brought the Eugene Roadster Show to the Lane County Fairgrounds.  With his newly founded club, the Jalopy Jockeys (the logo of which I designed and Pat refined in the computer), my brother entered his ‘28 Ford pick-up, a work in progress, and my dad entered his ‘29 Ford Model A, and of course other members of the club joined in on the fun.  It’s awesome to see so many beautiful cars in one place, but I must admit, I hate in-door car shows with respects to photography, since the lighting is often terrible.

We’re all making plans on going to Billetproof up in Washington this summer, should be good fun.

This weekend was also the flea market, where I picked up thirteen fantastic ’60s/’70s romance comics.  I love cheesy comics like this, since the make for great pop art.  With the right scanner and printer, comic book art can make for fantastic home decor akin to Lichtenstein.  I picked up these, which range in years from ‘63 to ‘78 for $10.00 for the lot.

Notorious at the flea market (though not always there) are the “Suitcase Guys” who are your A-typical estate buyers who show up with suitcases full of the most random stuff, everything from pinbacks to postcards to photographs to playbills.

This time they had loads of paper, and I spent over a half hour digging through their stuff and came out with some old Las Vegas postcards, a piece of sheet music from the Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly movie, Cover Girl, a ticketbook from Disneyland, and an old photo album full of 1940s wedding cards.  I bought the lot of stuff for $8.00.  Not yet sure what I’m going to do with the 30+ cards, may do some sort of craft thing with them for shower decor, but they were too cool and too cheap to pass up!

Last weekend antique collectors flocked to Portland’s Expo buildings for the spring Palmer-Wirf Antique Show to look at over 1000 booths hunting for that special thing.  Sometimes when I’m around my friends who don’t collect, I begin to feel alone, but at these shows, I am reminded that I’m very far from alone.  This year, I observed and met loads of interesting people.  I met a man who has been on a 12 year hunt to collect photographs which were done by his great grandfather, and when sitting down for lunch I sat next to a woman dressed in early 20-century attire eating nachos. “I love your dress,” I commented, “Did you make it?” She nodded yes, and began to tell me how her and her husband are historical re -enactors who portray Teddy Roosevelt and his wife.  Such interesting people and such wonderful things to buy! What could be better?

As for the finds, it was a day of really good deals…

Rose Hat with Veil

This little number I just adore.  With its small cap, faux rose and veil, it screams I Love Lucy.  Also, I’m half tempted to wear it for my wedding, or at least my going away hat.  There are some condition issues, like the rose is a little flattened, and there are some rips in the netting, but overall, not too bad.  There is not label.  Cost: $3.00

Marche Exclusive Hat

Another classic 50s hat, one that says “Wear me on Easter Sunday”.  Like the other one, this one has some rips in the netting, but nothing too horrifying.  There are some remnants of fake leaves in the netting, which leads me to believe this too had some flowers of some sort.  The label here reads “Marche Exclusive” with “Finlan” (yes, “Finlan” not Finland) on the side. And this hat was an even better deal, $1.00!  Especially since my research is digging up an average of about $40.00 for this brand.

Beresford Fur Hat

This certainly was a day for hats, and white ones at that.  This one I couldn’t resist, especially since it was just fun and reminded me of some of the hats that a few Elvgren girls wear.  The top part is bunny fur, and soft as ever to the touch, and the label reads “Beresford”, but I’ve had little luck trying to dig up any info on it.  Cost: $8.00

1955 Montgomery Ward Catalog

I just love old catalogs.  They are wonderful portals into the past.  And this one provides so much insight! Clothes, BBQs, cameras, furniture, shoes, appliances, it’s fabulous!  It’s also interesting to see the cost of things.  $7.98 for dresses!  While that may seem like very little, you have to remember what minimum wages was a heck of a lot less!  But the quality of things made then was a million times better that what comes out of department stores today. Cost: $5.00

Starburst Platter

As you know, I collect Franciscan Starburst. I usually don’t anticipate buying any at Expo because it tends to be very expensive.  Condition is a particular issue with dishes, and especially with Starburst, and often can drastically bring down the price, which is all the better for me! I got this platter for $25.00 due to three small chips on the side.

In case you missed out on this March show, mark your calendars for the July show on the 10th and 11th! It’s bigger and better too!

For the most part, every other weekend brings the Picc-a-Dilly flea market to the Lane County Fair Grounds.  This go around, I found two great pin-up items.

Elvgren Playing Cards

A classic staple in cheesecake – playing cards.  Often playing cards can be the most scandalous of pin-up area, bearing images of nude photographed women, instead of the cheeky illustrations. Sometimes the playing cards only have the pin-up on the back, and only one or two images, limiting the players enjoyment of the lovely ladies.  These however “bare” a different girl on each playing card and are illustrated by the famous Gil Elvgren, “one of the world’s greatest artists” according to the Joker card, which reads a mini-bio of Elvgren and his work.  This deck is from the early 1960s, most likely printed in 1962, since several of the illustrations were painted in 1961 (source: Gil Elvgren: All his glamorous American pin-ups, Martignette and Meisel).  Sadly the deck does not have its box, which would greatly increase the value, but all of the cards are present and accounted for.  I paid $10.00, which was actually a bit more than I wanted to pay.  Four decks with the box have sold on Ebay ranging from a selling price of $54.95 to $102.50. (I by no means deem Ebay a proper means of appraising items) There is a deck currently available for a buy it now price of $125.00, however the seller is misrepresenting the product, because she says they are “circa 1940s”.   I sent the seller an e-mail, informing her.  We’ll see what happens.

Chalk Wall Plaque

The 1950s and 60s brought an array of kitchy wall plaques for your bathroom.  Usually they were sea related like fish and mermaids, but a few were of the more scandalous nature, such as this bathing beauty.  Flat on one side, these plaques could easily hang on the wall and add a 3-dimensional effect to your decor.  First made of chalk, like this one, then later ceramic or resin, and finally plastic, often in the late 60s or early 70s, which is when they went out of vogue, although your may have a grandmother or aunt who still has a rainbow painted fish or two hanging in her bathroom just above the toilet.  I picked up this beauty for $18.  She’s not mint, due to some small chips on her legs, but still a fabulous hand painted dear to add to my collection.

This weekend brought the third and final of the Palmer-Wirf antique shows at Portland’s Expo Center.  This one is always a good one since it’s the last show before the holidays (ever since they got rid of the show at the Portland Convention Center), so dealers have great vintage Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas items.  I headed up to get there when doors opened at nine, and what a crowded show! Seriously, there’s a recession on? Those in the antique world don’t seem to notice…With over 1000 booths full of postcards, vintage clothing, oak bookcases, books, and other goodies, Expo is an orgy of things gone by. Quite literally at times, you’re often pressed up against others to peek into booths.  As for myself, I purchased 36 glass Christmas ornaments, all of them at a dollar a piece.  I need loads more since purchasing the six additional aluminum trees.  Speaking of those, there were at least nine at the show.  The cheapest was $32.00, and the most expensive one, $165.00.  I also bought three vintage skinny ties for Patrick and the following…

Vintage 1960s Grey Wool Dress

This dress sadly bears no tag, but I think it may be handmade based upon the cutting of the fabric as well as the stitching.  However, there are thread loops for a belt, which I find interesting for a handmade dress.  It has interesting pleats in the skirt portion and tapers up nicely in the strap area.  I love the simplistic lines of it, which make it elegant, but the fabric gives it a more casual feel.  I’m guessing it’s early 1960s based on the cut of the skirt.  It’s a fuller skirt, not as pencil like as seen in the later 60s pieces.

A bargain at $10.00 – I couldn’t pass it up.

Reissued Hamilton Electric Ventura

So here’s where all my money went…I spent $300.00 on this baby.  And, yes, it is gold plated.  Introduced in 1957, Hamilton Venturas were the first electric (battery powered, not wind-up) watch, as well as the first asymmetrical watch, plus, they were the premier watch to have.  I’ve had the desire to own one of these for sometime, and checked out Amazon where they cost around $650.00, and Ebay, where they can fetch the same price.  I chose a reissue because the old ones cost over a grand, additionally, they are a pain to maintain.  Only one guy is known to work on them.  The new ones are quartz movements, so they are more reliable and easier to fix.  It should be noted that some big names wear and wore this watch, including Twilight Zone host, Rod Serling, Elvis, and Brian Setzer, and Tommy Lee Jones wore one in the film Men in Black.

Now, some of you may ask, “How can you spend $300.00 on a watch!?” Well, I justify it by saying I spend so little on everything else…I mean hell, that top I’m wearing in the photo, I bought for five bucks! I buy a big chunk of my stuff at Goodwill, and I know what a good deal is, and even though $300.00 is a lot, it was a good deal for what it is.

Tomorrow, Eugene Picc-a-Dilly! Like I need to spend anymore money!

Today was the annual Coburg Antique Fair where dealers from all over Oregon come to the small town of Coburg to sell their vintage goods to those of us silly enough to buy ‘em.  I, of course, am one of them.   This show is always fun because of the atmosphere of Coburg, it has a nice small town feel.  The show itself is great because there are loads of dealers, fun people to interact with, good food (I recommend skipping the food vendors and popping into the local Dari Mart for their fried chicken) as well as live music.  Admission is free, and so is parking – well, if you don’t mind a walk.  Many residents and property owners take it upon themselves to charge for parking that is close by, usually $5.00.  Plus, many residents take this as an opportunity to hold garage sales, so you can hit those up after you walk through the show, as well as the many antique shops Coburg has to offer all year round!

This year was a fairly good year loot wise, and was fun, as always.  I found quite a few goodies which I purchased as well as wished I could purchase, such as an amazing lamp that was $175.00, as well as some amusing items, such as the Relax-Aciser as seen in the episode 1.11 of Mad Men:

That’s right, for a mere $35.00 you can own this “weight loss solution” which, in “Indian Summer” proved to be providing a rather different type of solution.

The woman selling the item provided a write up saying she didn’t know what would need to be relaxed in the regions which the diaper shaped belt covered, and did not understand its purpose, so obviously this woman did not see that episode.

The Finds

Studio Girl Stockings

This stocking box caught my eye immediately, because of its fantastic image! A photograph of a young woman trying to get a stocking away from her (stuffed) dog is a very iconic pin-up image.  The box is in fair condition, but the stockings were never worn! Paid: $4.00

Pin Wheel Pill Box Hat

This adorable little number reminded me a lot of the 1960s show The Prisoner, because of its pinwheel design.  There is no tag to really indicate the brand, just one which reads “ADJ. M.S.C.” – a close up is available on my Flickr account. Paid: $8.00

Sloat Wool Skirt

I used to hate pink, but now I find myself buying more and more of it.  I know it appears more orange in the picture, but trust me, it’s pink.  This skirt I am sure was never worn outside of the store, because it still bears what I believe to be the original store tags. Made entirely out of wool, the skirt is terribly itchy, and must be worn with a slip – like many other vintage skirts. The tag reads “100% Wool tailored by Sloat Sloat & Co. New York”. I found a few other skirts by Sloat on-line, ranging in price from $14.00-$24.00. Paid: $4.00