stereographs

love those stereograms, especially when they catch something as eerie & simple as this location:


The Diamond Pass, Ocklawaha River, Florida, U. S. A. (1870?-1910?)

or when it is just a ghost-image, and all the tape and markings turn it into an artifact:

View [?] at Niagara no. 69. (1854-[1865?])

and when symmetry is being eaten away:

State Lunatic Asylum, Trenton, N.J. ([ca. 1860])

cigarette cards

cigarette cards are the cool-kids version of baseball cards. cigarette manufacturers would insert these cards into their packs to keep 'em stiff and advertise brands.

as you know, i like themes. and diamonds. so here's a few in that vein:

"do you know why a diamond is cut?"

for will's cigarettes


diamond babes, the second being the sangy diamond


diamond sparrow

also these fantastic "lucky charm" (not the cereal!) cigarette cards:


inscribed amulet from will's cigarettes


the abracadabra


the hand


gnostic talisman

holidays

Do you have a favorite holiday? Why not collect items relating to it, so people can know you as that "creepy christmas lady" or that "creepy st. patrick's day man". bonus points if it is a holiday that no one really celebrates, or if the collection is very specific.

i myself enjoy easter eggs with scenes inside of them -- diorama eggs, like:


handmade ones, like this wedding scene,


or this handmade elephant on a toilet inside a real egg


and this vintage bone china squirrel in an egg:


i also deeply enjoy anything that has a face, such as this vintage celluloid baby rattle:


then there's this antique paper mache easter rabbit pulling a car:


funny vintage knickerbocker plastic easter bunny lady:


dapper celluloid easter chick roly poly toy:


egg hunt!

vintage planters, part one.

i love these things. i have a snail-shaped one i put in my bathroom -- it guards my toothbrush & toothpaste. i appreciate/recoil at these "baby" themed ones. it would make an admirable collection, particularly if they were filled with every manner of cactus available.

it troubles me that she has the face of a 40 year old.



















i don't know what this baby did, but i don't like whatever it was.




















i like this "infant of prague" sort-of look. also the weird little eyes & single curl.

do you believe in the signs of the zodiac?

i like giving my friends unique presents for chistmas & their birthdays. well, for any reason. astrology-themed presents are always personal (you know my sign!).










like this fine footed gemini mug, that i wish someone would give to me. it's so creepy (little girl? twins) & art nouveau. part of the "smug mugs" zodiac collection by elena.

thimble holders

thimbles are great (wait, does anyone actually use thimbles anymore?), but what if they get lost? what you need is a thimble holder, of course.

this unmarked porcelain cat thimble holder would do the trick. of course, if i saw it at the thrift store, i'd have 0 inkling as to its purpose. the "holder" part looks like the sport top on plastic water bottles.

also this psychedelic (so i say) lighthouse/mushroom combo. still not sure if it really is a thimble holder.

but my favorite, without question, are the handmade "wishbone" thimble holders. see how there's an actual wish bone in that fancy lace? these can be hung on your wall, so if you need a thimble, there it is.

the dionne quintuplets

'quintland' - a vintage postcard

the dionne quintuplets (born May 28, 1934) were the first quintuplets known to survive their infancy. the sisters were born two months premature, just outside callander, ontario, canada near the village of corbeil. after four months with their family, they were made wards of the king for the next nine years under the dionne quintuplets' guardianship act, 1935. The government and those around them began to profit by making them a significant tourist attraction in ontario. by 1936, the quintuplets industry was in full swing, and "quintland" had equalled the niagara falls as the biggest tourist attraction in canada.

madame alexander dolls from 1938

vintage handkerchief

and other off-putting items, like this 1939 mortician's advertising calendar or this gem:

how do you feel about dionne quintuplets... soap?

and a few more tidbits about these identical quintuplets (in order of birth):

-Yvonne Edouilda Marie Dionne (died June 23, 2001 (aged 67) of cancer)

-Annette Lillianne Marie Dionne (Allard) (age 76)

-Cécile Marie Emilda Dionne (Langlois) (age 76)

-Émilie Marie Jeanne Dionne (died August 6, 1954 (aged 20) of accidental suffocation during an epileptic seizure at her convent)

-Marie Reine Alma Dionne (Houle) (died February 27, 1970 (aged 35) of an apparent blood clot of the brain in Montreal)

Emilie and Marie shared an embryonic sac (and were mirror twins), Annette and Yvonne shared an embryonic sac, and it is believed that Cecile shared an embryonic sac with the sixth fetus who was miscarried. Interestingly, each girl became emotionally the closest to whomever they shared a sac with; Cecile tended to be alone the most.

so: if you ever are at the thrift store & you see 5 look-alike dolls, or 5 look-alike spoons, or 5 look-alike soaps, or 5 look-alike....