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....

collectible.... spoons?

no, these are not the sort of thing you put in your mouth, though they are shaped like it! i've always been curious about decorative items -- like porcelain thimbles -- serving no function except as decoration. i suppose if you were in a pinch you could use these spoons to stir your coffee.

the first souvenir spoons in the u.s. were made in 1890 by galt & bros. inc. of washington dc, featuring the profile of george washington. one year later, a souvenir Salem witch spoon was made, and sold seven thousand copies. it was created by daniel low, a jeweler in salem, massachusetts, after he saw souvenir spoons on vacation in germany. the witch spoon is given credit for starting the souvenir spoon hobby in the u.s.


i always see much more banal versions at truck stops, miniature things with a ceramic handle proclaiming a location:


check out this quality collection (i love that the container matches the 'contained', as it were):


my favourite of all spoons, though, is this one, made to commemorate the birth of the dionne quintuplets.


how great are those? they totally inspire me to write another post on the amazing world of "dionne quintuplet" merchandise.

girl scouts obsession

i was a brownie & a girl scout for two years, and the best part of all of it was the amazing gear.

you'd receive these epic patches to sew onto your vest/sash, like this vintage merit badge, for outdoor cooking:


or this cute collection of them:


i'm also obsessed with the vintage uniforms from days of yore. check out the amazing shape of the dress & the little accessories that make this so fantastic:


and the vintage accessories & camping items are epic as well, including this vintage girl scout first aid kit:


vintage girl scout kutmaster folding pocking knife:


1950's celluloid pin of a brownie holding a kitten:



vintage brownie handkerchief & vintage girl scout handkerchief:



vintage collapsible folding cup:



vintage girl scout camera:


or even some ephemera, like this vintage girl scout postcard depicting a "camping disaster!":