TRUE ANTIQUES

Thanks so much to housewarming101 for featuring my antique book, Practical Arithmetic, in a wonderful Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to stop by housewarming101's Etsy shop...it's full of wonderful antique and vintage items...just click the link above.

Keep on Truckin'

Thanks so much to bronnie17 for featuring my antique Wyandotte truck in her wonderful Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to visit bronnie17's Etsy shop full of beautiful antique and vintage items...just click on the link above.

Open the toy chest...look inside, what will you find? WLV Team

Thanks so much to tassie1 for featuring my Wyandotte truck and Mexican balero in a wonderfully nostalgic We Love Vintage Team Etsy Treasury:

sudden insight

Thanks so much to MagpiesShop for featuring my golden eggs in their gorgeous Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to visit MagpiesShop by clicking the link above...it's a beautiful shop full of handmade jewelry and vintage items!

Pour Some Sugar (and Cream) for the WLV TEAM

Thanks so much to DeidresRedos for featuring my milk glass sugar shaker in a wonderful We Love Vintage Team Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to check out DeidresRedos wonderful Etsy vintage shop by clicking on the link below the treasury above.

please stop at my house for a cup of tea

Thanks so much to magpiesshop for featuring my Franciscan Pottery cup and saucer in yet another wonderful Etsy treasury:



And please make sure to visit magpiesshop at Etsy...they have a marvelous collection of all sorts of vintage items...jewelry, clothes, amber, accessories and incredible handmade jewelry...all so beautifully displayed. I guarantee you'll love it!

2 Cool 4 Cream

Thanks so much to bellusvanitas for featuring my antique crochet ram panel in a wonderful Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to visit bellusvanitas' shop on Etsy...just click on the link under this treasury.

He's Crazy in Love

Thanks so much to Etsy member 9018l for featuring my Franciscan Pottery cup and saucer in a beautifully romantic Etsy treasury:

Bakelite in color

Thanks so much to MattiesMenagerie for featuring my little Scottie Dog pencil sharpener in her wonderful Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to stop by MattiesMenagerie shop on Etsy...just click on the link under the treasury above.

"Reading maketh a full man..."

Thanks so much to ProsperosBookshelf for featuring my American Boy Scouts book in their wonderful Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to drop by ProsperosBookshelf at Etsy by clicking the link right under the treasury above.

Peace in Pieces

Thanks so much to PatchHappyPauper for featuring my OPA Red Point Ration Tokens in a wonderful Etsy Treasury:



Please make sure to check out PatchHappyPaupers marvelous vintage shop by clicking on the link below the treasury above.

I Should Be Writing

Thanks so much to Revvie1 for featuring my Waterman's pen advertisement in her wonderful Etsy treasury featuring We Love Vintage Team shop items:



Please make sure to visit Revvie1's marvelous vintage Etsy shop by clicking on the link under the treasury.

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Thanks so much to Knme for featuring my Spiral Ribbed Cruet in a beautifully creative Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to visit her wonderful Etsy shop; just click on "Knme" right below this treasury.

buried bones

Thanks so much to AthertonsVintage for featuring my Vanity Collection is a hauntingly beautiful Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to visit AthertonsVintage wonderful Etsy shop featuring hand picked clothing and accessories from the 1940's, 1950's, 1960's and more!

(&)&(&)&(&)

Knme was kind enough to feature my Pig Crochet panel in a wonderful Etsy treasury list:



Please make sure to visit Knme's wonderful Etsy shop full of fantastic non-slip handmade scarves, clay pendants and more. Just click on "Knme" right below the treasury list above.

mysterious

Boutiqueseragun was kind enough to feature my 1868 American Bible Society bible in her mysterious and beautiful Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to visit her beautiful Etsy shop...just click on "boutiqueseragun" right underneath the treasury list above.

For Nan-

Thanks so much to laurenparadise for featuring art work from my 1905 Sandy book in her Etsy treasury:



Please visit her shop at: http://www.etsy.com/people/laurenparadise

Notes For Success

BeeJayKay was kind enough to feature my Lionel Chevy Corvette Stingray slot car in her wonderful new Etsy treasury:



Please make sure to check out BeeJayKay's wonderful Etsy shop full of vintage, retro, antique and primitive items at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeeJayKay?ref=ss_items

Back in Black

Thanks so much to ThreeChicksVIntage for including my rhythm bones in their stylish Etsy treasury:

The dance of chance

Calloohcallay was kind enough to feature my Chein tin horse in her new Etsy treasury

Rounds and Browns

Thanks so much to GreatMaineWoodworker for featuring my Steampunk Goggles in their marvelously creative Etsy Treasury:

Out and About...An Afternoon at the Opera

Thanks so much to auntemilie for featuring my Cracker Jack Mystery Coin in her beautifully curated Etsy treasury:

Felt So Good

Earlier today I finished a treasury entitled "Felt Fabulous" with a fashion theme; however, I saw so many other fantastic items constructed of felt that I had to do a second treasury. Felt is truly amazing!

Felt Fabulous

I've discovered the beauty and versatility of felt...

monday

Thanks so much to Okapiknits for featuring my brass money clip in her wonderful Etsy treasury:

Cats at Work: A Labor Day Salute

My own dear white cat, Itzy, posed for my shop banner, and I see many other Etsy shop owners feature their cats as models or photo shoot accessories. I salute all you wonderful, beautiful, hardworking cats!

How much is that doggie in the window?

Thank you 10karri for featuring my little red Scottie dog pencil sharpener in your wonderful etsyvintageteam treasury:

Get your Universe organized for Autumn

Etsy shop DianesCloset was kind enough to feature my mother of pearl crescent moon shape buttons in a delightful treasury. This treasury is a vestiesteam team challenge treasury. See the treasury below as well as vintageetsysociety.blogspot.com/p/team-treasury-challenge.html

Thank you DianesCloset!

Faces of Fashion

I've admired many of the wonderful fashions that are featured in some Etsy shops. I noticed that some of the shop owners were also models for those fashions. I thought it would be interesting to try to put a treasury together of those shopkeepers/models...it was more work than I anticipated but I do like the finished result (although I am not 100% sure all of those featured are also shop owners!)

The Scarlet Letter

My OPA Red Point Ration Tokens have been featured in an Etsy Treasury wonderfully curated by PassedBy...Thank you PassedBy!

Pass the ketchup and mustard, please...

WiseApple, a wonderful Etsy shop owner, featured my red and yellow toy trains in a clever and wonderfully curated treasury today:

Research...Research...Research

I’ve sold antiques on the internet for well over a decade now and the most enjoyable part of the entire process for me is the research involved.  As you well know, you never attempt to sell something unless you know what it is and have a fairly good idea of its value.  Sometimes it’s a fairly simple matter identifying an item.  Sometimes, however, you spend hours…days…weeks searching, searching, searching.    And sometimes you never find an answer.  I’ve become a woman possessed at times, consumed with the search, only to come up empty.

And it usually starts with “Hey, what’s this thing?”  With the wealth of information available on the internet, how difficult can it be to identify something?  What is this weird shaped little mother of pearl thingy?  Who made these metal toy soldiers and why do they have red uniforms and white hats?  How old is this clothespin?  Where and when was this straight razor made?  What’s the history behind this play money?  What kind of seashells are these?  It goes on and on.  I’ve spent days looking through patent applications; weeks looking through silver patterns and an untold amount of time perusing articles from the 1800’s on Google books.  Often you think you found the answer, only to realize later that the answer you found was wrong.

So, one of the purposes of this blog is to ask questions and share answers about those unusual and hard to identify vintage and antique items.  Quite often I will publish a “What Is This?” post with description and pictures of an item, hoping that you, my readers, will have an answer!

Let’s give this a try and see how it works.

What Is This?



Does this look familiar to anyone? This little tin container has a wooden dowel, thread and needles within. It measures only a little over 2 inches long. It could be a military sewing kit or it could be Boy Scouts.

What Are These?

I have spent many hours searching the internet trying to find out what these unusual shaped mother of pearl items would be used for…with no luck.  I thought perhaps they were some sort of collar stay but I can find no evidence of that.  They measure just under an inch by approximately 3/4 of an inch.  Two of the five are similar, they other three are different.  Two lay perfectly flat and three have a slight arch.

Does anyone know what they are?  What would they be used for?

Who Made This Peggy Nappy?

It wasn’t too long ago when I had never even heard of “peg nappy”… then I started to do research on this piece and discovered it was, in fact, a peg nappy.  However, who manufactured it, when, is it Depression Glass and what pattern name (if any) has not been determined even though I have spent hours researching it.   Does anyone out there know?

What Kind of Shells Are These?

What type of seashells these are is a mystery to me. I thought their identification would be a relatively simple matter…until I started searching the internet. There are hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of different types of shells and none of them matched these. Maybe they’re not “sea” shells, maybe they’re “land” shells?  Maybe they’re some sort of operculum?

They are beautiful, of that I am certain. They measure approximately 1 inch long by 7/8ths of an inch wide, of course each one is slightly different. The interior has a soft lavender shade blending to white.

Please look at the photos and should you just happen to know what kind of shells these are, I’d love to hear from you.

What Is This?

A friend of mine showed me this bar of soap and told me it had belonged to his grandmother who was born in 1900 and must have treasured it for she carved her name on the back. It was never used and kept wrapped in the same brown paper for probably over 100 years.

Shouldn’t be too difficult to research, right? Wrong. I researched “Thomas Woroms”…nothing. I researched just “Woroms” and “Worom”…nothing (there aren’t too many Woroms in history). I researched “Thomas soap”…nothing. In researching “Nankin” I did find that it is an alternative spelling of a city in China. The word “Nankin” is associated with color…as “Nankin Yellow” or “Nankin Brown” but nothing related to soap.

I researched the central figure holding the banner or flag and could not find a match for it. The carved symbols do not seem to relate to any language.

I’m not even positive this is a bar of soap. It’s very light, which could be due to age. It does seem to have a light scent to it but that could be my imagination. I don’t want to rub water on it as it has been unused for at least a century or more.

Maybe this is a school project with the intent of teaching children the art of making soap, and to keep their interest included a stamp depicting a mystical figure and ficticious soap manufacturer. I just don’t know…

Does anyone have any clues?

What Pattern Is This?

This silver plate spoon is marked “WM. ROGERS & SON. AA” and you would think it would be fairly simple to identify this distinctive pattern, possibly from the Aesthetic Period.  However, this is one that has stumped me for quite a while now.  I’ve scoured websites searching for this pattern.  Three of my favorite search sites follow:

http://www.silverpattern.com/patterns_in_silverplate.htm, http://sterlingflatwarefashions.com/SPPatterns/WmRogers6.html, and http://www.antiquecupboard.com/Mfg.asp?Mfg=Rogers+%2F+International.

Does anyone know the name of this pattern?