More Vacation Vintage Finds!

Hello ladies, Im excited for this week’s Rednesday and Vintage Thingy Thursday, because I have a TON of cool groovy vintage finds to share with you.  You may be just about sick of looking at my vintage finds, but I just got so many recently I have to share them!  Almost done! :) Keep your eyes open for lots of Red!

Groovy vintage apron, now hanging on one of my walls (see the display here).

  

If you remember from my first post on my vacation finds, I was focusing during my “hunt” for pictures and other decorative items for my walls, which have gone largely ignored in the nearly two years since we have lived here (what with a hard pregnancy and the first year of having a baby, decorating went on the back burner :) ).  I found this picture and fell in love with it, even though it’s nothing fancy.  Look  how sweet this family looks. :)

Im not sure what you call these, but you’ve probably seen them around.  It’s one side of a wooden crate that has had an old advertisement plastered or modge-podged or something to it.  If you look closely, it says “Cosy Homes Make Happy Childhoods” and was an advertisement for the American Radiators company.  Isnt that the best?  I already had one of these but wasnt using it:

 

So I decided to make a nice display for the wall above our tv and bookshelf in the living room, and behold:

 

    

I think the three pieces compliment each other very well, and am happy with how this turned out (and notice my gorgeous RED walls, if you will! :) ).

       

Next up is one of the grooviest little antiques I’ve ever come across.  I new instantly when i saw it that i had to have it, and when the vendor saw that I  kept coming back to it she offered to knock the price down and i got this for 15 dollars, which I happen to think is a pretty awesome deal for such a neat old piece. 

    

If you can’t tell what it is, its a decorative box for the wall that has a pull-out drying rack for dish towels!  How CUTE is that?  and its still in good enough shape that the rack is sturdy enough for me to use it! 

My wall space is actually very limited in my kitchen, so I thought I’d hand it in my main floor bathroom, as it not only looks cute in there but its a place where I often go to hang up things to dry, and i’m already using it to dry Bird’s bibs: 

          

Isn’t it awesome???

And of course let’s NOT forget the awesome 1953 first edition Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook I picked up for a song… if you havent had a chance yet to feast your eyes on my post all about that gem, you can view it here.

      

 

Now this next find is actually pretty special.  I knew when I saw it hanging in the shop that it was old, but I wasn’t sure how old and I really just bought it because I liked the look of it.  Ladies, I got this beautiful framed floral print for FIVE dollars.  When I got home I started searching online and I’m just about certain that this is an old, numbered print of J.L. Prevost, a Parisian painter of the late 18th century.  From some of the other prints I’ve found online and some of the similar markings, it looks like this print was created by the Paris Etching Society in NYC circa the 30s and 40s.  I found a set of three of these prints going for 100 dollars on Ebay, so 5 dollars for one is a pretty good deal. :)

I turned it over and found this darling seal on the back from A.G. Cummings & Son, which was a book store and artistic framer from Oberlin, Ohio that was open in the later part of the 19th century until 1957.  The print was likely framed in the 30s or 40s after being purchased from the Paris etching society in New York.  It’s neat to trace the history of a piece and picture a lady on vacation in NYC sometimes in the 30s, finding this lovely print and bringing it back to Ohio to have it printed at her local bookshop.  For a history nerd like me, this is the best part of antique hunting.  :)

       

 

I also picked up two more floral prints, one framed and one not.  I picked up a frame for the print on the right at a local thrift store when I got back, and with these items and some of the other things I got on vacation, mixed with some other items I “shopped” from my house and already had, I made this display on the large wall in our living room:

       

I know its hard to see… Im not a good photographer for wide shots, but its a display with all floral pictures and then a print of Christina’s World that I bought years ago at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, and am just now getting around to framing and displaying.  I’m happy with the way this turned out, too. :)

And lastly, I got these sweet, cute little plaques with scenes of a mamma with her babes, to hang up with Bird’s room.  Again they were nothing fancy, but the sweet scenes of domestic life in them touched my heart, and for a DOLLAR a piece (they were on the stores clearance table), how could I go wrong?

    

Well, ladies, that sure was a lot of stuff.  I hope it wasnt too overwhelming!  Hope you enjoyed all the Red and the great vintage finds!  Be blessed and know I so look forward to seeing all of your posts over at Rednesday and Vintage Thingy Thursdays!

Happy Homemaking!