I’ve been on the look out for some vintage wooden items to decorate our home. I love old advertising and I’ve found some great items. First up is this vintage crib board advertising Wills’ Golden Virginia tobacco. My grandmother worked for Wills’ before she got married so I thought this would be a nice link to her. This little polish brush is in great condition. I love that it is proudly stamped ‘British Made’. Do you remember when people had little boxes next to their phones so you could make a contribution for using the phone? They belong with rotary…
-
-
I have two completely different items to show off this week. The first item I’m very proud of. Can you guess what it is? I found it in a local charity shop for pennies. My husband hates it so won’t let me have it on display but I love it. I didn’t know what its’ purpose was until I saw one on Eastenders. Dot Cotton had one in her kitchen and it is a kitsch string dispenser! When I have the perfect 1950s kitchen I will have it on display. The second item I need your help with. I fell…
-
I thought I would share a secret treasure trove we found in our own house. Our lovely terrace house was built in 1912. The layout is completely original except for the loft conversion. We recently renovated the void under the stairs to give us some much needed storage. When the builder was pulling off the old tongue and groove wooden boards he uncovered a time capsule of ancient household items which had been boarded up and forgotten. The contents were seemingly quite random. The largest item was an old tin trunk but there were also picture frames, food tins and…
-
I’m a bit of a hoarder, probably not surprising that I decided to become a curator. It started off with rubbers, then My Little Pony stickers, vintage postcards, and since I’ve been a grown up, fabric. My hoarding instincts got so bad I had to limit the number of fabric shops I went to, only going in if I needed something specific. However there is one exception to the current moratorium on fabric buying and that is vintage embroidered napkins and tablecloths. I can’t bear to see something that has been stitched by hand being sold for 50p so I…
-
I’m a sucker for Royal memorabilia and have a growing collection of royal mugs. There always seems to be a plentiful supply in charity shops and now it’s a case of filling in the gaps in my collection. Unfortunately we don’t have anywhere to display them just yet so they’re boxed up until we move to a bigger place. I found this lovely commemorative ceramic mug, which is Burleigh Ware, made in Burslem, England. The mug was produced for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on the 2nd June 1953. The mug is common and the glaze is cracked so…
-
We’re currently on holiday so I have been lucky to have several new charity shops to browse. Last week we were in Teignmouth where I found this beauty: a vintage Tonka truck. I was strangely excited when I saw this as it wasn’t plastic but metal. There’s a little bit of rust but nothing that can’t be fixed and it’s perfect for Edward to play with in his new sandpit! It’s quite big so I couldn’t hide it in my handbag but fortunately my husband liked it so was happy to buy it. We’re currently on the Isle of Wight…
-
I scored some amazing bargains in the charity shops of Crouch End for Edward. A lovely wooden Noah’s Ark with all the figures for £4. It’s made by BigJigs and sells for £29.99 so I’m very pleased. A wooden shape sorter. Edward keeps taking the lid off so he’s not quite using it the way you’re meant to but it’s lovely watching him play with it. I bought it for £1. Finally we picked up some vintage Beatrix Potter books for our collection, 50p each. My husband may have *cough* slightly told me off for buying Edward more toys so…
-
This weeks’ bargain was purchased to complement my collection of vintage sewing supplies. This is a child’s sewing machine made by the Morthan Company of Dorset, England, 1957. Apparently in this year Vulcan registered a patent for it’s famous trio of TSMs: the Minor, the Junior and the free arm Senior, all in cast aluminium. Sadly it no longer has the box or instructions but is quite charming. Can you imagine learning how to sew on this tiny machine!?
-
I’m always on the look out for vintage and second hand toys for Edward. I really love wooden toys and would prefer him to have quality vintage items to the mountains of plastic toys and games that we actually have. I was really excited to come across this vintage wooden toy scales. It needed a little tlc but after a quick sand, varnish and lick of paint it looks as good as new. I haven’t been brave enough to let Edward play with it yet as I know the wooden weights will soon disappear!
