I don't know what it is, but I want it.

Some of the most interesting things I have purchased over the years are the one that I had no idea of what they were until I got home and started doing some research. I think the first one I found was back in the spring of 2013. It was at a garage sale for $3.00 and the lady selling it wasn't even sure of what it was. She and I thought possibly a plant stand and we were correct. It was very dirty and partially apart when I found it but it was all there. We were on the scooter that day so had to disassemble it the rest of the way and put in the storage compartment under the seat to bring home. 

After some research I found that these small stands were made in Germany in the 1950s and 60s. I have looked at quite a few online since then (most seem to still be in Germany) and I don't think I have ever seen two that were exactly alike. This one has 3 levels measuring 27" to the top, the amoeba shaped base level is a gray Formica about 16" X 11" X 9-3/4" tall, the two shelves are a blue and red Formica rounded triangles about 5-3/4" X 5-1/2". Each level has a gold edge with a black stripe in the middle. It has wood legs with metal feet and a wood "C" bracket with gold plastic cord zigzagging between rings. The wood bracket is attached with a wing nut so it can be loosened and swiveled to whatever angle you wish. Whoever thought these up and made them had a great eye for design.

I have told many people at sales that if I have to ask what it is, I will probably buy it. Don used to question me with a "Do you really want that?" but now just goes along with it. Sometimes it's a good buy and sometimes not, but this sold just 2 days after I listed it for $175.00. Cha-ching! 

Glass Buyers Anonymous

I admit it. I need a 12 step program. Do they have one for someone that can't stop buying green glass?

It all started back in the late 1980s when we bought a new home (the one shown in my first post). It was a 2 family house that we converted to a 1 family a few years later. 12 rooms and we had the deeds back to 1854. It had lots of space to fill with knick-knacks and 2 fireplaces with mantles that looked gorgeous with vintage glassware on them.

At the time I was the secretary for our church and their sister church in the next town that we shared a minister with. Both churches had annual rummage sales. I clearly remember going to the Willowvale Methodist Church rummage sale with my mother and spotting a square dark green glass vase that I thought would look nice on the mantle in the living room. I bought a couple more pieces of green glass over the next year or so and when my family saw how much I liked them they started buying them for me. Plus, I was still buying green glass that had expanded to Anchor Hocking's Forest Green Charm - the square dishes.  I never buy duplicates but there are so many different pieces out there. After a few years the whole mantle was full of green glass. Then, we bought an oak curved glass front china cabinet. After that was full they spread to shelves hung on the walls, bottles up the staircase, set on tables, tops of furniture, etc. But the house was big enough to hold it all with room to spare.

The problem came when I moved to the smaller house. I still have the china cabinet full, plus more totes of green glass in the basement than I would like to admit. Sometimes when I am downstairs I will spy a tote and open it to find more green that I had forgotten about. I even have the original square vase and another just like that is taller. They sit on the table in front of our couch with remotes in one and pens, scissors, etc. in the other. 

This collection might not be a problem if I was able just enjoy what I have or even to part with some of them. I've tried to stop. But I fell off the wagon again today when I went to a local antique co-op that is closing and everything is on sale. I found myself coming home with yet another large green glass vase. I had never seen this one before so couldn't pass it up for a mere 75 cents. But, where am I going to put it?

Please - can someone help me?

Little Shop of Horrors Lamp

I don't know exactly how to describe this lamp but I keep coming back to the plant from the movie "The Little Shop of Horrors".  All I really know is that when I saw it at a garage sale I knew I had to have it. It was dirty, just sitting on the ground, but it was calling to me. The man selling it said it had always been in his aunt's house and now she was gone. It had been in storage for many years as evidenced by the dust and cobwebs. He had a place to plug it in to try it and it still worked. It is a 3-way where the right bulb lights first, then the left and finally both. 

It is gold, cream and green. Marked on the back Universal Statuary Co., Chicago 22 ILL © 1955. I believe it is solid chalkware or plaster and it is really heavy - 12 lbs. 10 oz. and stands 23" tall. The light shades are made of something that resembles heavy cardboard with lacing to hold them together.

I have found many lamp and statues made by Universal Statuary when trying to do more research on this, some just as bizarre as mine but I haven't been able to find another just the same. If you know of someone with more information about lamps made by this company than you can find on Wikipedia, I would love to hear from them. I know Don isn't as fond of it as I am but for now it is staying right in my living room where you can see it as soon as you come in the front door.  And it always makes me smile. 

Barton's Bonbonniere Candy Tins

I had never heard of Barton's Candy until I ran across 2 of their candy tins (empty) but still in their original boxes at a local estate sale. 

They were the most beautiful candy tins I had ever seen. So, I started researching the company. It was started in 1938 in New York City by Stephen Klein who had immigrated from Austria. The original name was Barton's Bonbonnieres. The company grew and gained popularity selling European style and Kosher candy and were considered the confectioner to go to for Passover candy. By 1952 they were opening their 50th store in Manhattan. This was a store that you would never forget if you saw it and a place to visit just to view the decor. I wish I could have seen it in person.

I've included some of the print from the boxes that show this is from when chocolates were made from ingredients that you could recognize. Not the ingredients that are used now that you can't even pronounce.

The Klein family sold it's shares in the company in 1978, the year Stephen Klein died at the age of 71. The candy line continued in production until 2009 when the owner at that time, Cherrydale Farms, officially ended the brand.

I sold these to a Ms. Klein from NYC. I never asked, but hope that she is a relative or descendant of Stephen Klein and they are back in the family where they belong.

A Valentine's Day Tradition

Don and I always give each other cards for Valentine's Day and we keep them all. We also usually write the year on each one. In 2017 I noticed the card he game me looked familiar. I had been looking at them all recently so I pulled out my stash of old cards again. He had given me the same exact card in 2011, 2014 and 2015. I didn't say anything at first but then decided we should have a laugh over his favorite card to buy. We looked them all over and decided it was a classic and a good sentiment. 

He then took it as sign that this should be a tradition. I now have 6 of them from 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and today for 2019. He always adds a nice note inside to commemorate the occasion. I told him he should go out and buy as many as he can find before they stop printing them. But since the company has been issuing the same card for 9 years they must be selling plenty of them - at least to Don. 

Color Changing Neodymium Glass

This set is one of my favorite finds. 

I didn't know what I had when I first found it. I thought it was just a very heavy, pretty purple glass pitcher and 5 matching delicate glasses with clear stems. They appeared to be hand blown with slight variations in the stem thickness, some small bubbles and the pitcher has an unusual shape with an applied handle. They were in a big box full of glassware I purchased. The lady I got them from said her grandfather worked on the docks in New York City in the 1940s and mostly unloaded ships from Sweden and the Netherlands, and he brought some sets home for his wife. Many of the other glasses in the box had labels from Sweden. I tried to research them but couldn't find any information so I decided to just take some pictures and list them for sale. I had taken the pictures with natural lighting and they turned out good enough. When I took them into the computer room I turned on the fluorescent desk lamp and couldn't believe my eyes. They turned blue.

I yelled for my husband to come see and then immediately started researching color changing glass. I found references to several different names - Tiffin Twilight, Heisey Alexandrite, Cambridge Heatherbloom and Fostoria Wisteria - but none of the patterns matched. The best information I found on this type of glass was from Wikipedia which read - "The sharp absorption bands of neodymium cause the glass color to change under different lighting conditions, being reddish-purple under daylight or yellow incandescent light, but blue under white fluorescent lighting, or greenish under trichromatic lighting. This color-change phenomenon is highly prized by collectors."  I still don't have any more information about, but I do know that I love it.

Libbey Cocktails for Four - Silver Band Cocktail Set

I have owned quite a few glasses, pitchers and cocktail sets in clear glass with a silver band on the top rim or slightly below the rim. I have only had one so far in the original box so I was absolutely sure of the maker. 

I have seen sets listed as Libbey, Dorothy Thorpe, Dorothy Thorpe style, Princess House and just silver or platinum band. This set I then found in the 1965 Libbey's Premier Catalog Supplement. When I looked through the catalogs this is the first year I found them but they were made for quite a few years later. So, then besides the maker I also had the full description and approximate age.

The bands are platinum and it was originally this 6 piece set - pitcher, 4 Tempo cocktails, and a metal stir spoon. The prices sellers ask vary greatly. When I just looked on Etsy the same set has sellers asking from $29.50 all the way up to $150.00. I sold my set a couple of years ago for $32.00 - I guess I'm one of the lower priced sellers.