Forbidden Flamingo Love

     The day before I left for my vacation, I went to a local barn sale. It was mostly crafters, but there were a few booths that had the kind of vintage goods I hunt. One of those was JWL Vintage . It was one of my favorites and is ran by an "old" friend of mine who also loves old things.

JWL Vintage Booth at The Strawberry Patch Spring Market





 In another booth, I found these flamingos, and since my brain was already set for all things Florida, they needed to be mine.

 

 

     I just love the personality of Flamingos but what I don't love is everyone knowing I love them. I live in Tennessee. You can see a lot of birds here, wild turkeys, gorgeous black crows, our annoying "state" mockingbird, but not one flamingo. That is, unless you find yourself in the secluded nook of my backyard, jokingly named Margaritaville. 

 

     Visitors to the front of my house see trees and boxwood hedges marching in straight lines, along with formal urns and statuary, but in the back...well, let's just say it's the equivalent of the 80's mullet. Business in the front...party in the back! My tacky little secret.

 

     Sadly, I can't put these birds out. They're old and made of a heavy plaster that would never survive, but I do have a new set of plastic ones hidden among the hostas. These old guys are going to live out their golden years comfortably inside my house.

 

     They make me wonder though which came first, these or the infamous plastic ones designed by Don Featherstone and sold by Union Plastics starting in 1957. My suspicion is that these are slightly older but Mr. Featherstone credits a photo in National Geographic as the inspiration for his design. I think I have found a clue in this old postcard.

 

 

On the back, the owner of the apartment complex in the picture clearly marked out the old phone number with a 2 digit prefix and wrote in the new number with 3 digits. That change occurred in 1958.  Surely the photo was taken earlier, but maybe not. So I guess, this postcard isn't all that great of a clue after all... Either way these flamingos are fabulous!

 

 

 

And speaking of fabulous flamingos, meet Mingo #40 who lives at Sarasota Jungle Gardens. Mr. Curiosity's new "friend". 

 

 

Uh-oh!! 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suntan Lotion

     They say that smell is the sense most closely linked to memory.  I believe that. I doubt anyone could take a whiff of Coppertone “suntan lotion” and not instantly think of summer and the beach.  One of my recent collection obsessions has been searching for old containers of Coppertone.  With everything I collect, this is the one that gets me the “the look”, when I ask a dealer if they have one. 

     Despite what they might think, this isn’t the strangest thing to collect, believe me (I also have a fake rat collection).  I guess that since most people threw the bottles away and the fact that it’s still made today, is why it might seem odd.  To me, the smell of Coppertone is one of the smells most closely linked to happiness, and I love to surround myself with things that make me happy.  

     Truthfully, the vintage containers of Coppertone no longer smell like what I remember slathering on as a kid, but I credit the scent, and the memories associated with it, for the success of the brand for the last 71 years.

      It was originally invented by a pharmacist, in 1944, as a way to get a deeper tan. Over the years the packaging has changed and early containers feature a logo with a Native American Indian along with the slogan “Don’t be a paleface”.  In 1953, the Coppertone girl with her sidekick cocker spaniel and pale “cheeks” became their icons and the ones we all remember.  More recently, their slogan was “flash ‘em your Coppertone tan”, which is part of the ads I remember from my teen years of “laying out”, with then SPF 0.  Now…..SPF 1000!

      In honor of my upcoming trip to the beach, and summer itself, I thought I would share my collection. And if you close your eyes and think real hard, I bet you can still smell it…

 

 

These are some of the earlier cans and bottles. The first two cans show the change in advertising and the bottle of Shade shows that apparently someone cared about too much sun exposure.

 

 

 

The can of tanning butter spray in the middle is my personal favorite. I love the graphics on it. They are having so much fun! It would have totally made me buy a can if it hadn't been sold in 1973 (I was born that year and wasn't yet worried about a deep tan). The small bottle on the left is a sample given out by Eastern Airlines. The label on the other side has the Indian logo. 

 

 

.........Well, it will soon be time to hit the road. Here's to a great Summer!

 

It’s that time of year again…

     This part of the Earth has blessedly turned back toward the sun and we have thawed out from another cold winter.  It’s Spring!!  The signs are everywhere, birds chirping, flowers blooming, people overeager to purchase plants that they are going to have to cover and uncover, move inside and back outside... and back inside, repeatedly for approximately the next month or so. And I am one of them…  When it's cold outside, I try to get my fix of "gardening" by shopping for old garden items.

 

Here is a recent find of mine.

     I love the graphics on this old can of Plant Marvel. They remind me of a Superhero (yea, it's probably the Marvel part). It even has a little aluminum measuring spoon. I've decided to keep it on my kitchen counter and use it as a canister for my Miracle Gro. 

      Here are some things to look for when gathering old gardening items:

• Planters, Vases, & Urns
• Vintage Seed Packets & Displays
• Hand Tools
• Watering Cans
• Sprinklers & Sprayers
• Flower Frogs
• Cloches & Wardian Cases/Terrariums
• Old Fertilize & Spray Containers (Beware some still contain poison!)

 Gardening Books & Catalogs (many of which have beautiful and colorful covers)

  

      Until recently, I had no idea these things existed and when I bought the frog one from a dealer the other day, she didn't know what the heck it was either. These little guys are plant watering spikes. They work as the name implies, you pour water in them and they slowly release it into the soil through the unglazed spike. I love the flamingo!

 

 

 

And so it began...

 

The birth of my lifelong obsession with collecting things started with this place....

 

..." The Dime Store" or Ben Franklin Five-and-Dime, that wonderful place of my childhood. The bell ringing when you opened the door, the squeak of the hard wood floors, and the smell....an odd mix of candy, mothballs, and rubber toys. Admittedly, that last part might have just been me, because all I cared about were the toys. Which leads me to the first thing I ever "collected"....

Strawberry Shortcake miniatures! I blew my meager $2 weekly allowance on these wonderful little dolls with the (literally) unforgettable scents.

 

 

     Recently I found one, still on the card, at one of my favorite shops. It's Strawberry Shortcake herself with her broom saying, I keep my house "berry" clean. I love her for it because I aspire to that as well, but sadly, I fail most of the time. Clean? Perhaps. "Berry" Clean? No.

    The back of the card shows all of them to collect. For me, as a kid, the holy grail was Sour Grapes. My family traveled a lot and no matter in what store I looked, in any town, I just couldn't find her. Thank you ebay! Nope, not as exciting as running into the dime store to find her hanging among the toys, but a childhood dream came true nonetheless. Isn't that what collecting is about anyway? So what if it takes 30 years?

     This is why I'm so passionate about my store and other small online sellers. In many ways, we are just like the old locally-owned dime stores. I get great satisfaction from my own collections and also from finding treasures and sending them to their rightful owners. Helping them to find something when, no matter in what store they look, in any town,  they just can't find it.

     I am fortunate enough to live in a place that has more thrift stores than Starbucks, (which sometimes makes me sad because I LOVE salted-caramel frappuccinos), and many flea markets, antique malls, and junk shops. All of my life, I have been a lover of old things; their history and the stories they tell. I am a researcher by nature. When I discover an item, I must find out when it was made. What was going on in the world that contributed to its design or use? And how can I best use that item to evoke its sense of history and nostalgia? Or to simply look pretty in my home! 

     This blog is where I plan to share the items I find for myself, or for others, and information that I gather from my research pertaining to all things antique, vintage, retro, kitschy, or just plain old.

And the oddities part? Well, let's just say that one of my collections is rats. Fake ones of course! That is definitely a post for another time....