Sweet Salavage – May Sale

by Linda Hopkins

I bought a ton at the May Sweet Salvage sale. Wanna see it all?
Yes?
YAY, I’m excited and happy to show you!

Let’s begin with some of the more fragile finds.

There were two lovely Ironstone brown transfer-ware covered dishes. I couldn’t decide between them – so I got them both.

I researched the markings on the bottom of each and found that they are from the late 1800’s.

I further found a match to the second one for sale at an auction site online. Trust me, I paid nothing close to $150 for my two dishes!

The three little Ironstone hotel creamers are adorable. Two of them have markings, I haven’t had a chance to look them up yet.

The creamer on the left is from the New Southern Hotel in Jackson, Tennessee – you can read about the hotel’s storied history HERE. The center creamer came from the Hotel St. Charles in Winnipeg, built in 1913. The one on the right is from The Belmont. There are many Belmont Hotels all over the world, I have no idea which one this creamer is from.

I actually purchased two of these little gems at the April sale, but since I didn’t post about it, I thought I’d share them with you now.

I especially love the Ironstone brown transfer-ware butter pat dish. Sheila picked up four of five of these cuties too. The adorable flower thing is about as big as my thumb. That is the marking on the bottom of it. I think it’s half of a salt and pepper shaker pair.

The small square dish is from the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, a 5-star hotel in Paris, France that is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Looking at the little hotel dish every day, makes me long to be back in Paris!

The rectangular dish has the image of THIS on it.

Ready for more? This batch is mostly metal stuff.

First, you have to see the detail of this adorable bank.

No key, but who cares? It’s heavy for its size… they just don’t make stuff as sturdy as this anymore!

I just loved the shape and size of this little silver and wood server. Oh, the “H” monogrammed towel is from the sale too.

It may be obvious that these are asparagus tongs. You may think they are for serving asparagus. No! They are for eating one spear at a time. Fun!

Do you know what the big brass safety pin is for? I believe it’s a vintage laundry pin. The key is from the Palm Springs Spa Hotel (room 535) opened in 1963.

I’ve never been to Palm Springs, but now it looks like I have!

I love the stag horn-handled poultry shears, they are the perfect addition to my growing collection of stag horn utensils and kitchen tools.

There was something special about Sarah’s 1936 needlepoint sampler. I could not pass it up. It’s just too adorable!

Next up, some ephemera…

I have a weakness for flashcards, especially if they’re in French or have cute pictures.

I have big plans for the little enamel numbers. The vintage milk bottle tops are just cute… and I’m always on the lookout for vintage French books. This one was published in 1963 and has loads of illustrations.

These two pieces of ephemera are old. The top one is dated May 23, 1871! It is a freight receipt for Dr. Liston in Albany NY. It doesn’t state what the freight was but it was delivered by the United States Express Company at 1 PM that day.

Research showed that “The United States Express Company, which operated from 1854 to 1914, was a privately owned company that forwarded parcels and freight. The company served the northern states from New England west to Colorado.”

The second is a certificate from the United States Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Animal Industry and the State of New York. It certifies that George S. Alnatt’s herd of cattle was free of tuberculosis. It was first issued on September 22, 1923, and was renewed and re-stamped six more times, through 1931. Cool stuff!

Almost done! Three items to go…

I bought these two scales. The one on the left is huge and heavy and I have some buyer’s remorse over that one. The one on the right is small, delicate, and adorable!

It’s a vintage Bilateral Postal Scale, by Jakob Maul, Germany. The scale weighs from 0 to 60 grams on the lower dial and from 0 to 250 grams on the upper dial. I weighed a walnut on my Cuisinart digital scale and then placed it on this scale. It still is perfectly calibrated and it’s between 75 and 100 years old!

OK, finally the last item I bought. It’s in the photo above. Can you spot it? No? OK, I admit, it’s a little strange, but it’s that round thing sitting in the potted tree on the far right, center edge of the photo. What on earth is it?