what we bought…

As promised, and then re-promised, today I shall share with you what we bought at the Rose Bowl Flea Market on Sunday. See that Uncle Sam’s Register Bank above? My brothers, sister, and I all had banks just like that when we were kids, each a different color. I think mine was pink and I have no idea what happened to them. I’ve been searching for one for about a year. I’ve been on eBay and bid on them until they get up into the $40+ range, then I bail out. Come to think about it, I’m not sure why I keep bailing out of bids because eBay is there for you to buy items, so why would you get this close and then just forget it? Well, I should ask myself because this is what I keep doing.

I’d never seen the cute little leather-covered book banks before but fell in love as soon as I spotted them. One has the White House on it and the other has an Islam hat and is marked San Francisco, June 1922. I did a little research on these banks and found THIS uber-cool website that shows advertisements for these and a large variety of vintage and antique banks.

At the same booth where I found Uncle Sam’s bank, I found this vintage Stag Horn Handle Meat Carving Set with Sharpener. I especially like the little lever used to hold the fork up off the table and the intricate decorative metal embellishments.

Ah, now we come to one of my favorite finds and something that I’m constantly on the lookout for. Old French linens, specifically serviettes, or napkins. In French homes, often the hostess provides specific napkins for each family member or frequent guest. The diner is expected to use the same serviette at each meal. Sometimes specific napkin rings distinguish which napkin belongs to who. Or the guests will fold or tie their napkins in various shapes or knots to indicate ownership. Most often though, napkins are crosshatched or embroidered with numbers or the specific guest’s initials. And in the most formal homes, the serviettes are monogrammed. I picked up a few of each example at a wonderful and very busy booth with gorgeous linens, grain sacks, and pillows run by an adorable French couple.

At the same linen booth, there were these darling pillows adorned with pages from old fabric children’s books embellished with velvet cording around the edges. The pillows were pricey at over $100 each. Happily, they also had the original fabric books for sale. So I picked up one of those instead. There it is on the upper right, “Baby’s Object Book”, dated March 7, 1905. And below that is a sample of one of the sweet pages. I figure that someday I’ll have grandchildren. When that day comes, I’ll find myself a seamstress and have her make me up a bunch of pillows from this very book. Cute!

Here are my final few items: Two demi-johns, and one wicker wrapped. A pair of white vintage ice skates, to be used in next year’s Christmas decor. In the center are the military loaf pans I told you about a couple of days ago that we found in “the boys” booth – one is mine, the other is Sheila’s. And finally, two numbered garden stakes. The booth vendor said these were used in old French community gardens to mark each gardener’s plot. Oh yes, I absolutely love that! I imagine the French garden looked something like this:

That photo just makes me wish I would have picked up more than two of them!

Above are just a few of Sheila’s finds. The most amazing is the fantastic antique French baby crib on wheels. It folds down completely flat, then it can be pulled up into a crib or into a child’s bed by leaving one side folded down onto the spot where the mattress would lie. The french crib can be folded down to adjust the height. Sheila plans to use the crib as a bench at her Coronado cottage. So pretty! (oooh, and there’s my chair in the background!)

Also, the grain sack lamp shade and a set of 10 sterling ice tea spoons. She also found a wonderful set of vintage oars, a large iron cross with intricate iron roses, and the most lovely patina. Plus linens, a huge grain sack, and more. I didn’t get pictures of all her purchases before we left the cottage, darn it!

All that really matters is that we had an absolute ball on our adventure, we are ecstatic with our finds, and we can not wait to go back.