Ok, so if you've been reading my blog since the beginning or even for only a few months you would know that my heart (figuratively) and my home (literally) are filled with vintage dolls, holiday collectibles, treasures, pastel colors, bits of foil, old tags, signs and letters from old advertisements and industries and the things our parents and grandparents would remember from their childhood. Discovered in the wood planked aisles of the old Five & Dime. The pretty dolls temptingly propped up in the window...the Easter Baskets and candy containers...The magical displays changing with each approaching holiday seasons. And candy for every single season...foiled wrapped...billows of tulle and colored cellophane...the promise of chocolate wonderment inside.
And these ephemeral treasures were never meant to last past the morning of the big day...their wrappers were to be torn and tossed...candies eaten.
Yet somehow a tiny fraction of these remain today. Apparently their recipients valued them as much more than mere wrapping or vessels for candy and treats. Maybe they were kept on a shelf as decor in bedrooms for a while, and later they were tucked away, stored in an attic or closet...to one day be acquired by a new admirer of old beauty. An admirer who's more than familiar with ebay and flea markets and junk shops.
Well, I am that admirer...I'm that girl...and I know you may be that girl...or boy.
Our homes are waiting for these objects to find their place among their kind on our shelves. We dust them off, hot glue their eyes or hair back in place, and invite them to the party here for as long as they want. Where dolls and bunnies and plastic ballerinas, doll heads, foil eggs, cardboard Christmas houses, tiny toy pianos, all get to reprise their starring roles for an adoring audience.
Which all leads me to my latest treasured find! She was a rare purchase...not just because she's rare but because I rarely spend a dime! Given the past 5 months or so with all the home repairs and just that awful insecure feeling Sandy has given us all, we've been pinching pennies.
But while browsing ebay last week I stopped in my tracks...eyes wide, mouth open...and that familiar flutter in my chest as I read the description. I had never in my life seen something like this! And I must tell you...not only have I been a vintage collector and ebay stalker for 18+ yrs... but Aaron and I also had an antique booth in one of the most incredible buildings in a town FULL of amazing antique shops. On a daily basis we saw anything and everything you could imagine.
The ebay seller had found it at an estate sale. She did some research into it and found that this basket, made by the Shreveport Association for the Blind, was most likely made for a fundraiser in the early 1950's. One thing the seller couldn't believe...and that I couldn't believe either...is that it was never opened! The aged and yellowed cellophane remains completely intact. Not even a little hole from a tiny inquisitive finger craving a bit of foil wrapped Easter chocolate. And not only is it amazing that it's unopened...the colors are still vibrant! So she was kept out of the light of day for sure.
Jeez, can you tell how excited I am about her?! I'm sure she'll acquire a pet name soon, just like all the rest of my fave collectibles. Right now she's hanging out on our work table in the work-in-progress studio. I'll let you know when she finds her perfect spot...and also when the studio is complete...or close enough...I'm sure the studio will never be complete...the whole idea of a studio space is that it's always in flux, right?
Ok, thanks for stopping by...I hope your day is fabulous!
xo, Jenny
