Yard Sale Trail Finds

The end of summer is approaching, and in my part of the world, that means its time for the Antique Yard Sale Trail, over 150 miles of treasure hunting along Michigan's beautiful eastern shoreline.

This year, we only had time to travel about 25 miles of the route, but that was enough to score some great finds.

First spotted was this toddler's rocking horse from the 1950s, done in a cheerful circus pony theme.

The back of the seat features a cute elephant illustration and the name of the manufacturer, The Delphos Bending Company of Delphos, Ohio. "What was the Delphos Bending Company?" we wondered, "and what exactly did they bend?" Well, originally it was called the Delphos Hoop Company, and they made barrel hoops, starting way back in 1900. In 1934, they added children's furniture and riding toys to their line, and this became their mainstay through the 1970s. The rocker above was called the "Teetertot Shoofly" and it was made in various styles for over 30 years. You can see a catalog picture of it here.

More vintage 1950s goodness was grabbed up at the next yard sale: this fantastic lucite box purse filled with starry glitter, made by Dorset Rex. I just bought this because I liked its kitsch quality and obvious vintage goodness, but it turns out lucite purse collecting is a huge hobby. Some purses sell in the hundreds of dollars, making this a giddy yard sale find. You can see lots more lucite bags and learn about their fascinating history here.

Sparkly!

As our trip was winding down, two different sales turned up a plethora of vending machines. I took home these two: a toy capsule machine still loaded with prizes (bonus treasures!) and an unusual candy bar dispenser. Needless to say, once these were loaded in the car it was time to head back home, as we had no more room and my travelling companion had endured all the shrieks of "Wait! Turn around! You just went past a good sale!" that he could take. Still, he did a great job of hauling these things, so I can't complain.

The leaves are already starting to turn their autumn colors here, so the yard sales are pretty much over until next spring. In the meantime, you can see reports of past Yard Sale Trails here and here and here. If it's still Yard Sale Season where you are: happy hunting!

Yard Sale Find: Antique Sulphide Marble

My oldest toy find on this summer's Yard Sale Trail was this antique sulphide marble, a bit over 2 inches in diameter, made in Germany between the 1900s and 1930s. Old sulphide marbles are expensive today, typically priced in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars on the antique store and auction markets. This one's yard sale price? Just $15!

They're also fragile, consisting of a tiny bisque figurine enclosed in a hand-blown glass marble. The seller had this one displayed resting on the open top of a porcelain vase that was sitting on a hanging wall shelf! Gah! Fortunately I spotted and rescued it before the inevitable tragedy could unfold.

I'm not quite sure what the figure is: bear? badger? chupacabra?

The marble find marked the end of yard sale season here in the north country, where temperatures are already dropping, but I still have one outdoor antique show to report on, and the finds there were tremendous. Coming soon!

Yard Sale Find: Vintage Hasbro Inchworm

My favorite yard sale find of this summer was a vintage 1970s Hasbro Inchworm ride-on toy. I had one of these as a child, and it was one of my most loved toys. As the rider propels it along, the Inchworm bounces up and down on its accordion-style body...eventually producing the sort of damage seen in this example.

(Click here to watch the original Inchworm TV commercial: it's adorable, and you'll get to see the Inchworm in action.)

Their fragility makes vintage Inchworms scarce, and they are much sought after. I've seen them reach prices of $300+ on eBay during particularly desperate bidding wars. Glad I held out: this one was just $5 at a Yard Sale Trail flea market!

 How cute is he? Super-cute.

Speaking of cute things: here's a picture of me with my brand-new Inchworm, on a Christmas morning sometime in the 1970s. (I'm also holding a just-opened Viewmaster, effectively multi-tasking as I motor around the living room.)

Coming up tomorrow: my final, and oldest, yard sale toy find of the summer... 

Yard Sale Finds: Vintage Toys

This year's Yard Sale Trail, a 200+ mile route along the shoreline of eastern Michigan, turned up some nice finds (although nothing can really top last year's discovery of a vintage playground spring rider).


First find: a 1972 Come Home Snoopy! Colorforms set. I adore Colorforms, and Snoopy stuff is pretty cool too, but what really made this a great score was the fact that its original owner wrote her name and the date she received it inside the box lid. If only all old toys came with such provenance...

Janice Blackburn, I've got your Snoopy Colorforms! 

(Also, thank you for taking such good care of your toys.)

The next find was also a character toy: a 1962 Barney Rubble doll (of Flintstones fame) made by Knickerbocker. 11 1/2 inches tall, the odd doll retains its original clothes. I don't know why they made his hair green, but that is also original. A few sales down the road, I got this little 5 1/2 inch vintage plastic Fred Flintstone, and happily reunited the two best friends. 

Spotted from the road was this 22 inch vintage tin dollhouse still full of its original plastic furniture, made by Wolverine. It's the epitome of suburban living, circa the 1950s-60s.

Coming up tomorrow: a long-lost childhood toy found again on the Yard Sale Trail!

Mod Barbie Fashion Find

Mod-era Barbie clothes are just fantastic things, reflecting the daring, day-glo designs of their time (1967-1972). The individual outfits were given creative names by their designers, like "Maxi 'n Mini," "Knit Hit," and "Velvet Venture." They are also fragile things, made of glittery metallic and foiled fabric, velveteen, vinyl, and synthetic fur. These two factors combine to make mod-era Barbie fashions desirable, scarce, and costly. I've not been willing to pay the extortion-level prices usually asked for such pieces, and so my mod Barbies have sadly remained naked. Until now.

 While browsing some sales late last week, I stumbled upon a "bargain box" full of modern (1990s-2000s) Barbies. I was going to pass over them, as modern Barbies don't interest me much...but then I thought I better take a closer look at the box "just in case."

Well, it's a good thing I did: the contemporary Barbies were all clothed in original 1960s mod-era fashions, including some of the most highly sought Barbie clothes out there. Each doll was priced at $2.00, and at the bottom of the box was a plastic baggie filled with more mod pieces, the whole bag labelled $3.00. The score was about $250.00 worth of vintage Barbie clothes for $9.00!

 In the bag were the sleeveless minidresses "Knit Hit" & "Togetherness" (upper right), Francie's far-out and furry turquoise corduroy poncho (center), and 2 pieces from Sears' exclusive "Glamour Group" (bottom right), as well as a cool bowling bag and some vintage shoes.

The bag also included a couple of "mommy-made" pieces (top, left and right: stripey dress and yellow sweater/floral skirt ensemble).

After I recovered from my swoon, I rushed the Barbies home, where they were stripped and given to a friend who likes the new dolls. The vintage clothes were gleefully adopted by my mod Barbies, who model them below.

My blond Hair Fair Barbie sports the fabulous, and rarely found, "Maxi 'n Mini," a turquoise foiled maxi coat with a metallic striped mini dress. This outfit originally came with matching thigh-high boots, which were incredibly fragile and seldom survived. 

 

Check out that fab faux fur collar!

My blond TNT (Twist 'n Turn) Barbie models the coat from "Velvet Venture," a cool pale green plush with gold braid trim.

My brunette Hair Fair Barbie showcases one of the mod-era's day-glo outfits, which was named "Hurray for Leather" by Mattel designers who were apparently unaware of the naughty allusions this title could stir up amongst a certain group of sex fetishists. Unfortunate naming aside, this is one of the coolest of the mod fashions, consisting of a leather-look yellow vinyl miniskirt with day-glo orange shag trim that matches the sweater, completed with yellow "pilgrim" shoes.

She's ready for a night of go-go dancing...

My mod Barbies are thrilled with their extensive new (and cheap!) wardrobe.

To see lots more mod Barbie fashions, check out Carnaby Street at modcolors.com.

Michigan's Antique Yard Sale Trail Report: August 13, 14, & 15 2010

Last weekend, we followed the Antique Yard Sale Trail, an annual 200 mile secondhand shopping adventure along Michigan's Lake Huron, St. Clair River, and Lake St. Clair shoreline that stretches from Algonac in the south all the way around the tip of Michigan's "thumb" to Sebewaing in the north. Besides enjoying the beautiful scenery from the bluffs along the lakeshore, we saw lots and lots of amazing things for sale, including old gasoline pumps, vintage televisions, and a taxidermied alligator (the highlight of the sale, in my opinion.) And I found several treasures, of course (although I didn't buy the alligator.)

"Fumes," a taxidermied alligator smoking a pipe 

in a relaxing, and utterly unnatural position, was priced at $325.

Can't you just imagine all the decor possibilities?

 

A 1949 "Suitcase" Sentinel, the first portable television, 

was available for $199.

One table held a beautiful display of vintage hatboxes, shoes, and ladies' accessories, including this swanky faux leopard print head wrap and scarf. I was mightily tempted...

At the other end of the collecting spectrum, a dealer had a yard full of rusty treasures, including vintage sleds and this old Gulf gas pump:

If, for some reason, you needed a Greyhound bus sign, 

this dealer could hook you up:

And what did I buy? Something I've always wanted (who wouldn't?!): a vintage cast aluminum kiddie spring-rider animal from a playground. 

We mounted it on a piece of plywood cleverly embellished with fake grass for an authentic outdoor look. It now serves as an additional seating option in the living room.

Yard Sale Find: Star Wars Land of the Jawas

This past Saturday, I went yard saling and scored some great finds. One of the best was this hard-to-find vintage Star Wars playset, Land of the Jawas, from the first movie. No one I knew as a child had this set; I didn't even know it existed until I was a grown-up toy collector. It's a relatively scarce piece because half of it, the sandcrawler backdrop, is made of fragile cardboard.