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!

Vintage Gumball Machine Charms & Toys

Ooooh, look what I just found: a huge bag of vintage gumball machine prizes, still in their capsules! I lost count at 90 something. Here are a few of my favorite pieces. They all date circa the 1960s - early 1970s, and measure a mere 1 inch tall or less.

First up is this great and rare movable charm: a tiny church that is hinged and opens to reveal itty bitty people inside:

The detail that went into this tiny item, which likely sold for a nickel, is amazing, and the survival of such a small and fragile item over so many years is even more remarkable.

Next, a fun piece: a charm that's a play on words, featuring a "hot dog" (dachshund) on a bun:

Keeping with the dog theme, the little Scotty below is actually from my own childhood. He originally had a charm loop on his back, but I remember I broke it off because I thought it looked strange. The grown up toy collector in me wishes I could go back and stop my 7 year old self before I did such damage, but at least I still have him. He and his cheesy companion are also movable prizes: the dog's tongue sticks out when you push his tail down, while a mouse slides out of the cheese when it is tipped forward.

A couple of long lost childhood favorites were spotted in these two capsules. The fuzzy yellow character (probably inspired by the '60s troll craze) has a safety pin glued to his back, so you could attach him wherever you liked. I remember wearing mine on a jean jacket.

The little pink blobby guy had been one of my treasured tiny toys: I can still vividly recall spotting him in the window of a grocery store vending machine, and feeding dimes into the slot until I finally got one. I kept and carried him around in a pocket for years, until he was, we believe, lost to the vacuum cleaner after being dropped. That was a tragic day indeed, but I was thrilled to find him again in this bag o' treasures.


The Smiling Pink Blobby Guy Returns!

Tiny frying pan charms were some of the most common gumball machine prizes in the '60s and '70s, but that doesn't diminish their appeal. There were two varieties: one had stickered food items and the other had molded versions. The difference is apparent in these egg pans:

The stickered varieties included the aforementioned eggs, along with bacon and fish.

On the theme of eggs, here is another movable charm. This one is a cracked egg, from which a tiny chick emerges:

Looking at the very small and easily broken parts of these toys, one is reminded of the toy safety campaigns of the late 1970s. These efforts resulted in the removal from the market of not only such items as these from vending machines and Cracker Jack boxes, but also the demise of the original Fisher Price Little People and Weebles.

This next batch of prizes reflects not only the difference between safety standards now and then, but also ideas of content appropriateness. I call these next items Gumball Prizes of the Crime Syndicate. They include a roulette wheel, a teeny tiny squirt gun, and a fully functional, 1 inch long folding knife with a metal blade (the point is blunted, but still, I think if you were determined enough, you could cause some damage with it.) They're everything the aspiring 7 year old criminal needed to start his own illegal gambling operation or enforcement racket.

This ends our tour of the giant bag 'o gumball machine prizes for now. Hope you enjoyed it!

Tiny Treasures: Vintage Gumball Machine Prizes

As a kid, I adored the gumball machines full of tiny toys in the entrance of the grocery store. I would save my change for weeks and then, like a casino slots addict, feed coin after coin after coin into my favored machine, never giving up my belief that if I put in just one more dime, I'd finally get whatever must-have item had obsessed me.

Once I grew up, I was delighted to discover that private citizens can buy their own gumball machines, and I now have 5 vintage venders full of fantastic treasures in my dining room. Still, I'm always on the lookout for cool gumball prizes when I'm antiquing (and actually, still at the grocery store too.) I found this lot at a show this summer, and it had some really great pieces, mostly from the 1960s-70s.

This may look like a pile of cheap plastic, and it is, 

but it's also full of tiny treasures.

My favorite piece was this little pink guy with a really big nose.

The oldest item was this Barney Google charm: 











Monster charms are always a good find; these are from the '60s.

Oh joy of joys: a bunch of Funny Froot rings! I lusted after these as a child, but sadly, only ever got the Avocado Man (second from right).

Keeping with the anthropomorphic theme: a smiling radish guy pin:











An itty bitty parachute toy, barely an inch long, and never opened:

And last but not least: tiny fish and clamshell charms. I can remember seeing these as a kid, too, and being profoundly disappointed when, several dollars worth of dimes later, all I had gotten were lame stickers.

itty bitty robots

When I was a kid back in the 1970s, one of my favorite toys was actually one of my smallest and cheapest: a set of tiny, 1 inch tall plastic robots that came from a gumball machine, or possibly from the "cheap toy aisle" at the grocery store, I can't really remember. They were just the right size to carry around, and they went everywhere with me. My two little brothers loved the robots too, and even though we all played with them and toted them about, we still have them today.

Shown twice as large as actual size!

I've always been on the lookout for more of these wonderful little robot guys, but had never seen any until we discovered some at a recent toy show. Oddly, these are red, although they're clearly from the same molds, and they have exactly the same stamping on the bottom ("H.K." for Hong Kong.) The dealer and I were both really excited to find each other, as we'd both been looking for more information on these guys for the last 20 years, but were both disappointed to discover neither of us knew anything about them. 

Does anyone out there recognize these robots???

1950s Felt Beanie Hat With Vintage Charms

At a toy show this past weekend, I found a long-sought item: a vintage felt beanie hat from the 1950s, loaded with Cracker Jack and gumball machine charms. These hats were very popular from the late 1940s - early 1960s; the character of Jughead was never without his in the Archie comics. I've occasionally seen similar hats, but never one that was "just right" until I spotted this one:

The hat is festooned with all sorts of vintage charms collected by its original young owner: tiny skulls, little footballs and baseballs, a Snoopy-esque dog, even a Heinz pickle advertising pin:

 

One of my favorite pieces is this tiny 1950s microphone:

Here's the hat modelled by my 24 inch antique American bear, who wears it tilted at a rakish angle:

1960s Four-Unit Vending Machine

Lugged home from an antique show last weekend was this 1960s four-unit vending machine. Made in Canada by the Beaver Machine Corporation (still in business today), it holds two 1 cent, one 5 cent, and one 10 cent vendor, and measures almost 4 feet tall. Three of the machines need restoration, but the stand itself is in pretty good shape. (It looks worse than it is in this photo, only because it's really dirty. I had to haul it out of a muddy field.)

And the best part of all: one of the globes still contained a bunch of old vending prizes, and not just any prizes, but rather valuable mechanical ones, including little skulls with pop-out eyes and tongues, and teeny apples with worms that poke out when you turn the top.

I bought these two 1 inch gumball prizes a few years ago, along with their original vending machine sign, and they actually cost almost as much as this whole machine did ($35), so it was super-exciting to find all these in one of the globes:

Woo-hoo! Lotsa skulls!

And here are the mechanical apples, also about an inch tall each:

 Kinda gross, but still really cool old gumball prizes.

Gumball Machine Trolls

I love vintage gumball machine prizes as much as I love trolls, so these next few items, tiny trolls sold in 1960s gumball machines, are some of my favorites.

First up are these 2 inch tall pencil toppers with yarn hair and rather frightening expressions. I keep one on my favorite pen at work, and everyone leaves it alone.

Next are my tiniest trolls: just 1 inch tall. They're cuties.

Here are a couple of interesting gumball machine troll rings, the perfect fashion accessory for the troll-inclined:

And here's my greatest gumball troll find ever: a hard-to-find-style with its original vending machine display card:

Tiny Trolls

These are some of the smallest trolls made back during the troll craze of the 1960s. Sometimes vended through gumball machines, these are carded variations, measuring just under 1 inch tall.