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!

Vintage Space Toy Display in a Gumball Machine

I've accumulated a lot of vintage space toys lately, and was looking for a new way to display them that wouldn't take up so much room. I also had an old gumball machine that I'd been trying to find a use for, and one day, as I looked at it, I thought it might actually make an interesting sort of display case.

It had a prominent metal mechanism in the center, which originally turned to push the toy capsules out when a quarter was inserted, and it also had a wire arch that spanned the front window, used to hold the machine's original advertising card in place. They had a machiney, space-agey, electrical look to them, like props from the set of Metropolis, I thought...so I installed some 1950s children's space print fabric as a backdrop, then arranged a scene using vintage Archer Space Men and robots, along with some 1950s space-themed dexterity puzzles.

A closer-up view:

It hasn't really helped alleviate the crowded display area, 

(which is supposed to be my kitchen table)

but it came out pretty cool:

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.

STICKY: Free Toy Giveaway for Halloween! *UPDATE: We Have a Winner*

I've been thinking: just for fun, let's do a Free Toy Giveaway!

Getting a package of toys in the mail makes me really happy. I bet it makes you happy too. I think what the world needs right now is more people trying to help each other be happy.

So: I've got an extra 1960s Frankenstein Monster gumball machine prize and King Kong ring available. (Seriously, how many of these things do I need? I can only wear 2 Kongs at a time, and I've got enough Frankies to start an army and take over a small town.) Scroll down a few posts for details on these guys, if you're wondering what the heck they are.

If they appeal to you, send me a comment and tell me why you like/need them. Think of it as an adoption screening. (Please, no dealers looking to resell: my faith in the intrinsic goodness of humanity is wobbly, at best, and seeing these things for sale on ebay next week would really shatter it. Dealers who want to give them a happy home at their own house are fine, though.) Don't put your address in your comment unless you're okay with me posting it: when I announce the winner, you can send me another comment with your address, and I won't post that one.

There are no strings at all, just a few caveats: any toy giveaways are meant for adults only, as vintage toys can sometimes be dangerous for small children. Who knows how many kiddies choked on these Frankies back in the day...Also, I'm going to limit these giveaways to United States addresses only. Postage, customs, etc. etc., you know. Speaking of which: I'll pay the postage, so no worries there. I'll take comments through Saturday and pick a winner at random from all the ones I like on Sunday. Good luck!

*UPDATE: 10/11/09: We Have a Winner!
Morgan from Missouri is the winner, and here's her entry: "i would LOVELOVELOVE one of those little frankenthings because they are cutecuteCUTE and because i work at a library and just decorated the children's area yesterday AND because i love mail and love sending mail myself!" Morgan: I'll get these in the mail to you later this week. Hope you like them!

Watch for another free toy giveaway in December!

Martian Finks!

"LOOK! MARTIAN FINKS ARE INVADING!"

This was such a great gumball machine display card that I framed it. Who could resist its call to "take home a pocketful of Martian Fink Fun"? I have two so far. Martian Finks were inspired by Rat Fink, the hot rod mascot of the 1950s and 60s craze, but in my opinion they're much cuter.

Vintage Gumball Machine Monster Toys

These little 2 inch tall Frankenstein Monsters are 1960s gumball machine prizes. They came folded in half inside their plastic capsules (the line visible across their midsection is actually a hinge). They're a great size to carry around in your pocket and have handy in case you ever need a monster while you're out and about.

Vintage Monster Gumball Machine Toys

Probably from the early 1960s, this vintage vending machine display card is one of my favorites. It reads: "Monsters...HEADS. GHOSTLY! HEY KIDS: They stick on your head!" And indeed they do: the tiny monster heads are still sticky after all these years. Or, you can string them on a necklace for a fabulously ghoulish fashion accessory.

Vintage Vending Machine Prize Cards

I love, love, love vending machine toys: to this day I can't go to the grocery store without checking out the machines by the door and feeding them fist fulls of quarters.

For me, the holy grails of vending toy collecting are the original display cards that were placed in the front of the machines to tempt little shoppers. Here are some of my favorites. Dating from the 1960s and 70s, these cards are chock-full of the tiny treasures we all hoped to get from these coin-eating machines, but usually didn't. False advertising abounded in these display cards, although that doesn't seem to be the case so much today: maybe some consortium of disappointed little kids sued in the 1980s or something...

Tiny Toy Assortment

, This antique printer's tray full of small old toys sits on my coffee table. Everyone who visits tends to gravitate toward it: its pull is seemingly irresistable. The tiny compartments are filled with vintage Cracker Jack and gumball machine prizes, antique china dolls, miniature figures, toy trains and playsets, miniscule books, and lots more.