COLLECTION #132: Vintage Noisemakers!

Bring on the New Year! These vintage tin noisemakers were probably used on countless New Year's Eves to commemorate the twelve midnight hour!   I love the fun colors and patterns! Everything from clowns to spacemen to partying adults! One of my noisemakers was long-ago painted. Love the color, but hate that I'll probably never know what whimsical artwork is underneath!  My guess is these noisemakers are from the 1940s and '50s.

Happy New Year from the Copycat Collector!

COLLECTION #131: Vintage Lyons & Carnahan Readers

Generally I post my vintage school books on Fridays, but I have something else in mind for tomorrow. So, today I have my vintage Lyons & Carnahan readers to share with you. These books are all from the 1954 publication date of their Developmental Reading Series. As I've said in previous posts, although the Dick and Jane readers are what most people think of when they think of these mid-20th century readers, many other companies besides Scott, Foresman & Co. successfully published school books of every type. Lyons & Carnahan had many wonderful readers, health books, and social studies books that were every bit as beautifully done as the Dick and Jane books.  Most of these particular books were licensed to the state of California as part of their California State Series books. (Since I live in California, these are the ones I'm most likely to find in my area.)

The 'heroes' of the early primer and pre-primer books were Jane, Billy and Ann. (Simple names, similar to Dick, Jane and Sally). The illustrations are lovely, and they are beautifully designed and well written.

I hope you enjoy my sweet little readers!

COLLECTION #130: Vintage Children's Board Games

I have quite a few games in my vast collections, and a number of children's games, or 'kiddie games', as they are sometimes called. Designed for the young folks, these games were usually simpler and more colorful than adult board games, and often had a theme or license of comic book, movie, toy, book, television show, or other entertainment or pop culture icon. It's fun to find these old games, and learn more about what was popular or trendy in each generation.  The ones I have are generally more 'universal' or traditional... I don't really have many games that are the most popular character licenses like Disney, Barbie, or the 'hot' television shows of the era (except perhaps my TV game show games, as shown here). I love the fact that my games are so sweet: Candy Land (literally), Winnie the Pooh, Raggedy Ann, Uncle Wiggily. Even Pollyanna was sweet... her famous 'Glad Club', was full of sweetness and light.  The Candy Land, Raggedy Ann, Pix Pix, and Winnie the Pooh games are from the 1950s, the Pollyanna game is from 1940, and the Uncle Wiggily game is from 1949. They are from Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers and Whitman Publishing.

The Pix Pix Pick Up Sticks game  (A Hunting We Will Go) was featured in an earlier post, so I won't show any photos of it in today's collection, but since it's a children's game, I did add it to the group photos.

Most of my children's games were long-running games, and had a multitude of editions and covers. The Candy Land game is still popular today, but has undergone quite a face-lift and modernization. Pollyanna and Raggedy Ann are long gone, but I'm sure you can find a modern Winnie the Pooh and Uncle Wiggily game if you look hard enough.

I hope you enjoy my collection of children's board games!

COLLECTION #129: Shirley Temple

I wish I really were a Shirley Temple collector... I just love Shirley Temple, and all things about her.... dolls, books, movies, songs. She was an adorable child, and I understand that she was really a good kid- not a spoiled little brat as we might expect. Although she was in show business from the time she was 2 or 3, she was always a real sweetheart. She grew up to be a wonderful person too!

When my mother-in-law Betty was a little child, Shirley Temple was all the rage.  There were tons of little girls whose mothers put their hair in curls, enrolled them in dance classes, and some even took them to Hollywood hoping 'their little darlings' would be discovered. Betty's parents, who lived not far from Hollywood, thought their little girl looked an awful lot like Shirley Temple. They put her hair in curls, and took her to a Pasadena photo studio to have her adorable face photographed. The photo was entered in a Shirley Temple look-alike contest, and lo and behold! Little Betty won the contest!  The prize was Betty's very own 22" Shirley Temple doll, dressed in a cute plaid dress from the movie "Bright Eyes".  They proudly posed Betty with her prize, and I have these photos today.

A few years before she passed away, Betty presented me with this beautiful doll. Her eyes have that crackle in them that many of the old glass eyes got with age, and the ribbon and pin are missing from her dress. But she looks marvelous, don't you think? Betty obviously took loving care of the doll, and her hair, although dusty and matted, still has every curl in place. Her dress still looks crisp and clean, and she still has her slip, panties, shoes and socks.

I created a layout about Betty and the doll back when I first started digital scrapbooking. I still love the layout, because it evokes a feel for that time in the 1930s, when Shirley Temple was the princess of the silver screen!

I have a few other items- a cobalt blue pitcher (not sure if it's authentic or a reproduction), some sheet music, a book, and a modern reproduction of some vintage paper dolls (not shown).

Perhaps some day I'll be an authentic Shirley Temple collector! For now, I'm happy to share the few things I do have!

COLLECTION #128: Antique Hymn Books

I have several old hymnbooks from various churches and church groups. My friend Robin gave me a very old hymnbook from her family, and it's my oldest and most treasured one.  It's called the Sabbath Bell, and if my memory of Roman numerals is accurate, the copyright date is 1857. One of her family members documented the provenance of this book, and it's fascinating to see how the book was passed down from generation to generation.

A couple of these books were in my family for a few generations too. The Deseret Songs is an LDS hymnbook that belonged to my Grandfather Clark. It was copyright 1909.  I also found the MIA Sociability Songs in my Grandpa's things.. this was a soft bound book that was used by the youth of the church for their non-religious activities. There's no copyright date on it, but it looks to be the 1920s.

I've acquired a few other religious song books through the years, including the Hymns of Praise, published by the Hope Publishing Co. dated 1922. There are also a couple of other church song booklets: New Songs of a Christian Number Two, published by Von Kampen Press in 1947, and Hymns for Christian Youth, published by Society of Christian Endeavor in 1927.

THE WEEKEND COLLECTOR: Merry Christmas from the Copycat Collector

Merry Christmas to all! In honor of this, the most wonderful season of all, I'd like to share with you some photos of our home, and our holiday decorations old and new.  Featured are some of the vintage Christmas items I've been sharing with you these past few weeks. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate, full of love, family and cherished traditions.

On behalf of the Copycat Collector, I would like to thank you for reading my blog! I hope you enjoy this last wrap-up of the decorations of the Christmas season!

The Reason for the Season

 

Vintage 1950s cardboard creche

Our cherished Fontanini creche figures

New this year- a gift from our daughter

Willow Tree Nativity, also given to us by our daughter

A group of snowmen

A glass lid display case holds vintage photos, postcards, and other ephemera

Vintage Christmas items mix with modern vintage-looking decorations

A place to display an old book and magazine, as well as my Roy Rogers fabric!

Vintage Santa toy holds a modern Santa pen

Santas old and new sit atop the mantel

A modern Lori C. Mitchell figure stands next to a basket filled with vintage Christmas goodies

My 1950s Santa fabric-covered bulletin board holds a grouping of vintage ephemera

Christmas dollies sit in a vintage child's trunk

Pretty greenery and vintage Christmas cards welcome our visitors