COLLECTION #247: Vintage Minnesota Postcards

This collection consists of postcards from my own family. Most of them were sent to my Grandma Ward (who was from Owatonna, Minnesota) from her family and friends left behind, when she married and moved to Oregon, then Idaho. They are all from the years 1910-1914 or so.  I also have quite a number of real photo postcards from the same family, same era, but I'm only featuring the commercial, location postcards today. 

The most fun thing about these postcards, is the handwritten messages on the back. I wish I could post them all here, but I don't think they would be very interesting to most of you. But I'm including a couple of them here. 

You gotta love a postcard sent to say, "Why in the world don't you write?" This was written by my Great Uncle's wife Dorris, to my Grandma in 1912- shortly after my Mom's birth. I think that might have had something to do with why Grandma wasn't writing much!

COLLECTION #246: English Village Tea Set

I know, I know. It's Orphan Wednesday, and there's more than one thing here. But it's a SET. It's not exactly a collection, which implies gathering things together one or two at a time to add to a collection. So, I'll just do as I please, and post my little English Village Tea Set as a single item.

About 10 or so years ago, my Mom asked me where I was keeping the English village tea set she gave me years before. What? What English tea set? I wracked my brain. I couldn't remember any such set. She described it to me as little English cottages that were a teapot, cream pitcher, sugar container, etc. Nope. Didn't ring a bell.  She told me that she found it for me on her last trip to England, and knew I would like it, and why couldn't I remember it?  But alas, I didn't have it. As Mom prepared for her move from South Pasadena to Moorpark, we found the tea set, carefully packed away in her stuff. She had never given it to me! So, I happily added it to my vast collections, and it proudly rests in my china cabinet.

Here it is, soooooo cute. I have added the mark from the bottom of the pieces. I have no idea what this hallmark is, if anyone knows, please let me know!

COLLECTION #245: Vintage Circus Toys

I think it's kind of sad that the circus has become a quaint relic of our distant past: and politically incorrect to boot. Animal rights activists, clown-aphobics, and sophisticates have changed 'the Circus' to 'Cirque', and although the new modern Cirque is amazing, colorful, and hip, I believe that something has been lost from our culture. There was a time in America, when the mention of the word 'circus' brought joy and excitement to every child. From the giant Ringling Brothers to small rag-tag circuses, it didn't matter. When the circus came to town, it was a momentous occasion indeed. Today, when the word 'clown' is mentioned, many people can only think of the demonic clowns of the movies. I never heard of anyone who was afraid of clowns when I was little.  (Ok, not everyone loved Bozo, but generally clowns brought squeals of glee, not people running from the room in fear!)  I do have quite a few clowns in my clown collection, I've only added a few here. You can see the rest of them here.

I rarely editorialize on my daily collection feature, so I will stop now!  I think that circus toys are wonderful, colorful, and fun, and I'm glad I have quite a few playthings that celebrate this unique entertainment genre.

The Fisher-Price Circus (some parts missing) from 1963. One of the great circus toys!

From the F-P Circus

From the F-P Circus

Fisher-Price Jalopy toy, fun circus clown with his balloon-tire vehicle. From 1966.

Fisher-Price Jingle Elephant (This is a Toy Fest F-P reproduction from 1993)

I love the cute circus record, and the Rolly clown with the chiming bells inside. Both from the '50s

I love the old beanbag clown toys. When I worked at Mattel back in the '90s, a friend at work had a vintage clown I loved. I found some old quilt scraps, and had the samplemakers make me a copy of hers. I love it!  You can see more of my clown toys here. 

Ring Toss game made by Transogram, early '50s.

Squeaky the Clown, Fisher-Price reproduction Toy Fest Toy from 1995

COLLECTION #244: Vintage 1920s Wedding Cards

Wedding season is upon us, and I have a fun collection of vintage cards from the late 1920s. Actually, I can pinpoint it better than that, because I have the actual scrapbook these cards were in, and the wedding announcement of the lovely bride Nellie Hippey, and the dashing groom James Ingle of Los Angeles. They were married at the Church of the Flowers in Glendale, California on June 15th, 1929. 

Sadly, I am not related to the happy couple, I found the scrapbook at a flea market. But in honor of the wonderful institution of marriage, I present a few of the wedding greetings for the new Mr. and Mrs. James Ingle:

Since I have the wedding announcement too, I thought you might enjoy seeing a postcard of the church where Nellie and James were married:

THE WEEKEND COLLECTOR: Dave's Vintage Bicycles

I hope you take a few moments to check out Dave's Vintage Bicycles, where bike collectors go to share info and drool over each other's photos and finds.

Rather than tire you out, recycling all of the wheelie bad bike puns in my repetoire, I'll simply frame this in language all bike buffs understand, and I hope you can handle it.  Give me a brake! You know what they say, it's like riding a bike: you never forget how to do it.

COLLECTION #243: Vintage How And Why Library

I love these books. I have four volumes of these Vintage 1940s editions of the How And Why Library: Nature, Heroes, Knowledge, and Travel. They are children's reference books. A fifth volume exists- Stories, which I would love to own someday. These books were published beginning in 1930, by the LJ Bullard Co. Mine are the 1945 edition. I adore the illustrations, especially the simple line art and art deco covers. I'll just post some photos of the various pages, and hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Adorable endpapers