Category: vintage books

Monday night thrifting

I had a reception up in Indianapolis so I decided to cut loose early and hit a few Goodwills (i.e., the outlet on the SE side of town and the brand new GW Retail store right in front of it. In the short time that I had before my reception, I managed to fill a cart.

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Now let’s take a closer look at what was in that cart.

As luck (or strategic planning) would have it, I also had a half hour on the tail end of my visit to Naptown so I stopped at one more outlet on my way home.

I got this delightful ceramic duck for Chris. When he get stuck on his coding projects for work, I always tell him he needs an “Unstuck Duck.” I think this guy will do quite nicely.

I didn’t manage to get a whole set, but I’m looking forward to reading these four books…and getting to know Molly Brown. Plus I was delighted to learn that the books I’m missing in the series seem to be available via Project Gutenberg.

Below: I always love a good game!  The Top•ography game was one of the first things I grabbed at my first stop. Amazingly it had its original spinner and there don’t seem to be many other pieces necessary to play so I think this one is playable.  Likewise, the Ting•a•ling Bingo game also seemed to have most of its pieces, including the ting-a-ling spinner which makes a delightful sound and is presumably where this game gets its name.

More books – including a few Booth Tarkington books that I haven’t read yet.  I loved the Magnificent Ambersons and can’t wait to read these other novels by one of our most famous Hoosier authors.  In trying to find more info about the Boy Scout book, I discovered this gem on eBay – The Boy Scouts actually had a badge for stalking! This 1912 book is not valuable (only ~$5-$10) but it is cool that it is more than 100 years old.

I found this whole set of Wee Wisdom Books (Kind of like Highlights) at the second outlet I stopped at. They didn’t weigh much – so they were practically free. Its always fun looking inside old magazines, but the cover artwork is so beautiful, I could easily see a room decorated with a framed set of these beauties.

….Below: some vintage Christmas finds.

Above, more sweet little books…and below….vintage patterns. So many awesome gems.  I found a few at the outlet, then discovered a batch of hundreds of at the new GW retail store.  At $99 they are still practically free, but I had to be a lot more discerning about the ones that I selected.  My favorite finds were the Vogue suit (top), the vintage apron patterns (left) and the children’s stuffed toy pattern.

Above: I loved these new but made-to-look-old finds.  Below, I loved the two cookbooks from the 30s (“All About Home Baking” and “Round-the-World Cook Book” ) and found the more modern “Family Home Cookbook” equally delightful.

I only had about 15 minutes at my final stop, so I had to be somewhat speedy as I went about gathering treasures.  I grabbed an envelope that looked somewhat vintage and was delighted to find a set of beauty ritual guides detailing “The Beauty Angle”  – apparently a life changing beauty/posture/self-esteem/IQ-improving regiment that simply involves putting your feet up at an angle. Admittedly, its not the most comfortable thing to do, but it did feel okay after an impromptu day of serious thrifting.

Traveling through time

Chrissy, Cam, Evie and I visited the Goodwill Outlets on Indy’s NW and SW sides earlier today. There wasn’t really one theme or outstanding purchase from today’s thrifting adventure; instead, it felt a little like a trip through more than a century worth of history.

Many treasures were found today, including this delightful tome published in 1883.

I love the contrast of these two tales about cats…”Dick Whittington” (1934) and  “Puss in Boots” (1955).

 

Above: Bromwell stainless steel tools and “A Text-Book of Cooking” (1915) and “The American Women’s Cookbook” (1938). Below a book on birding from the 50s and a retro thermos and Coleman drink cooler. Below that, a funky Tupperware pitcher a Johnson’s milk bottle and a retro table cloth.

It’s always Christmas-time at the Goodwill.  Today’s holiday highlights include a vintage sled, a wintery paint-by number, holiday fabric and ribbons etc.

And of course there were games…

It is still July for a little longer so, below are some of the patriotic finds of the day.

Above, Cam and  Evie, kidding around. Below, the car crammed as full as we could get it. and below that, Evidence that Cam shopped til he dropped!

Nobility

A poem by Alice Cary

Found in “Heart Throbs, The Old Scrapbook” – published in 1905

Nobility

True worth is in being, not seeming;
In doing, each day that goes by,
Some little good–not in the dreaming
Of great things to do by and by.
For whatever men say in blindness,
And spite of the fancies of youth,
There’s nothing so kingly as kindness,
And nothing so royal as truth.

We get back our mete as we measure;
We cannot do wrong and feel right;
Nor can we give pain and gain pleasure,
For justice avenges each slight.
The air for the wing of the sparrow,
The bush for the robin and wren,
But always the path that is narrow
And straight for the children of men.

We cannot make bargains for blisses,
Nor catch them like fishes in nets,
And sometimes the thing our life misses
Helps more that the thing which it gets.
For good lieth not in pursing,
Nor gaining of great nor of small;
But just in the doing–and doing
As we would be done by, is all.

Through envy, through malice, through hating
Against the world early and late,
No jot of our courage abating,
Our part is to work and to wait.
And slight is the stick of his trouble
Whose winnings are less than his worth;
For he who is honest is noble,
Whatever his fortunes or birth.

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A little more about the poem and its author:

Though the book where I found this poem was published in 1905, it seems this poem was written quite a bit earlier (~1849). Alice Cary, its author, was born on April 26th 1820 and died February 12th 1871.

A little more about the book, from it’s forward, by Joe Chapple:

“In the NATIONAL MAGAZINE for September 1904, the following announcement was first published: ‘I WILL GIVE $10,000 FOR HEART THROBS.’ I am Editing the NATIONAL MAGAZINE for what Lincoln loved to call us, ‘The plain people of America.’ President McKinley told me I could do it, and the magazine has been a success beyond all expectations…What I want is real heart throbs–those things that make us all kin; those things that endure–the classics of our own lives. Send me a clipping, a story, an anecdote, or a selection that as touched your heart. It is in the American homes that I am searching for the literature that endures, those things that touch and pulsate wit the best and noblest emotions and sentiment…Wholesome good cheer, humor, comfort, hope–those things that make dark days endurable and sunny days enduring….Heart throbs–yes, heart throbs of happiness, heart throbs of courage, heart throbs that make us feel better.”

How did the prize money get doled out? According to the book’s forwards, “to the ten persons sending in the best clippings, I will give each one A PILE OF SILVER DOLLARS AS HIGH AS EACH SUCCESSFUL CONTESTANT. That is, if you secure one of the first ten awards, and measure six feet high, or four feet five, I will send by express as many silver dollars as will measure your exact height, one silver dollar placed flat upon the other.”

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The copy that I found at the Goodwill Outlet in Greenwood, IN yesterday was inscribed “A Happy Birthday, Doris from Grandma Stowe, Nov. 8th 1917.”

Act II

Another great adventure with my sister! Our day-long adventure took us to five goodwills. Item for item and pound for pound, I think we did the best with our outlet picks. But Chrissy won the day when she nabbed a pair of very gently used manolo blahnik shoes!

Close, but no fedora! These vintage puzzles were a great find, but sadly, all ended up missing pieces…despite our hard work to comb through the bins where we found them. Despite my disappointment, it was fun getting to see the pictures come alive. Also, my husband pointed out that they might have been discarded because they were missing pieces.