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Neat old stuff that we love...for sale!

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Junkytown Vintage and Gift

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Jacobin Joe - Coincidence or Fate?

If you have been in my house, or any of my previous apartments, you know about Jacobin Joe. So when a good friend of ours got married at The Old Library Restaurant in Olean, NY - one of the coolest sites ever - I figured it would be a night full of dancing and friends, and low on eerie coincidence. I was wrong. Above the stairway going to the second floor, I found an old friend creepily staring down at me:

Creepy, but amazing, right?

Here is mine:

My friends wedding was awesome. But it made me realize that our wedding was missing two critical elements. One - Jacobin Joe was left off the invite list. Two - we should never have banned The Devil Went Down to Georgia from being requested and played. That song rocked.

Neat Old Stuff: Coolest thing in our house!

(Besides Matt, of course.)

Turn of the century wood stove from Matt's Grandma's old house

Probably ain't gonna run into one of these at the local Goodwill! Many thanks to Matt's parents for this gem. There isn't really a place to hook it up as an actual stove for now, so we're going to use it as a dining room sideboard. I love the apple green enamel! When the rest of the room is decorated to its standard, will post more pics.

Neat Old Stuff: We're fans o' these fans!

Look at these!

We bought this first one on ebay because, well ... it is called the "Wizard Husky."  Hard to argue with that.  It has holes and hardware such that could have been mounted on a dashboard.  I am not sure what advantage this has over rolling down a window, but it sure is cute!  The only problem is, with the sturdy steel blades and sparse wire cage, one is at risk of turning a perfectly good arm into, as my father would say, "a three-fingered elbow."  I refuse to let Matt turn it on, and keep threatening to snip the cord off when we have children.

This next beauty is also really neat looking, and it is safe enough to actually use!  We bought it for $40 at a flea market, probably a steal considering it still works great and it was HOT that day.

The flea market, by the way, is called the Antiques Garage, located on West 25th between 6th and 7th.  Open Sat-Sun 9am-5pm.  Highly recommend it!

Eat at Joe's

Ok, to wrap up what I now consider vintage image week here on the casserole, here's another gold mine: flickr's Vintage Roadsides photostream:

Free television?!? 

Close to 1000 pics of neat old signs!  Possibilities abound!

Nostalgic deliciousness, served daily!

If you're into those vintage posters Matt discussed in an earlier post, have we got the link for you!  Behold: Millie Motts, a blog where you can find images from 1940s-60s print ads, magazines, books, and photographs -- yummy!

I dont know about you guys, but I feel like this material has great decorating and crafting potential. So be afraid, smooth flat surfaces, we may just have another Mod Podge situation on our hands!

A Summons to Awesomeness!

It doesn't happen very often, but sometimes I get assigned to do something that I actually enjoy. Last semester, which happened to be my last semester, I was taking a Digital Imaging class. Now this class, Digital Imaging, was all about the digitizing of images and objects for reasons of preservation or scholarship or simply being compulsive. Anyways, the class was assigned to find an online digital collection, carefully look through it, and then present it to the class. I found the collection that I ended up choosing very interesting, and now I'd like to share it with you, faithful reader.

"A Summons to Comradeship"
World War I and II Posters and Postcards

That's right, propaganda posters!

Sailors love to shake hands. Its true.

I enjoy how the wife has to sew the pants while he is fixing the mower. Americans used to be that efficient, what happened?


Alot of these old posters encourage those at home to produce materials for those at war.

This one is too epic for its own good.

Thats right gents, dont trust those there blonde broads.

Well this is just a sampling of what can be found in this collection. If you're interested in seeing more, click here. No wait, here. Wait, wait .... click here. See, library school was worth it.

Neat Old Stuff: Christmas Cards of Yore

Today's Neat Old Stuff features these deliciously nostalgic holiday photo-cards that my mother's family sent out in the fifties:

(1954) Grandma, Mom, Aunt Patty, Aunt Betty, and Gramps

I absolutely love this picture! It was taken by a family friend who was a photographer for the Albany Times Union. I am not sure who did the script at the bottom (maybe another staffer at the paper?), but isn't it great?! (If you haven't noticed from our blog header, I am a little bit ga-ga for vintage fonts.) And why don't they put the deckle-edges on photos anymore?

Here's another:

(1957) Aunt Patty, Mom, and Aunt Betty

This photo was taken by the same photographer at the front door of the house in Westport, NY where my mom grew up. They removed the screen. She tells me it was still warm out at the time, but they donned their gay apparel for festivity's sake. I love the way it looks like the script could have been painted on the door, but this was added in post-production.

Neat Old Stuff: Gnomes!

Today's Neat Old Stuff comes from ebay - a score for about $25 total. Vintage gnomes!

These little guys have the "Heissner" stamp on the back, the mark of the Heissner Gnome Company out of (West) Germany. My best estimate is they are from the 1960's, when gnomes were revived in plastic form. Prior to that they were made out of terracotta, but production of those fell off during WWII (turns out Germany was distracted back then). A little more about the history of gnomes here.

Someday, Matt and I will have a garden, and maybe these can hang out there. For now, though, they are harder to kill than houseplants.

Neat Old Stuff: Creepy Portrait

This gem came from the Salvation Army in Binghamton Ny. I've forgotten what it cost me, but being that I was a sophomore in college, and had no job, I doubt if it was more than $8.99. Many cool things were purchased at the Bingo Salvo, and this was likely one of the first.

This portrait, nicknamed Jacobin Joe, has hung in my Sophomore year dorm room (above the door,) in my Junior year apartment (somewheres?), in the bathroom of our Senior year apartment (directly across from the crapper!), and now in the shadows of our mini hallway.

Sarah has long complained that Jacobin Joe is too creepy, too ugly, or something else that results in my complete zoning out. I say it could be worse.

OR MORE AWESOME!

Neat Old Stuff: Vintage Souvenir Glasses

Today's Neat Old Stuff cost a whopping $3 from the Salvation Army on Central Avenue in Albany. Check out these adorable vintage souvenir frosted glasses (Matt had the bright idea to put candles in them) ...

As you can see one is a New York State map and the other shows story book characters from the old Enchanted Forest in Old Forge, NY. They have the Hazel Atlas Glass Company's "HA" stamp on them, and best I can tell they are from the 1960's.

Based on the ebay market for these bad-boys, they seem to be pretty collectable (although maybe not that valuable), but for me they're keepers just because of the local nostalgia and the super-cute retro graphics. Yes, I said it. Super-cute.