Autena Vintage: ephemera

Showing posts with label ephemera. Show all posts

Friday, February 7, 2014

Smalls

I love miniature things and tiny things and all those quirky smalls. So I thought I'd show off some of the little cuties I have in my shop right now, just because they are so fun!

Miniature Jigsaw Puzzles in Cardboard

Angels on Clouds Die Cuts

Wooden Rooster Cocktail Picks

Authentic Small Wine Labels

Nini Resin Teapot With Double Spout

Many years ago, an acquaintance of my mother gave her some labels from bottles of various liquors--mostly wine, but also hard liquor, such as bourbon and vodka. Now by some, I don't mean just a little. There were quite a few. She is an artist and works mainly in paper, decoupage, collage, and assemblage and so welcomed the unexpected gift, more or less.

Vermouth

The man apparently had a passion for collecting alcohol labels, over a long period of time. One of his family's businesses was manufacturing whisky and gin, so that must have been a part of the desire.

It took hours, and I do mean hours, for her to sort them into categories, which made it easier when she wanted to find a particular type...red wine or white, Italian or French, and so on.

Small Labels From the Necks of Wine Bottles

When I started my vintage shop on Etsy, she gave me a few packages of them to try to sell. I broke them down into smaller packs and began to sell some, now and then. Whenever I did, I would let her know. She would say, "Let me know when you want more of them." I didn't really believe she had that many more. Boy, was I wrong! She had what seemed like a million of them--far too many to count.

Spanish & Portuguese Wine

Eventually she decided she did not want them any longer and that I should take them all. I have gradually been putting them up for sale and have had fun deciding what to sell: Kentucky Bourbon, Vermouth, Italian wine, Spanish wine, French Champagne... I have enough to open a second shop selling only these labels!

I'm always curious as to what the buyers do with them, but not wanting to be intrusive, don't ask. My presumption is that they are using them in their artwork, but perhaps they are collectors of some sort, or own a bar. Maybe they want to use them as wallpaper. After all, we had a half bathroom with decoupaged walls when I was growing up!.

Kentucky Bourbon

Charming Bracelets

As I was re-listing some 1967 newspapers, called The Ocean Press, I decided to re-take some photos. One of them showed an article on charm bracelets, that I found so delightful to read (I love charms bracelets, and most especially charms of all sorts).

I took some close-ups of it to post here for you to enjoy.

Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a charm bracelet that lights up!

Blog Friends

One of my favorite blogs is Indulge Your Shelf. Laurie always posts photos of great stuff she finds at flea markets and thrift stores, like vintage linens, buttons, and other brick-a-brac (love that word!).

She is quite creative and always seems to be fabricating delightful things with her treasures. One day a week or two ago, she made some cute tags and showed them off to her "indulgent friends" (i e, followers).

I thought they were so fun, so I complimented her on them and to my utter surprise, she offered to send me one! I was allowed to pick which I wanted and it was hard to choose.

A week later, it came and I was so excited to see it. I hung it right by my desk on the neck of a lamp.

What a treat! Blog friends are so inspiring.

Not Always Red

Everyone seems to associate red and pink with Valentine's Day, but I have in my shop evidence that it may not have been a hard and fast rule at one time.

The poetry in each card is so very romantic...

Come springtime
shower, or summer heat,
Come autumn gale
or wintery blast,
With fondest love
my heart will beat
For thee, my dear,
while life shall
last.

I send you this to faintly show
The love that fills my heart,
But to voice its full intensity
Exceeds the poet's art.

I turn, dear love, to thee as turns
The flower to meet the sun,
E'en though, when clouds and storms arise,
It be not shown upon
Thus dear one, in thine eye I see
The only light that beams for me.

The traditional red and pink is lovely too, of course!

Love hath swift wing
And sharpened darts
He laughs and sings
While wounding hearts

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Peter Pauper Series...Simple

For the second in the Peter Pauper installment, I'm focusing on the Simple series. Each of these cookbooks, published between 1958 and 1972, features a different geographical cuisine.

Continental cuisine, for those of you unfamiliar with this term, is a general term that refers to the Western European, non-indigenous style of cooking. French, German, Viennese, Italian, and Hungarian are presented here.

Both foreign and domestic (within the U.S.) are represented, though certainly not all inclusive, at least in my collection. I have never found a comprehensive listing of every cookbook published by Peter Pauper Press, so I don't really know what I'm missing until I come across it for sale somewhere.

All but one of these books were "decorated" by Ruth McCrea. Note that the term illustrator or designer is not used. Can you tell which book was decorated by someone else? (Maggie Jarvis, to give her credit).

Hawaii became a state in 1959. This was printed in 1964. Who knows how authentic the recipes really are, but there are lovely pictures of fish and palm trees throughout.

Many of the regions of Italy are included here, which is fun because they are quite distinctive.

Each of these little treasures has a delightful poem in the beginning, relevant to the theme of that particular edition. Simple and cheerful, they give a preview of what is inside.

In case you are wondering, the Oriental cookery includes China, Hawaii, India, Indonesia or Java, Japan, and, of all things, middle Eastern dishes.

Love those Pilgrims!

Viennese cuisine is like comfort food, with lots of potatoes, meat, sour cream, and fabulous desserts.

So that is the Simple Series, though I have to say that wording is a bit of a misnomer, especially in the French edition. Many of the recipes throughout the books are not really very simple, but that's okay. if they are delicious, that's what really counts, don't you think?

(Oh yes, the Chinese Cookery book has a different designer.)