Vintage Black Friday: From the Male Perspective

Vintage Black Friday ...

is here once again, and lest anyone think I am alone

in my vintage obsessions in this family,

 I will show you evidence

that it's a "couple's thing" going on around here.

We have two levels in our house. The main level is the Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, the Master Bedroom, my "studio", and an extra bedroom that we will not discuss at this time.(Let's just say it contains exercise equiment and an abnormal amount of dust) The lower level or "walkout basement", as we call it here in the Midwest, is for all of us people who live in "tornado alley". It is a place for "family areas", the bar, a "John Deere" room (drive your mower in, storage, and workshop). And we have a guest bedroom for our St. Louis crew, bath, and my husband's office. Yes, he has one too, top to bottom, vintage guy fun! 

My husband is a collector as well, he started selling on ebay about five years ago after my Dad and Brother had both passed away. Mom had a lot of books from my Brother's interest in the history of the Civil War. Springfield, is home to a lot of rich history, as the Battle of Wilson's Creek was fought just a few miles from town.

My husband, who had not previously been interested in historical items, began finding he enjoyed the hunt with me. This is a desk in our family room that has ended up as a catch all place for a "few" of his "collectibles". (sorry, I don't dust this stuff!)

Below is a case that holds my Father-in-Law's WWII medals and dog tags. My husband treasures this, and rightly so. His Dad was in the Air Force at 20, and was a POW in Yugoslavia and Germany.

I have a few vintage cameras in a bookcase in this area; also vintage Bible Expositories, clocks, photos and memorabilia from the family.

This is a photo of my husband's maternal grandfather,

who was born at the turn of the century.

This camera from the turn of the century is in really poor condition, but I love the thought of what it might have been used for...family photos, newspaper photos...what the lens must have captured.

And this is an "Enrollment Book" for an early Ford payment plan. Cars on credit, it was a new and novel idea. It is also a bank. Ironic in today's thinking.

My husband loves antique photo frames from the late 1800's; also engravings, cabinet cards, tin types, daguerreotypes, and historical photos. At one point I was on overload and started stashing them in various places throughout our basement's many cubbies, drawers and closets. Be careful what you open. This is another subject that I won't go into detail over. Let's just say he'll be a hundred before he figures out what to do with them all.

So now I have proof to show that I'm not alone.

I have a partner in crime.

Hope you enjoyed a peek at the masculine view.

More vintage goods are available for your perusal

over at Jill's Place, Gyspy Brocante.

Have a great weekend,
 and embrace your masculine side.

Debra

Look what we did this weekend!!!

It was on the order of an epic, Yes, the red sea parted in our garage! Alyson's husband, Chris, our son-in-law, rescued us this weekend. He is a "spatial genius" and organizer extraordinare and a really great guy. He bails us out of all kinds of projects that my husband and I have that are BIG.

Having the garage full meant my husband has to park outside, and with bad weather only a few weeks away it was really weighing on me to somehow get this "cleanout" accomplished. He's been so good not to complain, because he knows I was doing the best I could. I had no where to take it, and wasn't feeling up to a sale or making any big decisions about how to deal with it all.

I didn't have a lot of BIG items, but lots of smaller ones, and tons of "tubs" for storage of smalls. Chris to the rescue. Hubs and I can stand and discuss a situation, debate on it and then walk away from being overwhelmed. Chris on the other hand dives in head first and before you know it. Things are "lookiiiinnng good"!

It took us most of the day, and a lot of hard work. I directed traffic, argued (oh, excuse me...discussed) and swept the floors while the guys did the hard work.

But the end result was so much better. Yes, I still have the stuff, but now the pressure is off and I have a much happier husband.

No more scraping the windshield at 7:30 in the morning. Yehaw! (well, I didn't scrape, but I felt guilty that my husband had to.)

And now when the garage doors are up and someone drives by I don't have to hang my head in shame, or be worried that there is talk in the neighborhood about "the crazy lady with all the junk in the garage"!

Feels Good!

Debra

Remember, you're invited to come by my new blog, "a day in the life..." (on my side bar) an online, Bible Study. It's not so much "study" as it is a time of sharing and "fellowship". If you would like to connect with some friends this is a good spot. Even if you're involved in an other Bible Study, this is not time consuming. I think you may be surprised, and get a big blessing!

Heirlooms Party

I'm a pretty sentimental gal, so I'll be right at home at this Heirloom Party

 hosted by Marie at Emma Calls Me Momma.

I have some great memories of my childhood, and being the oldest sibling in my family, I was of course the first to leave the nest. My Dad's mom and dad were in their 40's when he was born. Old by the standards of 1929, so by the time I came along they were in their late 60's early 70's. One clear memory I have is of my grandmother's upstairs bedrooms that had been my dad's and uncle's, was an old sideboard that contained old papers and ephemera. She had been a schoolteacher for a while, and was a packrat. (Now I know where I get this from) The old sideboard had been her mother's and was crackled with old varnish. It seems that each year a new coat would be put on to "spiff it up". So many layers of darkend varnish were covering an oak beauty.

My parents gave this to me after my husband and I were married. We took it to a professional furniture restorer to remove the many layers of grime and varnish. It was in my Dining Room until we moved to this house, and now it's in our family area in the basement. It has a shelf underneath that holds some silver trays and  collectible Crabtree & Evelyn bisquit tins.

Original Hardware and beveled mirror.

An old Hull apple cookie jar and stove set were also from my Grandmother's kitchen.

The salt shaker met an untimely fate a few years ago,

so I need to give Mr. Pepper his mate back.

This red velvet autograph book is also hers,

with entries from friends which date from 1889.

 I wish I had a "macro" setting so you could see

the handwriting flourishes on some of the pages.

And a foil decal of a bird in flight.

Thank you for letting me share a few of my heirlooms.

Have a sweet day full of memories,

Debra

Happy Birthday, Captain America

When we met, you had just turned 20.

I'll never forget how I got lost in your blue eyes.

We've been together for 37 years and you are still my hero.

Thankyou for always being my best friend.

Me.