This and That: A Blog

 As promised last Tuesday, here are some items I found in the Goodwill Bins.   Books Are Fun  Bookends Made from compressed cardboard, these have a recessed panel with four holes in the back, not a normal bookend feature.  However, that is a layout used for award certificates, photo mounts, presentation folders, etc. from the 1930s into the 1950s.  Fabric tape or ribbon was threaded through holes to secure the documents.   The ribbon material used here (tied like this when I bought them) is a cotton tape, likely made from flour sack material, which was the standard material to use then.  If the bookends and ribbons were originally used together they likely date to the earlier years, say 1935 into the '40s, Depression-era or early postwar American craft traditions.   Another item from the 1940s is this portable multi-game suitcase made by E. S. Lowe. If you go to the Goodwill Bins, always, ALWAYS, open boxes, containers, bags, etc.!...

Already a month of 2026 is over. At least we've turned the corner on winter.  I hope.  February is still cold, and we've had some snow in late February in past years, including 2025. For now it's just been cold with frosty mornings.   There are signs of spring! The first wild violet.  The flowering quince is budding. So are the fruit trees. Bulbs are coming up, Weeds and black cumin are taking over.  Two weeks ago on Motley Monday I mentioned my brakes needed repair.  Fortunately that was just one rotted brake hose.  On the walk to pick up my vehicle I passed this former house.  I wonder how many houses, or units, will be built on this lot?  Some in the same neighborhood have quite a few squeezed in.  This street has quite a few old farm houses, so maybe this one needed expensive repairs.  The houses on my street are newer, 1960s. Mickey and I took advantage of sun, albeit cold sun, on the weekend to walk to the park.  He ...

The A to Z theme was so fun the host of Sunday Stamps  decided to do it again!  So this week is A stamps.  I've decided to make it harder on myself by using animals.  We'll see how that goes! A ardvark  Kenya 1966-1969 A merican Bison Hungary c. 1961 Budapest Zoo Animals series FYI, bison are not buffalo! Next week will be B stamps. 

Skywatch Friday Just a pretty sky as seen from a parking lot. Have a nice weekend. 

 Light or Bright Colors for Thursday Postcard Hunt . A very colorful Africa in It's a Small World, Disneyland, CA on a vintage postcard. Psychedelic art surrounds a San Francisco cable car and flower stand.  Postcard naturally c.1960s!   For natural Bright Light Colors we go to Alaska for the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis. Next week brings the new theme of Cities.  First up will be Asian Cities. 

 I haven't had much success finding treasures in weeks, maybe even a few months.  The local Goodwill stores have yielded nothing time after time.  Art has been especially scarce as far as original paintings or interesting prints. Plenty of mass produced stuff though.  St. Vincent de Paul has had loads of 5¢ postcards, but those are just not Tuesday Treasure worthy for the most part.   Finally I found two items at St. Vincent de Paul.   This is a Jeanette Glass Co. pressed glass Jadeite milk glass pig. I'd seen it in the case a few times, and eventually asked to see it so I could determine what it was made of.  I was pleased it was glass, and very happy it was milk glass!  You can see the fire in the thin spots, like tail and ears.  This is my first piece of Jadeite.  The Jeanette Glass Co. began production of this color (green glass scraps added to the milk glass formula) in the early 1930s, and coined the name. I've seen bowls...