This and That: A Blog

Some more ephemera from St. Vincent de Paul.  Four still sealed packets of themed stamps.  The $1.49 stickers are the old original ones, I paid $1.25 each. San Antonio Hobby was not a store in Texas, it was in Mountain View, CA.  The stamp sets were put together by Treat Co. in Fullerton, CA.   1965-1970s packet dates, when Treat Co. emphasized educational stamps. Some money was had during the 1/2 collectibles sale in June. 1894 20   Centesimi from   Italy, 50¢ One Centavo note issued by Japan for use in the Philippines when under Japanese occupation (1942-1945).  The local nickname was Mickey Mouse money, as inflation made it nearly worthless.  50¢ Brazilian 100 Cruzeiras from 1981-1984, with mirrored images of the Duke of Caxias and a battle scene overlaid with swords. 25¢ German Reichsbanknote of one million marks, issued July 25, 1923 in Berlin.  Later in the year it was barely enough for a loaf of bread.  It was redeemable unti...

 This week for Sunday Stamps we have Aviation.  I think this one pretty much covers the theme with the hot air balloon, spacecraft module, airplane, and zeppelin!  Paraguay 1974  Centennial of the Universal Postal Union  While not mechanical flight, the definition of aviation, the figures in the upper left corner are flying. The image depicts the Universal Postal Monument in Bern, Switzerland.  Five female figures, representing Europe, America, Asia, Oceania, and Africa, are circling the globe, passing letters to one another.  I do have two others. Great Britain 1969  Commemorating the Concorde's first flight Japan 1994  Dream Bridge Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo, with hot air balloons and an airship.  Hot air balloons are considered part of aviation because they are regulated in many countries by national aviation authorities. Next week's stamps will be Mountains.

Giving you a break this week from the ephemera!  Here are some items found a various spots around town. Japanese earthenware from 1955-1965 from St. Vincent de Paul.  Not a big bargain at $5.  (So much glare from the windows...) A cast concrete froggy who looks like he's enrapturedly praying to his froggy god (or he sees his beloved passing by).   He's from the Goodwill Bins. Salt cellar with cobalt blue glass insert and period-appropriate spoon (not original to the cellar) from St. Vincent de Paul for $4.  The garland motif, ball feet, and openwork design were popular around 1880-1910.  The liner is possibly German or Austrian.  Its deep blue protected the silver from corrosion caused by the salt.  The spoon is marked “850 S" which is Continental silver, 85% silver.  Sterling silver is 92.5% and marked 925. The spoon is also most likely German or Austrian from the same date period.   The frame is not marked, it might be s...

There was an estate sale down the street last month.  The photos online didn't show much of interest, so I skipped the first day, a Friday.  Saturday my son and I were driving around to sales and figured we'd stop in.  I'm glad we did.  While he didn't find anything (well, he did, but decided he didn't have room for more cameras!), I did!  Salt and pepper shakers.  It was half-off day so I didn't hold back. My second pair of Kasin Molded Products atomic/space ship shakers with bullet or ball point tips. My other pair is yellow.  1950s-1960s, these were the company's most recognized product.  Bagged together with a boring 1960s aluminum pair I didn't keep, these were just 50¢.  I can't seem to get into the pepper to clean it! Top: Lobsters!  1950s-1960s.  Actually my second set of lobster shakers.  $1.00 Middle: These late 50s to early 60s Japanese made dog and cat were $1.50. Bottom: Souvenirs of Mexico, these are missing the h...

The letter S for S unday S tamps . S erow, a primitive member of the goat-antelope family.  There are four species, this is the Japanese s erow. Japan 1952 S able Mongolia 1959 S tarling, Rosy Mongolia 1962 T will be next week's letter. 

  Sunday Stamps brings us the letter R this week.  Nothing unusual about these first two R animals.  I just think they are particularly pretty stamps.    R ooster designed and engraved by Albert Decaris.  The Gallic r ooster is a long-standing symbol of France, representing pride, vigilance, national identity, and the dawn of a new day.  From the mid-1960s onwards the stamps were printed with phosphorescent bars for automatic sorting, and these show up under UV light.    France 1962  R hinoceros, Black R hino French Equatorial Africa 1947 R ufous Crowned R oller  Ghana c. 1967 R accoon Dog, of which there were seven species, but only two now exist, including this, the Japanese R accoon Dog.   Japan 2016 S  stamps are up next week.

 I went to an estate sale last month.  It was the second day, so items were half-off the stickered prices.  I would have bought more if they hadn't had so many little things (figurines and salt and pepper shakers for instance) in boxes sealed with plastic wrap for one price.  There would be one or two things I liked in a $10 box.  I overheard quite a few other shoppers complaining about this among themselves.  Four things at 50¢ each...  Japanese bone china Persian cat.  A menu cover from an Alaska Steamship Company cruise, copyright 1941.  It's a print by Joesphine Crumrine, called Mageik .  There were at least eight different dog menu covers by Crumrine.  Inside right would be the daily menu, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.   This poor little basset started out life as a pincushion, however he was used as a planter and is quite worse for wear now.  A thrilling find! Rio Hondo pottery bud vase, 1930s - 1940s.  I l...

 There's a new thrift store in town!  The sign in the window reads " Clothes and Antiques ."  The clothes were all outside on racks, and I wasn't too hopeful about what we'd (my son and I) find inside.  But, it was full of vintage and antique items!  More than newer items actually.  It reminded me of an antique mall booth, but an entire store.  Good prices too.   I got dogs.  Five dogs and an antique photo.  Here are the dogs shown by size, little to large.  Light plastic to heavy chrome plated  brass. A little plastic Scottish terrier made in Japan.  This and the next were $3 for both. A pair of playing fox terrier puppies, also marked Japan. As a rule, I avoid buying chipped or cracked items.  However, for $1 I couldn't resist this pressed glass French bulldog, chipped in places and missing his right paw.  It's Westmoreland, from the original mold, c.1920. In the mid-20s they added their logo.  The gl...

  S udden S hower over S hin-Ohashi Bridge , by Hiroshige Atake.  My print is either a late Edo-period (1857-1868) or early Meiji impression (late1860s-1870s), both considered "original period" impressions printed from the original blocks, using the same pigments and techniques as the first edition (1857).  There would be a seal to date it more accurately, but it's currently matted and framed.   How it came to be in my family is a sad story.  My father bought this, and a few other Japanese prints, from Japanese neighbors who was selling their belongings prior to going into WWII internment camps in California.  He paid 50¢ each.   My S poetry form is here . 

 A few cute things from a few St. Vincent de Paul trips.   A cute little bone china pup made in Japan c. 1950s-1960s.  Someone donated a few small dog figurines, but the manager priced most at over $6 due to them being "original" so and so made.  Not worth it.  These 4" ceramic fish were just 75¢ each and puzzled me when I bought them.  What are they?  Whistles!  Or to be specific, "edge-blown aerophones," like fish-shaped bottle flutes. Yes, they work just like blowing across a bottle, or playing a flute. Which I did, played the flute, for years.  My father was completely unable to play a flute, or even make a noise blowing on a bottle!  These are Japanese made, sold as good-luck items, from around 1960-1970.  Red Wing Pottery salt and pepper shakers in the Lexington pattern produced roughly 1941-1957, in their hand-painted dinnerware era. The two different shapes through me, and the manager.  She had them displayed in se...