Be a Two Ford Family!

Today I'm sharing an ad for the 1956 Ford Victoria and Ranch Wagon.  While you're enjoying the beauty of the cars, check out that amazing kitchen!  Great wallpaper, two-tone metal base cabinets, and if I'm not mistaken, metal upper cabinets with either knotty pine doors, or metal doors made to look like knotty pine.

I get a feeling that since this advertisement features a woman, and is aimed at women, that it might have been a daytime advertisement, maybe during the soap operas.

Don't forget to check out the amazingly beautiful exterior of the house as well!  Forget the Fords, I'll take the house!

Happiness is...

Inspired by Sonya at Dime Store Thrift, here are a few things that make me happy.

Happiness is...

Naked ladies in the yard (get your mind out of the gutter!).  I love the way that the leaves come up in the spring and the flowers appear later in the year.

Daffodils.  Lots of daffodils.

And this really pretty variety of daffodil that I don't know the name for (but the flowers are really interesting).  These were at the house when I bought it.

Red Flowering Quince that is getting flower buds and little leaves.

Being reunited with two old friends after a long winter apart.

Have a great Tuesday!

My Favorite Piece of Artwork

This painting dates to approximately 1932.  It is my favorite in my whole house, and I have it hanging in my bedroom above my TV where I can easily see it.

This painting was made by my grandma.  The back of the picture has the following written in pencil "Carol Dean Palmer, Liberal, MO, Age 12."  I am still amazed that a 12 year-old could create a painting like this.  My sister has the same painting, only Grandma made it in a winter scene.  My sister's is all in blues and whites.  It's very attractive as well.

I'm going to make a guess that my love for being creative comes from Grandma.  My mom has the same talent and made several really neat things when she was in school.  Some of my favorite classes in college were my art classes.  I took so many ceramics classes that I was told that the only way to enroll in any more would be to start a degree in art.  That didn't happen, but it was a great way to get those elective credits out of the way.

So now, my question comes to all of you.  Do you have pieces of art in your home that a family member created?  It might not be a painting, maybe it's something ceramic, or maybe a member of your family made jewelry, or maybe it is something else.  I find these to be the most important and valuable things in my home.  I may like the rest of the stuff in my home, but in the end it's just "stuff" these family pieces are the real treasures.

48 Followers...

 I've almost hit 50 followers.  As of this writing, I am at 49 48 followers (I lost one - you win some, you lose some).  When I hit that magic 50, I will be doing another give-away.  This time I'm gonna make you work for it!

More to come!

Estate Sale Treasures

Saturday found me going to an estate sale (auction) in a town about an hour away.  I don't normally travel this far to go to a sale, but it involved family of a co-worker, and the lure of what might be found in the estate of a 93 year-old woman got the best of me.  I had to go!

So, here's what I picked up:

This is just like the two orange lamps that I inherited from my grandma.  My orange ones used to have cool shades like this, but they were so rotten that they were coming apart at the slightest touch.  The great thing about these lamps is that there is a bulb in the glass base that makes it glow to be used as a night light.  The green matches another lamp that I have in the living room. $4.

This beautiful vintage glass compote with red trim also caught my eye.  Not sure what to do with it.  I may end up reselling it if I get a booth.  I think that I could do okay on this $8 piece.

I loved this little made in Japan oil and vinegar set.  Still have the original corks with wooden handles.  $2.

I always enjoy these colored base glass pitcher and glass sets when I come across them.  This poor set has seen much use, most of the gold trim is gone.  Still, there are not chips or nicks in any of them.  These might go for resale as well.  $7.

Plates, plates, and more plates.  The owner must have had plates hanging all over the walls.  These had been on the wall so long without being cleaned that they are sticky and cause my fingers to turn brown and sticky when I handle them.  Sounds like I'll need to clean them up.  Definitely not my style, I bought these just because I thought I could probably make money on them and nobody else would bid on them.  $1 per plate, all the ones in the photo above and the following three photos.  Some are matched sets, some are singles.

Finally, I bought a box of old sheets to use for rags.  Where else can you get a box of rags for $2?  These boxes are usually fun to dig through when you get home because there is almost always some kind of treasure that was thrown in there.  I found a bunch of hand made pot holders.

I have no clue what the four sided one in the upper right of the second picture is for.  The strawberry is kind of neat.

Also in with them were these two things:

A fun chicken that stands up.  No clue what it's for either, and a girl with two detachable potholders.

Have a great Sunday!

My New Tappan Stove on Tappan Talk

Hey everyone!  My new Tappan stove has been featured on the Tappan Talk blog today.  Looks like I have unearthed quite the mystery model.  Check out the post on Tappan Talk here.  I'm sure hoping that someone will be able to help unravel this mystery!

Many thanks to Tappan Talk for such a great write up and all the help!

Harmony House

I came across an old Harmony House plate at my favorite little junk shop, which I picked up for a quarter.  Harmony House was a Sears line.  I've always been partial to Montgomery Wards, personally.  Anyway, curiosity got the best of me and here are some beautiful Harmony House pieces found on the big auction site.

I'm hoping that the rain and storms hold off for a bit today.  I'm headed over to a town about an hour away for an estate sale.  I can't wait!  Auction time!

Please note: I am not affiliated with eBay or the sellers of the products shown above.  I do not receive any financial gain for sharing them with you.

Movie Friday: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Something familiar,
Something peculiar,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!

Something appealing,
Something appalling,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!

Comedy tonight!  This 1966 musical comedy was based on the stage production of the same name.

It's been a long day, so allow me to share some information from Wikipedia (you can see the whole article here).

"This film takes place in the city of Rome sometime during the reign of Emperor Nero. Pseudolus (Zero Mostel) is "the lyingest, cheatingest, sloppiest slave in all of Rome", whose only wish is to buy his freedom from his master's parents, the henpecked Senex (Michael Hordern) and his dominating wife Domina (Patricia Jessel). When he finds out that his master, Senex's handsome but dim son Hero (Michael Crawford), has fallen in love with Philia (Annette Andre), a beautiful virgin courtesan from the house of procurer (i.e. brothel owner) Marcus Lycus (Phil Silvers) next door, Pseudolus makes a deal: he will get the girl for Hero in return for his freedom. Unfortunately, the virgin has been sold to the great Roman soldier, Captain Miles Gloriosus (Leon Greene), who even now is on his way from conquering Crete to claim her as his bride. Pseudolus blackmails his overseer, Hysterium (Jack Gilford) into masquerading as the corpse of Philia to fool the captain, but things go wrong at every turn.

In the end, the boy gets the girl; Senex's next-door neighbor Erronius (Buster Keaton) finds that Phillia and Miles Gloriosus are in fact his long-lost children; and Pseudolus gets his freedom, a beautiful concubine to be his wife, and a dowry of 10,000 minae, compliments of Marcus Lycus."

I hope you enjoy some "Comedy Tonight!"

Have an amazing Friday!

It's Mine! All Mine!

Finally!  I have finally found my vintage stove!  It is a Tappan Deluxe model PHADV 668-7M with serial number 314964.  I can tell you, once it got here and we uncovered it, it was love at first sight!

I could go on and on about it's beauty, but pictures can speak louder than words in this case.  So here ya go, my new stove.  I think I'm going to have to come up with a name for her!

All the lights work!

The back - so pretty!  Look at all that beautiful chrome and the gold and red!

Both the oven door and the broiler door have these beautiful chrome handles with the red crest set in a gold background.

The glass in the stove door has the word "Visualite" on it and is surrounded by chrome trim.  I really like the lines in the glass.

Here you can see the model and serial number.

The drawers on the left side.  The top two are regular drawers, which I will probably put utensils in.  The bottom drawer is special.

The bottom drawer is for things like cereal and crackers.  It has a thing (like my technical vocabulary?) in it that absorbs moisture to keep things from getting stale.  When the crystals in the window turn pink, take the unit out, put it in the oven, and bake at 350 for 1 hour to return it to normal.

I still need to trace down the problem with the oven and have it repaired.  I think that I'm also going to rewire all of the electric, just to be on the safe side.  I will also have to have the orifices changed as it is set up for propane (LP) and my house is natural gas.

Have a great Thursday!

Vintage Vinyl Living Room Set

I came across this great vintage living room sofa and chair set on CraigsList last night.  I love the lines, and even the color (my favorite color is green), but the drawback to me is that it is vinyl.  I really don't care for vinyl...at all.

When I think of vinyl, I think of the waiting room furniture when I go to get the oil changed in my car.  I also think of the 1978 Chevrolet Caprice that my parents had from the time that I was 3 until I was 8 years old.  That car would burn rubber!  But, it had awful dark red vinyl interior.  Do you know what vinyl car seats do to little legs on a hot summer day?  It's not pretty.  Of course, they were freezing in the winter as well.  We used to keep towels on the seats to be comfortable.  So, my past dealings with vinyl give me visions of peeling my body off this couch when I lay down shirtless to watch a movie or when I'm sick and camped out on the couch.  But then on the plus side, spray it with a little Windex and wipe it down and it's clean!

The owner is asking $275 for the set.  Not bad for a set in good shape, if you want vinyl.  You can view the original CL ad here.

Oh, and a quick update on the stove - the delivery guy got behind in his rounds yesterday, so I still don't have it.  Hopefully today it will be mine.  All this anticipation is killing me!  I feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve!

Oh, Those Golden Arches...

So, I went through the drive-through at our local McDonald's tonight to grab a quick dinner.  What a pleasant experience when the cashier told me "Thank you, God Bless You, and have a nice night."  I love living in a small town!

Hamilton Beach Mystery Machine

Okay, I found this Hamilton Beach model 1MPU at my favorite little junk shop.  It's an electric meat grinder, salad maker, and can opener.  It does it all!  Best of all, the parts are all there and it works!  I do need to fix the cord, it has a place right next to where it goes into the white base unit where the wire is showing.  I'll most likely just cut it off and rewire the cord.  Out of curiosity, I looked these up on eBay.  Wow, what a find!  There was one on eBay last I looked that they were asking $70 for.  The finish on the base unit isn't perfect, but wow, even with taking off for the paint nicks, it's still worth a decent amount.  My favorite part?  I got it for $3!

Tonight!

My beautiful new (to me) vintage Tappan Deluxe is supposed to be delivered tonight!  It's going to be a long day now, and I have teacher meetings after school so I even get to work later and make it even more suspenseful!  How much time has passed in writing this post?  Oh, about 30 seconds...drats!

I Think I May Have Found It!

I have found a Tappan Deluxe stove that I think will finally make it's way into the Shack.  I've been conversing with the owner through email, and he's been cleaning it up and sending me some pictures of it.  I think the asking price of $200 is okay, although it needs a new oven safety valve, or at least to have the current one overhauled.  This will be a pricey fix, so the stove will probably sit in the garage for a little while until I get it all fixed.  It also needs to have the drip pans re-chromed.  It is supposedly a 1958 model, although it looks more like a 1948 model to me.  Supposedly the original owner purchased it new from a display at the 1957 Missouri State Fair, and had to wait for the fair to end before taking possession of it.

I must say, whatever year it is, it is in beautiful condition!  If I get it, (I'm still waiting on a couple of final pictures from the owner) I will share pictures with y'all as soon as I get it!

It even still has the original owner's guide!

If you enlarge the photo of the back, you will see that it reads "Form 1040D 1-56."  I'm wondering if this indicates that it was revised January of 1956?  If so, then this stove may actually be from 1957 or 1958.  I still think that it is most likely early to mid 1950s though.  This style just doesn't match the style in the ads I've seen for late 1950s appliances.  Oh well, it doesn't have to be 1958 correct for my house.  I like it, and that's really the important part in the end.

Here's hoping that this works out well!

I'm Seeing RED

...lighting that is.

It's DONE!!!!

Well, after two years of working on the project off and on, it's finally done (except for a few minor details).

It all started two years ago when I got curious as to what was behind the bead board next to the tub (on the wall by the door).  There's definitely something to the saying "curiosity killed the cat."  I was horrified to find that half of the wall was missing, and that the bead board had been put up on what little was left along with some plywood to make it sturdy.  It looked okay when it was all together, but it was hiding a disaster.  Years of water seepage from the shower had caused the wall to rot out.  The studs were gone on the lower half of the wall, hanging from the nails that kept them to the ceiling.  So this was the first project, rebuilding the wall.

Shortly after the roof started leaking over the bathroom and I got to have a whole new roof installed and have the bathroom ceiling replaced.  After getting these things fixed, I kind of lost some steam.

Then things picked back up last fall and I finally had purchased everything to finish the vanity, counter top, and sink.  Another six months passed, and I've finally had a warm day around 70 degrees (Friday) that I could begin to get the rest finished.  I won't mention the horrendous amount of snow and frigid temperatures (31 for the high) that came on Saturday.

I know that Thursday I shared that I had picked out two shades of gray and a shade of light blue to do the bathroom in, with the blue on the upper wall, and the light gray on the bead board.  Well, then Pam showed that colorful bathroom on Retro Renovation and it got me thinking.  Mom still had almost a full gallon of "Friendly Turquoise" from when we painted my old room at my parent's house (which I'll have to share sometime - the Heywood Wakefield bedroom set looks amazing in there), and I switched things up.  Instead of blue, I went with the turquoise.  Instead of turquoise on top, I put it on bottom like the turquoise tile in Pam's post.  That meant that the gray would go on top.

Here's another view from the doorway.  I have shades up, but I still need to get curtains up.  I'm thinking I'm just going to do a simple black valance to coordinate with the counter.  I also still need to hang up the artwork above the toilet.

I replaced almost all of the bead board on this wall.  No more hole in the drywall!  If you look at the bottom of the cabinet, you can see that I still need to get it finished next to the floor.

The new shower curtain and the little closet behind the tub.  This is where the wall was rotted out.  Here I still need to finish the woodwork in the mahogany finish and hang the cabinet door on the bottom.  I'm going to hang a small black curtain on the top part to hide the open shelving.

Finally, I have a new floor!  The old stuff was awful cheap stuff that was installed just so that it would look good enough to sell the house.  I cut and installed this floor myself.  I'm pretty proud of the end result!  The vinyl was purchased on clearance from Owen Carpet last Fall.

Now, I'm going to take a couple of months to recuperate from this project before tackling the next room.  My back and my knees are killing me!  I can't decide if the next project will be the kitchen or my bedroom.  The kitchen requires some cabinet refinishing and installing vinyl that matches the bathroom.  The bedroom needs a couple of walls of drywall replaced and some extra electrical outlets installed (2 outlets in a 12 x 14 room isn't enough!).  Either way, there's still a lot of work to do here at the Shack!

Have a great Sunday, I'm going to have to shovel the snow so I can get out!

It's the First Day of Spring!

And it's snowing.  Yuck!  70 degrees yesterday, 31 degrees right now.  Last I heard was anywhere from 4 to 10 inches of this junk.

Movie Friday: Fiddler on the Roof

Tradition!

Today's movie is the classic 1971 musical, Fiddler on the Roof.  Set in Russia in the very early 1900s, "the story centers on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his family and religious traditions while outside influences encroach upon their lives. He must cope with both the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters—each one's choice of husband moves further away from the customs of her faith—and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts the Jews from their village." - Wikipedia

"Without tradition, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof!" - Tevye

I had never watched this movie until it appeared on the $5 rack at the local discount store (I get most of my movies that way).  I had heard of it, but I had never seen it.  I didn't realize how many songs that I know came from this movie.  It is definitely worth watching (when I get it back from it's loan to my parents).  The movie won three Academy Awards.

Enjoy this preview trailer of the movie, then go and find a copy and watch it.  I think you'll enjoy it!

Enough from me - time to work on the bathroom!

Happy Friday!

Is the Final Product in Sight?

I have Friday off, as we have Parent-Teacher Conferences this evening.  My plan for my day off?  Finish the bathroom!  Here is my chosen color scheme, along with the flooring that I have chosen, and a picture of what I have already done to the vanity and counter tops.  I hope that my vision works out well!

 
This is the bathroom when I looked at the house at the beginning of July, 2006.  Please don't yell at me for the toilet seat being up, there isn't a toilet seat at all.  The previous owner did a pretty good job hiding all the problems in here.  The bathroom still has the original toilet, sink, and tub, as well as the original counter top.  Unfortunately, the sink is beginning to rust, the counter top glue has bit the dust and it's bubbling up, and the original plastic wall tile was removed and replaced with this awful, ugly pine bead board.  After living here, I have learned that moisture behind the tile is most likely the reason that the tile had to be replaced.  Too bad I had to go in and fix everything correctly, since it was all just covered up before I bought the house.

Here is the update that I made to the vanity last fall.  Before deciding to restore the bathroom to be period correct, I was planning on a major update.  I had already purchased the materials to update this area when I changed my mind.  I was not going to let those beautiful black granite tiles go to waste!  I did purchase the anodized aluminum trim from Schluter Systems to give the feeling of the original aluminum trim that was on the laminate counter.  I have also trimmed out the flat slab doors to make them look like they are recessed panel doors.  Believe me, if you had lived with the doors the way they were before, you would have done the same thing.  The vanity was very sturdy, but it wasn't attractive, even back in the 1950s.  It was just cheap.  I love the mahogany stain with the black and aluminum.

Here's the flooring that I have purchased.  It's plain old sheet vinyl, but I think the gray will go well with what I am doing.  It doesn't look well with the colors in the pic below, but when holding the chips up to the actual piece of vinyl that's in my garage, it matches better.

Here are the colors that I have chosen.  I can't afford to retile the bathroom, as I had really wanted to, so I'm going to have to make do for now with the ugly bead board.  The bead board will become the light gray you can see on the wall in the background, the trim in the room will be the dark gray trim that you see on the trim here, and the light blue on the wall in the foreground will be used on the drywall above the bead board.  If it goes as well as the picture in my mind, I think that it will work out well.

Here's a picture of my inspiration so that you can get a general idea of where I'm headed, only with my own twist.  I know the blue is more aqua / green, but I'm wanting the blue.  If my idea doesn't work out, I can always repaint!

Mystery Man

Oh, if pictures could talk.  I wonder who this mystery man could be.  I found this ancient photo in with all those S & H Green Stamps that I got at that auction a little over a week ago.  Whoever he is, I'm sure that he was pretty proud of that truck that he's leaning up against.

It's always so interesting to dig though a box of stuff that you get an a sale.  You can find the most amazing things. 

So, what fantastic things have you come across after purchasing a bulk box at a sale?  I almost always get these boxes because there is one thing in there that I am interested in, and usually the things that are really interesting are the little "extras" that come in the box!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Russia Lovin'

I'm finding it hard to believe that it will soon be five years since my trip to Vladimir, Russia.  It was a wonderful experience and I dream of returning someday.

Today I wanted to share this amazing blue, white, and gold music box.  It is in the shape of one of the amazing Russian cathedrals with beautiful painted onion domes atop each tower surrounding the central tower.  Each of the taller domes has a metal Russian Orthodox cross atop it.  The shorter domes have wooden spires.  The music box plays the song Katyusha.

I have so many beautiful items that I brought back with me, and it was all so inexpensive.  I purchased many beautiful pieces of Russian crystal.  I must share them with you some time!

Here is the website for the city of Vladimir, Russia.

I have even updated the blog music player for today with a couple of Russian folk songs that I learned while I was over there.

So, how about you?  Have you ever been anywhere outside of the United States (not including Mexico or Canada)...maybe I should ask if any of you have ever been outside of North America?

Distinguished Merchandise - from S & H Green Stamps

So, last week I shared all of those old S&H Green Stamps and booklets that I got at that estate sale.  Included with those items was a catalog from 1956 for S&H's Diamond Jubilee.  There are a lot of great things in there, and today, I've scanned a few pages to share.

First up, the pages above and below show dinnerware and glassware that could be purchased with Green Stamps.  (If you click on the pictures, they will enlarge so that you can see them better.)  I'm really loving item B, the Ebonette Kowles China, item E, the Colony Glass 13 piece hostess set, and item H, the Knowles Ebonette Three Tier Tid Bit Tray with wrought iron handle.

Now, a couple of pages of beautiful mid 1950s lamps.

Item C in the photo above is a great TV lamp planter, much like the one that I shared in my eBay widget on Saturday.

Finally, here ya go, a page full of eye candy!  These lamps are fantastic!  I am particularly fond of item K, the brass plated table lamp, and item P, the ceramic and brass three-way table lamp, available in pink, white, or black base.  I'll take one in each color, please!