Movie Friday: Harvey

Today's movie features the classic Jimmy Stewart.  This 1950 film is about a man who has an imaginary friend.  That friend just happens to be a big white rabbit.  The rabbit is a pooka, which you can read all about here.

To read more about the movie, check out the Wikipedia article here.

Hope you all have a great Friday!

More Recent Finds

Out of the things that I'm sharing today, I think this is my favorite.  It's an Electrolux Model G.  Turquoise!  It's turquoise!  It has several attachments with it, but unfortunately not carpet head.  Oh well.  It works well (I used it to vacuum the dog hair off the couch...my dog sneaks up on it when I forget to cover it).  I am amazed at how quiet this machine is.  It's little more than a hum when it's on.  Turns out, it's a model that Electrolux collectors seem to seek.  Who would have thought, a collector of vacuums.  I guess there really is a collector for everything!  I picked it up because my grandma used to have an Electrolux (although it was newer than this).  Not a bad deal for $4.  I picked it up at the same estate auction that I got my red Ericofon, which I shared last Monday.

Next, I recently thrifted a pair of these glasses.  Does anybody know anything about who made them or what the pattern is called?  I call them Early American, because the pattern makes me think of the Pyrex Early American pattern.  Two glasses for $1.

Lastly, a Thermos lunch box.  Yes, it is plastic, but it has some years on it.  I'd guess it's from the 1960s, if I had to make a guess.  Too bad it didn't have a Thermos in it!

Hope you all have a great Monday!  Anybody get any great finds over the weekend?

Movie Friday: The Godfather

Yesterday's well publicized round-up of mob members brought today's movie to mind.

This 1972 film follows the Corleone family beginning in 1945.  The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton.  I highly recommend you watch it, or you may find yourself facing an offer you can't refuse!

If you want to read all of the specifics on the film, you can find them here.

Have a great Friday!  It's gonna be another hectic one for me, as we had a snow day yesterday.  Going back on a Friday after a snow day is always fun!

The Holy Grail of Retro Phones

I couldn't believe what I found an an estate auction this weekend.  (P.S. The estate sale totally reenergized my vintage vibe.)  Anyway, I got some great finds that I'll share soon, along with some finds from thrifting last week that haven't made it to the blog yet.  However, in the box lots at the auction I found a box that contained a bunch of old rotary dial phones.  It was obvious that they had been stored in a barn for a long time - they were filthy.  However, digging through the crate, I found a phone that almost caused me to have a stroke.  Along with a vintage Stromberg-Carlson wall phone and a white Trimline rotary phone like my grandma had when  I was a kid, there was something bright red poking through.  That's when I discovered this:

A vintage Ericofon!  I was floored.  It took a while to get it cleaned up, but it looks so amazing.  I wish that I was able to wire it up and use it, but it is designed to be hardwired into the house, and I don't have that ability.  I may see if there is an adapter available.  If nothing else, it looks amazing sitting on a side table in the living room!  These are pretty rare, at least more so than the standard phones that Bell systems installed in homes, this is the first one that I've seen in person.  I also know that they can sell for pretty high prices on eBay.  So, I felt like the $9 I paid for the whole box was a decent deal.  I could have probably gotten it cheaper, but the way box lots work, you bid in a price, then you pick how many boxes you want for that price.  I don't think anybody else probably really wanted a box full of dirty old phones, but I wasn't taking any chances!

A little history on the Ericofon is available on the following website ericofon.com.  It really has an interesting history!

Here are a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Hope you have a great Monday!

Movie Friday: Cinderella

Okay, I'll admit it, this one is for Mick.  His theatre's next production is Cinderella, and he's been quite busy.  With just what, well, that's for him to tell you.  However, through my best attempts to keep this thing out of my mind, I have had Cinderella in the back of my mind all week.  I've been blasting Mick back (he keeps sending me YouTube video clips of Cinderella) with vintage No Doubt music videos.  Spiderwebs, anyone?

Anyway, here's the Disney animated classic, Cinderella.

My research shows that the story most likely originated in classical antiquity.  The oldest known version of the story was recorded by a Greek historian in the 1st century BC.  How's that for a classic tale?

Disney's movie is set upon the work of Charles Perrault, whose version of the story was titled Cendrillon.  Perrault added the elements of the pumpkin, glass slippers, and fairy-godmother in 1697.  He based his work on the much earlier versions of the story, most notably the story of Cenerentola, which was written by a Neopolitan soldier and government official by the name of Giambattista Basile in 1634.  However, as I said before, the original premise for the tale dates to at least 1st century BC Greece, not 17th century France.  It is a classic tale that has spanned more than 2000 years.  I don't see it fading into history any time soon.

Disney released it's animated version in 1950, and it starred Ilene Woods as the voice of Cinderella.  You can read all about the Disney version of the film here.

As a follow-up to my post yesterday, I think my big thing with not being interested in anything vintage lately is because I have so much of it.  I have gone through my house purging items that I don't want, and have too many boxes full of stuff to sell.  I'm keeping my favorite stuff, donating good usable non-vintage items to Salvation Army (do you know how weird it is to walk into the Salvation Army Thrift Store and see your former items sitting out for sale?) and preparing the rest of it to sell in a booth.  I think this need to clear out the extra stuff is why I'm not feeling the vintage vibe right now.  I also feel that I have spent way too much money on vintage things lately, and it needs to be reined in.  It's not that I don't still love vintage, I just need to redirect it towards getting things the way that I want them.  That said, I did go out junking yesterday on my 3rd snow day (I HAD to get out of the house) and I found a few fun things that I will share soon.

Anyway, have a great Friday!  It's my first day back after an unexpected and unwanted 3 days off, so the kids should be wired.  Glad their parents will get to have them over the weekend.  Of course the downside of all of this is that all scheduled vacation days from now through March are gone.  Ever see a teacher in late March that hasn't had a break since Christmas?  It isn't a pretty site!

GM Futurama - 1939 World's Fair

I have had three snow days this week.  Stir crazy? YES!  I think I'm ready to go to the looney bin!  I've been camped out on the sofa bored out of my mind.  I have watched several episodes of Merlin on Hulu.  Anybody else watch Merlin?  I love it!

Anyway, I feel like I need to apologize.  I haven't been posting much lately.  I have lost my vintage vibe!  How can this happen?!?!?  I have loved mid-century stuff since I was in middle school - probably close to 18 years.  Somehow, I'm just not feeling it right now.  Does this ever happen to you?  I'm sure that it will come back eventually.  I sure hope it does, because somehow the new multi-story house that I've been dreaming of lately, with full basement, including a rec-room, cherry kitchen cabinets and granite countertops, just isn't going to happen.  Although the shiny new Buick in my dream I certainly wouldn't mind.  Especially since mine has been in the shop for a few days.  Sigh, I miss my car.

While lounging around on the sofa with my laptop in front of me the past couple of days, I ran across this great video from the 1939 World's Fair.  It is so much fun to see what they were predicting what the US would be like in 1960.  Makes you wonder how our country would have developed differently if WWII hadn't occured.  Anyway, enjoy these two videos, which show the entire film.

Here's a clip from the TV show Merlin that I'm loving so much (it's a BBC show that is airing on SyFy - but you can watch the first two seasons on Hulu).  Have a great Thrusday!  Here's hoping that I get to go back to work tomorrow.  Contrary to popular belief, this teacher does not like snow days!

Movie Friday: Forbidden Planet

I read earlier this week that Anne Francis passed away.  As such, I felt it was only fitting that this week's movie be Forbidden Planet.

The movie dates to 1956, and starred Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, and Anne Francis.  According to information on Wikipedia, the movie was inspired by William Shakespeare's The Tempest.

You can read the Wikipedia article that will tell you all about the movie here.

Have a great Friday!

Update...

Remember a couple of months ago when I shared about the soldier's funeral that we had in town?  The one that that "church" came to protest?  You can see my original post here.

Anyway, I ran across a blog yesterday from a family member of the soldier.  They had a really nice write up about the community support along with a link to some YouTube videos and other articles on the event.

One photo inparticular really shows the sheer number of people that came out in support of the family.  I couldn't get good photos of the event, so I was happy to find this one.

You can read the blog post from the family member here.

Here's a video from the day:

Anyway, I was pleased to find this information, and wanted to share with all of my great blogging friends.  Have an amazing Monday!

P.S.  As I don't want people to find my blog when they search for that "church", I ask that my readers refrain from naming them in comments, so that it won't show up in search terms.  Thanks for your understanding.

Seeing the Old Year Out...

Last Friday I decided to hit up a couple of thrift stores.  My favorite was closed as it was New Year's Eve, and the other two didn't have anything that I was interested in.  So, on my way out of town, I stopped at "The Midwest's Largest Antique Mall".  Well, it was definitely huge.  It took me over two hours to go through the store.  It was a mix of antiques and flea market.  Some great stuff that was way overpriced, and a lot of junk.  Through it all, I found a couple of things that were priced better that I could ever find at a thrift shop, and I was shocked to find so cheaply at an antique place.

I was thrilled to pick up the above 3 quart Pyrex bowl in the Federal Eagle pattern.  3 quarts is an off size for Pyrex bowls.  They are usually 2.5 quarts or 4 quarts.  It is also a different shape.  The lip is different, as this bowl is smooth at the top, where most of the normal bowls have a more pronounced lip.  I was ecstatic that I was able to pick it up for $3!

Next up, I found a delphite blue Fire King (I believe - it isn't marked, but is sure looks like Fire King to me) deviled egg plate.  I see these quite often in opal white glass, but I have never run across one in delphite.  The booth that I found it in had one of each.  They were both the same price.  I left the opal glass one behind and brought the delphite home.  Another great find for $5. 

Two great pieces, $8 total.  I call that success.

Have a wonderful Monday!  It's my first day back to work after 2 weeks off.  The kids should be...interesting.  :)

Pepsi or Coke?

The other night, I was chatting with Mick from Everyone Goes to Mick's and the age old question came up.  Pepsi or Coke?  Apparently I'm a communist, as Mick implied that Pepsi drinkers are (this was all light hearted and in good fun).  However, even though Mick is a demonic Coke fan, we're still friends.  Eventually we were able to find some common ground.

This led me to send the following picture via text message to Mr. Mick (notice the Soviet issue beige paint on my walls?):

He followed up by sending this back to me (can't you just see those little demon horns sprouting out of his head?):

So, how about you?  Pepsi or Coke?

Oh, you may be wondering what our common ground is.  We both like orange soda!

Hope you've enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed creating it!  And please, comment with your preference between the two!

Have a great Sunday!

Have an Ab Fab New Year!

One of my favorite TV shows of all time is the British comedy Absolutely Fabulous.  The show aired in the early-mid 1990s and again came back for a couple more seasons in the mid 2000s.  It is such a riot.

So, today to ring in the New Year, I am sharing a couple of my favorite clips from the show's New Year episodes.

First up, poor Bubble doesn't understand how New Year's works:

Next, Patsy, who has been on a liquid diet since the 1970s, has a bite to eat on New Year's Eve.  We only see Pasty eat two times in the 5 seasons of the show.

So, are any of my readers Ab Fab fans?