Those Marching Penguins

Saturday was a busy day, as not only did we have the soldier's funeral in town, but we also had the estate auction to end all other estate auctions.  Thankfully the auction and the funeral were only 2 blocks apart, so I was able to attend both.  The auction was for a lady from my church, whose husband's family had lived in the same house since the early 1900s.  They were savers, and the house had a lot of space to keep things.  Good thing too, as things were very high quality and sold for very high prices.  The lady was the last of her family; however, as someone said at the auction, we were all her family, every one of us at our church.  She taught home economics for many years, and it seemed that almost everyone in the community knew her.

I went with three things in mind that I wanted to purchase, however two of them weren't there as they had been left to someone else.  I did manage to get a beautiful vintage Zenith console television (think early 1960s).  It's going to go in my living room, as it matches the style of my furniture and I no longer use the room for watching TV.

I have been keeping my eye out for a West Bend Penguin Hot and Cold Server for a while now.  I have the base of one, but not the lid.

Well, my search has come to an end!  I found one at the sale, one like I have never found before!  It's finished in a copper finish.  Wow!  There aren't any on the big auction site like this one!

It also has the bakelite handles.  All in all, not a bad purchase, considering I got it for $6.  I might have been able to get it cheaper, but they had a pile and were selling choice piece, and I didn't want to risk losing it to someone else while I waited for the price to come down.

I found a lot of other amazing things at the sale as well.  If I get time to do some scanning tonight, I'll post some incredible vintage pictures tomorrow.

A Small Town Responds To Unwanted Guests

I know most (if not all) of my readers have heard about the disgusting acts of a church congregation from Topeka, Kansas.  They picket and protest the funerals of fallen soldiers.  Yesterday, we had a funeral in our town for a soldier who died in Iraq.  The disgusting church, which I will not name here as I don't want people to find my blog when they search for the church (please do not name them in your comments, either), jumped in and made arrangements to protest at the funeral.  Now, I don't know how many of my fellow readers are fortunate enough to live in a small town, but they are the most wonderful places.  The townspeople, upon discovering the funeral would be picketed, immediately organized themselves.  Many thanks to the Patriot Guard Riders who helped with this event.

I would estimate that somewhere between 1500 and 2000 people showed up in support of the family.  Many people came in from neighboring towns.  The whole goal was to block the protesters from the view of the family.  The townspeople were incredibly successful, with many thanks to the city.  The city assigned them to an area where the funeral home could be seen, but where they could be blocked by other people.  The city also only allowed them a protest permit for the minimum amount allowable under law, 45 minutes.  They could start and 12:15 and must be finished and gone by 1:00, which is the time that the funeral began.  I can tell you, from the funeral home, all views of these disgusting people were blocked, and the family did not see them.

I also love the fact that the restaurants and other businesses in town refused service to them, and from what I have heard, the local motels refused to allow them rooms when they called.  There were signs that read "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" all over town.

My heart swells with pride for the way that the town stood up to these people.  There were police everywhere, and the state police were in town as well.  The people came, did their protest in vain, and left.  The following pictures do no justice to the sheer number of people lining the streets along the funeral home (I'm not a great photographer, and all I had with me was my cell phone camera).

God bless our troops.  God bless America.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Somehow, this video seems fitting today.

Movie Friday: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

That's right.  My favorite movie for the Halloween season (and many other times of the year).  The cult classic.

Puts me in the mood to do the Time Warp!

This 1975 film celebrates it's 35th anniversary this year.  You can view the official fan club site here.

The following plot summary is from Wikipedia:

"The story, narrated by a criminologist, tells the tale of newly engaged couple, Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, who find themselves lost and with a flat tire on a cold and rainy, late November evening. Seeking a phone with which to call for help at a nearby castle, Brad and Janet discover a group of strange and outlandish people who are holding an Annual Transylvanian Convention. They watch, still wet from the rain, as the Transylvanians, servants, and a tap dancing groupie dance the "Time Warp", the film's signature song.
They are soon swept into the world of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a bizarre and self-proclaimed "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania". The ensemble of convention attendees also include servants Riff Raff, his sister Magenta, and a groupie named Columbia.

Frank claims to have discovered the "secret to life itself". In a scene inspired by the classic Frankenstein films, his creation, Rocky Horror, is brought to life. The ensuing celebration is soon interrupted by Eddie, an ex-delivery boy, partial brain donor to Rocky, and Columbia's implied lover, who rides out of a deep freeze on a motorcycle. In a jealous rage, Frank corners him and slaughters him with an ice axe. He then departs with Rocky to a bridal suite off of the laboratory.
Brad and Janet are shown to separate bedrooms, where each is visited and seduced in turn by Frank, posing as the opposite. Janet, upset and emotional, wanders off to look for Brad, whom she discovers is with Frank via a television monitor. She then discovers Rocky, cowering in his birth tank, hiding from Riff Raff, who has been tormenting him. While tending to Rocky's wounds, Janet seduces him, while Magenta and Columbia watch from their bedroom monitor.

After discovering that his creature is missing, Frank, Brad, and Riff Raff return to the lab, where Frank learns that an intruder has entered the building. Dr. Everett Scott, Brad and Janet's old high school science teacher, has come looking for his nephew, Eddie, but Frank suspects Dr. Scott of working for the government investigating UFOs. Upon learning of Brad and Janet's connection to Scott, Frank suspects them of working for him.

Rocky and the guests are served dinner, which they soon realize has been prepared from Eddie's remains. Janet runs screaming into Rocky's arms and is chased through the halls of the castle by a jealous Frank. Janet, Brad, Dr. Scott, Rocky, and Columbia all meet in Frank's lab, where Frank captures them with the Medusa Transducer, transforming them into living statues. They are then forced to perform a live cabaret floor show.
The performance is interrupted by Riff Raff and Magenta, who stage a coup and announce their plan to return to the planet of Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. In the process, they kill Columbia, Rocky, and Frank. They release the humans, Brad, Janet, and Dr. Scott, and then depart by lifting off in the Castle itself."

One thing that I really found interesting is that the movie is still in limited release 35 years after its premier, making it the longest-running theatrical release in film history.

Just a word of warning though, this movie is not for everyone!

Have a great Friday!

I Love Surprises

At one of the auctions I attended over the weekend, I purchased a box with numerous old copies of Better Homes and Gardens ranging from the 1950s to the 1970s.  I'd say there is somewhere between 18 and 24 magazines in the box.  I was digging through the box when I got home, pulling them all out, and when I got the last one out, there on the bottom of the box, under them all was this!

This large book What a home should be was published by the National Plan Service and is copyright 1957.  It is printed up with the name of the local lumberyard (which is still in business).  Inside are several different house plans.  Several of them even show different elevations to show how the plans for the same house can go from colonial-type styling to modern styling, to everything in-between.  Great versatility in style for each plan offered.

Looking for a cozy small ranch house?  Look no further.

A contemporary split level?  It's got that as well!

More ranch styles, I love flat roof ranch houses (although around here, a flat roof is a recipe for disaster!).

I love the huge chimney in the first photo above, and the beautiful stone shown in the second photo.

The book also featured several interior design ideas.  I really liked this pink and blue bathroom.  The floating cabinets, the pink tile that goes from the floor up the window wall, continuing the blue and light pink design.

Needless to say, I have spent quite a bit of time going through this book (I haven't shared a fraction of what is in it).  Maybe I'll go through the old Better Homes and Gardens magazines eventually!  I'm actually looking at house plans, dreaming of building a new house from a mid-century plan.  Maybe someday I can make that dream come true...complete with salvaged and restored metal kitchen cabinets, and a salvaged pink, blue, light green, or yellow bathroom set (or two)!

Hocus Pocus

I have my favorite movie for the Halloween season coming up on Friday, but I couldn't overlook Hocus Pocus, and I'm out of Fridays!  So, here it is, the 1993 classic starring Bette Middler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters.

As taken from IMDb:

"More than 300 years ago, 3 witches were sentenced to die in Salem, Massachusetts and a boy was turned into a cat (a black cat, naturally). Now it's Halloween, and the witches (who fly on [I kid you not] vacuum cleaners) are back. This time, they've got their eyes on immortal life and have turned their wrath on trick-or-treaters and it's up to the 300-year-old cat to save the day."

I put a spell on you...and now you're mine!

Tornadoes?

Ah, life in the midwest.  Tornado watch until 6:00 AM.  Gotta love living in tornado alley.  Usually tornadoes are only a threat in Spring.  Oh well, I can't think of a part of the U.S. that doesn't have some type of weather or natural disaster to worry about, be it hurricanes, blizzards, or earthquakes.

I Love Three Day Weekends!

Thanks to having Parent-Teacher Conferences until almost 8:30 Thursday evening, school was closed on Friday.  I love getting to sleep in on Friday and Saturday!

I spent Friday afternoon and part of my day Saturday at some estate auctions.  The auction season is going to start winding down before too long, so I'm trying to get my fix in before it's over.  The sale of the year is next Saturday, and I have my eye on a few things there.  It's going to bring a big crowd as it is full of antiques (the lady was 96 years old, had lived in the house since she married, and it had been in her husband's family a long time before they married).  The house has been in the same family since it was built, I believe, and many of the pieces in the house have been there long before the lady the sale is for lived in it.  Sadly, the lady had no children, and the amazing things in her estate will be scattered to the wind.  We'll see if I'm successful in getting the three things that I'm interested in.  I've been saving up my pennies for a long time.

This past weekend, I picked up a few pieces.  The above lamp is between 3 and 4 feet tall.  I love the style.  The good: great style and I picked it up for $1.  The bad: the lady that owned it was a smoker (not that there is anything wrong with that) and it has a strong smoke smell.  Not sure how to tackle removing the smell from the shade.  Any ideas?

Can anybody tell me what these bottles are for?  They have glass stoppers in the top.  The one on the left has gold and turquoise cats on it.  They are almost sickeningly cute.  Not really my style.  The one on the right has a great turquoise and gold spear / arrow type design.  I much prefer the more geometric style of this piece.  They were sold as a pair for $1.50.

This little Hazel Atlas bowl did not look like this when I bought it.  The design had turned a green/black color.  Thanks to Bar Keepers Friend, it now looks like it did when it was new.

And of course, there were a few pieces of Pyrex to pick up as well.  This yellow 2 1/2 quart square bowl was a must.

Two 8 1/2 inch pie plates were on the list to pick up as well.  This is my first piece of pink Pyrex.  I have several pieces of the lime green.  It is one of my favorite Pyrex colors.

Two small Pyrex dinnerware bowls.  One blue and one gray.

Lastly, the above Mod Kitchen 1 1/2 quart casserole came in the mail last week.  It is the first thing that I have purchased from the online Goodwill auction site.  It was filthy when it arrived, with baked on food on the outside.  However, a good soaking and a good scrubbing with Bar Keepers Friend made it look like new!

So, did any of you get any great finds over the weekend?