Antique Musical Chime Toy

Do you have a child that loves vintage - or do you love it for yourself - here is a great addition to any collection.........

Antique Fisher Price Musical Chime toy - It is made of metal and has great illustrations of several different nursery rhymes all that I tried to catch in the pictures. The metal is in good condition with no dents and the seam is intact.

The round ends are made of red wood and have an ornate sticker on the outside with the number 722. There is scratching to the round surface from use, but no significant loss of wood. The wheels are attached with a metal handle and wood that runs through the middle of the toy. This has a threaded hole in which the handle gets screwed and still threads great. The handle is red painted wood with only minimal loss of paint and nicks.

The sound when rolling this toy is great and very loud yet!The metal part of the toy is marked “Fisher Price Toy”, made in U.S.A, “Musical Chime”, DES. PAT. NO. 167975, and also Fisher-Price Toys, Inc. East Aurora, N. Y. The metal portion measures 8 inches wide and 13 inches around and the total height of this toy is 24 inches.

To purchase this toy or to look at more vintage toys and books for sale, visit my store at:

http://www.tias.com/stores/midwestsalecourt/

Internet Buddies

I find it interesting how as humans we can sense things about each other even though we only converse through our finger tips touching a keyboard.

I often thought that it was the “safe” way to communicate! You do not know who is on the other end, so personal attachment, just would not happen! No hurting with them when they are, no worrying about how they are doing, no heart break when the friendship ends…… Well today I feel like I am losing my best friend!

I met Linda back in January when I began purchasing items from her on eBay. She was one of those elite sellers who would not participate in the art of shill bidding, padding shipping, or requiring insurance and then not purchasing it! She was more than happy to just sit back and hold on to my purchases and then would ship them in one box and charge me the actual shipping cost! For me, one whose income is through an established store, this was a fantastic way to make a profit and it also allowed Linda the opportunity to sell more items by combining shipping. How this all works is an entirely different story! What I did not realize, in the back of my mind, is that I was also becoming and making a friend!

Two weeks ago Linda told me she was leaving eBay. I was devastated just thinking about the loss of another seller in my “Favorite Sellers List”. Then I read more about the reason why and I felt that sickening churn in the pit of my stomach, but as I read on, I felt great peace for Linda and the journey she is going on! Linda is in the process of publishing her first book!

In our keyboard conversation she wanted to send me a little gift and left the pictured glass is one of the pieces she sent me. Tears still roll down my cheeks as I admire such a gift! I emailed Linda to find out more about this piece and this was her response,

“Thanks for your email. I am so glad you like the glass. To be honest, I am not sure what kind of glass it is but I know it was my grandma's and was old. She died at 98 years of age. It makes me so happy that you like the glassware. They are so pretty and I just wanted them to go to someone special and not just anyone at an auction. In return you will help spread the word on my book so it is a win-win for both of us. My website is http://lindafossen.com/Welcome.html. We just got back from Orlando and are going back to stay for good on Monday. I am so excited. There are so many opportunities to speak there and people were so receptive to my story. We are going to have the book released on or before June 1st. Keep checking the website and it will have the latest information. God bless you dear Donna. I hope I get to meet you in person someday. You certainly have been a wonderful customer who turned out to be a good friend. God bless you!!!”

So, not only am I feeling like I lost a friend today, but I have no idea what this piece is. I am thinking Buttons & Daisy from Imperial, but have had no luck finding anything similar or this piece.

It measures 7 inches tall from base to handle and 15 inches around the bulb. It is footed with 4 distinct seams and “daisies” embossed on the bottom side of the foot. The bulb portion is designed with alternating rows of “buttons” and “daisies” all around. Just before the scalloped edge, there is a “saw tooth” design. The scalloped edge of the base and the lid are smooth and form the entire dish perfectly.

The lid has the “daisy” design and then continues with larger to small “saw tooth” patterns. The handle has four “thumb print” type indentations and then one on the top.
If anyone has any information please feel free to email me and you can also take a look at more glass in my store to buy or critique at:

http://www.tias.com/stores/midwestsalecourt/

How Collectibles Roam!

How collectibles roam!

This adorable cup was purchased by me, approximately 10 years ago, from a store in Sioux Falls, SD. While my children were young I use to take it out every Valentine’s Day and would utilize it for my morning coffee and each year it would get gently packed away for the next year, until 2008.

My children have now grown to the age where they really could care less what I have on my hutch or what type of cup I am drinking from, so it went up for sale to be delivered to a new family with young children!

In my experience with selling Holiday collectibles they are hard to sale. I find that the public does not want to pay the price for shipping when they can hit the 50% off sales in their local stores after the Holiday, but this particular cup has lasted the years without any loss of paint, scratching, or cracks, so I set the price low and still really did not expect it to sale. It is made by © Karen Dvorak and has the same picture of 2 children whispering within a heart on both sides and it is perfect for a gift to hold candy, to be used for display, or in my case it can deliver that fresh aroma of coffee every morning with the reminder of what Valentine’s Day means to me!

Too my surprise, this cup did sale and sold right away! I was glad that it would be utilized by somebody else now and not left in a box for the rest of its life! The buyer is a lady who lives in El Dorado Hills, California and as time went on I was able to find out why this cup is so dear to her own heart! The picture displayed is her daughter, who is now thirteen, and her nephew. She explained to me that it was her sister-in-law who was the photographer and recalls that day of the photo shoot, “One sat for it while my other daughter could not resist chasing the ducks”.

Since this experience I have decided to not keep my hidden Holiday treasures tucked away, but to place them in my store for others to buy and hopefully to bring back old memories in somebody else’s life!

You too can browse through over 80 items that are great for different Holiday décor in my store at:

http://www.tias.com/stores/midwestsalecourt/

Blenko Bent Neck Cruet

The Bottle that changed my life

It was our first snow of the season, and I was determined to begin a new adventure in my life, so I bravely set out for my first consignment auction.

It wasn’t like I didn’t know anything about antiques! I mean I knew what Carnival Glass was and if something looked old, it must be an antique. I grew up around them most of my life while my grandparents were busy tending to their own store.

Well anyway, naïve or not, I began going through the items outside and I found one box with an old 1908 “Ball Blue” bottle in it along with several other bottles. I waited in the bitter cold until the auctioneer reached where I was lurking over this one box that I wanted.

Bidding began, and of course, I gave him the first dollar bid! I remember thinking in the back of my mind, “Hey guys, I just won this box for a buck and there is a Ball jar in there that is worth much more then that!” To my surprise the bidding kept on going! There was one other lady who knew that jar was in there and it took thirteen bids before I finally obtained my prize.

After I won the box of bottles, I felt kind of guilty and asked the lady bidding against me what she was bidding for in the box. She wanted to take the larger bottles and put lights in them for her deck. My gut feeling was that I should keep them, so I politely told her that she could find bigger bottle like them on the internet, and I moved on.

When I got home I exuberantly showed my husband my winnings and then began to search the internet to see what I had won. That was one of the biggest shocks of my life! Did you know that there is more to antiques then Ball Jars and Carnival Glass?

As I searched I found that I had purchased a purple oxidized bottle that contained tincture of lemon and sold for $10.00, a Bail Wire “Blue Ball” jar from 1908 that I sold for $1.00, an old whiskey bottle with “Federal Law forbids sale or reuse of this container” that I still own, an Old World Italian Wine Cooler that I still own, and the above Blenko Bottle!

I am amazed at what I found out about this Blenko. The color is Amberina and the pattern is referred to as the bent neck made in 1950.This piece is 13 inches long and 14 ½ inches around the base. The condition is great with no cracks, chips, or air bubbles. The base is ground smooth with a high pontil that remains rough. The opening is ground smooth and grounded on the inside to accept a stopper. The stopper is a mushroom shape, solid, and the bottom portion is fully grounded. It is a rarity to find these cruets with their stoppers yet.

This cruet was a winner of the “Good Design” award from the Museum of Modern Art; the 948 bent neck decanter began as a mistake. When Winslow Anderson was working on a batch of 920 decanters—a straight necked decanter in the exact same shape as the later 948—one of the straight decanter's necks drooped turning this mistake into a production design proved to be a successful move for Anderson, as the 948 decanter became a seminal piece for Blenko and their modernist era designs. This item carries a value of $150.00 to $200.00!

So what have I learned? Never ever assume anything when it comes to antiques or vintage items!

I thank you for taking the time to read this article and invite you to my store at:

http://www.tias.com/stores/midwestsalecourt/

Donna