What’s in a name? Why is it when we see our name, first or last, somewhere or on something, we feel an affinity for whatever it is? It’s like it was made by or belonged to another member of our club, the Loyal Order of Me. This week’s fresh to market vintage has a pick that was used for one Linda and was found by another Linda, the little wooden shoe lasts.
Finding anything with your name on it while thrifting is fun because it’s so rare. Even finding something that starts with your initial is exciting, it feels like the thrifting gods are smiling on you. Don’t get us wrong, we love all our finds. But finding something that feels as personal as something with our name, well that’s a thrill.
Speaking of finds, here are our fresh to market vintage picks for this week.
Wooden Child’s Shoe Lasts, Marked “Linda” (c 1959)
Harkening back to the days when regular people’s shoes were made by hand. This matched pair of shoe lasts were a common cobbler’s tool and were designed to make a child’s size 10 1/2 C pair. Because the name on the forms is “Linda”, I assume the end product was a beautiful pair of little girl’s shoes.
Pair of Vintage Child-Sized Shoe Forms, $40
-Linda, Selective Salvage
Antique Holy Cross College Souvenir
There are myriad themes for collectors, and this is one for the collegiate collector. Many US colleges were founded centuries ago. You can see a list of the 25 oldest colleges here.
The College of the Holy Cross or Holy Cross College was founded in Worcester, Massachusetts years before the diaspora of Irish who left Ireland due to the Potato Famine. It is the oldest Catholic college in New England, and even one of the earliest Catholic colleges in the US. It served to educate Roman Catholic men whose parents were the so called “Invisible Immigrants” a term coined by “Jake” Powers in his masters thesis about earlier immigrants from Ireland, who left Ireland with some money and educations who were associated with building the Erie Canal and other navigational projects. Holy Cross is the alma mater of Dr. Anthony Fauci who went to a Jesuit-taught High School in New York and wanted a further Jesuit education before Medical school.
Do you collect items from your college?
Souvenir Cup, $58.99
-Mary Ellen, AuntHattiesAttic
Stamped Brass Brooch
This stamped brass brooch with its tassel and chains is a mash-up of antique and modern styles. The delicate stamping reminds me of medieval Britain, while the shiny black cabochon and bicone beads are much more of a modern design. Its design is reminiscent of 1928 Jewelry Co., although this is not marked as such. It’s a bit of a mystery as it most likely is a modern take on an antique design.
Stamped Brass Brooch w/Tassel and Chains, $32.95
-Pam, Vintage Renude
1960s round embossed aluminum tray
Hammered aluminum from the 1950s and 1960s may not be magnetic, but I have a magnetic attraction to it. The most commonly found pieces are those from Rodney Kent and Wendell August Forge, among the 200 companies that made hammered aluminum at the trend’s peak, per PBS Western Reserve. These tend to have larger motifs, usually botanical. This unmarked tray is different. It’s lighter weight aluminum and the pattern reminds me of the tooling you might see on leather western wear, which is why it caught my eye.
Round Hammered Aluminum Tray, $24.
–Laurie, NextStage Vintage
That’s this week’s fresh to market vintage line up. The Holy Cross souvenir is particularly appropriate this week as families prepare to send their kids off to college. How many of those families equipped their collegians with dishes and kitchen gear from their favorite thrift or garage sales?
If you love hammered aluminum, it’s always a question of whether to polish it or not and if you’re polishing it, what to polish with. We wrote about that, the hammered aluminum polish throwdown.
