The calendar changed to September and the big box stores are filling fast with new merchandise designed to make your home feel cozy. Do these things have lasting value? Will they last long enough to become vintage or will they be populating the shelves of the local thrift in five years or less? Spoiler alert: most of these mass market products are headed for the thrift. We know this because the shelves are already filled with fast home decor from five years ago now. There is an answer and this week’s fresh to market vintage has it: shop vintage for time-tested coziness.
Now admittedly, an advertising pencil or dicroic glass earrings are not likely to find themselves on home decor inspiration boards, but that antique staff topper and those Clare Leighton plates sure are. Vintage comes with charm and design from another era to lend style and warmth to your home now. Accept no substitutes!
And now, this week’s fresh to market vintage…
IOOF Rebekah Staff Topper c 1920s
This vintage bee hive-shaped staff topper was once the finial on an IOOF/ Odd Fellows / Rebekah ceremonial piece. It was acquired when the contents of the Odd Fellows/Rebekah Lodge in Beresford, SD, which closed in the 1920s, were auctioned off. The staff/flag pole is long gone so the top has been mounted on a piece of wood to display.
Vintage Rebekah Bee Hive Shaped Staff Topper, $125
-Linda, Selective Salvage
Greenfield Tap & Die Company Advertising Pencil for Little Giant Wrenches
When I see more than six men congregating around a table at my flea market, I know they are looking at tools, sorting through crates of vinyl records, or “boys toys” such as hot wheels cars, movie merch and gaming or mini figs from Legos. These people are collectors and though they might not always be interested in what I have to sell online I do “get” them.
This old pencil came from the engineering department of the Greenfield Tap and Die Company in Western Massachusetts. In 1913, they had been granted a patent for and were making their Little Giant Wrenches. So why not advertise on a pencil? Everyone used pencils at the time and were handy to have.
What made this special was that Dot from the Engineering Department saved it and later gave it to a local Greenfield historian. They were also collectors. The historian even attached a tag to list some details written on it so he might catalog it later into his records. And now I have those details.
Collectors may catalog their acquisitions or not, in a spread sheet or even in a notebook or card file, but to me they always seem to recognize holes in their collections and try to fill them. Here’s to the collectors who help record the history of the material world!
Advertising Pencil, $44.99
-Mary Ellen, AuntHattiesAttic
Dichroic Glass Earrings
Vintage and handmade seem to go together hand in hand. These earrings tick both boxes. They are both vintage and handmade. The term dichroic glass refers to glass that displays different colors when viewed in a different light. The earrings are made of three layers of glass in red, white, and blue displayed differently as light is either reflected or passed through the glass. The iridescence adds to the colorful effect. and the red, white, and blue add a patriotic hint as well.
Red, White, and Blue Dichroic Glass Earrings, $18.95
-Pam, Vintage Renude
Clare Leighton New England Industries Plate Collection
These incredible plates designed from wood engravings by British/American artist Clare Leighton are part of a larger set from Wedgwood and Barlaston of Eturia. Each one is a work of art celebrating New England Industries. It’s hard to date these plates exactly. Per Wikipedia, she created designs for Wedgwood in the 1950s, but these illustrations seem like a much earlier time.
There is also a set of plates with agricultural art.
Clare Leighton New England Industries plate set, $250.
–Laurie, NextStage Vintage
That’s a wrap on this week’s fresh to market vintage. Can’t you see that beehive staff topper as the centerpiece of an autumn display?
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Pencil lover’s unite! In Pursuit of Vintage Pencils was written just for you.
