The end of the school year is nigh, time for gowns, tassels and yearbooks. Vintage yearbooks are entertaining snapshots of what hair styles and eye glasses were popular, as well as what clubs and sports were offered. The tradition of writing messages in yearbooks leads to some moments that touch the heart and some that are objectively hilarious. Also trying to decode the snippets seniors submit to put under their photo can be like decoding the Rosetta stone, even if you’re the one who wrote it decades ago. This week’s fresh to market vintage doesn’t have a yearbook, but it does have a college history from a women’s institute at the turn of the century. What a treasure to the right person.
Do vintage yearbooks have value? Sometimes if there’s a significant graduate, particularly if they wrote a message in it. Mostly they are nice family keepsakes to take out and leaf through occasionally. Like so much vintage we love, the true value is in the memories.
Speaking of vintage we love, here’s this week’s fresh to market vintage.
1903 History of the Oread Collegiate Institute
This book is about the dream of Eli Thayer, who went to Brown University in the early 1800s and decided to build a castle of education in Worcester, MA to teach young women the equivalent of a man’s education. If you love women’s history or if you’re a fan of Worcester history, you would enjoy this book. This college for women was one of the earliest schools dedicated to teaching women in the USA.
History of the Oread Collegiate Institute, $73.99
-Mary Ellen, Aunt Hattie’s Attic
Summer Fruit MCM Tablecloth
With warmer weather, folks tend to gravitate outdoors. Morning coffee on the patio, a mid-day snack and cool glass of lemonade, or a big friendly barbecue. Set the table with a vintage tablecloth filled with summer fruits add a small vase of flowers and some colorful dishes. Complete the look with some fun string lights and you’ve got the makings for an outdoor escape. This MCM tablecloth is just the right size for a smaller patio table.
MCM Tablecloth Summer Fruit Pattern, $44.95
-Pam, Vintage Renude
Breininger Pottery Redware Plate, dated 1992
This little plate has a lot going for it in terms of being a collectible piece. An artist signed it at the Breininger Pottery company so give it a check mark for the collectors of Pennsylvania pottery. It’s made of redware and decorated in a folk art style so it hits those buttons too. Plus it features a heart which is the reason it was added to my collection twenty years ago. Dated 1992, this is a newer piece in the world of Pennsylvania redware but if you’d like to be impressed by the values that category of pottery has realized at auction, check out the highlights from the Crocker Farm site.
1992 Breininger Folk Art Plate, $ 45
-Linda, Selective Salvage
Live Aid Concert DVD Set
The 1985 Live Aid concert, held at Wembley in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, was a who’s who of 1980s musicians, all performing to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. Broadcast live around the world, it was a monumental achievement both in terms of funds and awareness raised.
Musician and organizer Bob Geldoff told all the participants it was a one-time thing, that it would never be seen again, so putting together this DVD was not linear. The ABC network, accordingly, erased their tapes. MTV did not, and ultimately finding 100 different tapes. An entire livestream of the Philadelphia concert did not exist due to logistics. The BBC had the most complete collection of tapes. Adding to the complexity, some artists asked not to be included. Others were omitted. Made mostly from the BBC and MTV tapes, this 10 hour DVD set is not the complete concert, the original concert was 16 hours. Also, this DVD is out of print, so your only hope of finding it is on the vintage market.
2004 Live Aid 4 DVD Set, Sealed Package, $95
-Laurie, NextStage Vintage
The college history book reminds us that it’s time, once again, to remind you that books don’t belong in the basement in many parts of the country, unless you are running a dehumidifier in the summer. Mold, mildew and mustiness are murderous to paper. Unless it’s a very sentimental or rare book, the best thing to do with books that have basement stink is to dispose of them. Don’t donate them, as they could infect someone else’s book collection or be a real problem for someone with asthma or allergies. We wrote about moldy books a while ago.
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