Fall colors take the stage in this week’s fresh to market vintage. The russets, ambers, browns and burgundies of fall dance their way into our psyches as surely as snack-size Snickers bars dance their way into our gullets. There’s a reason for this. According to psychologist Krystin Batcho, seasonal transitions create stress for humans, so we change that scenario by actively anticipating the things the change of seasons bring. “Associating specific activities with different periods of the year — provides a sense of stability,” Batcho says an article on why we love fall on the Discover Magazine website. Something called “anticipatory nostalgia” kicks in to make the change easier. We might get a warm and fuzzy feeling about the traditional events to come, according to the same article. This might explain why you have a burning urge to celebrate sweater weather and to gather acorns to store in holes in trees. Wait…we’re hearing from the editor that it’s squirrels, not humans that hoard acorns. Well, same principle.
Why the fall transition drove our autumn-colored picks in this week’s fresh to market vintage is something we would be willing to accept a large grant from a scientific institution to study. One way or another, it’s how it shook out. Inquiring minds want to know, do our picks make you feel the urge for a pumpkin spice latte?
Signal Electric Mfg Co. Telegraph Key
When I think of vintage communications, the first things to mind are pink princess phones and old letters and pay phones. Finding this antique telegraph key was a thrill. Imagine the messages it has sent.
Vintage Telegraph Key, $75.
-Laurie, NextStage Vintage
Anchor Hocking Chip & Dip Set
I am celebrating the New England fall foliage colors just emerging over the past week. There are many reasons I love this chip and dip set, starting with the honey gold color of the glass. The box says the design is “Swedish Modern,” which was absolutely the rage for glass at the time. I love the very scale of it which is sized for a very small get together or just the two of you.
This set was underutilized judging from the lack of wear and tear, but the box is not in such pristine shape. My mom and probably other moms at the time would wash this and put it back in the box to keep the parts together and to keep it clean and safe in the kitchen sideboard. What is also nice is that nowadays we can replace broken or missing parts of it from vintage shops online.
Funny true story about chips and dip. Went to a holiday party decades ago that had a local celebrity cook and food writer. She fell in love with the onion dip and sought out the person who made it so she could get the recipe. The maker blushed and stammered that it was Lipton or Knorr onion soup mix and sour cream. I had to chuckle, since that was the dip that everybody took advantage of in the 60s and she had never heard of it. And it is still delicious today!
Chip and Dip Set, $51.99
-Mary Ellen, AuntHattiesAttic
Set of Six Victorian Stacking Blocks
What a fun find… a complete set of stacking alphabet blocks dating to the Victorian era. They are made of wood and have a colorful paper illustration of the letters of the alphabet glued on four sides and the top of each block. The blocks stack inside one another for storage. They are in good shape given their age which makes me think they weren’t an everyday toy.
Wooden Stacking Blocks, $250
-Linda, Selective Salvage
Coro Soft Plastic Fall Color Earrings
As the weather begins to cool and the leaves start to change color, we shift from the sunny shades of summer to the warm tones of autumn. These Coro soft plastic earrings embody that change of seasons perfectly to me. The colors speak of fall, the shapes evoke the coming winter and the sparkle reminds me of the beauty of it all.
Coro Soft Plastic Earrings in Fall Colors, $32.95
-Pam, Vintage Renude
If you can find a better reason to love fall than those Coro earrings from this week’s fresh to market vintage, you are a bigger thinker than we are. They are practically perfect in every way.
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When we think of fall color jewelry, we absolutely think of bakelite. Bakelite comes in the earthiest of fall colors. We wrote about how to identify it in the wild.
Note: While we happily sing the praises of fall in this fresh to market vintage post, we are also mindful that not everyone looks forward to reliving fall memories or the winter season to come. We see you. And we encourage everyone to reach out to friends for whom this can be a difficult time of year.
