Vintage is always a great gift…for the right person. People who that think history and things with a history are cool love vintage. If they’re one of those people who look as vintage as “used” or “old,” they deserve something from a big box store. Harsh? Perhaps, but we have Opinions about vintage. A great way to gift vintage is to combine it with something else, and we have a couple things in this week’s fresh to market vintage that make that easy.
The 1920 Educator crackers tin (we love so much that they were…oops, can’t give away to story, you’ll have to read it yourself) filled with some tasty crackers, perhaps a chutney and some cheese, then tied up with a bow so the tin is the gift wrapping would be top shelf giving. And for an office swap, the Shoebox Denise mug filled with hot chocolate packets, Hershey’s kisses or (yum) shortbread cookies would be fun.
Of course, the scarab and the electric knife would also be excellent gifts. We’ll stop talking and let you ramble down and see for yourself.
Blue Scarab Pendant
Is there a history buff on your holiday gift list? If so, this scarab pendant may be just the right gift. It can be hung from a sterling silver chain worn as a necklace or added to a charm bracelet. Encased in a sterling silver collar to show off the hieroglyphs on the back as well as the carved detail of the bead. Imagine wearing something that may be thousands of years old.
Sterling Silver Scarab Pendant, $125.95
Pam, Vintage Renude
Dr. Johnson EDUCATOR Crackers Tin c. 1920s
Another example of American ingenuity – a decorative vintage store tin that once held a variety of crackers marketed as “exercise for the teeth and jaws.” Dr. Johnson was a crusading dentist in Boston in the 1880s who was convinced that a lack of chewing hard food was ruining his patients’ teeth. Johnson decided to experiment with a new whole wheat cracker that he called an “educator,” in the sense that he wanted to change his patients’ diets from white to whole wheat. The biscuits caught on and sold well enough for Johnson and his daughter to open a grocery store on Boylston Street in Boston’s Back Bay in 1885. You can read more about the history of Educator Crackers on “Through the Looking Glass”.
Vintage Cracker Tin, Boston, MA, $60
Linda, Selective Salvage
1989 Shoebox Denise Mug
Hallmark’s Shoebox Greetings shook up the greeting card market when they introduced Maxine, a pointedly grumpy old lady who was always in her housecoat, and Denise, a woman of the world who had Thoughts. Denise was named after the Hallmark illustrator who brought her to life, Denise Chevalier. Denise spent 35 years at the company as an illustrator, conceptualizer and art director. If you know someone whose outlook is a little salty, this might be the perfect mug for them. Especially if that person is you.
P.S. Denise has a website where you can see some of her non-Denise work.
1989 Hallmark Shoebox Greetings Denise Mug, $13.
Laurie, NextStage Vintage
1960s Sears Electric Carving Knife
It’s impossible to understate the importance of the electric carving knife in the history of modern Thanksgiving. Invented in 1964 by Jerome L. Murray, it was glamorous and modern to use one to dazzle guests as you carved a roast or a bird, making it a household essential. Scads of companies jumped in and made their own versions in decorator colors including almond, harvest gold, brown and avocado green. The electric knife rode the wave of popularity into the 1970s, but fell from its pinnacle in the 1980s. How crucial was this appliance? This Sears electric carving knife came in a case that could be wall mounted for ready access.
Electric knives continue to have a devoted fandom. We’ve sold a couple in over the years. They get snapped up quickly.
Regular readers know we love to showcase inventors, so we need to introduce you to Jerome L. Murray. Mr. Murray’s first invention was a windmill designed for Crosby radios that allowed farmers and others who lived off the electric grid to power their radios. He was 15 at the time. An MIT graduate and a test pilot during WWII, Murray started his own company, Murwood Laboratories, with a bang by earning a cool $40 million by inventing a gadget that adjusted your rooftop analog TV antenna by pulling two strings inside your house. Among his 75 patents are: the covered airplane boarding ramp, the power automotive seat, a thingy that raised convertible car roofs, a home mixer and food processor that was driven by magnets from the bottom, a 4 cylinder rotary internal combustion engine, a hygienic douche system and the first peristaltic pump, which made open heart surgery possible. All that, but of course the first thing mentioned in his NY Times obituary from 1998 is the electric carving knife.
1960s Sears Electric Carving Knife with Wall Mounted Case, $40.
Available from Gene, Our Leftovers
Did you grow up in a house where an electric carving knife was considered a member of the family? Or did you covet your grandmother’s scarab bracelet or necklace from the Egyptian revival era of the 1960s (thanks to the movie Cleopatra) or the 1970s (thanks to the King Tut exhibition)? They’re both the kind of things from which memories are made.
We wouldn’t say that all of our posts are memorable, but some definitely spark memories. One way to never miss a post is to subscribe to our email newsletter. You get one email a week with links to all our posts. And we would sooner carve a turkey with a dip spreader than ever share your info.
