Technology has a pesky way of always evolving. Humans have the need to make improvements, make breakthroughs and shake things up in the name of progress. The pace at which it can happen can be breathtaking. The obvious example is the telephone. Skipping over the first 100+ years of history, we’ve gone from the corded touchtone phone (1963) to the wireless home phone (1980) to the first commercial cell phone (1983) to the first smartphone (1994) to the iPhone (2007) in what feels like a few blinks. The sad iron in today’s fresh to market vintage is another example of technology that leapfrogged ahead.
A lot of people have seen a sad iron, but how many of them realize that the original purpose was not to be a doorstop or a bookend? Imagine heating it up to iron clothes back when ironing was important because not only did it make things look better, it killed bugs that might be living in garments. If your curiosity is piqued, we took a deep dive into ironing history last January.
Even we must move forward, so without further ado or discussion of killing bugs in clothing, we present this week’s fresh to market vintage.
Twisted Olive Wood Salad Set
We’re counting down to the holidays and shopping ideas abound. If you’re reading this, my guess is you love vintage. But vintage and holiday shopping don’t always jibe. This set of vintage olive wood salad serving pieces may do the trick. They are functional, useful and contemporary. They may just be the right gift for your favorite hostess. Pair them with a vintage salad bowl, a bottle of fancy dressing and some pretty napkins for a wonderful holiday gift.
Twisted Olive Wood Salad Set, 15.95
Pam, Vintage Renude
Antique Mrs. Potts Sad Iron
I’m one of those people who happen to like ironing but I can guarantee you I wouldn’t have felt that way in the days before electricity! This relic of those days was a breakthrough, believe it or not. Known as a “sad” iron, meaning solid, this model was invented in 1870 by 19-year-old Mary Florence Potts. Her idea of a removable wooden handle instead of a metal one, allowing the cold metal base to be swapped for a hot one, was revolutionary; as was the idea that it was pointed on both ends so the user could iron in either direction. The self-titled “inventress” eventually franchised her iron to a production company, which allowed her kit, consisting of a handle and three bases, to be sold through the Montgomery Ward and Sears catalogs at the turn of the 20th century. There’s no record of Mrs. Potts becoming wealthy as a result of her invention, but I’m sure she was a hero to everyone who ironed during her lifetime.
Antique Wooden and Metal Mrs. Potts Sad Iron, $25
Linda, Selective Salvage
1970s Clip-on Neckties
When you think of clip-on ties, the first thought is a bow tie. But long neckties also come as clip-ons. The original clip-on tie was invented in Iowa in 1928, but it was a bow tie sort of thing. Long clip-on neckties were around not long after that in the 1930s, with peak popularity was achieved in the 1940s-1970s. They are still available, but mostly in solid colors to wear with uniforms.
Clip-on ties provide a valuable safety function for people like postal workers, police officers and firemen. If your tie gets caught in something, it will pull off so you aren’t hurt, unlike a regular tie. A second advantage is that those of us who are tie tying challenged do not have to break out in a cold sweat every time someone asks us to tie one on.
Four vintage 1970s clip-on long ties, $25.
Laurie, NextStage Vintage
1980s L.E. Smith Turkey Candy Dish
Thanksgiving is much nicer when there’s a glass turkey candy dish. This L.E. Smith turkey is a classic, first molded in 1943. It dominated the market for 30 years, made in colors including amethyst, amber, avocado, ruby, amberina, amethyst carnival and clear. According to the Heinz History Center, turkey sales declined in the 1970s, down to 1000 per year.
Martha Stewart changed the glass turkey trend line on the graph in 1986, when she featured turkeys on her table in the PBS special Holiday Entertaining with Martha Stewart. According to the plant manager at the time, production leapt to a couple of hundred thousand a year when they began producing them for the Martha By Mail catalog. Turkeys from that era are marked with an “S” on the bottom, not for Stewart but for Smith. Subsequently, L.E. Smith also produced turkeys for Williams Sonoma and Crate and Barrel.
The perfectly plump clear glass turkey featured above would be glorious filled with candy or nuts or cranberry sauce (yes please). And it would definitely become a family heirloom.
L.E. Smith Clear Glass Turkey Candy Dish, $30
available from ZuzuVintageFinds
Thanksgiving is creeping closer, but there’s still plenty of time to get that salad set, the turkey candy dish or the neckties (if your Thanksgiving is a dressy affair). Much like technology accelerates to blinding speeds, time also picks up speed as we careen down the slope from November 1 to January 1. Why, you might be moving so fast you forget to read Vintage Unscripted! The horror! The way to save yourself from that is to subscribe to our email newsletter. It’s one email a week with links to all our posts from the previous week. No worries about your privacy. We would sooner rat you out to Santa for that thing you did when you thought no one was looking than to ever share your email address.
