March is here, and not a moment too soon. Most of us have made it past the snowiest months of the year. (Sorry to those of you in the northern and central Rockies and parts of the High Plains; your snowiest month is April.) It’s time to start sneaking infusions of spring into your home. A bunch of tulips here, a rabbit or two there…subtle changes that perk up your mood. We have some things in this week’s fresh to market vintage that might be exactly what you need.
Don’t forget that baseball season has started, in the form of spring training. We are 24 days away from the first MLB game of the year, the New York Yankees at the San Francisco Giants on March 25. (Nice safe choice of San Francisco where the last measurable snowfall was 1″ on February 5, 1976.)
Ready to feel perky for spring? Here’s this week’s fresh to market vintage.
Two Uranium Glass Teacups
Making depression glass glow is a favorite vintage lover’s parlor trick. But this pair of teacups has another cool novelty–solid handles. Called “ear” or “wing” handles, they are an unusual design detail that would make these teacups an excellent gift for your favorite depression glass collector, especially if that person is yourself.
Pair of Green Depression Glass Teacups and Saucers with Wing Handles, $22.
Laurie, NextStage Vintage
George “Hooks” Wiltse Tobacco Felt c 1914
The only upside of tobacco, as far as I am concerned, is the wide array of ephemera that was created by the manufacturers to encourage sales. This is one of a series of “tobacco flannels/felts” that was released in 1914…representing 90 different major league players belonging to 10 different teams. The marketing pitch was to collect them all and sew them into a comfy blanket. I certainly wouldn’t have consumed the product, but I have to admit the idea of a 100-year-old baseball-themed blanket sounds divine. I wonder how many of them are still in existence?
B18 George Wiltse Tobacco Felt, $25
Linda, Selective Salvage
Abalone and Black Curved Post Earrings
Contemporary and colorful, these earring will add a bit of pizzazz to your look. The abalone insets give them shine and color while the black edging and curved shape add a dramatic modern look. They look just a bit chunky but are as light as a feather. With sturdy post style backs, they are easy to wear with everything from a simple casual outfit to a sophisticated suit.
Abalone Inset Earrings, $28.95
Pam, Vintage Renude
Audubon Double-Sided Rabbit Book Plates
It’s March and that means it’s the time to be mad as a March Hare. In Europe, March is peak hare mating season. Hares can be seen being simply mad–boxing, chasing and jumping erratically, but not in a mating dance kind of way. It’s not two boy hares fighting over a girl. The boxing, chasing and jumping are because female hares are trying to fend off the advances of male hares.
References to “mad as a March Hare” go back to medieval times. But the reference most of us know comes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The mad tea party is hosted by the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. Don’t confuse the White Rabbit with the March Hare. Even though “rabbit” and “hare” are used interchangeably, they are different animals. Hares are bigger and have longer legs and bigger ears. Also, hare babies are born hairy with open eyes and rabbit babies are born naked and blind.
Rabbits are considered lucky, which is an excellent reason to find a place in your home for these black and white Audubon book plates from a 1954 book. Sold individually, each page is on coated stock and has two images on front and one larger image on the back. Get yourself a 9″ x 12″ frame, and flip the image over any time you want a fresh look.
1954 Double-Sided Audubon Rabbit Book Plates, sold individually, $10 each.
Available from this week’s guest Barbara, ione’s Attic
If the calendar has put a spring in your step, we absolutely understand because we’re bouncy as rabbits ourselves. March is a pivot point between two seasons, a time to slide into spring like a runner stealing the base slides into second–belly first and hands stretched out in front of you.
It’s also a good time to slide yourself into our email newsletter. Subscribe and you get one email a week with links to all our posts from the previous week, so you don’t miss a thing. And rest assured we would rather have the first crocuses of the year crushed under a foot of gloppy March snow than ever share your info.
