In Search of the Truth

What a long strange trip it's been.  I bought this bitchin' little 14" lamp at a Flea Market and have not been able to find out much about it. There are no markings of any kind on it.  So let's do it together!

The body is a white chalky material, unpainted and it's soft, like chalk or gypsum. My first Google search is for "white nude chalkware lamp".  In those results, I found a great site www.tvlamps.net with a great collection of tv lamp pictures and descriptions.  Wonderful collection! But I don't see anything similar to my lamp. Another search turned up www.atomicwarehouse.com that had really great 50's lamps...made me want to change up my living room decor! But still nothing. Many, many searches in different ways:
female nude chalkware lamp; vintage nude plaster lamp; 40s nude lamp; torso plaster lamp; female torso lamp. Nuthin'. Not on eBay, not on Worthpoint, not Etsy. Hmmm.  Now I've been searching for hours and can't find anything even close.  Does that mean it's rare or that I'm just missing some obvious search words. What to do?

It's time to call for help. I've put a shout out to the Etsy Vintage Team.  I'm confident someone will be able to get me in a direction of identification! But after being on the Discussion Board for days, only one possibility surfaced--that the lamp was possibly made with a museum store gift item (the torso) from the 1910-1930's.  Hmmm. Maybe! A great possibility, but I just don't think so. The torso material seems too soft for someone to successfully drill all the way through to wire it without it causing structural problems, but not out of the realm of possibilities!

Well, we will update when we find the complete story.  We know it has to be somewhere!

Best Picks of 2011

2011 was not a good year for my family, but I'm looking and moving forward because it's the only thing that will keep me sane. There is one look back that will be fun and that's to show you our best picks of the year.  Since you never know what you will find out on the hunt, we always get truly excited about great, unexpected finds. First up, I found about 50 of these great linen post cards. We really haven't even marketed them yet--pictures really don't do them justice. We enjoy looking at them every time they pop up  when we are looking for something else! They cover the 40's, 50's and 60's for the most part.

Next we have a Rebajas copper bracelet that we had verified by the company and it was made by Francisco Rebajas himself and is not a production piece. It is really pretty, but a tad too small for either of our wrists and so we have cast it out into the Etsy universe to find a new home with someone who will love and wear it. We had such fun trying to find out what this was and glad we went with our gut that it wasn't "just" a copper bracelet.

Another memorable day was a call from a friend that she was at a great estate sale. It had 2 hours left and I made the mad dash to get there. This picture is of one of the 3 beautiful opaque milk glass plates that I found along with about 20 other items and my only mistake was putting things back before I got to the check out. When I got to the cashier to pay, they gave me such good pricing that regretted putting anything back but I had so much in my pile that I really needed to just be thankful for what I had. I love these plates.

This wonderful mug represents the fun trip we took to Pismo & Grover Beach and San Luis Obispo and the very cool estate sale that our dear friend and Junior Gypsy, Charlene found for us. Over the course of our time there, we made several trips to the sale and got some really great things. This turquoise Fireking mug was one of my favs.  Now it is living in Taiwan.

This group of pins and earrings are also from the same sale---Chris scooped them up the second she saw them.  Love!

Chris scored these beauts and they sold so fast it wasn't even funny. They are so 60's cocktail / Bond girl.

These great melmac plates were another fun score. They were so covered with dust that they didn't look green! I love this color but my boys would not appreciate the care instructions for them so I don't want them subjected to abuse so they will end up going to a good home.

So as we say goodbye to 2011 and welcome 2012, we are looking forward to finding more great treasures, telling tales and sharing our joy. Happy New Year from Vintage Gypsies!

When Bad Do's Attack

Our dear, dear Mother passed away earlier this month. As we came to grips with our sadness, our wonderful sense of humor--that came mostly from Mom--began to emerge again. Over the course of several days, we went through family photos that we had not seen in quite some time. I was reminded of my "kitchen beautician" hairdos that my well meaning Mom subjected me to. While they didn't bother me much when they occurred and they really don't bother me now...they are pretty funny. At a time like this, funny counts for a lot, especially because it reminds me so much of what was special about my Mom.

With this intro, I offer you Exhibit 1:

I think I was in kindergarten or the first grade. Cute kid, but what's with the flip on the one side? Ok, so you might find this acceptable, but it goes on. Exhibit 2:

Bangs look funky, a few long hairs hanging down on the left side. The same, yet different than the school year before, but again, it goes on. Exhibit 3:

I might have my pictures and the school years mixed up but one thing remains the same....bad hairdos! The line around my head signified where the rollers went in and out. I think I like the version where I'm in the red sweater the best. But this last one brings back memories of the hard pink curlers that snapped into place. Sometimes I had to go to bed with them in my hair and there was no way to sleep comfortably but I refused to sit quietly under the bonnet hair drier for my Mom. It was boring, it was too hot, it was too cool, I wanted to go play.... It was the 60's after all and I had things to do. Poor Mom never got me to be a girly girl until I made my own Junior Prom dress out of pink gingham, but that's another story for another day. That one will need to involve beer or vodka.

I have more bad hairdo shots but I'm not sure you can handle them all at once. I'll spare you for now. Thanks for the priceless memories Mom! Ciao, babies.

Good Sign, Bad Sign

One of our Gypsy Sisters is Cheryl and she tapped me about selling out at the Santa Rosa Flea Market last Sunday and although I had way too much on my plate, I said yes because we always have fun and it was a last ditch effort to sell before Christmas. So I packed the car at 11 pm the night before, she showed up at 6 am and we rolled on. It seemed warmer at 6 am than it had been the night before. A good sign.

Got to the Flea, found our space and we finally figured out that the pickup truck parked in the middle of our spot was from the night before...not someone who had driven in that morning. A bad sign.  Found the gal running the Flea, got moved a couple of spots, made the move easily with the help of a couple of fellow sellers. A good sign.

The reason we had help was so those guys could pick as we brought stuff out of the car...after a few snarky-we-haven't-had-enough-coffee-let-us-unpack-our-shit answers, they took the hint and moved on. A good sign.  The sun was coming up and then we noticed that directly across from us was a dead seagull. Really? Someone said a cat had been responsible because they only eat the heads. Wh..Wh..What? A bad sign.  Cheryl told me to take a picture but it didn't appeal to me then and still doesn't now...except this blog posting has only one picture!

Day gets going and we notice that we are FREEZING. Native Californians...temp is under 50 and it might as well be minus 12 degrees. Another bad sign.  Not many sellers there...another bad sign.  Not many people out....bad, bad, bad.  Overall, it was a bust for us sellers so we went out shopping. Cheryl scored some nice stuff and I had to resist this bitchin' pair of lamps from the 50's cuz, well, I don't need them, but I loved them. They will haunt me.  My fun score of the day was this:

This Kodak Brownie  Hawkeye camera is exactly the one that we had as a family camera in the 50's - 60's until my Dad got his 35 mm Minolta. I loved using that thing. Not sure what ever happened to it but now I have one of my very own. I'm not sure I can sell it!  Probably not a good sign.

Family Vintage

A friend asked me to post a picture of my Mom. She said she felt as if she knew her because of the blog postings where I have mentioned her. I have a few vintage family photos that have somehow ended up on my computer so why not? This little ditty is my Mom holding me after I got into her lipstick. This picture is probably circa 1959.

This next picture of my Mom is a bad copy, but you can catch her '70s essence with her frosted hair. I think this picture was in 1974 at my sister's wedding (hope I got that year right!!) Mom was a working gal and I think her 'do worked for her. My sister and I had gone with long, straight hair by then. 

And this last one is me in my Disneyland Donald Duck hat but the real star is the bitchin' lamp behind me!  Mom still has the lamp but gave it a paint job and changed out the shade to match her changing decor in the late 60's--early 70s. I think I was in about second grade, so about 1964 in this photo, judging by my  haircut.
                                               
Someday I will scan and post all my elementary school pictures and you can have a laugh at my expense when you see some of those haircuts!

Why Am I So Obsessed?

Obsession is a funny thing. Not funny ha ha, but oddly funny. When I am in Redding helping out my Mom, my big thing is to do the thrift store run as quickly as I can. Not that anybody cares that I'm doing that, but most of the thrift stores in this particular town are in the shadiest of shady areas.  If you have followed us at all, you know that I'm obsessed with the Capri Motel which is "Tweaker Capital" here. And a couple doors down is a big thrift store. I would love to be able to watch all of the sad coming and goings of that place for 24 hours (the Capri, not the thrift store!)  I was a Sociology major in college and I guess that is where this people watching fascination stems from. Do you know I ACTUALLY had the thought, "I wonder what it would be like to check into one of the rooms there for a night?" How flippin' GROSS is that? Bad obsession, down boy.

So I'm tripping around today at my local haunts and found some great stuff.  My fav was books from the 50s' that are in cool colors and the subject matters are directed at kids about historical events. Thinking I would buy 1 or 2, I suddenly got obsessive, thinking I would regret not getting many and I ended up walking out with 11 of them. This store is the same place that months ago I scored dozens of vintage bingo cards and regretted not taking them ALL:( .  Better still was the fact that I apparently cannot read and I thought they were one price but the reality was they were half of that. Oh so happy!  The titillating titles are things like: Queen Elizabeth and the Spanish Armada, The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad and my personal fav Genghis Kahn and the Mongol Horde probably because of the word Horde which is only just a "sounds like" nod to the show Hoarders....the ultimate obsession, no?

Another find was a thrill because I outsmarted the thrift store "Vintage Goods" pricing matron and got 2 bitchin' plates from the 60's (maybe 50's...need to research) for 50 cents each. SCORE! Ha! I love it when I can find vintage stuff that you know they missed!! It was the same sort of deal on a red ricer. She must have been out sick the day they were pricing that haul. Once I figured that out....it took me almost an hour to get through that store because I knew they had a crack in their pricing system. Me?Obsessed? Hey, at least it's better (and surely safer) than obsessing over the stupid Capri Motel!

Sunday Monkey Food

Chris and I laugh about how addictive the treasure hunt is and we call it "feeding the monkey". So today I had the monkey on my back and headed to the local Flea Market for an hour before hitting Trader Joe's. Weird because yesterday I took my "just learning how to thrift" 19 year old with me out and about and we ended up in a thrift store but I just wasn't in the mood to shop---not even close. But today was different. It was freezing out (yes, under 55 degrees in California is freezing). A couple purchases were normal. Groovy vase, no? It was a deal and it's signed but I have yet to investigate, which is also part of the fun.  So the next pictures are of the lonesome or broken jewels that will end up being made into our vintage jewelry magnets...which is what started this whole dang thing. Found a gal who had a great jewelry treasure hunt area and I dove in.

But my final purchase of the day is probably my most fav and I just couldn't resist it. I'm not sure why...it's really not my style but I knew I would regret it if I walked away. It's kooky and clubby enough that I know I can find someone in the universe who will LOVE it too. I almost bet it will become our most treasured Etsy item once I get it up there.  I loved it enough to buy it but I don't love it enough to keep it because I live with my hubby and 2 boys (19 and 22) and I just won't be able to stomach all the lesbo jokes that will come at me day and night if I keep this darn thing.

Pretty great in a weird way isn't it? You know you love it. It's small...about 15" tall. Not sure if it works yet--figure I'll save blowing out all the electricity in the house until AFTER Sunday football. I'm considerate like that. Feed the monkey.

Oars in the Water

Getting all of our blogging oars in the water is harder than we thought. Writing funny things on Facebook is sort of good practice but we really want to go Big Time. Ha! So we try this and that and will make our share of blogging mistakes, but at least we can all laugh together about it, no?

I (Deb) will most likely do most of the writing. I should get all over Chris about that since we both wrote for our high school newspaper, so I know she can write. But I have a tendency to find a topic and then go all "dog with a bone" on it for at least a couple of paragraphs. Other times I ramble about some vintage hunt that made me get my granny panties in a bunch.

Vintage Gypsies will take you along with us on our vintage hunts, bitchin' finds and sometimes just stories that are funnier-than-shit...at least to us. We sell on Etsy at our store VintageGypsies (same as our Twitter handle) and have a Facebook page Vintage Gypsies. Feel free to like, tweet, comment or just read along.  I don't really get Twitter, but I do it on occasion and I'm trying.

My haunts are different that where Chris does her picking. Sort of makes it fun as we cover about 7 different counties between us. I cover Sonoma, Lake and Shasta Counties; Chris does the 4 around the greater Sacramento area. We have our reasons---you'll find them out soon enough.

Our picking goals are simple. Buy it either because you love it and must have it regardless of the cost OR, and our most popular, buy it because you can sell it at a profit.  We do have one problem with this and that is we need to sell more, but the picking is the FUN part. You never know what you will find. The selling is a lot of hard work, but we both have to work...might as well be fun. Our profits go back into the company (to buy more) and to get us out the door and traveling a little bit to buy or sell. Every trip is worth 1000 laughs, give or take a few.

My first offering this evening is only moments after finishing Thanksgiving dinner. I need to be thankful and should be thankful.  I have a wonderful family, great husband, 2 darling boys (22 and 19--ok, so maybe darling is a bit outdated for their age); and the list goes on.  So thank you.  I'm not sure who I am thanking, but there you go.