The postcard post

Mt. Hood

Every once in a while when there are multiples of something vintage for sale and I can’t bring myself to take on the possibly excruciating and/or time-consuming task of cherry-picking only certain ones to buy, I hear Sue of Vintage Rescue Squad whisper in my ear, 

“Ask how much for all of them.”

And I always do what the voices in my head ear tell me to do.

The multiples I’m referring to are vintage postcards. Hundreds of vintage postcards. 

Still counting them.

They’re from the 1960s & 1970s and they depict landmarks and landscapes in and around Portland, Oregon. Everything from snow-covered Mt. Hood, pre-eruption Mt. St. Helens, the Columbia River Gorge, the Oregon Coast and many, many views of the vintage Portland skyline. I’m guessing these postcards are unused inventory from an old souvenir shop.

Crater Lake, OR

I’m a state souvenir junkie and proud of it.

This one is my favorite.

I did end up buying every last one of them with the idea that I would resell them but without the idea of how exactly I would resell them. 

I’m envisioning these being used as save-the-date cards for a vintage-inspired wedding (there are enough for a HUGE wedding) or thank you notes or holiday cards (snowy outdoorsy scenes) or something along those lines. Or perhaps you have an idea?

The Oregon Coast. I've stood in this exact spot many times!

Hundreds of them…

If I pin it, it will come.

Original image can be found here

My current obsession with all things vintage camping rages on and it recently jumped off my Pinterest board and into the backseat of my car.

Just days after I pinned that little plaid camping stove I came across a very similar one, buried in the garage of an estate sale.

I stopped short of a giant squeal of delight when I discovered it but later I turned to the stranger next to me in line to let them know this Very Important News: that-I-just-pinned-this-stove-on-Pinterest-and-now-here-it-is-in-my-hands-and-isn’t-that-amazing? 

Luck was with me since I said it to someone who knows (or was nice enough to pretend to know) what Pinterest is and is tolerant of people who talk to strangers in line at estate sales about random things they find in the corners of garages.

Camping (and outdoorsiness in general) was the theme with some of my favorite finds on my recent road trip with Laurie/Ethel.

 These beauties (Mt. Hood and Crater Lake) were purchased in California & transported back to their home state of Oregon.

This mossy mushroom has already moved on to its new forever garden and may I add a word or two about those blue glass insulators? I don't know much about them other than they're pretty (and were once outdoors) but I always buy them when I can find them for a dollar or less because they're consistent sellers for me. 

I couldn't resist the aqua canteen.

And I bought the birdhouse just for the colors. 

Happy Camper!

Are we there yet?

After many conversations in the car regarding things neither Laurie/Ethel nor I could recall about our previous road trip to Alameda Point Antiques Faire (Did we stop here last time? Does Roseburg come before or after Ashland? Where was that place with the great cupcakes?), I decided to take some notes this time around.

FRIDAY

As planned, we left Laurie’s house in Portland, OR at 8 a.m. to head to Alameda Antiques Faire in the San Francisco Bay area. Woo-hoo! So excited!

One scheduled stop on the way out of Portland at a church rummage sale was quickly followed by two unscheduled stops at estate sales.

 Which resulted in another unscheduled stop back at Laurie’s house to unload her car which was now completely full. Four hours and 16 miles later we are still in Portland.  

Yay us!

New plan!  Leave for Alameda at noon.  The goal is to reach Redding, CA, about 420 miles away, where we’ll stop for the night.

That afternoon we went to three antique malls, a thrift store and a vintage shop before eating dinner and eventually keeling over.

It is weird that it took us 9-1/2 hours to travel 420 miles? The junkin’ just can’t be rushed.

SATURDAY

Laurie/Ethel admires a combo stove/refrigerator. 

We hit the road at 8:45 a.m., eventually ending up in Emeryville, CA, about 200 miles away (an *easy* 3 hour drive) and just a short distance from Alameda Point Antiques Faire, our Sunday early morning destination / reason for living.

We managed to turn a 3 hour drive into 10 hours and here’s why: 3 vintage shops, 1 flea market, 3 yard sales, 2 rummage sales, 1 thrift store, 2 huge antique malls, 2 random shops and 1 estate sale. In 4 cities.

SUNDAY (aka The Really Big Day)

 Got up painfully early at 5 a.m. and the reward was attending heaven-on-Earth, Alameda Antiques Faire, for 7 hours of some mighty fine vintage shopping from (not a typo!) 1,000 vendors.

Eventually I had to rent a shopping cart (as in the type used at a grocery store) to collect the items I’d purchased and left behind with the vendors. I kept it all straight with my Patented System for Remembering© by writing the vendors’ booth numbers on my arm.

In sharpie.

Tired, happy, sunburned and loaded down with vintage junk, we left Alameda at 1:30 p.m. to begin our drive back to Oregon, stopping in Yreka, CA for the night.

MONDAY

Random antique mall vendor in Medford, OR? It's all a blur to me now.

We left Yreka around 8:45 a.m., thinking we’d be back in Portland by 4 p.m., only 325 miles/5 hours away.

After stopping at 8 more antique malls (and one ice cream shop) in 2 cities, we rolled into Portland at 8:15 p.m., taking almost 12 hours to travel 300-ish miles.

 To recap: 4 days / 1400 miles / 3 estate sales, 3 rummage sales, 13 antique malls, 2 thrift stores, 4 vintage shops, 1 flea market, 3 yard sales, 2 random shops and 1 Alameda Antiques Faire (because there’s only one Alameda!).

Thanks for traveling along!

Click the photo above to read Laurie’s version of events.

Because it’s my week (end).

For my birthday this year, I gave myself the gift of junking.

An entire weekend spent puttering around thrift shops, antique malls and junk shops on the Oregon coast (and a little on the Washington coast as well).

(I think she accidentally left the price tag on it – 50? Fifty? Must be her lucky number ... or something.)

It all began at Monticello Antique Marketplace with some foofing of my space there and coffee with Laurie who brought me this lovely bit of Springtime-in-January, a la Magpie Ethel (her alter ego).

Friended, fortified and foofed, off I went!

A vendor at an antique mall had hundreds of these for sale!

I made it through 4 huge antique malls, 7 8 thrift stores, 3 charming vintage shops and one *awesome* junk stop and saw lots of inspiration along the way.

in the basement at Phog Bounders Antique Mall, Astoria OR

Inspiring antique mall displays 

(I think I need to pack in more in my mall space – I really like this full-to-the-brim look. What do you think? Too much?)

Astoria Vintage Hardware, Astoria OR

Inspiring painted furniture. (Love the black)

Sewing inspiration. 

Bright ideas. (sorry)

Hobo Junction, 105 SW 13th St., Long Beach WA (click photo to enlarge and go nuts!)

And some good old-fashioned junking. This was my last stop and the most fun.

The owner was more than happy to climb over his mountains of treasures and pull out rusty, chippy things he thought I might be interested in while I pretty much wandered around in a daze and tried to take it all in.

The inside of his shop is as fascinating as the outside.

And his prices were more than fair.

You can see more photos of his shop here.

Happy Tuesday to you!

Shampoo. Rinse. Repeat.

 

It was a Saturday just like any other.

I got up early.  Left the warm house and headed out the door into the cold (32 degrees!) morning.

Nothing too unusual as this is my typical yard sale routine this time of year … with one tiny exception.

This past Saturday’s yard sale was in my yard.

That’s right. The days have been numbered for the ‘What was I thinking?’ pile and The Garage Where Cars Can’t Park.

 

Fresh as a daisy.

So I set up my old junk out there on the driveway for a couple of hours because that's as long as I can stand it, then made a trip to the local senior center thrift shop to donate the unsellables (ouch --- so many unsellables!) and was ultimately rewarded with some room to move in the garage.

I was not rewarded with a big pile of cash unless you count the snack-size ziploc bag filled with quarters.

 

Praying for it to stop

Combine that room-to-move with yet another sunny day here in Oregon and suddenly it’s Bathtime for Blow Molds, in preparation for their upcoming trek to the vintage Promised Land (my antique mall space).

 

Look who's crashing the nativity

Will this weirdness never end?  I suspect my neighbors would like an answer to that as well.

 

(The outcome: I made a whopping $47! I am not a fan of having yard sales! Someone even tried to pay for a 25¢ item with a fifty dollar bill! You cannot make this stuff up! Never again!)

 



This week’s Moments-in-Vintage brought to you by the camera on my phone

 

 

I came across these books, organized by color, in the same local shop where I bought the gigantic typewriter.

 

That lone red book mixed in with the blue ones cracks me up for some reason. Either it’s a deliberate part of the design or some shopper was really not paying attention to what was happening on these bookshelves.

Wouldn’t an entire bookcase filled with hundreds of red & green books be amazing at Christmastime? Will someone please get on that and report back? Much appreciated.

 

 

This piece of big, heavy mid century awesomeness was a mere $20 at a yard sale this morning and the sellers delivered it, in a truck, to my garage.  I marvel at $20 furniture.

And motivated sellers.

Which brings us to something I have been dreading to share with you but in the interest of full disclosure, I feel I must.

 

The cow has been nicknamed 'van Gogh.'

This photo was snapped out in the Garage Where Cars Can’t Park while waiting for my yard sale furniture to be delivered.

Blow mold central.

And possibly future additions to the "What was I thinking?" pile.

 

 

Concluding these moments in vintage, a view from a walk.

On the Old Highway.

Hope this weekend brings you some vintage moments.

 



Springtime in Oregon

I have something on my mind today.

Not to mention on the ground and trees and roads as well.

Back in January, this scene was lovely.

...and it's still coming down...

On March 21, the second day of Spring, this is enough already.

Is there a form I can fill out to make this stop, please?

Averting my eyes toward the store-bought daffodils.

In other news...

Thank you SO much for all of your encouragement regarding my tiny antique mall space in Portland, OR.

So far, so good and things are selling. Hooray!

There is one little thing that hasn’t sold (that cute blue garden cart which is taking up quite a bit of precious real estate in the tiny space) but the always amazing Monticello Home & Garden Show starts soon so fingers crossed the blue cart will roll on out to its new home in someone’s garden.

I truly hope you’re having a beautiful day where you are. 

If you have some to spare, please send sun.