Beautiful Book ~ Antique Packaging

While in NYC a couple weeks ago, I stopped in at Kinokuniya Bookstores near Bryant Park. Kinokuniya carries a large selection of magazines, books, stationery and gifts from Japan ~ I especially love the bottom floor where there is a great section for crafts.

While looking through the art section on the second floor, I found this wonderful book ~ Antique Packaging by Josep Ma Garrofe. This book contains a lovely large collection of antique packaging ~ organized by theme or industry and photographed in a unique way. The examples shown were carefully selected from a private collection ~ most of which was collected by one person ~ Francesc Serra.

Primarily chosen for their design and aesthetic aspects, the packages also had to be made of cardboard for this project. The book has a vintage and tactile feel to it as it is printed on uncoated stock and is gorgeously designed. Below are a few of my favorite spreads:

Read More

Special Delivery!

Have admired this file cabinet (above) over at scissor variations for quite a while, so when I came upon a similar one (below) on a recent outing at Bottoms Up, I didn't hesitate ~ well, actually I did ~ I had to do some serious thinking as to where I could put it and if I should spend the money!

Since the foot of snow has melted, the man I bought it from is delivering it tomorrow ~ I will be making a temporary space for it in the garage so I can clean it before bringing it inside. My plan is to add some casters to the bottom and then put it in the foyer ~ it will be a great place to organize and store the magazines that I save. I'm not sure if I will keep the cordovan colored finish or not ~ but it will be another huge project I don't need to strip it if I decide to do that!

I was told that the cabinet came from a city office where there must have been a wall of cabinets like this ~ notice the mismatched drawers. Not sure of its age, but I would guess the 40's. Too bad those Budweiser lamps weren't included?! Ha ha!

Read More

Hooray for Hickory!

{image from here}

A Scottish Deerhound named Hickory won Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show this week. What a beautiful and elegant dog!

Read More

Old Summit Antique Show ~ Part 2

{pretty syroco or ornawood dresser box}

Aside from the great block collection, there were lots of other items to admire at the Old Summit Antique Show ~ plus lots of friends to catch up with, so it was a fun show! Here are a few more shots from the show:

{bowl of old herbs packaged in boxes ~ love the variety of labels!}

{impressive book cover design}

{interesting hand painted scarf box}

{shoe clips and embroidered handkerchiefs}

{vintage roll of taffeta ribbon}

{beautiful metal bullion tassels}

{metal embroidery threads with original packaging}

{Fabulous Putnam Dye display ~ glad to know the secret of charm!}

{Bossy the cow ~ or bull or steer in this case}

{litho cardboard farm animals & lion}

{German coffee grinder}

{stack o' suitcases}

{great shelves to organize with}

{watchmaker's metal cabinet ~ one of my purchases!}

Read More

Old Summit Antique Show ~ Part 1

{Nice combo of letters and images ~ clever way to fit 4 letters on one block!}

A few weekends ago I went to the Old Summit Antique Show ~ since it seemed like eons had passed since I had gone to a show, I ended up buying quite a few things and also taking lots of photos. A friend of mine who is a dealer allowed me to take photos of the wonderful collection of block sets he was selling ~ these are all from his personal collection he has decided to part with. Just take a look, such beautiful and unique sets ~ some of which I had never seen before. I love the gorgeous graphics of the typography and the packaging ~ rarely do you see sets like this in such great condition. Which is your favorite?

{A gem of a set ~ these were rather small, the whole box was about 4" x 6"}

{Hill's Spelling Blocks}

{Hill's Spelling Blocks ~ inside}

{Built in advertisement}

{Love the simplicity of the graphic letter forms}

{Naughty!!! Guess they didn't have copy editors back then!}

{My favorite ~ Beasts & Birds Rolling Toys}

{Round blocks with lovely letters!}

{Description and list of contents}

{lovely engravings as well}

Read More

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Despite the fact that Punxsutawney Phil DIDN'T see his shadow today, given the weather across the country, does anyone really believe spring is on the way?! I actually question whether or not they were even able to find Phil today - if I were a groundhog, I would not be coming out of my tunnel today at all! While I really want to believe Phil, it is hard to be optimistic when shoveling a foot of snow and braving the frigid temperatures! If you are truly snowbound and forgot to hit the grocery store before the snow hit, one can always resort to this - if you can locate a groundhog:

Happy Groundhog's Day everyone!

Read More

Confessions of an Antique Addict

Last Saturday I decided to treat myself to an afternoon at an antique mall ~ after all, it has been weeks since I have set foot in one (on a Saturday), so I was having withdrawal symptoms. Before I hit the antique mall, I stopped by a few thrift shops only to find every one stripped bare of any sort of interesting items. Thankfully, the antique mall (Brown's Emporium in Independence) didn't disappoint. I picked up a furniture catalog from the 1880's that had some nice engravings in it, a pink McCoy planter, an old German scissors and a few other miscellaneous smalls.

{fabulous vintage scottish terrier rocker ~ 1930's-40's?}

I also saw this vintage scottish terrier rocking toy ~ while I really liked it, I really don't have the space, nor do I have any children to play with it. This was one of those items I just couldn't get out of my mind....I had taken a photo of it, so when I got home, the more I looked at it, the more I realized I had made a terrible mistake by not buying it ~ especially when I rationalized that it would be the perfect prop to use for a Christmas photo with Speck & Sprocket (yeah, right ~ as if I will be able to get them to stay still anywhere near or in it!!). So, that is how I managed a second day of antique shopping ~ not only did I revisit Brown's Emporium, but since I was already out that direction, I felt obligated to hit The Brass Armadillo.

PS. I was the first shopper to arrive on Sunday ~ the scottie rocker is safely tucked away in what used to be my "yarn room". More photos coming soon!

Read More