Mid-century miniatures

Hot weather started early this year. Ugh! The days of slathering Johnson's baby oil on my body and blissfully frying in the sun for hours are long gone. Until the cats and I acclimate to the heat we vegetate in the house, sluggish and lethargic and uninspired. Poor, poor pitiful us. :) Finally, after weeks of lolling around and doing nothing, there are signs of life. The kitties have finished the long process of selecting their summer snoozing places and I feel like blogging again. Yay! 

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Several months ago while looking around in the attic I found a forgotten relic of a popular 1960's television show. Richard Chamberlain, who played the title character of Dr. Kildare, was so young and so cute. Little albums like this one were designed to hold our yearly school pictures. 

 
I looked online to see if I could find something similar to the photo album. A search at eBay produced odd results: vintage doctor and nurse dolls. I scrolled down the page and saw something that triggered a slow dawning of recognition. Whoa! I have that!

The nurse is part of a nursery set made by Renwal in 1954. She's posing in a pop-up book that opens to reveal a complete doll house.

Everything from the nursery had been tossed into a box instead of being stored properly. I almost didn't include the bassinets here because they are so dirty and one of the babies is missing but they're an integral part of the set and it's unusual to find all 7 together.

Accessories and furniture fared better. The set originally included a second identical table and five additional baby bottles.

 

I intended to take all my photos with the faux dollhouse. However...

 

Cat-magnet!

This hand-painted china furniture marked "Occupied Japan" was used to decorate a birthday cake. The object on the far right is a chair with broken legs.

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When I was a child I adored my cousin Teddy and was thrilled when he gave me several of his childhood toys, including a little wood apple and an interesting walnut shell. After Teddy grew up he became Theodore and is an antiquities expert specializing in 18th century French art and furnishings.  

 

The apple contains a tea set.

There are minuscule men inside the walnut. One is sitting on a swing in the center, another on the right is playing a guitar and the others are dancing. Or something. The figures are so small I can't tell what's going on. The pretty little dish is a Theodore Haviland Limoges butter pat.

 

Occasionally the Naval fleet based in Newport would take cruises to allied countries. Dad always brought me nifty souvenirs like miniature copper pots and pitchers from Chile.

Santa brought these tiny housewares. They were "lost" for decades and I did a happy dance when I finally located them. All lids, round stopper in the bottle and top of the percolator are separate pieces. There are so many itty-bitty parts I'm surprised that only one or two are missing.    

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My wonderful pack-rat mom saved this page from the 1957 Sears Christmas catalog. When I found it I immediately framed it. My mother's hoard collection of picture frames is a whole other story.

WishbookWeb.com has a fascinating collection of scans of old Christmas catalogs. This is the same picture.

And this is my farm.

The trademark of Marx, a manufacturer of tin lithograph toys.

Everything is still here.

20 years ago I set the whole thing up on a card table. My beloved kitty Weasel immediately staged her interpretation of Catzilla Visits the Farm.

I miss my Weasel.

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***Recommendation: Aardvark Antiques, a local business, has an new blog at http://aardvark-antiques.blogspot.com/. The owner, Charles Pharr, has appeared on Auction Kings as an expert consultant.    

A herd of vintage cream and sugar sets

This is one of those collections that I didn't realize I had. While sorting through a cabinet I found three sugar bowl and creamer sets and thought of a few more in the basement and attic. A few? I found almost a dozen.    

My sentimental favorite. Russel Wright was a popular designer of mid-century tableware and furniture that had a distinctive modern look. In the 1950's the Ideal Toy Company produced a set of plastic dishware based on Wright's American Modern pattern.

 His signature appears on each piece.

This is what's left of a childhood tea set by Banner. I'm often surprised to find that some of my more obscure 1950's toys -like this one- are available on eBay.

A 50's classic... My dad bought a set of Boonton Melmac. It was advertised as being unbreakable and he enjoyed demonstrating this to his friends. Must have happened frequently if I still remember it.

Discontinued Lenox Colonial Collection pattern.

Belleek Ribbon and Bow. This set has the second green mark, dating it to 1955-65. I should have used something as a reference for size in the photos. This petite pair could be used on a breakfast tray.

Rose and Daisy china by Pickard. The manufacturer's mark was used from 1925-1930.

A similar pattern by Stouffer. I'm not sure of its correct name but it's also referred to as Rose and Daisy.

Etched and frosted glass set. Very sparkly.

I have two more sugar bowls in this pattern.

When I was getting married brides generally only registered for tableware including everyday and formal china patterns. Today's bridal registries are so much more practical and realistic. Most of my china was never used. This is my everyday, Fireglow by Royal Doulton.

Part of a silver-plate tea set, another wedding gift that was never used. It's been stored in the attic for 40 years.


There are at least two other sets lurking somewhere as well as odd pieces without mates. This is one of those times when I think about opening an Etsy or Artfire shop. There's just too much here for me to enjoy or display properly.

Family photos late 1800's to 1920's

 One of my favorite mementos of my family is a collection of old photographs. Several decades ago I went through hundreds of unsorted photos, identifying the people and places, figuring out the chronological order and placing them in albums. I knew there were lots of photos but never imagined they'd fill four albums. One is dedicated to nothing but mystery pictures. And all were taken prior to 1950.

There aren't many individual photos from my dad's childhood but I have his baby book and high school annuals. 

My father's family from south Georgia.

My dad, late 1900's. His light blue eyes were so distinctive that I can find Daddy in group photos taken when he was an adult.

 Infants and toddlers, both male and female, wore dresses.

When they were older little boys wore outfits that resembled a sailor suit.

One of my favorites. Daddy had beautiful curly red hair.

This was in Dad's baby book. It's a mystery picture with nothing written on the back.
It looks to me like it was taken during World War 1.

Class photo, 1923 high school yearbook.

(I've noticed that some pictures in newspapers and books don't scan well.)

 When my father attended school there were only 11 grades so a high school sophomore was in the 9th grade. Twelfth grade was added nationwide during the Great Depression. Boys wore knee breeches (britches) with long socks and switched to long pants when they were high school seniors.

After graduating from high school my father attended Georgia Tech for a year before receiving his appointment to the Naval Academy. Dad joined Sigma Chi fraternity and this is a picture of his pledge class. He's the second from the left. Heh.

               I love the cars in the background. In 1926 Atlanta didn't have paved roads.    

                         

My mother's family.

Mary Catherine (Mimi) was my grandmother.

Informal shots from the 1910's.

When I was younger I looked just like my mother.

I was in my mid 30's when my mother told me a shocking family secret: her parents had divorced when she was a child. Back then it was shameful and always the wife's fault.
Yeah. Right. My grandfather divorced the mother of his five children to marry his mistress.

Ocean City, Maryland 1913. My mom, her brothers and sister seated in order of age, and their mother. Mom was the youngest and is at the bottom hiding her face.

 60 years later the five siblings recreated the photo.  


 Seeing this photo enlarged made me laugh. I saw the splash but never noticed the diver! The bottom of his/her swimming outfit blends in with the dock. "Me" is my mother. 

Early 1920's, probably taken at Annapolis. Mom is on the far left, my aunt Bert is holding the parasol and my grandmother is on the far right.

I love the fashions in old photos. My mother looks like an awkward adolescent in this picture but later photos show that she blossomed into a stylish young woman.

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I've almost completely recovered from a week-long bout with the flu.
Helpful hint: attempting to write a blog draft with a fever isn't a good idea, although it might be hilarious when you read it later. 

My parents' wedding 1934

Previously I posted a picture of a 1930's white satin gown that may have been an altered wedding dress. I didn't think it was my mom's and decided to compare the two by looking at old photos. Definitely not the same dress but I made an unexpected discovery. The professional sepia-toned wedding photographs have faded significantly and urgently need to be scanned, darkened a bit, and preserved online. Done!

Oh! But first, another treasure from steamer trunk #2...

The satin Nisley shoes my mom wore for the wedding.

 

The shoes are almost 80 years old but look surprisingly modern.
The soles show wear and I wonder how Mom kept the white satin so clean.

My father was a graduate of the Naval Academy and my parents were married in the chapel.

Traditional arch of swords. The matron of honor was my crazy aunt Bert. Her husband Tom, my mom's brother, is on the far right. Dad's best man was his Academy roommate, Al, who remained a lifelong friend.

The reception was held at Tom and Bert's home.

Until now I had never noticed that the privacy screen was made of international flags.

 Cutting the cake with Dad's sword.

Enlarged to show the 1930's women's clothing and accessories.

The children are my cousins, Tommy and Jeannie.

I still have that!

I wonder what the neighbors think about the assorted stuff I've photographed on the front porch and in the front yard. First a doll the size of a two-year-old and now... a sword?!?