Ms Dow Antiques Tique Talk by Marianne Dow: 3/1/08

April Fish Day Postcards

Yay-- another special occasion day, another chance to play with my postcards.

I wanted to put a little something about why we have the April Fool's Day tradition, and found out that no one's quite sure why, and rather than repeat all the conjecture, here's a couple of links: Wikipedia's always helpful, and so is Info Please.

In France, it's called APRIL FISH DAY, and they had some lovely, and odd, postcards in the early 1900's. Here are a few for your amusement and entertainment.

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!

Flower Power x 100

Just a quickie post-- I'm kinda excited...

Last week I picked up this pretty plate and mug, thinking to myself "this looks like something".

It is marked ARABIA / FINLAND. Of course I checked it out on ebay, and saw that there was a lot of action in the category. So I listed it right away. And, with 28 hours to go, it has 32 watchers! So, I guess it is something. I guess we'll see tomorrow night when the snipers do their thing.
Here's the ebay link:
BLUE FLOWER FACE Arabia Finland Plate&Mug Danish Modern

Update, Tuesday 4-1-08 -- my pretty mod plate sold for $50.90. I'm quite pleased. It was one of those lucky buys, so I did well. Helps make up for some of my less successful buys. Yay!

Top 10 List - Roseville Pottery

Of course I've been looking at Roseville listings now, since I bought my beautiful Water Lily Vase at an auction the other day. So Here's the list of the Most-Watched Items in the Roseville category on Ebay:

Twice the Auction Fun

This week I went to 2 auctions. Tuesday's didn't have anything that I was really interested in. There was quite a bit of Fostoria American glassware, including a rare Crushed Fruit Jar. I have never really cared for that pattern, and there are always plenty of glass dealers ready to battle it out.
There was a group of smaller pottery pieces, Roseville and Hull. But again, nothing that set my heart aflutter, and plenty of competitors ready to bid. I mean, there are plenty of things that I would bid on if there wasn't anyone else interested. But let's just say, I prefer to pick my battles, and choose to fight for things that I really, really want.
So I enjoyed a nice visit with my auction friends, and went home early, anticipating the next auction.
Thursday's sale was much more my cup'o'tea. It was an estate from an old, well-known local Wapakoneta family, with items from several generations. They had quite a crowd.

There were some colorful toys...

Showcases with nice "smalls"...

There was this large milk glass Victorian Easter Egg, with an unusual painted scene, in super condition. I wanted to add it to my Easter collection, so tried to win it, but someone else wanted it more. I lost that little battle.

When I first walked in, I immediately noticed

this

gorgeous Roseville Water Lily vase.

It's the yummiest shade of pink, and it's BIG- approx. 19" tall. NICE! Normally I don't even consider Roseville, because it usually goes higher than I want to pay, but this vase just kept calling to me, and, well, it's sitting in the center of my dining room table right now. Yay!
So I had a really good time at the auction, lots more fun visiting, and I did pick up a few little knic-knacs at the end.
Tomorrow is that antique show in Findlay, so I have to set my alarm...boo-hoo. But I wonder what I'll find... you just never know!

Antique Show in Findlay Ohio This Weekend

I hope to have great things to report about tomorrow's antique auction.
Wanted to let everyone know that there's a nice little antique show up in Findlay this weekend. It's the Annual American Business Women's Association Millstream Chapter Antique Show -- jeesh, what a name, eh?
It's this Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30 at the Old Barn ( 10040 W. U.S. 224, Findlay, OH, 45840 (419) 422-8531 ). Sure to see some nice things there.
Can't wait-- you never know what I'll find!

My Top 5 List: Victorian Picture Buttons Wrap-Up

Well, my button episode is over, so here's how it all went. It was a small collection, and after researching the buttons, via library books, and ebay, I found that the buttons I had were just "beginner" level. But still pretty, and they were worth more than I paid, so I listed them. I spread the listings out over 2 weeks, letting the bidders "run a tab" till they were all closed. I wound up with 104 ebay lots (most were singles, a few were groupings). I keep track of my listings, and my normal sell-through average is 75%. The buttons wound up with 80 of 104 lots selling, for a 77% average. I had 31 different buyers, from the US, as well as Belgium, Canada, and England. My total bid amount on all lots came to: $974.13, with a per-lot average of $12.17. I think it was decent, not amazing. And they are certainly easy to ship. And I learned a little more, so that's always good. And dealt with some very friendly buyers, who seem pleased with their little gems.

My "TOP 5" individual buttons were:

Ben LANG Artist 1968 Elephant $50.00

Man & DOG Scene Ivoroid $37.00

Prancing Black HORSE $36.00

Lady Columbia & Eagle Patriotic $16.59

King Charles SPANIEL Dog Breed $15.50

That's all folks!

Auction Report - Beer and Birds

Last week I went to an auction --surprise, surprise, right?
This was another one by my favorite local auctioneers, the Myers Auctions Service. It was a smallish auction, with only a few things that caught my eye. They had some primitives, and a variety of goodies. I did buy a couple of neat vintage beer advertising metal bar/counter displays.
There were lots of farm toys, which don't interest me, and an absolute sea of Jim Beam decanters.

I must admit a minor liking for those, as they are made in so many themes, and some are by companies that also made cookie jars, so they have a great vintage pottery look.

Now, I know I said no more chatkes, but I couldn't resist this luscious pink cockatoo decanter, to go with my other cockatoo bird figurines. 'What, another thing she collects?' you say-- yes.

And, there were these darling little gnome Christmas ornaments-- Man, I really wanted them... but alas, it was not to be-- they sold whilst I was off "powdering my nose". Whoever won them must have been thrilled to get them for such a low price... next time...

This week holds in store a couple more Myer's auctions that sound good, so I'll let you know. You never know what I'll find!

Why Easter Is Early This Year

HAPPY EASTER !!!

I love Easter, and Easter Postcards. I had to force myself to stop adding more cards here for your viewing enjoyment. I have hundreds more I could have added.

I also collect Easter toys, with the emphasis on the vintage HARD PLASTIC toys from my childhood.

Here's a link to a display of some of my collection that I had up at our local library a couple of years ago. My collection has grown considerably since then.

I was curious as to why Easter is so early this year, so I googled it...

and found an answer...

Easter always falls on the Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox which is every March 20th.

This tradition was based on the lunar calendar to signify Passover. Hence the reason the Easter holiday moves around each year.

The earliest Easter can ever be is March 22nd, but you'll be lucky if you ever see that.

The last time Easter was on March 23rd was back in 1913, so unless you are 95 or older, you have never had Easter this early before.

More than likely you won't be alive when Easter is on March 23 rd again in 220 years from now. You won't see it on March 22nd either, that will be in 2285.