Friday, November 17, 2017

Vintage Christmas Bonanza

I haven't blogged in over a week but I have been out hunting - for Christmas vintage that is.  One week a year our local thrift stores save all their Christmas goods and put it out this week, just after November 11th which is Remembrance day in Canada.  In order to actually get the really old good stuff you actually line up before the store opens, in our case about 1/2 an hour.  On both Monday and Wednesday morning Mom and I scouted for the best stuff.  Here are the results:

Box of Indents $3


Large bag of ornaments $5

Miniatures $1

Mixed $2.50

Most of the balls I will sell - likely will only keep a couple of the best indents.  I will likely keep the miniatures as well as have a mini tree I put up in the bedroom decorated entirely with vintage minis.


Vintage Angels $1 each

The angels are made in Japan and worth around $15 but I will likely keep them.

1950-60s candy container .50 cents

I have never seen one of these old candy containers, for .50 cents he will become part of the collection.

Two bottle brush trees .25 cents each
Cute vintage bottlebrush trees, too cheap to pass up.
Two pipecleaner Santas included in $5 bag
I kind of love the kitschy pipecleaner Santas that were mixed in the bag of old glass ornaments.  They are keepers - for now at least.
The best of them all - pre 1920s included in $5 bag

The very best thing I found in all of the thrift stores was this pre 1920s Czech mercury glass beaded ornament.   I have only ever seen these in antique stores and it was mixed in the $5 bag of balls.  This is now the oldest ornament in my collection.

I am also sharing two 24 Hr Facebook Bidding site finds.  I paid $10 for the mercury glass tree topper, almost impossible to find in the wild and I am not paying EBAY prices for anything in my collection - ever.  They go for around $20-$30 plus shipping on EBAY. I bought it in August or would have likely paid more.

Mercury glass tree topper $10
I ended up in a bidding war for these 1950s Noma Canada Bubble lights - they actually work!  I am not putting them on the tree though as they overheat sometimes and I don't trust old wiring.  I will likely just turn them on for a while to look at them.  Now I am on a hunt for 3 replacement lights for the ones that just have old bulbs in them.  I have always always wanted these and likely they are what made me love Christmas vintage.  Back 30 years ago when I was 18 I had a boyfriend whose parents owned some of the 1950s ones and put them on the tree every year. They go for around $40 on EBAY but then you have to pay shipping and the likelihood of getting to your home in one piece would be low.  Anyway, there were 9 bidders in the last minute, 3 of which were me and I ended up buying them for myself for $22.  I only had to drive five blocks to get them, so zero shipping!
Original Noma Canada box

Working vintage Noma bubble lights in original box $22

Vintage round GE Christmas lights, value unknown
Along with the Noma lights came two full boxes of replacement bulbs, likely 1950s which are round, never seen any like them.  I need to do some research but these are likely worth around $30 and will be sold if I can find the right buyer.  

So this weekend one of my projects is going through my existing Christmas Vintage goodies and selling off some of the stuff that I initially collected - I don't want my collection to get much bigger, just better and what I sell pays for all the stuff that I bought.  I can now pick and choose as have lots of great stuff!  The best part is I only buy things I love so if it doesn't sell - I am ok with keeping it.

And no, I am not decorating yet - still too early for me!  I have some friends coming over for an appetizer party on December 2 and likely will have the house decorated for that.  If any decorating happens this weekend it will be exterior light hanging as we need a non-rainy day for that and we have had buckets of rain this week.

Have a great weekend everyone!




18 comments:

  1. I like it how you and your Mom go together to places. It says a lot about the love between the two of you. That's worth more than anything in the world.

    Lovely ornaments and decorations. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love hanging out with my Mom, usually do so a couple times a week. She is 74 and I have to take advantage of the fact that she is still doing well and we can spend this time together doing things we both like to do. She loves hunting for this stuff as much as I do (although I had to train her a couple of years ago but now she spots them very fast)

      Delete
  2. I remember having bubble lights on our tree back in the 50s. And lots of those ornaments look familiar. I have a box of vintage but it is in storage and doesn't come out. We only put up a small artificial tree and a wreath on the door in town. We also decorate the cabin with natural and homemade items. Keeping it simple makes putting things away easier too. - Margy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whatever you do, if you get rid of the vintage ones make sure someone who loves them like I do gets it (they sell well on craigslist too)

      Delete
  3. The indented ornaments are the kind I remember from my childhood. Those you found are in very nice condition. The beaded one is a great find too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indents are my favorites too, I have a lot of them now. Was super happy to find the beaded one, only seen those on ebay and in collecting books.

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Thanks, I love hunting for them and then keeping the cream of the crop

      Delete
  5. What a treasure trove! I had a friends with an antique business in the '70s. Their house at Christmas was a throw-back to years gone by. They actually used those bubble lights on their tree. They only kept them plugged in when someone was in the room, but they were magical!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love them so much, was so happy to see them. You will be happy to know I sold off Ugly Santa today from last year, hopefully he won't be living with S&M Santa at his new house :)

      Delete
  6. Love all of them. Great finds and I know that you had fun shopping for them. Let us know how you make our on the resale.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have not tried selling any yet as want to give Mom some before I sell them - she is going to go through them this weekend. I did sell Ugly Santa from last year though - finally!

      Delete
  7. I remember some of these from my aunts tree. Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pretty common and there are a lot of us out there that collect them so harder to come by these days

      Delete
  8. Each of the ornaments are lovely, but I must admit I prefer the indents the best. My mom had a few of these but they went in the yard sale when we cleared out the house.

    I'll start decorating next weekend; a little earlier than normal but my daughter wants to use photos of the grandson for Christmas gifts. We'll see if he'll cooperate. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indents are my favorite too, I just have loads of them now. In the end I put a few lights up in our bedroom over the weekend as it is just so dark and dreary this time of year. I hope your pictures turn out!

      Delete
  9. Like you I don't decorate early - I wait for the calendar to say December :) What treasures you have collected - I hope you make a good profit! I love the pipecleaner Santas especially their red noses! I had a ton of those bottle brush trees and bushes back when I had a piano and spread a large village around the top of it. Once I got rid of the piano though I got rid of the village. I tend to just donate - I probably could have got some $$ for them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have to decorate a few days before December as am holding a small cocktail party dec 2 and really want everything decorated for that - except outside lights if it doesn't stop raining! No ways I am putting them up in the rain. I only sell because I like scouting for the stuff and it legitimizes it if I can keep the cream of the crop and sell the rest

      Delete