Here Lies Salty O’Day and Pepper Tate!
These travel souvenir Salt & Pepper Shakers would fit nicely in your Halloween theme village. Of course, if you are a Salt & Pepper shaker collector these are a must have travel memento from Albuquerque New Mexico.
Click here to view these vintage salt & pepper shakers in our store.
All year long we’ve been keeping our eyes out for cool, vintage, Halloween items.
This year we found vintage Witch motionettes, Lemax Spooky Town Village items, Candles, Masks, Skulls and even a few shark teeth.
One of my favorites are the die-cuts. If I have a little spare time I think a wonderful way to display them is framed, behind glass. I’d love to mount them on black paper and frame them…… until I have time, tho – I’m offering them, as is, to you in our store. I know they’d make an awesome addition to your Halloween decor – framed or simply tacked on the wall – old style.
We put our Halloween inventory up on the first and it’s been flying off the shelf. Watch out for that flying witch, she’s gonna clip you!!
Meanwhile,
If you are interested in old Halloween items – come visit our eBay store before they vanish.
We just bought a collection of Annalee Dolls from a long time collector. They’re available for sale in our eBay Shop – to celebrate we thought we’d share a few fun facts about the creator.
Here are a few:
And one not so fun fact:
Wondering how to date your Annalee? Here are a few tips:
If you are looking to add to your collection this season please click here to visit our store.
If you have a collection you’d like to sell – please don’t hesitate to contact us!
“How much are the Old Ladies if I buy the lot?” I asked
My partner looked at me as if I might be asking something rude – or perhaps I’d just lost my mind…
Luckily, the gal running the estate sale knew what I was talking about – and was happy to negotiate a deal. We found 20 of these little figurines and she threw in the display shelf to go with. We’ll be keeping the shelf. It fits perfectly in a spot in the kitchen.
As we were wrapping the figurines up we noticed there were a few old men as well. These Ladies and Gents are part of Artist Marge Crunkleton’s Lincoln Country Garden Club series that she created during the 1990’s.
Ms Crunkleton created an imaginary Garden Club in Lincoln County, NC, where she lives… Then “plopped” them in a fictitious wee town called “Crunkleville”. Those who collected her charming little figurines were affectionately known as “Crunkle-lectors”… and hence the fun began.
Each member has a story and it’s a delight to be introduced to each figurine. Take Johnsie, for example: “Johnsie wears her naturally curly hair in a pillar of beautiful waves. Our own Miss Tilly has been her beautician since 1932.”
To find out more about artist Marge Cruckleton and her Garden Club visit her website.
If you are looking to find out more about the secondary market value of these little guys and gals Ms. Cruckleton has a guide on her website.
If you’d like to start a collection – or fill in your existing collection – I invite you to come see our selection Of Crunkleton Lincoln County Garden Club members at CloverCity
Hidden away, in a dark corner, at a recent estate sale was a shoe box full of brass items. Marked on the end of the box: “Horse Brass”
These shinny items intrigued me. It was ‘bundle day’ at the sale I decided to take a chance on them and added them to our pile of purchases.
Once I had them home I started learning what I could to prepare for listing.
Here’s a bit of what I learned:
The exact origin or dates Horse Brass appeared are uncertain. Perhaps it was the Celts in Europe who started the tradition. The Celts attached good luck amulets to their horses harness. One thing for sure is they have been around for a very long time. Medieval Brasses have been found.
Brasses were/are traditionally worn by horses for decorative purposes, or to proclaim national or patriotic sentiment. Hence the large number of national emblem and commemorative patterns.
Today they are found as attractive, unusual and interesting wall ornaments. Many “Pubs” (or, in America “Bars”
) adorn the walls of their establishments with them. Of course many stables have them displayed on harnesses – showcasing favorite horses or events.
To date there are at least 2000 different patterns which generally fall into the following categories:
Brasses are still struck today to commemorate special occasions, to honor famous personalities, promote businesses, organizations and other establishments.
Of course there is much more to say and learn about these brasses. There’s more information about the brasses on Wikipedia – the types and ages – and more.
Another great resource on Horse Brass is The National Horse Brass Society – they have pages and pages of great information on antique and collectible Horse Brass.
If you are looking to add a few to your collection – we now have over 60 different styles of Horse Brass for sale in our eBay Store.
I love old wooden boxes! So, the other day when I saw a couple old writing desks for sale we were up and out early.
I’ve sold a couple of these lovely boxes in the store and it’s always hard to part with them.
If you aren’t familiar with them, here’s a quick explanation.
From Wikipedia:
“Bible boxes were popular in the 17th century.
17th century saw the appearance of several other kinds of “chest” desks, such as those destined for use in ships or for getting paperwork done during a military campaign. These were usually known as the Campaign desk and the Field desk.”
There were also similar boxes called Bible Boxes.
“In Colonial America, this container was produced locally in a great variety of styles and finishes, by amateurs and professionals. Just about anybody who could afford nails, a few planks of wood, and a hammer could improvise a Bible box.
About the size of a Bible, this box could be used to transport in safety what was a very costly book in the 13 colonies. Many varieties had a slanted or angled top with a lower lip, meant to hold the Bible for reading, when the box was placed on a table. In a sense it then served as a portable lectern. Over the years the typical Bible box was also used or specifically built to contain writing implements such as a quill, ink pot, blotting paper and writing paper. The level or slanted surface of the box then served as a desktop, for writing as well as reading.
Most portable desks gradually disappeared during the 19th century, as useful day-to-day writing tools. The introduction of mass literacy during that period, the invention of cheaper and more efficient writing implements, and the mass production of furniture made most portable desks redundant.
With the advent of clean writing surfaces in every home or place of business and of the small and clean pocket fountain pen and the pencil, a gentleman did not need to include a lap desk in his luggage. There was no need for a container for the quill, the blotter, and the sand tray or for the writing surface this container could offer. Ships eventually were constructed with built-in desks, making the portable desk obsolete in maritime environments.”
The antiques are not thought of as useful for our electronic lifestyle these wood boxes are mainly considered decorative. And that they are – even the most primitive 
wooden Bible box beats the cheap quality of plastic or vinyl stuff glued together in some factory far away.
But – they can still be useful in modern life. The size make them perfect for storing your ipad or ipod and it’s accessories. Some even have ‘secret drawers’ or compartments that make them the perfect place to hide valuables in plain sight.
If your are interested in either of these boxes, you’ll find them for sale now in our eBay Store.
If you love California pottery we recently discovered several rare pieces from North Hollywood artist Jean Manley.
The Jean Manley studio produced work during the 1940’s into the 1950’s creating sweet, whimsical pieces.
I don’t know much more about the Jean Manley Studio, but these pieces have me interested in learning more about Jeans work. If you know more about the studio or artist, please feel free to comment below.
Here are a few more examples of Jean’s work – we have these and more for sale in our eBay shop
It’s no joke!
We just purchased a lot of Bucilla Cross Stitch patterns for Christmas Stockings. These vintage “New Old Stock” kits are no longer available in the Bucilla catalog. Our patterns are still factory sealed, the kit contains everything you need to complete the stocking.
Get started now so you’ll have them finished by the holiday.
http://stores.ebay.com/CloverCity-Sells/_i.html?_nkw=bucilla&submit=Search&_sid=8459595
We came across a large stash of Chevron Cars still in their boxes. If you are looking to fill in your collection – or want to start a new one – we have cars for you!
What are the Chevron Cars?
They started in TV. They were part of an Ad campaign featuring talking cars using clay animation. The cars were used to promote Chevron with Techron.
The cars were so popular that Chevron gas stations began selling the toy cars featured in the commercials. Chevron underestimated demand for the first run and Chevron produced new models.
Although originally designed for kids, Chevron executives were surprised that adults started collecting the toy plastic cars too. Older adults are among the most enthusiastic collectors of the Chevron Cars.
It was on a sad note that in 2011, Chevron announced that due to decreasing consumer demand, the production of the Chevron Cars would be terminated. This brought to an end a period of fifteen years in which they were produced and sold.
If you are looking for a particular model – we may have it for sale this week.
Check it out here: http://stores.ebay.com/CloverCity-Sells