Last night I showed you guys Timmy, from my quick thrift stop-in that day. Here's another fine bit of retro kitsch some misguided soul chose to get rid of, and I, seeing it's intrinsic awesomeness, rescued from the cold lonely shelves of the thrift store:
I also picked up a super cool old pillowcase, and a little daisified lotus bowl:
And while snapping the above snaps, I noticed a bag sitting in the corner and found a couple of treasures I picked up awhile back and promptly forgot about!
This one fascinates me with it's machine-age chrome and it's early version of an ergonomic handle. It's even got a hot and cold setting and a little slider to let you increase or decrease the amount of heat by opening or partially closing the vent holes. Pretty impressive for something so obviously old. The smaller print around the circle there indicates that it was manufactured by the Standard Products Corp of Whitman, Mass. These were very well made machines, because there are lots of them still floating around out there, mostly for sale on Etsy and Ebay. Some of the listings claim it's as old as the 40s, and the Handy Hannah name was not exclusive to hair dryers. Apparently the same company made other "Handy" machines for ladies of the mid-century. But I'll let you go look that up for yourself.
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| The thing I like best is knowing that somebody Made this. |
I also picked up a super cool old pillowcase, and a little daisified lotus bowl:
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| The little bowl is a bit bold all by itself, but it's almost a wallflower compared to that print! |
And while snapping the above snaps, I noticed a bag sitting in the corner and found a couple of treasures I picked up awhile back and promptly forgot about!
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| Handy Hannah hair dryer - and it still works! |
This one fascinates me with it's machine-age chrome and it's early version of an ergonomic handle. It's even got a hot and cold setting and a little slider to let you increase or decrease the amount of heat by opening or partially closing the vent holes. Pretty impressive for something so obviously old. The smaller print around the circle there indicates that it was manufactured by the Standard Products Corp of Whitman, Mass. These were very well made machines, because there are lots of them still floating around out there, mostly for sale on Etsy and Ebay. Some of the listings claim it's as old as the 40s, and the Handy Hannah name was not exclusive to hair dryers. Apparently the same company made other "Handy" machines for ladies of the mid-century. But I'll let you go look that up for yourself.
This next one is even more special:
Tag reads Made in Scotland Expressly for Peck & Peck and below that, Braemar, which I happen to know (now that Wikipedia told me so) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that hosts annual Highland Games. Wikipedia also tells me that Peck &Peck was a venerable name in fashion on 5th Avenue in New York going back to the 1880s, and it died out after it was bought out in the 1970s, so this is a real-deal mid-century beaded cashmere cardigan. The beads are heavy and white with tiny, ever-so-tasteful rhinestones inside the U shapes of the swooshes. Not a single bead or rhinestone seems to be missing, it's soft as clouds and it still smells like some delicate perfumed powder or other. I would consider it a size small, probably. If anybody is interested (in this or anything else I post here), let me know. Otherwise, it's going in the shop on Monday or Tuesday.
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| Gorgeous gray-blue beaded cardigan |
Tag reads Made in Scotland Expressly for Peck & Peck and below that, Braemar, which I happen to know (now that Wikipedia told me so) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that hosts annual Highland Games. Wikipedia also tells me that Peck &Peck was a venerable name in fashion on 5th Avenue in New York going back to the 1880s, and it died out after it was bought out in the 1970s, so this is a real-deal mid-century beaded cashmere cardigan. The beads are heavy and white with tiny, ever-so-tasteful rhinestones inside the U shapes of the swooshes. Not a single bead or rhinestone seems to be missing, it's soft as clouds and it still smells like some delicate perfumed powder or other. I would consider it a size small, probably. If anybody is interested (in this or anything else I post here), let me know. Otherwise, it's going in the shop on Monday or Tuesday.
And on that note of elegant sophistication, I bid you all good night!
