And… we’re back!

Posted on January 22, 2010
Filed Under the interweb | 2 Comments

I’m told ze comments are back in action. Sorry for the delay.

Phooey… Blog comments aren’t working

Posted on January 22, 2010
Filed Under the interweb | Leave a Comment

If you’ve tried to comment on my blog lately, your comment probably hasn’t gone through. Something seems to be amiss. We’re working on it!!

Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Mike Capuano

Posted on January 20, 2010
Filed Under me and my brain, politics, rant, the 'hood | Leave a Comment

… in the Democratic primary for the special election to replace Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. Here’s a link to Capuano’s official web site, in case you’re not familiar with him and his positions. He was the mayor of Somerville and we loved him. He’s currently our representative in the U.S. House and I still think he does a great job. He’s got a lot more spunk than Martha Coakley. I’d like to think he’d have beaten Scott Brown, but maybe the outcome of the election would have just been that much more depressing had it been him instead of Coakley. It would have been a much more spirited campaign–I’m sure of that.

On to brighter topics…

And finally… My Collections: Vintage Christmas Ornaments–Miscellaneous

Posted on January 18, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, nostalgia | Leave a Comment

I’ll finish up with some favorite odds and ends.

Red and yellow with flowers
Small red and yellow ornament with flowers

This one looks (to me) like a round grenade.
grenade
grenade bottom

Red with blue dots
Red with blue dots

Gold with pink dots
gold with pink

Flowers
flowers

Tree
Tree

Silver, Red, and Green
Silver Red and Green

Unsilvered lantern with pink and mica
unsilvered lantern

This one is stamped West Germany.
West Germany

Blue-green lantern
lantern

Pink and white with mica
pink and white with mica

Candles
candles

Silver striped lantern
silver striped lantern

I really love these last two.

Plaid with red and blue
red and blue plaid

Plaid with red and white
red and white plaid

And even more… My Collections: Vintage Christmas ornaments–Flocked and painted words and images

Posted on January 18, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, nostalgia | Leave a Comment

I found this one at an antique shop in Montreal.
Merry Xmas green

I have a larger one very similar to this but in worse condition.
Merry Christmas

Joyous Christmas
joyous
Christmas

Silent Night
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2682/4267164599_9601ed05f4.jpg

Merry Christmas
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/4267909138_b2de5acdfc.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2684/4267162507_65e1db7f77.jpg

Santa on skis
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4267907748_37d3b2262f.jpg

Merry Christmas w/holly
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4267160413_7f65d3d6d4.jpg

Red Merry Christmas
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2775/4267906422_198e19a6e0.jpg

Santa and stars
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4267905676_1fceaa3ae9.jpg

Now Dasher!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/4267905544_2afd7cca28.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2692/4267905424_e64a69cb3c.jpg

My Collections: Vintage Christmas Ornaments–Bells

Posted on January 15, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, nostalgia | Leave a Comment

I promised the ornaments would keep on coming! I’m wishing now that I’d taken better photos of them. Ah well… maybe next year.

So! Onto the bells! My guess is that these are from the 40s or 50s.

Red bell with white glittery stripes

small red and white bell

This one looks a little older.
old bell ornament

It has a clapper inside it, so it rings.
clapper on bell

clear bell 40s

white and red bell

Little green bell

red white blue silver bell

My Collections: Vintage Christmas Ornaments–Hand-painted leaf and feather shapes

Posted on January 13, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, nostalgia | Leave a Comment

I am especially drawn to these ornaments, many of which I believe are from the 1930s, though some are probably newer.

1. Probably 30s
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4267170553_0659f85c9d.jpg

2. One side
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4267170265_3f20a26bb2.jpg

2. Another side
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4267169979_60a74046ba.jpg

3. Probably 30s. This is a recent addition to my collection.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4267168669_f6a0a624df.jpg

4. Probably 30s.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2693/4267914760_f8112f8298.jpg

5. 30s or 40s
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4267914390_fdbb45a6ff.jpg

6.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2689/4267914262_ed18c81dda.jpg

7. Probably 30s
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2762/4267910874_cc9c74fb90.jpg

8.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4267164293_4be2caf5a2.jpg

9. Most likely from the 1930s, this is one of my absolute favorite ornaments.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4040/4267910068_650b3be1fb.jpg

10. This one looks a bit newer.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4267909950_83c46584ee.jpg

11.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4267157869_bc7a2371b0.jpg

12. Probably from the 1930s.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2701/4267903892_34eb81e449.jpg

13. I love the translucent red glass of this one.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4267156415_e54236f15c.jpg

14.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4267155669_1cd274c652.jpg

15.

My Collections: Vintage Christmas Ornaments–Fruits, Seeds, Flowers, etc.

Posted on January 12, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, nostalgia | 4 Comments

Most of these ornaments are much older–probably from the 1930s, possibly 1920s.

Pine cones
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4267173137_93460bcb02.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4267919016_7dfaa0f3fa.jpg

I just got another lovely silver pine cone ornament, but I haven’t photographed it yet. I like the lightly frosted pine cones a lot.

Acorn
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4267918476_58ab428bb5.jpg

Grapes, berries, fruits
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4267918338_c95f3a1700.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2778/4267168981_ba52c57fb2.jpg

This next one might be a little newer. Note that the top is not as narrow as some of the others.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4267909536_7771d384ac.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2742/4267903370_a0ef2e04a4.jpg

I’m not sure about this one. Cluster of berries?
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4267171809_1ba412f0b3.jpg

Flowers, baskets of flowers, etc.
The rose
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/4267917608_e27eab9c4b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2712/4267918062_f544b8868b.jpg

The top on this next one has definitely been replaced.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4267164017_1a6959bd0d.jpg

This one is tiny and would have likely been used on a feather tree.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4267909688_912c965c49.jpg

My Collections: Vintage Christmas Ornaments–The Stripes

Posted on January 11, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, me and my brain, nostalgia, photography | 1 Comment

While taking down our Christmas tree this past weekend, I decided to take pictures of my vintage ornaments before putting them away. Over the next several days (weeks?) I’ll be posting pictures and any info I feel like adding about my collection of vintage Christmas ornaments. I won’t post every single ornament, but I’ll include quite a few of them. I also hope to post more about my much bigger collection of vintage Christmas postcards, and I may get into some of my other collections and treasures as well (socks, books, music). But I’m starting off with what gave me the idea–the ornaments.

In general, I collect what I like. I’m not looking for the most valuable items or necessarily for a particular manufacturer or artist. Instead, I’m looking for what appeals to me–and in the case of vintage ornaments, they have to be genuinely old, not reproductions. I think most of my vintage ornaments are from the 1930s-1950s. Perhaps someone with a lot of knowledge in this area will come upon these posts and tell me more about what I’ve got (and also let me know if I have any misinformation).

Just because, I’ll start with the stripes. Some of these are a bit newer–50s and 60s. I’ll share some older ones in future posts. The clear–or unsilvered–ones may be from the 40s. The story goes that during WWII metals were needed for the war effort, so Christmas ornaments produced during this time were made with unsilvered glass.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4017/4267170975_a92e789b16.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2193/4267167569_88d4ff1bea.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4267166529_83fdb283ff.jpg

This next one seems older. The glass is heavier and sort of frosted and it shows a different sort of wear.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4267912780_34a76bcf18.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4267906204_844bd9b18a.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4267159105_f7a3392b50.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2688/4267156961_2cdc1e969d.jpg

This next one also seems older to me. It’s a bit smaller than many, and something about the glass and the way it’s worn makes me think it’s older.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/4267903092_d0b5888273.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4267163773_bed91bf8a6.jpg

I love the colors of the one below.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2723/4267162255_bfd4fb8a88.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4267905142_a7414ac706.jpg

Dolores Del Rio

Posted on January 9, 2010
Filed Under art, films, nostalgia, photography, the telly | 2 Comments

Watching Flying Down to Rio on TCM, I was moved to check out more about the film’s star, Dolores Del Rio. In my search, I came across some strange, wonderful, and sometimes creepy images.

http://www.photographersgallery.com/i/full/dolores_delrio.jpg

http://www.photographersgallery.com/i/full/dolores_del_rio.jpg
(Photographer for the above two images: Slim Aarons)

A restyled doll by Juan Albuerne
http://www.juanalbuerne.com/ResizedDoloresDelRioBWcv21.jpg


And a beautiful one…
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Go2pG2QyVZU/SqZw8upV5OI/AAAAAAAADkc/dalfRCSWfb8/s400/Annex%2520-%2520Del%2520Rio,%2520Dolores%2520(Joanna)_02.jpg

And a fabulous one…
http://img2.allposters.com/images/EVTPOD/PBDDODE-EC056.jpg

keep looking »

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The Knitting Turnip

On My Needles

Rhapsody in Tweed cabled pullover for Ezra! using Tahki Donegal Tweed in Forest, from Fall 2004 Interweave Knits. I've just picked this one up again, so it's moving up in the queue!

Sweater with Cable Patterns pullover using Araucania Nature Wool Chunky in Mauve, from Rebecca Magazine Number 28

Heather Pullover using Classic Elite Wings in Larkspur, from Rowan’s A Season’s Tale... This needs the knit doctor. I'm going to have to frog back a little bit and redo the shoulder area. Long story.

Hush Pullover using Jo Sharp DK wool in Wine, from Rowan’s Calmer Collection

More scoop on my knitting endeavors can be found at my home on Ravelry (clicky here).

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