Martha's Attic

 Have a safe and joyful Christmas! 

I have been spending a lot of time on my computer lately.  Trying to get items listed on my website is very time consuming and distracting.  So I thought I would look around online and see what kind of calendars for my computer I could find.  I checked a couple out, but found they really didn't do what I wanted.  I wanted to be reminded automatically if I had something going on that day.  I finally found one here , it's called the Pink Calendar and Day Planner.  You can list something for a specific time and a reminder will pop up at that time, and a bell rings, great if you're not at the computer.  The message stays open until you close it, or tell it to remind you again later.  It also has other features including a to do list, and you can change the fonts and colors.  A great addition to help keep me sane.

I think any child who watched TV enjoyed watching Captain Kangaroo.  I think my favorites were the rabbit and the moose, but I did love the grandfather clock as well. I watched in the 60's when it was black and white.  So I couldn't pass up this wonderful cup when I found it this weekend.  It's a plastic cup with the Captain's likeness on it, I just love it.  It even has the vari vue eyes that move!  I think they were only available to be ordered in some way, not sold in stores.  I've never seen one before, you never know what you will find at an estate sale.  I have listed him in my shop if anyone is interested.

I found this wonderful old book -it has a leather cover and is inscribed inside, presented to Virginia E. Stonesiffer by her husband F.H. Stonesiffer Dec 25/59.  It seems this book has been printed  since the 1830's, or before,  with stories and poems by different authors,  to be given to your loved one.  Sometimes Edgar Allan Poe is included (not in this book).  It also includes several engravings.  It would make a wonderful Christmas present for the book collector. Find this book here .

 He is just over three months now, he's really growing.  He loves everyone and is just a joy to have.  The mom's came for Thanksgiving and my mom just thinks he's wonderful.  She had to have her picture taken with him, I think he enjoyed it too.  We are spoiling him rotten, but you just can't help it with that face!

The Germans started making these wonderful blocks in the late 1800's. They are Richter's Anchor Blocks.  They are made of quartz sand, powdered chalk, and linseed oil. Imagine having a nice set of blocks made of stone rather than wood.  Many different sets were made, and new sets are being made today.  I recently found a very nice old set at an estate sale.  This set has two trays of blocks and all of the paperwork, it even comes in a nice wood box.  There are papers with trees and people to cut out and embellish your building or town.  The set comes with instructional books and even diagrams to fit the blocks back in the trays!  What a wonderful educational and fun toy for children and adults. Find this set of blocks in my shop

I have been researching the item pictured in the last post. While I was looking for something else I found some similiar decorative items that were spice boxes.  Some of these were used in Jewish Havdalah ceremonies.  The role of the spice box is to contain the pleasant fragrant spices that are sniffed to console and invigorate our souls, used in weekly rituals.  They are also called etrog or esrog boxes.  Some families have traditional mixes they have handed down over time.  So, I now think I know what it is but I still haven't found others made by the same company. So the search continues........

I found this at the market this weekend. The man I purchased it from was trying to tell me something about spices.  I don't know if he was serious or not.  I have absolutely no idea what it was used for. But I just love the detail on it.  There are elves or cherubs riding goats on the bowl area, along with grape vines.  The pole has a vine and leaves, you raise the ladder like piece on the pole to raise and move the cover.  It's just so unusual.  There are some pieces missing, some of the leaves are missing from the lid, and something from the top of the pole is missing.  It was made by the Rockford Silver Plate Co., guessing late 1800's, early 1900's.  If you have any idea, or want to make a guess please let me know what you think it was used for!

I have always loved the old string holders.  Back before the use and availability of tape, string was used in businesses, homes, and elsewhere. Patents for early cast iron string holders date back to the 1860's. During the Great Depression chalkware holders started showing up at the Dime Stores and were very popular.  In the 1940's most homes had a string holder.  Cartoon characters, celebrities, animals, and especially black maids and children. Vintage Black Porter String Holder I have always wanted to find one for my shop, and I finally I did.  Yesterday morning at the Market there it was, laying on a table but a woman was standing in front of it.  I could see it was interesting, but I couldn't get to it.  I was worried the woman had purchased it, so I just hung around, she finally moved and I picked it up.  Yes, there was a hole in the mouth, and even written on the back 1946. So I asked the price, ver...

I love buying unusual things, but I didn't realize this was one until after I got it home.  I think it's a sweet little pot, has some age and wear to it, but a nice design, came with three small cups. But it has no lid, or opening, other than the spout. I didn't even notice this when I bought it.  I was cleaning it up a bit, and taking the cork out of the spout, then I thought -where is the lid?  Actually I don't even know if it is a teapot.  I have looked and looked online, but it's hard to research -teapot with no lid.  You get teapots that have lost their lids.  I even tried teapot, no access, didn't help.  I have sent a couple of emails out so I'll see if I can get some help there.  If anyone has any information or ideas, I would certainly appreciate them.

I found this beautiful china at an antique sale a few weeks ago.  As with all of my items I did some research to find out the history.  The Gladding, McBean & Co., started out in 1875 making sewer tile . Thru the years they acquired several potteries and expanded their lines, located in California.  Originally the dinnerware was sold as Franciscan Pottery and consisted of bright earthenware in the Mexican folk style.  The name was associated with the Franciscan monks.  In the late 1930's the name was changed to Franciscan Ware for a more upscale image. The Fine China line was introduced in 1942.  This changed to Franciscan Masterpiece China after 1958 and production continued in the United States until 1978.   These dishes have a light turquoise background with a pine needle and  white pine cone design.  The turquoise goes well with the creamy white and silver detail.  I have started listing several of these i...

We live in the country, with a long driveway off the road so we're a little secluded.  We have always had dogs, they are our ears when something is going on, and we love them dearly.  Our Odie is getting on in age, his hips are giving him problems, his hearing isn't as good as it should be.  We've been thinking for some time about getting another dog, or puppy.  It's just a major step in a lot of ways. One of my son's friends came to visit yesterday with a new puppy he got.  A sweet little girl, white with black spots.  She was half beagle and half black lab.  So...in the end we have one of her brothers.  I didn't think Tyler was going to bring him home until today, but I saw a light under his door this morning, and went in to turn it off, there was a box in the floor by his bed with a cute little puppy in it.  So, now we have a new addition to the older dog, two cats and rabbit!

We had a reunion this weekend for my father's side of the family.  This was the first of I hope to be many.  On my mom's side we have had one most every year for the last 10 years. It's usually a good turn out.  There were six children in my mom's family.  Not quite as big of a turnout as we had Saturday, there were 11 children in my father's family, there is now only one.  My Aunt Beulah is the last of those children.  She and her husband came as well as all of my cousins except one.  So with all of the  spouses and children, we totaled around 45.  I think that is a pretty good group for the first one. There was plenty of good food, and many, "it's been awhile".  I love getting together with family, it really means a lot to me and I am thankful we finally did it!

Well, I have started listing items for sale on my new site.  A bit different, but I think I have it figured out.  For the photos, they cannot be saved with the same name ending, even if the rest of it is different.  You can't save it as "thumbnail" for each different item. All of your extra photos will revert to the current one you just listed, that was a bit hectic, trying to figure out what I had done, then going back and correcting, and remembering, don't list them the same!  But otherwise I like how it is shaping up.  I'm happy with the Shoppe Pro hosting, and I purchased my template from http://www.hipchickwebdesign.com/   she has been very helpful as well.  I found a great site with counters -Stat Counter  http://www.statcounter.com/ , they have invisible counters and it gives you more information as well. I just thought it would be nice to know, is anyone visiting.  I bought a book on SEO, search engine optimi...

 I am a vintage seller on etsy, and I love selling there.  But I have begun to wonder, what if?  What would happen if I had my own vintage website. It would give me more freedom of what I listed, and how I list my items. Things are so up and down on etsy, one month is extremely good, the next is extremely slow. I tried to research in the forums on etsy, but it seems most of the people starting webs make jewelry, and lots of those sites are just linked back to their etsy shop. So, I looked and looked at templates, and I looked at different web hosting, there are many out there, I finally picked Shoppe Pro. They have an area for you to make your own template or design for your site, I started with that, but I just wasn't happy with what I was coming up with.  I looked through the different designers they offer, and looked, and looked. I wanted a rustic looking template, but wound up picking one completely in the opposite direction.  When I saw this o...

I am not a hat person.  I do not wear hats, I don't look good in hats.  I recently purchased several old postcards of women and their extraordinary hats.  I wonder about the weight of some of these hats, were they heavy to wear?  Did your neck get tired?  Did they ever take them off, when they were out and about?  And in one of the pictures, there is the baggy hat.  I'm afraid my mother would have to threaten me pretty severely to get me to wear such a hat.  I have seen a photo of a young girl with this style of hat, I was guessing maybe someone had made it for her  -as a lark.  I can see I have much studying to do on the history of women's hats!

I must honestly admit, when I first found this ornament I thought it was handmade.  After researching online I found that they were made mostly in Japan and Czechoslovakia from the 20's to the 50's.  I think this is a wonderful ornament for a vintage Christmas!

Summer seems to be just hanging on, the nights are getting cool, in the fifties. It's so nice to sleep with the windows open. But, the days are still getting up into the 80's and 90's, and we need the rain desperately.  The grass is turning back into the dull dry brown, hard on your feet stuff.  I have been  to some very nice sales in the past month, one of the items I found was this wonderful little- cork or stopper. It is made in Czechoslovakia of blown glass.  I think it is just the sweetest little thing.  I hated to list it in my shop, but that's what I buy things for. 

I think I missed a lot of the blooms while I was away. I see the water garden from my kitchen window. Looking at the different stages of the pods last night, I just had to get out and take some pictures. Of course the dragonfly is included! I

Sitting out on my back porch, suddenly there must be 10-15 hummingbirds, trying to keep each other away from the feeder.

I found this wonderful little star at an estate sale this weekend.  I am guessing it is part of a Christmas decoration.  I do believe the crystals are glass, not sure about the blue in the middle.  Does anyone recognize this from any memories?  It is missing one of the small crystals, I don't think that takes away from it's charm.

Kara, Tyler, and Tom Tyler and I drove to North Carolina to catch a flight to Atlanta, we were late getting to Atlanta, due to weather, so we missed our Atlanta flight. After standing in a very long line, we were rescheduled to fly out the next morning at 9:30 a.m.  At first we were going to get a room overnight, but anger and worry about getting back to the airport in time made us decide to stay in the airport.  I am very glad we did, we were told when rescheduling, there would be no other flights we could catch, I just couldn't believe that.  So, later that evening my son checked the flight board, there was a flight leaving for Seattle, (where we were now headed, instead of straight to Alaska) at 10:30 that night, it was just before 10:00.  I went to the gate to check if they possibly had any empty seats, what she told me was very confusing, we were booked on that flight. I don't know how or why but we were glad to get on it.  We arrived in Seattle...

Four years ago my youngest son and I flew to Anchorage, Alaska to visit my oldest son.  He was about to get out of the Air Force and insisted we come to Alaska before he came home. Actually he told me he wouldn't come home if I didn't come up there first to visit.  I am not a big fan of flying, and I live in Virginia, but we did it.  The flight takes about eleven hours, reading is good to occupy the mind.  So, my son did come home,  for a year, then he got a job on the same base in Alaska, as a civilian, doing the same job he did in the Air Force.  He bought a house last year and is now insisting we come up to visit again.  He can be very persistent.  So, my youngest and I, (hub is staying home to take care of everything, he has a bad back and doesn't think he can handle sitting so long -good excuse) are heading off to the great beyond on Tuesday.  I do look forward to seeing my son and his fiance -but I really hate the flying part. Pictures ...

I love looking at the old wedding photos, mainly the expressions on their faces. I study them and wonder, was this couple compatible after they wed? I'm not sure this is going in the right direction.  I think I need to change the background, it definately needs something! Any comments, good or bad are welcome!