Martha's Attic

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.