Egg Cups, Church Keys, Pyrex Bowls and S&Ps . . . .

. . . that's where I spent my Wednesday,
amidst egg cups, church keys, Pyrex bowls,
and some of the oddest salt & pepper shaker
sets that ever gave you nightmares.

I spent the day working at Somerville Center Antiques, in historic Somerville, New Jersey,
where I maintain a little booth.  Now, SCA is in an old Woolworth's Store building
and on the main floor -- where my booth is -- are the more sober-sided antique and vintage wares.

But downstairs, it's funky time.

You don't believe me?

I wouldn't argue with this lady, and she says it's the truth. 

So I'm going to take you on a little tour of "Downtown" at Somerville.
(No pictures of my own booth -- it's looking too bare right now!)

The downstairs dealers specialize in 20th century vintage, with loads of kitchen wares,

clothing, paper ephemera, old books, records (remember them?), lots of barware and glassware,

and of course, salt and pepper shaker sets.

 I wasn't too sure what these were supposed to be, so I turned one around.

Yes, they are salt & pepper shakers. Yes, they are tomatoes. Yes, they appear to be wearing babushkas.

Was everyone starting cocktail hour at noon in the 50s and 60s?

 Poodles were a big deal back then.

 This charming poodle couple . . . 

 . . . seems to have had a love child.

 There are all sorts of things here.

Old games.

Bizarrely funky old porcelain flights of fancy, as seen below.

Seriously, who at that corporate meeting said, "Sure! Let's manufacture this!"

 Isn't it amazing?  It's huge, too.  Wouldn't you just love to wrap this up as a wedding present?
Hmmm . . . I've got a nephew getting married in March. . . .

Love this glassware with the thick gold banding.

What a gorgeous tablescape it would make!

The furniture upstairs runs more to the mahogany and cherry;

downstairs it's Deco, or 50s vinyl and chrome, or . . . painted vintage.

The vintage kitchen ware stretches for miles.

Well, not miles. . . but there's a lot.

Even a pink electric range.  How sweet!

 Vintage kitchen tools, tableware, even appliances.

Scotty dog glasses!

A very pretty single-width kitchen cupboard.

 With a beautiful original-equipment design on the glass.

Here's where a whole lot of old egg cups and

church keys (bottle openers) come to find new forever families:

Rolling pins, cast iron skillets, colanders, serving and stirring spoons, bottles . . . 

 . . . loads of dishes!

Trays, cookie jars . . . 

. . . and more cookie jars!

And remember that nightmare salt & pepper shaker set I mentioned in the beginning?

Here it is.

Twin devils, for your dining enjoyment.

You know, I would buy these for our next family Christmas grab bag,
but I'm a little afraid of them.  Maybe more than a little.

And that was my Wednesday!  How was yours?  -- Cass


At Sue's It's A Very Cherry World! blog,
it is Rednesday ... so click here, people!

P.S.  Tomorrow I start searching for more furniture for my booth, upstairs at SCA.  It's looking bare again!

Gobbling Up My Time!

I apologize for the lousy quality of the photographs in this post.
They are phone snaps -- and cell phones are not great cameras.  They are not even great phones.


Have you seen the Countdown to Thanksgiving clock on the sidebar?
Two days.  Two days!
Time to get realistic.

For the past few days I have spent more time than I anticipated prepping for

and setting up my new booth at Somerville Center Antiques.

It doesn't look as if it took a lot of time,

but son of a gun . . . it did.

The booth, partially done.
It needs more stuff.

That seriously cut into my sew drapes, recover shield back chair seats, solve the debt crisis

list of things I was going to accomplish before Turkey Day.

My annual To Be Done By Thanksgiving List.

Reality check.

The TBDBT List has morphed into the TBDBC List . . . to be done by Christmas.

The Thanksgiving List is pretty much down to: clean, cull, cook.

Projects can wait; cooking can't.

I am very happy with one thing -- the 5 x 7 lipstick red rug we put down.
I have my eye on a heavy wrought iron screen for the rear of the booth,
that I can back with fabric, and then use "S" hooks to hang things on it.
None of my mirrors or pictures is here yet -- nowhere to hang them! 

So today is a cleaning day at That Old House.

For everyone; Dion DiPoochy is at the grooming salon.

Luckily it is also raining, so it shouldn't take him long to get himself

satisfactorily filthy and smelly when he gets home.

Money well spent, eh?

And now, it's away from the computer and into the conservatory,

where I've got piles and piles of books that until Sunday lived on the white bookcase

that now is holding dishes and "smalls" (I love that term) at the booth.

Where will I put all those books?  To Be Determined!

Have a lovely, serene Tuesday, my friends.  -- Cass