Sunday, April 5, 2015

Spring '15 Pickin', Grinnin', Movin', Shakin'

The start of spring has proven to spark the Panoply sisters' desire for the hunt for vintage and antique finds, along with prepping items to style and sell. With estate sales in full swing, and a road trip to the Cincinnati area under the belt, I'm sharing some of our latest finds and what we're doing with them.

Remember when I shared my Vintage Finds in NE Maine, PA (pictured below)? Well, I just got around to giving the carrier you see in the photo below a good cleaning a couple weeks ago, readying it for a display at home.
Vintage Finds from Maine
Much to my surprise, there was a bonus on the bottom of the crate - original graphics on the wood from which the carrier was made! The A.B. Kuhlman and Co. Publishers were located on 315 Dearborn St., in Chicago, at the turn of the 20th Century, and this wood dates to sometime between 1900-1909. I will be fostering this one for a while.
Circa 1900 - 1909 Original Graphics on Wood Carrier
Next, an item I just recently sourced locally and had to do some major soaking to was this 5 gallon, crated glass jug (below), often referred to as a "penny jug". The wood crate is marked Solutions Lab, and the glass is very thick and heavy. The jug would have previously been used at a local Union Carbide plant (we live in a valley notorious for many chemical plants). It was found in the basement area of a recent estate sale, full of cobwebs and other nasties, inside and out. 
Solutions Lab Graphics on Wood Crate with 5 Gal Glass Bottle
Cleaning it was comparable to what I imagine wrestling an alligator would be like. One gallon of water weighs nearly 8.5 lbs, so you do the math, and then imagine trying to turn it in the laundry tub. Umm, yea, I'm keeping that one for a while. I'm keeping this next one, too (pictured below).
Vintage WWII German Wicker Ammunition Basket
Oh yea, when I spotted this vintage WWII German wicker ammunition basket while on the hunt in the KY/OH area last weekend, I immediately grabbed it. I requested the dealer be called with an offer and, lucky for me, my offer was accepted. It was the end of the month, and dealers are typically more willing to entertain offers then, especially if rent has not been made. I'll fill it with my bread boards that have been sitting in my basement stash for three years, just waiting for the perfect place to be displayed when not in use for other vignettes.

So, those are the finders / keepers.
Finders / Keepers
These next few items are things my sisters and I recently scored. We've already placed these in displays in our antique mall booth spaces.
Spring 2015 Vintage Finds Styled in Panoply Booth Spaces
Starting from the top left corner and going clockwise, a real honey hole of vintage pillowcases were spotted, and sister M scooped them up, washed, ironed and priced them for sale. Next, is a beautiful, small tobacco gathering basket, full of vintage, cross-stitched linens, containing their respectively labeled vintage utensils. On the bottom right is a really nice shaving set with original Acme Corp. milk glass mug and Rubberset brush. Bottom center includes antique and vintage grooming tools: a bakelite manicure set and straight edge razor, Berma Shave glass jar, Waterford crystal razor and shaving brush, and vintage barber bottle with porcelain top. The whisk broom has a sterling handle. Last is a vintage body scale, sad iron and dustpan.

We're also getting ready for Kentucky Derby (May 2, 2015), so we added a few new pieces for vignettes at the store. Mint Julep glasses in a carrier with a vintage recipe (an electric company's advertising pamphlet); a hat, binoculars and gloves, all suitable for race day; and a few equestrian items, including hat, helmet, a great leather horse with glass eyes, as well as trophies and ribbons.
2015 Vintage Equestrian / Derby Finds Styled in Panoply Booth Spaces
I also picked up a few other smalls, a few to keep, a few to sell - at some point, hehe.
Primitive stool, ironstone compote and sugar; bakelite utensils
Ironstone pudding molds: Lion and Lamb
Ironstone rose pudding mold on compote and stool
I already had the lamb ironstone pudding mold at home, and was happy when I found the lion form, but it was after finding the rose mold on this same trip. It seems they were calling out to me. ;-)

Okay, now here's the one that got away on our last shopping trip - the antique, toy terrier that you see pictured in the top portion of the photo below. The bottom portion is a photo of my granddog, a Welsh terrier, trying on his life preserver that my daughter bought for him last summer. Is that not the cutest resemblance you've ever seen?! That little riding toy was priced at nearly $500 so, no, he did not come home with me.
Antique Toy Terrier and Real-Life Terrier
Sister M and I did some major work in our booth spaces in the last couple of weeks at the antique mall. I already wrote a post on our newly expanded space we took possession of the last week of March. The first week of April was spent cleaning and making a few additional big moves as a result of a large painted chest that sold.

The following photos each show the before and after the changes in locations of our displays. Feel free to skip the before and after segment, but for those of you thinking about renting booth space, this will give you a taste of what's to come when you buy / sell big furniture - big sales, potentially big margin, and certainly big moves afterward. Moving and shaking up the booth spaces is a definite plus for keeping customers interested in your stock.

Here's the overall view of one rented booth space prior to the sale that led to five subsequent moves!
Overall view of Panoply booth space affected, before and after sale of blue chest - Spring 2015
The snowball effect started with the blue chest with mirror that sold. Casual linens were then moved against the wall from the corner of the floor space.
Before: blue chest; After: casual linens
The blue bench, which was previously against the far right wall (when viewing the overall booth space), was then positioned where the casual linens stood.
Before: casual linens; After: blue bench
Then, the black stepback (below) was moved to where the blue bench had been (white ironstone is planned for the black stepback). Next to the stepback is a wicker cart and shelving, loaded with hardware, and an inspirational sign upcycled with same, above the cart.
Before: blue bench; After: black stepback, wicker cart, hardware
The hardware was previously at the back of our other space (what we refer to as main booth), on a gateleg table, which was replaced with a small seating area.
Before: gateleg table, hardware; After: small seating area
Now, the gateleg table is fully open, in the center of the floor, as our equestrian / Derby display. The wicker cart previously at center is housing for hardware (as mentioned above). Crates and wooden carriers are scattered.
Before: wicker cart, crates; After: gateleg table (open), equestrian 
Shopping for and styling our booth spaces are two of our very most fun activities at Panoply. The cleaning, pricing and hauling just come with the territory. Here on my blog, I have several more antique mall booth space-related posts. If you're interested, you can type 'booth space' into the search box just above my profile picture on the sidebar, and a list of related posts should come up.

So, have you found some vintage and antique treasures lately? Are they keepers, or are they the ones that got away?

Thanks for your visit!

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