Grandpa's Needle and Safety Pin

Suzanne, my blogging buddy at Colorado Lady has a meme called Vintage Thingies Thursday. I usually participate in another Thursday meme, but today I'm joining in with VTT. If you have something vintage to post about, join in.

In 1949, when my grandfather was 78 years old, his wife, my grandmother, died. After that, Grandpa came to visit us every year for three months. He'd get bored just sitting around, and that first year, he decided to reupholster my mother's wingback chair. He had never attempted to work with any material before, but he was sure that he could figure it out.

My mom bought the material, and Grandpa went to work on the chair in the basement. After breaking several needles, he decided that he needed some special items. He used this needle and safety pin, along with heavy duty "carpet" scissors and an ordinary hammer.



The needle is 4" long and bent so that he could work it through the fabric.


The safety pin is 3" long, and I've been told that he crafted it by hand. It looks too good to be handmade, but I've never seen another one like it. Have you?


Take a close look.


Here's another angle.


Here's the opposite end close up. *Added later: Some bloggers have suggested that it might be a kilt pin. Grandpa was Scot-Irish, so that may be correct.

The chair turned out beautifully, and Mama used it for years. I used it in my living room when I first married. It's long gone now, and I'm sorry to say that have no pictures of it.


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Mama's Sewing Table

Suzanne, my Blogging buddy at Colorado Lady has a meme called Vintage Thingies Thursday. Today I'm joining in with VTT. If you have something vintage to post about, join in.

This was my mother's sewing table. The original finish is intact; other than dusting and polishing, it is as she bought it. It's pretty well worn; so was my mom. She lived to be eighty-eight. I don't know when she got this table, but she had it and loved it most of her life.

When she moved in with us, we kept it as a night stand beside the bed in our guest room. She got to use it while she was with us. Mama always kept it in her living room. There are two pull-out drawers and the top lifts up to reveal original yarn that came with the table.


The tan wooden sectional inner tray lifts out and was meant to hold smaller spools of thread, sewing notions, and knitting and crochet needles, but Mama never put anything in it. She felt that would be inconvenient to have to remove items from the table top. The label reads, the "Sewing Cabinet, Caswell-Runyan Company, Huntington, Ind., patent D116985" I found out that this company was in existence from 1907 through 1956. I found a sewing cabinet that is similar, with different drawer pulls that was made in 1938.



I've included this shot so that you can see the entire underside of the table top. There are black metal hooks that hold the grooved wooden pegs. (To get this shot, I've placed the lamp on the floor; you can see a bit of the shade.)



The drawers are as my mother left them. The top drawer is fairly empty, with only some personal items of hers; the bottom drawer contains more items of interest to you. Mama has been gone for almost ten years, and I just now have been able to go through this.



Here's a pincushion made from two mason jar tops and a bit of red velvet, a never opened package of bias tape, a sewing kit, and two spools of thread. The bias tape price is $1.15, the gray thread is 29¢, and the blue thread is 35¢.



See the cute little sewing kit opened. I don't think she ever used it, but I think she carried it in her purse (or pocketbook as she called it). Mama has a total of 5 little sewing kits in this drawer!



Mama loved the shape of the legs. This was her style of furniture.


I remember Mama saying that this was her favorite piece of furniture. It has become quite special to me.


If you know anything about these types of sewing cabinets, I'd love to hear about it.

Television - Remember when?

Suzanne, my blogging buddy at Colorado Lady has a meme called Vintage Thingies Thursday. I usually participate in another Thursday meme, but today I'm joining in with VTT. If you have something vintage to post about, join in.

My family's first television was a Raytheon, black and white, of course.

You could hardly see for all the snow,
Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
Pull a chair up to the TV set,
'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.'

Our Gang was such a treat to watch. I loved Spanky, and Darla was beautiful. She's not pictured here. Remember, she was the one with the dark curly hair?


Ralph used to ball us his fist and threaten to send Alice "to the moon." I knew he'd never hit her because every boy was taught that they should NEVER hit a girl.


Aw, Annette Funicello, how I envied her. She was so talented. She could sing and dance. Her personality is as beautiful as she.


The good old days when Batman was a hero. I can almost here the theme song.


Gene Autry before he sang Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer. Remember the name of his horse? Champion.


The folks who live in Mayberry. Good people. Good show. I guess Richie's eight here.


Barney, the inept deputy.



Lone Ranger, Silver, and Tonto is a show that PC people would not approve of today, but I liked it. Remember the silver bullet that the Lone Ranger always left behind?



George Reeves played Superman. Although I like the show, I enjoyed the comics more.



My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and make sandwiches on the same cutting board with the same knife, but we never got food poisoning.

My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND she used to eat it raw.

Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag.

A pager was the school PA system.

In school, we listened while the teacher read from the Bible, then prayed The Lord's Prayer, and sang the national anthem.

Remember school nurses? Ours wore a white hat and uniform.

When we got hurt, Mom pulled out the bottle of Mercurochrome--it didn't sting like iodine did.

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Rose Vase

Suzanne, my blogging buddy at Colorado Lady has a meme called Vintage Thingies Thursday. I usually participate in another Thursday meme, but today I'm joining in with VTT. If you have something vintage to post about, join in.


This is a vase that came to me from my mother. She got it from her Uncle Charlie--my grandfather's brother. You see, Uncle Charlie first married Margaret and Aunt Margaret bought this vase. Unfortunately, Aunt Margaret died. When Uncle Charlie married his second wife, Aunt Betty, she wanted the house to be filled with things that better suited her taste. So, my mom got the vase.

It's hand painted, trimmed in gold, and measures 8 1/2" high. There are no markings on the bottom. It has been glazed.



The painting goes all around. Here's a shot of the back with a smaller, paler rose. You can see the third gold arm here. Notice how the tan color from the top turns to yellow.



My camera doesn't let me get sharp close-up shots. This is as good as I can get. I hope that you can make out the carvings and the gold paint.








I've never seen another vase like this one. I wonder if anyone knows any history about it. If so, please share the information with me. This vase has been in our family for well over 70 years.