Happy Belated Halloween!

Ok, so I'm a little late. I had planned to write an article on collecting Halloween decorations and Halloween related collectibles. A funny thing happen on the way to the blogger, I got busy with my own Halloween party and didn't have enough time to do much of anything besides decorate.

We are avid Halloween Party Nuts! About 5 years ago we found out my brother-in-law had a huge collection of Halloween stuff, so that year we had our first Halloween party at our house with all his stuff. Since that time it has grown by leaps and bounds, we have gotten into the Halloween decorations big time. I now look for any and all Halloween decor at yard sales and thrift stores and we are the biggest fans of the "day after" clearance sales at Walmart.

Hubby has made a full graveyard, complete with a wood fence, a arched cemetery sign and lots of wood headstones with clever names painted on them. Another brother-in-law has a neighbor that bought a full size casket at an auction (not even I would do that) and he lent it to us for the party this year, it was the centerpiece of the deck! Between the two families we have about 50 masks (really cool masks), several blow-ups, 2 fog machines, several fiber optic decorations and boxes and boxes of table-top decorations.

It takes us days to get ready for the party, about 4 hours for the party and a full day of picking up and putting away but everybody always seems to have a good time and we enjoy our efforts for the brief time the decorations are up.

Below are a few of our Halloween decorations





HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

So if you are a Halloween Guru you are in good company as the Halloween Party Supply industry is a multi-million dollar business. Just keep in mind that the best finds are generally before the holiday starts so always keep an eye out at flea markets and yard sales year round. You never know, you just might end up with tubs and tubs of Halloween decor like we did. Happy Halloween Everybody!!!

Collecting Vintage Lunchboxes

The first metal figural lunchbox was made by Aladdin Company and featured Hopalong Cassidy. Hopalong decals covered a steel lunchbox, it was the beginning of a commercial boom that is highly profitable and popular to this day.

In 1953 the lunchbox took a new direction with fully lithographed steel and included a matching thermos. The first of the lithographed lunchboxes featured Roy Rogers. From that point on every figure in pop culture history has been on a lunchbox. Pictured is a 1956 Tigger Lunchbox.


Vintage Lunchboxes are quite collectible, the older the better. A vintage metal lunchbox in excellent condition will bring top dollar. The metal has to have good color, limited scratches and no dents. The thermos has to be complete and the handle and latch has to be in good condition. About 6 years ago I sold an original Dukes of Hazzard Lunchbox for $100, today's market doesn't bring that kind of price, these old lunchboxes do tend to fluctuate in price and popularity.

If you come across one of these old lunchboxes be sure to look for a date, many of the early lunchboxes from the 50's and 60's are valuable, however, some of the 70's and 80's lunchboxes are now valuable as well.

Collecting lunchboxes is a hobby that has been around for years and it's probably one that will be around forever.

Shot Glasses

Shot Glasses are a highly collectible item especially among young men. Collecting shot glasses is certainly not just a man's hobby, but I do find it is more popular among young men.

Almost every entertainment attraction sells shot glasses as a souvenir in their gift shops.
Shot Glasses come in every color you can imagine. While most are the same size there are some that are taller and some that are shorter than a standard shot glass. I've seen them made of many materials, a few being glass, porcelain, wood, metal and plastic.

Alcohol manufactures use shot glasses for lucrative advertising, the lucrative part is that people pay for the opportunity to purchase business advertising on souvenir shot glasses.

Shops that carry state or city souvenir items usually have shot glasses. Flea markets are also a prime place to look for shot glasses. Collectors seem to either buy all they see or they collect a series of particular shot glasses. For instance, we had a collector that came into the store looking for shot glasses with football team logos. Another buyer was looking for any shot glass with a alcohol company logo. We also had several young men that bought every one they found.

I do come across them at yard sales occasionally where you can usually pick them up very cheap. Once I bought a huge lot of shot glasses at a yard sale for 10 cents a piece and sold them as a lot on eBay for $75. A huge profit for me.

I usually price my shot glasses between $3 - $5 in my flea market booth and I have no problem selling them.

Avon 1876 Cape Cod

Avon 1876 Cape Cod is a beautiful deep ruby red glass with a raised grape & waffle type pattern. The line started with candle holders, however, a whole dinnerware line soon followed. Avon 1876 Cape Cod was first produced in the mid 70's and was discontinued in the mid 90's.

I can remember working with a girl in the 90's that loved this ruby glass. She would order a piece every month when the Avon book circulated around the break room. She wanted her Christmas dinner table set with nothing but this on a white linen tablecloth. Every time I see a piece of Avon Cape Cod I think of her and often wonder if she ever completed her Christmas table.

At one time the Cape Cod line was quite collectible but as with most collectibles value and popularity have diminished. The smaller pieces usually start out at $5 in a flea market, I've seen the Cake & Knife set go for $75 but that was a few years ago. I don't know if it could get that today for the set but like everything collectible, I guess if somebody wants it badly enough you could.

This beautiful glass is no longer available through Avon but I do find it quite often at Antique Stores and Flea Markets. I also find an occasional piece at a yard sale. Of course eBay is saturated with Avon 1876 Cape Cod so if you really want a certain piece that would be the place to shop.

Vernon Ware

Vernon Kilns was a California Company that produced figurines, vases, pottery, dinnerware and souvenir plates. They operated out of Vernon, California from 1930 to 1958. Below are some of the dinnerware patterns produced by Vernon Kilns:

The "Mayflower" cup and saucer pictured below was one of the more popular patterns.

The "Tickled Pink" dishes are popular with collectors today.











Vernon Kilns produced the pattern "Organdie" from 1937 to 1958. Organdie shown below is a plaid pattern with yellow circled around brown stripes.



In 1958 Vernon Kilns closed up shop, however, Metlox another great California Pottery Company purchased the molds and with a special license was able to produce them under the same name. Most of these pieces are marked Authentic Vernon Ware. Some will have the Metlox name, some do not.

The set of dishes below is quite similar to the one above but as you can see the colors are brighter and the lines are more clearly defined. This very popular pattern called “Homespun” was produced under the Vernon Kilns name.












"Fruit Basket", shown below, is another Vernonware pattern produced by Metlox.



There are many, many patterns that were produced by Vernon Kilns. The library is a good place to research Vernon Ware. A internet search of Vernonware, Vernon Ware, Vernon Kilns, Metlox and California Pottery are your best bet when researching Vernon Ware.

Collecting Roosters

If you are into decorating with roosters you will find several different versions in almost every flea market in the United States. It seems like the country kitchen decor calls for at least one rooster if not several.

I’ve seen roosters stamped into furniture, canister sets, rugs, dishes, glasses, pottery, tablecloths & napkins and pots & pans. These items seem to be very common in a rooster decorated kitchen.

I have seen so many artistic versions of the rooster that I know the barnyard version and the art deco version can create very different decorating schemes.

You can decorate with mass-produced roosters, vintage roosters or unique roosters that are made of different compositions. They can be very colorful or have muted colors or even a gold or brass tone.

Roosters with color promote a definite country feel regardless of what room in your home you are decorating.

A room painted with earth colors and trimmed in dark wood can be decorated with brass or gold tone roosters. Throw in some pottery and splashes of red or even a few colorful roosters here and there and it will add a flair of elegance to that country theme.

No matter what your style or budget is you can find these roosters in dollar stores, variety stores, online stores, eBay, and even flea markets. Yard sales and auctions are also a great place to find them.

Happy Hunting!

I've Closed My eBay Store

I can't believe that I haven't written anything since the middle of August but I have been so incredibly busy!

I started the eBay store and tried it for 2 months and decided I wasn't making enough money from it to justify the time I put in. If I added it up I think I probably made about 50 cents an hour. So exactly 2 months later I closed it.

I had this bright idea to open up an online bookstore through the eBay Store. I bought out a yard sale that had approximately 5,000 books and for 3 weeks I did nothing but research, type, list, wrap, and pack.

The only problem with opening a eBay Book Store is I didn't do enough research on my competition. The competition for a used bookstore is fierce on eBay. There are several book peddlers, and many books are going for next to nothing. If you want to compete you have to sell your books for next to nothing. By the time I figured this out I was exhausted from all the work I had been doing.

I sorted all the books by categories, I had books in my garage (still do), I had books in my kitchen, in my dinning room, in my living room, in my family room, in my office, in the spare bedroom and in our utility trailer. They were sitting in piles on the pool table and around the inside perimeter of the basement.

I researched each book because one of the books I sold was a 1st edition Ray Bradbury book, it sold for $214 so I felt I had to check out each book before I decided what to do with it. After researching each book, I took boxes to my flea market booths, I gave some to a local thrift store, I packed them in lots and sold them on eBay. I've gotten rid of most of them, I probably have about 300 left and hopefully next week will have a new home for them as well.

I did make some money but I sure earned it with my time. I will continue to sell on eBay through the regular auctions but the eBay store is gone! I'm already starting something new, well, a couple of new flea market booths. One is in a brand new flea market and the other is in a well established flea market. I have been yard sailing, and attending more auctions lately to get enough inventory to spread between all the booths. I have to overstock to get through the winter months as the yard sale season is about over.

I've been seriously considering buying another building and opening another flea market / antique store. I sold a very successful business because I was so burnt out on it but I can't seem to get it out of my system! I think everybody that buys and sells knows what I'm talking about.