Featured Finds Thread

I think most were this weekend, here too. Holiday weekends make for lousy tag sales.

 

Bought these silver jewelry pieces from the thrift well over a month ago and am just now getting around to showing them. Truth be known, they were a few layers down in my pile already and I forgot about them. Most appear artisan made and I haven't tested them but seem to be sterling. The enamel pin with the rams is marked S925. The mermaid earrings are marked with initials J.A.H. The rest are completely unmarked. Don't remember exactly what I paid but I am sure it was under $10.00 for the lot.



From the same thrift on a different day. Charm is marked 14K but the bracelet appears to be plate. Will test it to be sure but there are no marks on it. Bought for 50 cents.



A picker friend of mine always has a garage sale over Labor day weekend. Only made it the first day but she puts things out daily. Bought this yard long etching by Rominer Lovewell (1853-1932) Has some damage but could not pass this up for $6.00. Pencil signed with a publishing date of 1889.


This glass lamp is marked Mantle Lamp Company, Chicago. The glass appears to be opalescent but it is also painted white on the inside. The paint is deteriorated so I may just strip it completely. Bought for a $1.00.



The garage sale had these 8 mini West Bend bean crocks for $5.00. I had seen the large crock at the thrift for $3.50 earlier in the week and it was still there when I went back after buying the minis. I already had the right warming plate with cord for this so was able to put this set together. The mini crocks are fairly hard to find so they were the impetus for doing this. I won't get rich with this but it is probably worth doing.



I bought a few other things at the garage sale and have already taken them in to the store. Most notable was a coral Russel Wright Steubenville American Modern pitcher for $6.00. It is like this one in this pic I "borrowed" off the internet.

 

WOW!!! To all!
I especially like the yard long.
...one of the things on my profile list.
And a steal at $6!!!

 

Thanks! The damage on the etching is really too bad but I think I can get it looking better with a bit of cleaning and a strategically cut mat.

Found out that the Mantle Lamp Co. is the original name of the Aladdin lamp Co. Also found a couple examples of my lamp. Even though it is early Aladdin, it is not terribly valuable.

 

I love the pitcher most of all... I would feel like Joan Crawford, pouring from that, at a quiet little early spring brunch, poolside, wearing coral bracelets, even in my swimsuit...
Still deciding on my male lead!

 

Cary Grant, Gregory Peck (my personal pick), Desi Arnez, Rock Hudson (since you're married, and he was at least decorative), James Dean, Steve McQueen?

@Brad - is that modernist pin set with an opal, or something like sodalite? I can't tell from here. A look at the back would tell us joolies more about it; often the age and composition and origin are "written" on the back instead of the front.

 

Ferd Berfel?

 

Maybe Lapis? I'll shoot some more pics and post here. I thought it was the best of the bunch myself.

 

Could be. It's not always easy to tell; the Gilson company even made a nice glass lapis substitute.

I didn't find much of note this weekend, sales before a big holiday being notoriously lousy, but did find this....

Old fire helmet by evelyb30 posted Sep 4, 2016 at 2:10 PM

It's old. It's beat. "Why would anyone want that thing?" This was someone's gamer - painted metal with a leather badge. No clue which fire department used it, but it has a bunch of dents and the paint is alligatored. It took a licking and the fireman kept on ticking.

 

WHOA! Could be worth a lot!!!!

 

I've seen them anywhere between $70 and $300. White ones can go for more.

 

Nice helmut!

Here are the new pics. Not the best, as my camera just doesn't do shiny all that well. FYI: about 3" x 5/8" and three dimensional. Stone has greenish-gold striations and definite gold flecks in it. Think pics should enlarge a bit if you click on them.

 

White would be Captain no?

 

white badge....but not always...even though there seems to be some white involved...

 

Take a magnifying glass or loupe to the BACK of the stone; I think I'm seeing gold paint through those little holes. If I am, it's art glass and not stone at all. If it's rock, it might be an azurite variant, i.e. a pretty blue rock.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...N39f4iU_bnc#hl=en&tbm=isch&q=azurite+cabochon

 

Hi,
My friend and neighbor up the street showed me her brothers old fire fighting outfit. She was going to toss them. I sold the helmet for over 4 hundred dollars, His really worn rubber boots went for 325 bucks. Of course I think it helped when I showed Life magazine article of the two planes that collided over New York in the 50s. Her brother was shown in the article fighting the fire. One plane crashed into Brooklyn where he was working and the other crashed in Staten Island. There was one survivor, a 12 year old boy who I think died a few days later. Anyway old fire fighting things still bring big money on the market.
greg

 

Kids still dream of riding the trucks, so old turnout still sells. Your neighbor's stuff had a good story attached, making it that much better.

My neighbor across the street was a retired captain. I found a modern print of an old 50s photo once, of a bunch of guys in their turnout. He took one look at the photo and named all but one; almost all of them still worked in his first house when he was a rookie. The photo ended up in the "museum" in the fire house where it had been taken. I've been on the lookout for fire-related items ever since.

 

I just realized...OMG...NO!...that I probably don't have a single thing relating to fire fighting except my Navy fire training papers from fire school on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. As part of my rating (job) I went on to be made an 'on scene leader' to handle fire crews. My Dad's best friend was a fireman but have nothing in regard to him. Best thing then was letting us ring the bell on the engine that was always beautiful and partway out of the house ready to go!

 

I have some earrings with the old-style fire helmets on them, and a lobby card from an old silent about firemen ... more or less. The lobby card is here because it didn't sell on Ebay.(LOL)

 

No paint on the backside. Here are a couple close-ups of the stone shot through a magnifying glass . The second one is at more of an angle to catch the light off the gold flecks.





It does look a bit like some of the azurite you posted but also looks as much or more like some of the lapis I am seeing.