No....it isn't a collection, but it is a Popiel No. 9 !

Although I don't generally collect kitchen tools, I found this at a church yard sale today and just could not resist! After all, it's a POPIEL...."But wait, there's more" as Ron Popiel used to say about his Ronco products.....not only is it a Popiel Product, but it is marked No. 9. What does that mean? Uhh....I do not know. I really had no idea when I picked up this gadget, just what exactly it was called or what it was designed to be used for. I just knew I wanted it. 

Unfortunately, my husband found a use for Popiel No. 9 as soon as he took it from my hands....he used it to tickle my sides right there in the church gym! 

Knowing that there had to be some unique purpose for Popiel No. 9, I came home and did a little "Googling". Soon I found that this handy-dandy aluminum gadget was straight from the 1950's, designed by Ron's father, Samuel Popiel, and was intended to be used as corn tongs....or tongs for picking up whatever hot thingy you are cooking. They do seem as though they would work very well.   

In my "Googling" I found that Dan Bentley is a artist who made a sculpture called Poppi and incorporated these tongs into his sculpture.

I don't think I will be starting a kitchen tool collection, and I doubt I'll be adding to my Popiel collection either. I don't have room to store many Chop-O-Matic or Veg-O-Matic's and have no desire for a Pocket Fisherman.

Books by Julie Smith

Recently there was a contest at E-guerrilla (author Julie Smith's blog) to name the best-selling mystery author who did the artwork for Phone Kitten, an e-book written by Marika Christian (available at booksBnimble and also at Amazon.com). Phone Kitten was a fun book to read. I had paid attention to the credits in Phone Kitten and knew this answer....Nevada Barr did that artwork. I entered the contest and I won.

 

 

My prize for winning this contest was my choice of one of Julie Smith's books, inscribed to me by Julie. I chose to ask "Aunt Julie" (not related, just how I think of her because of reading author Greg Herren's blog) if she had a copy of Louisiana Hotshot. She did, and she inscribed it to me and sent it on its way. I received it yesterday and now it is neatly filed with the other Julie Smith books in my collection.

 

I already had an uncorrected proof copy of Louisiana Hotshot (trade paperback) which Julie kindly inscribed to me at the Garden District bookstore one year during our visit to New Orleans. I will be keeping that copy, but am pleased to have the hardcover version to go into my collection of her books. The uncorrected proof copy was one I found on eBay. Julie asked where I got the copy and inscribed it appropriately, as seen in the photo below.

Most of my collection of Julie Smith books are in hardcover. There are 5 paperback books in this collection. They are: Death Turns A Trick, True-Life Adventure, Tourist Trap, Dead In The Water, and Other People's Skeletons. I keep looking at book sales and hoping that one day I will be able to find these books in hardcover, at a price I can afford.

My collection of Julie Smith books is just a small portion of a much larger collection of books written by New Orleans authors and/or about New Orleans. In a future post, I will show you the "bigger picture" of the New Orleans book collection.

Mr. Bingle arrives for Christmas

Welcome to Mr. Bingle 2010, who arrived a few days ago at my house. I tried to resist him, but he was too cute. I had to have him for my collection.  

Here is my 1987 Mr. Bingle, who I "adopted" when I found him at a Goodwill Store in Greenville, SC.

The 1987 Mr. Bingle (above) came home to live with my 2007 Mr. Bingle (below), who I purchased brand new at Dillard's in New Orleans while on vacation in 2007.

After buying Mr. Bingle 2007 and finding Mr. Bingle 1987 at a local Goodwill, imagine my surprise to find another Mr. Bingle at a different local Goodwill a year or so later! That would be Mr. Bingle 1996, pictured below.

So for this Christmas, my Mr. Bingle collection numbers 4 "full size" Bingle's and 1 Mr. Bingle that is about 8 inches in height, that I place on the Christmas Tree. I'd better get busy with my decorations, so all of my Mr. Bingle's can meet!

If you want to read more about Mr. Bingle, go to the post at my old blog by clicking HERE.

Here's a Fish, There's A Fish.... and Another....and Another....and Memories

My bathroom is a huge aquarium. Well, not a real aquarium, but it does sort of look like one.  

I didn't start out having a "thing" for collecting fish wall plaques, it's something that stems from my childhood memories. My aunt and grandmother had some ceramic seahorses and a couple of fish wall plaques in their bathroom. I always liked the seahorses.  

My mother had a set of Miller Studio fish wall plaques. These cute green ones with the boy fish wearing a top hat and walking stick and the girl fish with big red lips and a parasol. I have Mama's well dressed fish hanging on the bathroom wall, but I also have a spare set of these cuties packed away "just in case".

I saw lots of Miller Studio plaques when I was growing up. In Spartanburg, SC, where I was born and lived until I was almost 7 years old, there was a store out on the "superhighway" (Hwy 29 - a big modern dual lane road) called Wadsworth's China Shop. This store was an early forerunner of Michael's and Garden Ridge. They stocked decorative ceramics like vases, wall plaques (ceramic & chalkware....I remember Miller plaques hanging in their packaging), candle holders, dish garden containers and flower pots of every shape and size. They also had artificial flowers. In addition to all that, they had everyday dinnerware sets and finer china sets. They carried Hull Pottery kitchenware, so I'm sure they also had Hull decorative pottery too. Outside the store, they carried concrete planters & birdbaths. OH, and even back in the 1950's, Wadsworth's was open on Sunday! Going there was a special Sunday treat!  I don't have a picture of Wadsworth from back then, but here is what it looks like today. The only thing about the building that has changed is the sign.

When you walked in the front door of Wadsworth's, there was the cashiers desk in the center. It was a big square counter, open in the center, with 2 sides for "checking out". At each side on the counter, there was a huge stack of newspaper, spread out open to be easy to wrap up the breakables. Boy, those ladies could wrap fast, too. The front side facing the door had floral displays made by the ladies who worked there. The "back side" or farthest side of the center counter was lined with those old fashioned drink coolers that you slid the big metal top from side to side to choose your drink. Those were the COLDEST drinks! The floor in this building was good old hardwood which had places all over the store that creaked when tred upon. The counters and walls were all pine panelled. There was no central air conditioning back in the 1950's, but they did have 2 huge "air conditioners" hanging overhead at the back corner on 2 sides of the store. A few months back, someone opened an antique shop in the old Wadsworth building. I got my husband to stop there just so I could walk through. I'll have to say, the "feel" of Wadsworth's is the same in 2010 that it was in the 1950's.......AND the floor still squeaks!

Now you know how my bathroom aquarium collection got started, although it took MANY years to come to fruition.  I inherited the much admired "well dressed" fish couple from my mother and the seahorses were given to me by my aunt when I expressed interest in them. That's when I decided to paint the bathroom a shade of aqua and start my hunt for other fish wall plaques. First, I found some cute fish cabinet knobs, but they looked out of place on the white cabinet doors. I decided to try my hand at being "artistic" and painted & stencilled around each fish knob.  I was pretty satisfied with the result.

I have two large Miller Studio fish that I found at separate times. One of these came with 2 baby fishes. I have them displayed as a family above the mirrored vanity. They didn't come with "bubbles", but I remedied that with the use of some I found at a craft store.

There are surprised Miller fish staring at me every time I shower. 

Swimming around my tub are three schools of fish. There is a pink and purple Miller set, 

and a ceramic set in pink and aqua, 

and swimming against the traffic flow above and below is another Miller Studio set of four in pink and white. This set did come with its own bubble.

I love my black and gold ceramic set, marked Norcrest Japan, as well as the big black Miller fish. 

Rounding a corner, nose to nose, is a cute ceramic set of fish in yellow and green, marked Freeman McFarlin Originals. When I found these, I saw one fish was missing part of a tail fin, but I love the look and really never notice the flaw.

Above the doorway is a playful set of yellow and orange koi and a single pink, purple and aqua fish. All three of these fish are from Miller Studio.

This is a great set of Nesco ceramic angel fish that came complete with bubbles.

There are 2 wall cabinets in the bathroom. Atop one cabinet are two ceramic angel fish planters and in the center is a gray angelfish figurine. The two planters are labeled "Japan" and both have the original 59 cent price sticker from Rose's dime store.

On the top of the second wall cabinet is my latest Goodwill store find. It's also a ceramic planter, made by ARDCO.

Packed away in my storage building is a box filled with at least this many fish and seahorses. I just don't have enough wall in my "aquarium" for all of them to "swim" at the same time!

Will Many Happy Buddhas Bring Good Karma

My Buddha collection is relatively small in number, but I wanted to show you the few I have displayed throughout my house.

This small ceramic Buddha is one of my first. I did this in the early 70s when I was all caught up in a ceramics class. He has been on display in our home ever since.

My favorite is the huge Happy Buddha that sits on the hearth. He just pleases me and it wouldn't seem like my home if he wasn't in view every day. At Christmas when I decorate my hearth with all my Santas, this Happy Buddha stays right where he is and dons a Santa hat to blend in!

Next is a china Buddha that I bought in New Orleans a few years ago at the French Market Flea Market. Buddhas are plentiful there. I just liked the colors.

I have this neat Buddha on a bookcase that rotates in it's casing so you can hide trinkets in a tray hidden within. I found this one at a yard sale many years ago. It is made of an ivory plastic type material. I've never seen another one like it.

I cannot forget my outdoor Buddhas, there are two. The one I have had the longest is also my heaviest...a big cement Buddha.

The other is in need of a good paint job, he once was brick red and now is faded pink and splotchy. I've been thinking he might look good in an even deeper red than he was when I got him.

Somewhere in my attic I know that I have a carved wooden Happy Buddha standing with both hands raised above his head. I would love to have it displayed. I guess I need to go digging around in the attic, it's just that our attic is like Fibber McGee's closet, so I have to be careful just opening that door!

Time for Clocks

 

I have plenty of clocks at my house.......but don't trust them to tell you exactly what time it is. The clock pictured here is one of my favorite clocks, a retro metal starburst wall clock that I found at a yard sale many years ago. 

This starburst clock grouped with the two wall clocks pictured below have been on a wall in my den for quite some time. The starburst and the "scalloped" round metal clock are both electric, but neither has a cord. I wanted the clocks for their visual appeal, not to tell time by. Besides, the cord on the round clock was spliced together, and I get a little paranoid plugging in electrical things that are so old. So, snip-snip, the cords were removed. I'll set my own time on each clock, thank you. The '70s rectangular clock is key wound and I do have the key, but I'm too lazy to wind a clock every few days to keep it running "on time". 

 

Here is another favorite of mine (well, it seems that ALL my clocks are favorites) which was given to me years ago by my husband. The Kit-Cat clock. It isn't an "antique" but was given to me about 1990 so I guess that's pretty old in clock years. Kit-Cat has been in my kitchen ever since.

This mantel clock belonged to my Grandmother. I have the key to wind it, but it no longer works.

Then there is a battery operated mantel clock which was a present from an Aunt. 

 

However, on the mantel in my den is a clock that I spotted at the Pickens County Flea Market (Pickens, SC) and I HAD to have it. 

  

This clock combines two of my collections into ONE piece, clocks and monkeys. (More on the monkeys another time.) Although this filigree clock is missing a top finial, the way it is made you hardly notice. Of course, it may be the monkey that draws your eye from any imperfection. No matter, I smile each time I look at this little clock. And what's a collection for anyway, if not to make you happy!

Part of My Mother's Collection

This is not really my collection, but it is something that I have in a collection of my Mother's things. Well, I guess it is, therefore, now MY collection. I recently ran across Mama's 1940 Fairforest High School yearbook. Fairforest High was located in Spartanburg, SC. The 1940 yearbook was, according to the dedication page, the very first edition of Fairforest's yearbook, Forest Views.

There is not much on the web that I can find about Fairforest High, at least not from the 1940s, so I decided to scan all the pages in the Forest Views and put them in a blog. Maybe someone will find it interesting....or maybe someone will find a picture of a loved one that they did not have before. Here is the link to Fairforest High School Spartanburg, South Carolina Class of 1940 .