Avon calling..

When my grandmother passed one of her most beloved collections she left behind was the collection of Avon perfume bottles. I remember as a kid all her collections. She would sell Avon I believe just for the discount on those kooky perfume bottles. I remember she collected this men's cologne set that each bottle on a monthly basis was a new Chess piece. She ended up getting a complete set.
There were also funny shaped bottles shaped like old cars,animals,monuments,instruments,bells,poodles,cats,busts and soo soo much more.

I remember they were even in their original boxes they came in. I thought WOW these must be worth alot...ummm Nope.

Avon had a great marketing ploy making the perfume bottles into themes and characters. A lot of women during this time all thought they were going to be collectible and worth something but because of the Mass production and all the ladies who decided to collect them they are still so easy to get and really don't have any value..

They are still fun to have..however after a few years they all smell the same now.
I think my grandmother must have had every single bottle...I ended up selling these at a yard sale but a few I kept for myself and I think my uncles and father all have some for memory sake of my grandmother.

someones collection of a few bottles

the cheaper Avon bottles


The infamous chess set



I have a white poodle bottle like this..It is taller with a cute pink bow

Don't be a PUNK!!

I read this great book once about 20 remarkable collections and the one that really intrigued me was the guy who collected carnival punks.

Now if you don't know what those are they were these freaky looking clown things that you would see playing carnival games and you would try and knock them all down.
These go as far back as 1860. The earlier ones were straw and horsehair I remember reading and are later replaced by canvas stuffing with a wood base.


Sometimes you will find ones with Cooney Island or Atlantic city tags on them or marked with those names.
I heard some of these selling in the auction houses for thousands of dollars.
It is an interesting thing to collect but I think I may have nightmares if I collected these.

Salt-N-Pepper

When my grandmother passed away months and months afterwards my uncles finally decided to clean out the garage and back patio that contained boxes and boxes full of her craft supplies and tons of items she collected.


I must have inherited the collectors itch from her cause I came across one of many of her collections.

I opened a box and found tons and tons of old salt and pepper shakers.


There were all kinds..there were fruit and vegetable characters,animals,instruments,and other miscellaneous items. They were from all years and made of all different materials.

There were Bakelite,porcelain,metal,rubber,plastic,ceramic,glass and etc...

I have a couple I kept for myself but most of them I sold. I have a vintage 50's siamese kitty pair and I kept a few other kitty cat pair. ( I like cats and collect them but thats another day)

Salt and pepper shakers still are widely collected.

These are great to collect cause there are so many different possibilities and creations you can come up with as far as themes go.
Here are a few pictures I found online.

The infamous Little Golden Books

It is inevitable..everyone has had a little golden book at one time in their life.

I remember the poky little puppy and the little engine that could. I remember looking at the back of the books and they would display the characters of the little golden book series in the back and my goal was to read all the stories that had those characters.
Anyway once I had my own children I started to collect those stories that I had as a child.
Little golden books were born in 1942. The had 12 initial books.

Three Little Kittens
Bedtime Stories
Mother Goose
Prayers for Children
The Little Red Hen
Nursery Songs
The Alphabet from A to Z
The Poky Little Puppy
The Golden Book of Fairy Tales
Baby's Book of Objects
The Animals of Farmer Jones
This Little Piggy and Other Counting Rhymes


Today the little golden books are still growing strong.
They are widely collected.

Every night my husband reads to my son and his favorite is the three little kittens. My son loves them and I know when he is a man and becomes a father one day he will be reading his favorite little golden books to his children.

Those oh so colorful Cocktail Swizzle Sticks

From time to time I like to go out and enjoy a nice bar with friends. Sometimes I am in the mood for a dive bar, sometimes a wine bar and sometimes just a good ol lounge.
Some popular drinks of choice are Vodka redbull,cool Pear martini or a cucumber gimlet.

I have seen some cool garnishes of cucumbers,raspberries,blue cheese stuffed olives,melon balls, flowers the list can go on forever.

Cocktail cultures have Collided since the 1940's.
Back than Brandy Alexanders, Bees Knees and the Bronx cocktails have graced those linen covered booth tables. They had a simple garnishes but had one very special touch to them...Those OOHH So Colorful Swizzle Sticks.

A lot of these were used to help advertise either the venue or a beverage supplier to the bar. They soon became widely popular in Mid-Century Cocktail culture.
Just about every well established lounge decorated their cocktails with these swizzles.
If you were well traveled and wine and dined alot you probably came across a lot of different varieties and that can attract a collector.

You don't see them too much nowadays but there are some venues who still hold on to old traditions where you may find one.


**These are a great way to flirt at the bar too** Nothing like playing with a swizzle as you batt your eyelashes to that gentleman across the bar.

Spaghetti Poodles and friends

When I reflect back on my childhood I think of visits to Grandma's house and going with Grandma to visits of her gal pals and I can always guarantee to see a smiling little family of spaghetti poodles or a little lady with her Sunday hat and ruffled dress.

I remember the cute faces with adoring long eyelashes and some times holding a whimsical instrument of some sort, delicately trimmed with gold paint.

If you are wondering what is a spaghetti poodle let me go into a little detail..Just a little now..

In the 1950's porcelain and ceramic figurines were widely produced all over the country. A very special and unique embellishment was added. It was a fur molding from the porcelain or ceramic that was textured and looked like Spaghetti.
This really brought out the poodle look. They were using this method also for dress trims on figurines and hair, embellishments on other animals and other misc. characters.

I find that the Kreiss & Co spaghetti figurines are the most expensive.

I have a few spaghetti poodles lying around my house.
I sold most of them on eBay.

Introduction to the Collectors Corner

I thought I would create this blog for those like me who love vintage knic knacs. My husband and I share many collections and if we had the room we would collect more and more. I (if god willingly) am going to post a new item each day of something to be collected. After going to school to become an appraiser I could not even imagine some of the things that people collect. Anyways, I thought my first item of collection today would be something I collect myself I probably have about 150 pez dispensers of all sorts. I got into collecting them hoping that my son would want to collect them himself. My first pez I got was just a good ol DonaldDuck pez. My favorite is probably my merry melody indian with the whistle attached to the back. note: My son never did take on the interest of collecting pez. They are all now just in a big box in my closet starting a collection of their own...DUST !!

PEZ DESPENSERS!!

Pez was first made in 1927 and was named after phefferminz, a german word for peppermint. It was a mint made for smokers and the dispenser took on the image of a cigarrette lighter. In 1952 the first fruit flavored pez came out with a new kooky character head to attract the younger consumers. Pez is still going on strong to this day. You can tell the older pez by the stems. Early pez made before 1987 had no feet. *fun fact* Ebay was originally created to be a online trading site for Pez