Antique and vintage finds from this weekend

Hi guys! Today I am sharing a few of my vintage and antique finds from the antique sale last week and things I got at the estate sales this weekend. I pulled this wonderful wooden piece out of the barn on Saturday. It is not ancient as it is on plywood, but the level of shabbiness is AWESOME. This is a large piece. It is either going on Ebay or in Ed's Etsy shop www.theindustrialfarmer.etsy.com ... not sure yet. I had an incident happen in the barn that I am not sure about sharing..it was so awful but looking back, hilarious..but TMI and akkk! Not ready to go there YET!  I was unsure about even telling Ed! I did tell my daughter and she laughed so hard I figured Ed would too (he did)..maybe when I recover from the shame.....

Anywhoo..this is the photo I found behind a print in an antique frame I bought last week. It is large ..16" x 13" including the border. It is of the Columbia Commandery No. 2 ..Knights Templar (Masons) from Washington DC. It has 2 5 cent stamps on the back that are canceled Nov. 2, 1865 Columbus Ohio. I researched and this group was formed in January of 1865. I wonder if this is a photo of them together at their forming? It would have taken a while for the photo to be delevloped and returned to whoever and mailed to Columbus Ohio....hmmm.

I just love old group photos like this. This was the type taken with the photographer with the wooden box camera on a tripod and his head under a blanket exposing the plates. If you moved..you blurred. How far have we come?? It is amazing (yet I still manage to blur photos!) Look at these guys..stovepipe hats, swords and sashes and fancy suit coats.

This banner is how I squinted and magnified and Googled and figured out who they are! Robert E. Lee surrendered in April of 1865 so this was right around that time..the war just ending or if it was taken in January of 1865..coming to a close. It would be cool to know who some of these men were..I am assuming as it was DC..well to do or upper crust men .. politicians and businessmen.

This section is my fav..you can see a woman in a hoop skirt on the top step with a young child fanning herself (maybe summer and not January? The kids aren't wearing coats either) You can see a blur where her fan was moving. The large white things in the back are huge columns. Not sure where in DC this was.

This cutie is being problematic. It is carnival chalkware and was a bank (but the hole and bottom are sealed/resealed shut) I may put it on Etsy..the shipping will  be almost as much as I was going to charge for him if he goes West Coast. Well..maybe everyone is not as cheap as I am! If not he will go in my local booth.

I got these at the first estate sale I went to on Saturday..the one I went to 2 hours early and was number 21 in line! (see last post) I have a weak spot for old baby shoes like these.

I forgot to tell you last post, the lady who was running this estate sale said while they were cleaning out closets and getting things sorted for the sale, they found a shoebox with A LIVE WW2 OR OLDER HAND GRENADE IN IT! She said they called the police and they sent the bomb squad. The bomb dude told them it was very unstable! Yikes!

I was telling this story to a gal that was working at the next sale I went to that morning and she said when she was little, she went over to her friend's house and they had found a LIVE hand grenade that they assumed was unarmed and they took turns pulling the pin and holding the lever down and fake throwing it at each other....holy cow! Guardian angels....These shoes needed laces so I added vintage taffetta ribbon in pale blue...sweet! All these are in my Etsy shop www.hopeandjoyhome.etsy.com.

I found these at sale number 2. They are not my usual deal, but they are so interesting and so well carved I had to get them. The one on the right has 2 faces. I am not sure where they hail from..if they are African or American or Carribbean. I hope they are not some sort of bad luck voodoo thing! The one on the right can hold a candle..it has a roughly hollowed out candleholder spot on top. If you know something I don't know, please share! Not sure what the wood is..maybe mahogany or cherry..it is very fine grained. Not sure how old either but I am guessing at least Mid Century at the newest.

This old ironstone compote came from the Ohio sale. I got a couple lidded tureens too. This one had no makers mark..still very cool! It would look fab with a glass or wire cloche on top. I'm giving this a go on Ebay.

This came out of the barn. It is an antique wooden cash drawer or till. So fab for a coffee table to hold votives or whatnot or as a desktop organizer or for the bedroom to hold keys and change!This is going in Ed's shop.

Now to the KEEP portion of the story! I spied this in a box of random what nots at the Ohio sale. There were several things I liked in it besides this so I was not going to let this one get away! This is a Victorian button string. There are several buttons that came off and were in the box. I was SO excited! I have never had one. (it is not heart shaped, I just arranged it that way for the photos)

It has some wonderful buttons ..this blue one is glass.

Sooooo cool for this button hoarder!

Yummy...

Victorian "Put a bird on it"!

THIS was also in the box. I researched and found out it is a Civil War Army Of Georgia Veteran's medal . It would have had an eagle pinback that it was attached to. Don't think I have that..I need to dig through a couple boxes and make sure before I list it! Sherman was the guy that burned Atlanta and marched through Georgia (Remember Scarlett in Gone With the Wind?)

This is some of what the internet told me:"Army of Georgia Veteran's pin: Silver plated tin eagle with spread wings; a wire ring at bottom suspends a stamped circular medallion with raised portrait of "MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN" on obverse and raised images of acorn (14th Army Corps), 5-point star (20th Army Corps), Cartridge box in diamond (15th Army Corps), and arrow (16th Army Corps) on reverse. These four Army Corps were part of Sherman's Army of Georgia that marched with him from Atlanta to Savannah on the Atlantic coast and through the Carolinas. These pins can be seen being worn on the left breast of Sherman's veterans at the end of the Civil War.  

These ladies were also in that box. They are staying with me for awhile and may end up as an altered doll or assemblage piece. I may put the red shoes one back together..I think those are her arms!

Too fun!

These are little tin ice cream spoons. I want to stamp them and make them into necklaces...

This last pic is a Rumrill pottery vase I am putting on Ebay. I have only got to one box of pottery so far and I have lots more to share! Stop back! 'Til next time! Julia