The goodies I found yesterday!

I had to travel to Cookeville, TN, yesterday to meet my sister.  I had been there a few weeks ago and found an antique store that I wanted to visit again.  Well, that visit was pretty much unfruitful.  I picked up a couple of vintage office rubber stamps but nothing exciting.  However, I saw another antique store around the corner that I had not noticed before.  It was on Main Street and I assumed it would be somewhat expensive being right in the middle of downtown...WRONG!  They had the BEST prices...the photos above, which are mainly of Vietnam soldiers in Seoul and a family fishing trip...were 10 CENTS EACH!  I loaded up!  The photos were one of the first items I noticed when I walked in.  When I finished devouring the basket of old photos, I began to notice all sorts of great things.  I kid you not, I'm a freak for vintage aprons and, lo and behold, hanging all around the walls were aprons, aprons, and more aprons...none of them priced over $7!!!  I was in heaven.  I ended up purchasing this sweet red one below.  It was $3!

There is another, black toile apron hanging under my red one, in case you're wondering.  And, ignore the date..those dates on cameras are as annoying as the 12:00s that used to constantly flash on VCRs!  Anyway, back to my goodies.  I am just fascinated by ephemera...old, new, it doesn't matter.  Well, I saw a basket of old valentines and birthday cards.  They were pretty cheap at 50 cents each but as I worked my way through the pile of cards, I began to notice small notebook pages with writing on them.  They were notes about a lady that was expecting...one page was notes on what she received at her shower...another page listed her visitors at home after she had the baby...several were her notes about the baby, named Marjorie or Marjie for short, her first smile, her first tooth, and so on.  It was precious!

I took my goodies to the counter to add to my pile.   (Does anyone else do that? I usually begin finding things at antique stores then take them to the counter and tell them "I'm going to start a pile?"  I guess they know what I mean...I always assume they do as I walk away to find more things to add to my pile!)  When I gave them to the shop owner, she pointed out to me that the valentines and birthday cards were actually for little Marjie...the baby whose first years were recorded on the pages!  Ok, it just doesn't get much better than that.  So sweet : )  Ok, on to more goodies.  The last two items weren't as exciting but I love them all the same.  The first of these was a bunch of vintage christmas bulbs with the twisted flame tips.

And, for the last but not least of my finds...a family of deer.  Actually the tall one is an old flocked deer and the smaller two are just cute, little plastic ones.  I love the old flocked toy animals.  For some reason though I feel a yearning to douse them in vintage iridescent glitter...I hope I can resist! We'll see!

Okay, I sort of lied, there is one more thing I purchased BUT I just got them today...at my favorite thrift store.  Someone had just donated a huge bag of old aluminum molds and I just had to have them.  I hope my hubby doesn't read this post.  He may remember that I just sold a bunch of these last fall at our auction...and yes, I did!  I missed them so much I just had to buy more...who knows, these may even be mine that I sold...I just bought them back!  (Don't laugh, I think I've actually done that before...donated something then saw it months later, loved it, and bought it again!  It's got to be some sort of disorder, I just don't know what!)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed viewing my finds as much as I've enjoyed sharing them with you.  If you ever get to Cookeville, Tennessee, you MUST stop by West End Antiques on Main Street.  They really do have some great finds with even better prices!!