Tobacco Felts

The Flea Market Acquisitions, Part II

I found a big pile -- no less than 50 big -- of these lovely butterfly flannel pieces on the second day of the giant flea market.



The dealer was from Pennsylvania and found them at the bottom of an auction box lot. Because she didn't know much about them, I'm guessing I paid a lower than average price.



These butterfly flannel bits are called "felts" and considered part of the larger tobacciana category of tobacco-related collectibles. On ebay, you'll find them listed under Felts & Silks.

With the helpful information on a few ebay listings and this www.fabrics.net article -- Textile Tobacco Inserts and Premiums -- I learned a bit more about my new collection. The felts were likely produced in the U.S. around 1900, give or take a couple decades. Like cigarette cards, they were freebies inside tobacco products. They were collected and sometimes stitched into pillows or quilts.



Not sure what I'll end up doing with these. Some are very appealing, like an old scientific illustration. Others are in fact quite gaudy. I expect that I'll pull out a few to frame and put the rest away until inspiration strikes .

Beauty Culture - Hair Products

About the same time that I found the beauty salon matchbooks on ebay, I also started hunting vintage hair product packaging with interesting graphics. I intended to use the illustrations as cut-outs for decoupage boxes.

I've thought about framing the collection for a bathroom.

These were all found on ebay for $6 and under.

My former employer was going through a merger at the time I found these on ebay -- relevant because the months of disarray gave me opportunities to scour ebay for good auctions and pounce at the right moment.

Modern Beauty Culture

One of the things I love about my beauty matchbook collection is the variation of several themes in the clip art and language, like these silhouettes.


"Beauty Culture" is one of the better phrases in the bunch. It's actually much more descriptive than the fairly drab "personal grooming" or "health and beauty industry".

Some more examples from my matchbook covers ...

on beauty ....




on looking good




on beauty culture




on the beauty shop(pe)



and, finally, on beauty services



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Charm Beauty

My interest in vintage matchbooks dates to 1999/2000. A good friend's boyfriend of the time, Joel, was a passionate and knowledgeable matchbook collector and introduced me to Phillumeny, or matchbook collecting. Joel referred to it simply as "The Hobby."

Joel and his dad had a match cover collection that they estimated was in the tens of thousands. They would take road trips to go to match collector conventions and were always on the lookout for matchbooks to trade or sell in the pursuit of a prized specimen to fill a hole in their vast collection.

I had been gathering some ephemera (paperdolls and hair product packaging) to use on little decoupage box projects. I was excited to find the world of matchbooks -- a new source for old images at a reasonable price.

My first buy was from ebay -- a collection of about 100 beauty and barbershop matchbooks. Even though I had ventured into the ebay buying world before, Joel was experienced in the details of matchbook auctions on ebay. He was my able adviser, helping me determine the collection's value and how low I could bid and still win (the answer - $15).

I love this little collection. The clip art didn't work as well for my decoupage, but I did end up using many of the images for little fridge magnets that I gave as gifts that year.

My second matchbook group came from Joel as a loaner, which I interpreted as "keep as long as you need." Joel specialized in sports matchbooks, and the ones he lent me were all duplicates and less valuable.

I love these match covers -- the "action shots" are so disarmingly graceful, the old school uniforms and two-color printing. And, while I do cherish these little beauties, I am prepared to state, for the record, that I will release them to their rightful owner (if he ever asks).

I'm starting to scan some of my favorite matchbooks in the large -- full matchbook format -- and uploading to a Flickr matchbook set.

Betsy McCall

Betsy McCall goes to school
Originally uploaded by cluttershop

McCall's magazines were one of the first things I hunted in antique stores. I knew the Betsy McCall paper doll from the magazines my mom bought in the 1970s and 80s. Looking for old magazines with the paper doll page intact became a good way to occupy myself when accompanying my mom and grandmother on their many antiquing excursions.

I still reflexively open all old McCall's magazines I see at flea markets and antique shops. If Betsy's there, the magazine goes into my pile.

Here's to Betsy -- my first proper antiquing fixation.

Paint-by-numbers

Paint-by-numbers - winter scene
Originally uploaded by cluttershop

Several years ago I started buying vintage Paint-by-numbers. Because there are so many around, I established a few buying guidelines to limit my collection and possibly reign in the clutter.

I have two basic guidelines for my Paint-by-numbers acquisitions:

1. never spend more than a few dollars each ($10 max, but only if absolutely necessary)

2. limit purchases to pastoral scenes

A few odd paintings have found their way in over the years but I'm happy to report that I've never spent more than a few dollars for any one painting.

All of my Paint-by-numbers have come from the Fairlea or Pence Springs flea market.

Corto radiator

Corto radiator
Originally uploaded by cluttershop

This radiator catalog was a 2003 ebay purchase related to my bungalow fix-up project. That first summer of rehab work was directed by a new friend and old hand at house repair named Robert. He loved radiators and worked hard to convince me to paint my radiators bronze rather than cover them with those wood and metal radiator covers.

He won and my radiators looked quite stunning. The picture above is the first image in the catalog. I loved the stark simplicity of and respect for the humble radiator in this picture. A fitting tribute to my friend Robert who showed me the way.

Radiators in context - a couple of illustrations from the catalog.

Plumbing catalog

I picked up this small catalog of household plumbing fixtures in Fall 2003 shortly after I bought my 1918 fixer-upper bungalow.

The catalog represents a phase of my hunting old house parts catalogs -- partly looking for inspiration for my renovations and restoration. Mostly, I think I was just charmed by the illustrations of domestic bliss.

The catalog isn't dated, but it appears to be late 1920s or early 1930s from the looks of the fixtures featured inside. Too late and far too fancy for my modest little house, but still a great resource for early 20th century American bathroom design.

See more catalog pages on Flickr