Find of the day

This is my find of the day, not worth much but for my Shriner friends, Priceless.  We did pour out the Burbon.  It smelled like old age and sadness.

What a rug

I picked up this beautiful hand loomed rug for $5.  As I admired it, it occurred to me that someone surely spent a long time on it.  I visited my friends at Azari Rug Gallery to have it looked at.  They were able to tell me within moments that it is a rug loomed in Afghanistan in the early 70's.  Afghanistan is very tribal, and each rug has it's own tribal markers.  I was told that the tribes were spreading out, and soon fine work like this will be gone forever.

I am going to hold on to my little piece of this history.

 Rug.  Value $250-350

Roly Polio

  Like all dealers I am also a collector. Much of my collection tends to run on the darker and more bizarre end of the spectrum. I also collect interesting photographs. These two amazing photos were in my personal collection for a while.

 This first one shows a young man with polio sitting in his wheelchair. Based on the style of the wheelchair I am guessing this photo was taken around the nineteen teens or so. What is unusual about this photo is the fact that it appears to have been taken in the young man's home. As most photography was done in studios back then the fact that the photographer went to the subject's home is highly unusual.

 This second photo is amazing. It's the same young man but this time in what looks like some form of walker brace. I am guessing it was some form of physical therapy apparatus. Again the photo was taken in the subject's home which is very unusual. Here the boy appears with what I am guessing is his father in the same spot of the house as the first photo.
 Finding one photo of a subject like this is not easy. Finding a pair of photos that are clearly of the same subject, taken at the same time, with such unusual subject matter is absolutely amazing. On top of that these photos were larger than standard cabinet cards, about 5" x 7" which is unusually large for photos this old. These were probably one of my favorite finds of all time.

Meow

Sometimes we buy things simply because they speak to us.

Sometimes they speak to us in kitty language.

Getting Ready for the Big Game.

 In addition to selling in my shop I also have an Etsy store where I channel my horrible addiction to cool and weird thrift store t-shirts and excellent vintage clothing. Here is one of my fav finds.

 Few pieces of clothing are as reminiscent of the heyday of America as the iconic 1950s letter sweater. I was so excited to find this classic piece of Americana recently.

 This fantastic sweater is all wool and in a very attractive combo of navy and white. This thing is straight out of an episode of Happy Days. I can just picture a handsome young pitcher, star of the team, standing on the bleachers looking out over the field. Sun glinting off of his blonde hair and jutting, rock hard jaw. Proudly sporting his team's colors in the form of a wool, v-neck sweater that'll drive the cheerleaders wild.

One of the best parts is the fact that it still has the original tag attached.

 This was a recent acquisition so this sweater is still available at:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/216149583/mens-original-navy-blue-1950s-wool

 This is a great piece for any rockabilly fan, modern greaser, or just anyone into the 1950s. Check it out in the Etsy shop...and who knows, you might find something else you like.

cheers -
Geof

Luggage

One of my favorite things is vintage luggage.  Folks know they can walk into my booth at the shop and find some beautiful vintage luggage.  Not always easy to find, but here in Denver, the home of Samsonite I do get lucky enough to keep at least a few pieces in stock.  Like this one:

What's special about these now is the creative ways people are up-cycling these fantastic pieces.  

You can see a lot more projects here.  

You can buy my luggage finds between 

$12 - $45

at

Antiques, Etc.

5736 E Colfax Ave, Denver, Colorado

An intro and a thing.

 Greetings vintage lovers! I've known Cora for a very long time and it turns out we both got into the same business...hunting down cool antique and vintage pieces. I am the assistant manager at a very large and busy co-op on the East coast (as well as a picker and dealer myself) so I see and buy tons of neat things and I'll be sharing some of those with you all in the future.

 Today I'll start off with this fantastic piece of American arts and crafts pottery I got a little while ago. This 6" x 6" ceramic tile was made in 1917 by the Rookwood  Pottery Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. This beautiful crane design is a great example of late period Art Nouveau and shows the mastery of form and glazing that Rookwood achieved in their architectural work, which they started manufacturing around 1902. Rookwood tiles can be found integrated into the architecture of many prominent buildings of the early 20th century including Union Terminal in Cincinnati and Grand Central Station in New York City.

 As you can see on the rear of the tile it is clearly marked with the signature Rookwood impressed mark as well as Roman numerals indicating the year of manufacture and a pattern number. The great thing about Rookwood pottery is that it is (unless it is an extremely early piece) marked with the R and rays mark seen here and it generally has Roman numerals indicating the year it was made (after 1900). This makes identifying and researching Rookwood much easier than other early art pottery manufacturers' wares.

I have had a few inquiries and sadly this item is no longer available. This fabulous tile sold a little while back for $450. In the future, if an item is available, I will include a link to where you can buy it in the post or you could simply contact me if you are interested. 

 I hope you all enjoy this beautiful tile as much as I did and I look forward to showing everyone more of my finds in the future.

cheers -
Geof