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Across the Fence:  What was your first....  |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 27 2008 : 11:07:58 AM
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antique purchase? I was just reading Miss Wilma's blog, and she has a photo of a clock she purchased for $10.00 and she says it was her first antique purchase 40 years ago. That made me smile, because forty years ago, I purchased my first antique, and it was a wall clock too. It was 40.00, and still hangs in my living room. It has a pendulum in the shape of a pineapple, and makes the most beautiful gong. I got it in 1968 in, of all places, West Palm Beach. A man who lived there had a house full of old clocks, and was selling them. You should have heard his house when the the top of the hour came round! A zoo at mealtime would be quieter! But anyway, I still love my clock, which is about 2 feet tall and has the original glass sides...and the smell of pipe tobacco is still there when you open the door to wind it!
What are some of your first antique stories?
Farmgirl Sister # 31
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
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Ronna
True Blue Farmgirl
1891 Posts
Ronna
Fernley
NV
USA
1891 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2008 : 12:31:22 PM
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I think my first were in '74 when I was managing an apt building in No Hollywood Ca. A tenant was moving and I bought a sewing cabinet from her, about three feet tall with four drawers and a lift up top for the thread spools. Also a carved wood mirror with little shelves for small treasures. $25 each. The cabinet is under the wall phone in the kitchen and holds phone books and such. My jerk husband threw out the mirror a few years back and I still get mad when I think about it. The mirror needed replaced, but a new one was right behind it, just needed a few minutes work. He didn't throw the new mirror out. sewing cabinet needs refinished but I'm hesitant to ask him to do it, after the mirror incident.
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Maryjane Lee
True Blue Farmgirl
2195 Posts
Maryjane
CA
USA
2195 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2008 : 1:51:08 PM
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My first antique purchase was when I was a newly wed. We bought a small old coffee grinder 36 years ago. I thought it was a "pepper" grinder (we don't drink coffee)! Still love it to this day and each time I look at it, it brings back sweet memories of heavenly bliss!
Hugs, Maryjane Lee
Farmgirl Sister #44
The Beehive Cottage~est. 1971
Sisters on the Fly #595
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miss wilma
True Blue Farmgirl
3410 Posts
Wilma
Knob Lick
Ky
USA
3410 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2008 : 6:29:56 PM
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Mary jane when you said heavenly bliss it just hit me what I did to my sweet husband when we were first married, Every summer he would have a bout of bad stomache problems, his stomach would swell up real bad and he couldnt eat or drink well we had a neighbor that sold watkins products so I told sterl thst mom and dad always took linament , now I am 17 yr old so I went to the neighbor and got it , Sterl took a big dose girl I am telling you I almost killed him, to this day I dont dare mention linament
Farm Girl #96
http://www.picturetrail.com/misswilmasplace
http://misswilma.blogspot.com/ |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2008 : 6:40:58 PM
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My first antique that I purchased was a ring--I still wear it, had it on today in fact. When I lived in Michigan for school, I went home with a friend for Thanksgiving break to Grand Rapids. I found a very dainty victorian bloodstone ring, and I snatched it up for $40 which was a fortune to me at 16...but, I had earned the money and I SOOO wanted the ring to feel like I belonged in Wethering Heights or Return of the Native!!!!
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Ronna
True Blue Farmgirl
1891 Posts
Ronna
Fernley
NV
USA
1891 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2008 : 6:55:13 PM
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| Oh..forgot all about the art deco era filigree diamond rings I bought in 1970. Both at a pawn shop in Glendale CA. First one was about .20 ct diamond for $25 and a bit later, one with .25 ct diamond for $35. Still have and love both of them, though I've not worn them recently. Couldn't get either for 10x or more that amount today. I was thinking furniture when Jeannie first posted the question. |
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Maryjane Lee
True Blue Farmgirl
2195 Posts
Maryjane
CA
USA
2195 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2008 : 8:17:11 PM
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Wilma, what a story! Glad you didn't  kill your poor hubby!!! 
Hugs, Maryjane Lee
Farmgirl Sister #44
The Beehive Cottage~est. 1971
Sisters on the Fly #595
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Tammy Claxton
True Blue Farmgirl
1559 Posts
Tammy
Glen Burnie
Maryland
USA
1559 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2008 : 9:30:18 PM
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My first antique purchase was a 3 faced porcelain doll. I bought her at a flea market for 15.00! You can turn her head to show her crying, sleeping, or smiling. My second antique purchas was a big china cabinet. It's in my living room right now and I bought it 3 years ago at a yard sale for 40.00 I remeber thinking that it was a steal and I couldn't pass it up. I cleaned it up and shined it up and she is beautiful! I'm a sucker for antiques. I wish I had a house full of 'em!
What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!
http://countryintheburbs.blogspot.com/ |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Jan 28 2008 : 05:55:00 AM
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Boy, I am a sucker for antiques too. When I was young and single I would spend my Friday nights going to auctions up in Thomasville, Georgia. I had me a station wagon, and I would drive up and get popcorn and a coke, and sit and watch all this wonderful stuff pass by. Once I paid 40.00 for a Mission oak library table with heart cut outs on the sides where the leg panels were. Later, I sold it for what I paid for it, and I still wish I had that library table! It is probably worth a good bit more now.
I love old wicker, too, and have a sturdy rocker with real springs in the seat. It is in our bedroom now and I got it in 1974, but it is from the early part of the century. It is heavy!!! A friend of mine back then bought 9 pieces for 900.00, which was a fortune then. And she gave one piece to me.
I love quilts, and got a great crazy quilt with some deep red and green patches here and there for 50.00 twenty years ago, and it is my Christmas tree skirt. It has wool batting.
Anyway, the stories are great, and just as much fun as the antiques! Who else has one?
Farmgirl Sister # 31
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
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Peanut
True Blue Farmgirl
603 Posts
Jennifer
Waverly
Virginia
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - Jan 28 2008 : 06:23:51 AM
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My first purchase was a "hope chest" right before I married my first husband. I wish I hadn't let him keep it! :)
My favorite things though haven't been bought. My husband bought a farmhouse with barns and 30 acres 15 years ago to join to his existing farm. His sisters begged him to let them go upstairs (which had been untouched and was full of stuff) and the barns (same thing) and he refused. So when we got together, all of those things were just waiting for me to discover them! The joy of finding things and washing them off and finding the perfect place in the house for them is indescribable!
"What is a farm but a mute gospel?"
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
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Ronna
True Blue Farmgirl
1891 Posts
Ronna
Fernley
NV
USA
1891 Posts |
Posted - Jan 28 2008 : 08:41:23 AM
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Jennifer, that's like a fantastic dream, to be able to discover treasures on your own property! WOW! Tell us some of what you found.
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Peanut
True Blue Farmgirl
603 Posts
Jennifer
Waverly
Virginia
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - Jan 28 2008 : 09:43:45 AM
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I should be getting high speed internet in a week or so, so I'll post pics then. I don't know all of the correct terms for each item either - so I'll do my best!
Until then...
I found a gorgeous glazed brown crockery bowl - it's probably 18 inches across. It has a very subtle green design on it.
Another bowl that is not glazed and is for cooking in a fireplace (it hangs in a fireplace)
A small (heavy!) blackboard with stable rules written on it for the children who lived here 50 years ago
A tall lamp that was appraised at over $200 - it actually worked until about a year ago...now I can't find a bulb for it.
My kitchen table was upstairs - it's a very plain handmade farmhouse table, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!
A mule collar and the wooden collar that fits around it
I'll have to look around the house and see if I missed anything! :)
"What is a farm but a mute gospel?"
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Jan 28 2008 : 10:55:36 AM
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Miss Wilma - of course, I have should have thought deeper.....if you bought your first antique 40 years ago, you would have been six! Well, I have seen your photo with MaryJane sitting next to you on a swing, and you look 46.
Jennifer - what a wonderful thing to have happen to you - wandering through treasures saved just for you! Wow! And your hubby saved that time for you, too. What a sweetie!
Farmgirl Sister # 31
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Jan 28 2008 : 11:34:33 AM
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| My mother bought most of my toys and clothes from thrift shops, so I started early. Hard to say what was my first real "antique" purchase. I remember buying an old pencil drawing of a house at a garage sale when I was about 14. It says "Deborah Jacobs, when a girl, 1857" on the back. I bought an old painted table at the same sale. Paid about $5 for both. I still have the drawing, but my parents threw out the table when I was away at school. I wish I had it now. I've never picked up anything especially valuable though. I don't know what's worth money, I just pick up things I like and try to keep it under $20. I love barn sales. |
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miss wilma
True Blue Farmgirl
3410 Posts
Wilma
Knob Lick
Ky
USA
3410 Posts |
Posted - Jan 29 2008 : 07:11:09 AM
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I love antiques and love them but I couldnt live with them like I have in the shop,antiquing is like drinking you can get addicted, I got into antiques by a need to help make a living,I had some good teachers that really helped me,I have always been able to adapt to whats hot on the market, right now primitives are the hottest thing out there , a couple of years ago it was shabby chic In my buiness I have adapted to all of it My favorite is really victorian or colonial. When I buy a load of antiques I usually try to keep something I really like from it, From that last load I kept ,a little primitive high chair,Sterling wheelbarrow, a china head doll, an early tin light, My chicken rock and the funniest little wooden toy man , you pull a string and his legs flop up and down, Mary ann I sure am glad I didnt kill him to but come to think of it it probably would have been easier than what I have put him thru junking, Tammy I love those dolls The one in my shop has a crying face on side and you turn her head she smiles on the other, I am really glad to see you girls buying antiques , they only go up in value
Farm Girl #96
http://www.picturetrail.com/misswilmasplace
http://misswilma.blogspot.com/ |
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junkjunkie
True Blue Farmgirl
1306 Posts
Judy
Lawrenceville
NJ
USA
1306 Posts |
Posted - Jan 29 2008 : 11:13:43 AM
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Thinking back, my first antique purchase was in 1980...an old wooden travel chest. I still have it, and it holds some of my quilts and blankets.
"To have life in focus, we must have death in our field of vision." Benedictine monk John Main |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Jan 29 2008 : 7:51:57 PM
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jeannie .. when i was 'young' .. i thought 'antiques' was synonymous with 'old lady' .. and 'homey wasn't goin' there!
i think i went through every 'style' of furniture that was popular .. and i loved the changing styles!
when i moved to colorado .. i fell in love with all things primitive and olde. i do believe my very first antique was a wonderful, wonderful primitive 'baker's table' with a HUGE drawer in it (the size of the table) with a zinc top. the zinc stays somewhat cold which is good for rolling out dough .. and the drawer held all the flour and rolling pins and dough bowls. i also got that day a mos' wunnerfully HUGE heart shape cake pan set .. they are all linked together .. (i think there are about six of them) .. i'll take a photo tomorrow and post it! both have been in every kitchen in every house i've lived in since those colorado days. soon thereafter i got from an olde general store in the mountains of colorado .. a 'scale' for measuring fruits and vegetables .. and a 'matching' Computing Cheese Cutter .. (i'll take pics of those too .. they sit atop that baker's table!) xo
True Friends * Frannie
HEAR MY STORIES
come, visit my:
"GATHERING ROOM" ..
http://freedomvalleyfarm.blogspot.com
adopt a 'rag-chile'
http://sistermercysfoundlinhome.blogspot.com
treasures .. new and olde .. up for adoption:
http://mudpiemanormercantile.blogspot.com
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Across the Fence: What was your first.... |
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What was your first....
