Monday 8 March 2010

One man's rubbish is anothers treasure

Huntingdon ,the county town near to us , and the postcard a favourite of mine , I dont seriously collect postcards ,but find I have quite a few collected by accident really .Although having said that I do have my Late Fathers collection of saucy sea side postcards ,my Dad was the village Barber ,and when his customers went to the seaside ,would send him a postcard ,vie-ing with each other to send the most outrageous ones ! he would display the latest ones round the mirror ,and this created much interest with his customers .
Now where is all this leading you may ask , last Wednesday was my club day ,and we had a speaker who was really interesting ,He has an antique shop in our town ,and doesnt mind if you buy or browse ,but he is always a mine of information,his wife collects Mabel Lucie Atwell ,so there is always lots of interest to muse over .
John came along with his private collection ,as he says some of it is worthless ,though to him priceless .We were enthralled as he took us back down memory lane, with many of his treasures
In the picture below is a bottle with a marble in the top that used to work as a seal ,but as kids we broke the bottles to get the marble out ! The bottles were made by a man called Cod so the bottles are called Cod bottles ,and the drink inside ....well ...'cods wallop '!

What else can you see, that you remember ? double click the pictures to see the detail


Here is John discussing a hat pin with a lucky rabbits foot on the end .


See the record player ?on the top left of the picture ,sorry it is so dark ,John has a Donald Peers record ,of the song' By a Babbling Brook 'which Donald Peers wrote as he sat beside the Brooke that runs through the Abby grounds ,here in this town where he used to stay .He then played a bit of a record by the Andrews sisters singing'Red River Valley ',and explained if the music was too loud a sock would be placed in the back of the record player case ,hence the saying 'put a sock in it '

To the right of this picture you can see John's collection of WI (womens Institute) badges ,and among his treasures he has a little statuette of Lord Baden Powell,(the founder of the boy scout movement ) that he bought as a young married man ,for sixty pounds ,alot of money for those days ,he said they lived on baked beans for three weeks ! and though John says his wife is fairly tolerant of his crazy buys maybe on this occasion she wasnt perhaps quite so enthusiastic !!



You can see the little Baden Powell statuette at the bottom left of this picture ,
So there you are I do hope you enjoyed John's visit as much as we did
As ever lots of love












17 comments:

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

I love antiques and the stories that go behind them too. I'd never heard that one about putting a sock on it. I'd heard the saying but not the reason for it. It seems we're never to old to learn something new for sure. I bet it would be fun to browse in their shop. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful treasures today. I enjoyed seeing them!

Jeanie said...

I enjoyed that little browse Jan. I remember the Players tobacco tins. My Dad kept his tobacco in one. The little whimsy dog I have here at home. I used to buy them for my daughter when she was little and still have some of them on show in my dresser at home for sentimental reasons.
I liked the reason for putting a sock in it.
Now Bryan is going deaf I want to 'put a sock in it' when he turns up the volume on the Telly. lol
I have enjoyed my visit.
Ta muchly for that.
Hugs
Jeanie xxx

Dawn said...

I also just love going to Antique stores, you just never know what you will find. When we had our larger home, I could not walk by one without stopping in. I have I heard the line "put a sock on it, but didn't know where it came from! LOL

mortonlake said...

great entry jan,ty.tc love mort xx

Jean said...

Hi Jan ,what a tresure trove of goodies John had ,no wonder you enjoyed it so much ,a great collection,not sure I would have like eating beans for so long !!!
That black and white art deco plate in the bottom picture,we saw one just the same in the Brighton Museum last week .Thank for sharing
Love and hugs Jeanxxx

Ally Lifewithally said...

Jan I loved the photographs and what a wonderful collection of treasures John has ~ thanks for sharing them with us ~ Ally x

Marie Rayner said...

How very fascinating Jan!! I loved perusing the photos and seeing many things that were not all that familiar to me, having come from Canada. I am a person that really loves to have a good poke about into antique and charity shops. Thanks so much for sharing with us! I thoroughly enjoyed.

Sybil said...

Great to see a new blog from you..It is always great to see what interesting thing you show us...That must have been a good meeting and well enjoyed I'm sure. It is amazing how things we think of as rubish turn out to be of some value !!
Love Sybil xx

Anonymous said...

I have a weakness for a good rummage in antique shops and car boots. I'd have been mesmerised by it all. What a fabulous and interesting day you had. Thanks for the virtual browse :) I enjoyed it. Recognized a few of those oldy things too. Like you I seem to have acquired postcards unintentially, but I love em.

rache

lunarossa said...

Wow, Jan, that must have been very interesting! And everything is so well looked after. I would be interesting to see your father's collection. That must be even more inteersting! Take care. Ciao. A.

Kath said...

What a great post Jan and like many others I love a good route too and looking around at old things.Many on the table I have seen before.Thankyou for the hour out tonight having a look around the antique show.It's been a great change for me (especially as theres only futty on TV Man U he-he) your a STAR.Take Care God Bless Kath xx

Paula said...

Hi Jan: I've been wondering what happened to you and here you pop up with an interesting entry today. thanks for sharing.

TARYTERRE said...

When I could walk more... we'd spend the weekends going to antique shops. How I MISS it. Your post reminded me of all the treasures to be found. Such a delight.

Jeannette said...

John sounds an interesting man Jan. I can still smell the horse liniment and I used to have a collection of 'Cods' and inkwells too. I've still got my mums' old carpet beater. I love old stuff, wish we could go back to those more simple times! Jeannette xx

Sara said...

I have inherited a love of antiques from my Dad I think, and like everyone else, love to browse whenever I come across an antique shop. Can't help wondering what the story is behind the tube of toothpaste in John's collection though, chuckle! Lovely, interesting entry m'dear, thank you xxx

Bunny said...

Those little tins of gramophone needles used to fascinate me!
Bunny xx

Lorena said...

What a lovely story about your father being a barber and his customers sending him postcards. In essence you can actually tell how different times were and these "times" were better.
We knew each other. Now nobody I know would email their barber today :(
This gentleman has so many collectibles ! OMG I would definetely love to sit in his shop and chat the afternoon away!