Treasure Box Wednesday: The Stuff Fairy Tales Are Made Of


While the Treasure Box doesn't exactly overflow this Wednesday, there were a few Goodwill finds that were too marvelous to pass up, and I'd like to share with you today. Mainly, this week's stash includes three fairy tale books from the "My Book House" series, published in the 1930s...


The covers, a bit worn, are still magical and vivid. (I only wish the Goodwill employee hadn't put the price sticker right on the paper illustration on the cover... It became impossible to remove them without damaging the picture, despite my careful attentions.) There were a good ten books there, but due to individual pricing, I chose three of my favorites. The volumes I selected were "The Magic Garden," "Through Fairy Halls," and "Up One Pair of Stairs."





The stories themselves are grouped by topic... For instance, "Through Fairy Halls" follows the fairy theme through Russian folktakes, Shakespeare, Romantic poetry, Grimm's and Hans Christian Andersen's works, and other pieces. I thought you all might appreciate some of the delicate little colored illustrations inside. Like this marvelous Children of Lir...


Not to mention the dancing maidens...


Flocks of fairies...


And illuminated verse...


Aside from the books, in the Treasure Box this week was.... yup, one more grape patterned piece of milkglass for the largest milkglass gift basket in the world. (Or at least it seems that way!) And also a cool hobnail bottle with stopper because I just thought it had style...



Apologies to you all for a bit of a short post this Wednesday. I haven't gotten out thrifting much on the weekends-- my whole city, it seems, is under construction! :) To paraphrase that old Stealers Wheels song, there are closings to the East of me, detours in the north, here I am, stuck in the middle with you'. :)
  • HOWEVER-- for those who missed last Sunday's post, you can enter a world of stage, silent screen and one seriously intriguing postcard correspondence by clicking here.
Otherwise, I hope to see you in the general Sunday-ish timeframe where we'll, weather permitting, journey through the Regent Square Neighborhood Yardsale!

19 comments:

The Queen of Fifty Cents said...

Wonderful books! I think it's interesting that even though color printing in that era used only a limited palette, those vintage pictures are quite compelling.

Have a great time at the neighborhood yard sale!

Lidian said...

It looks like a terrific week of finds to me, Jenn - those books are gorgeous, and the milk glass and the bottle are also wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Oh, how I loved those books -- in fact, those very volumes in the series! Now I'm wondering if they are still in my parents' house somewhere. The basement had some bad flooding last year, so now I'm a little worried. But if that set is gone, you bet I'll be looking for replacements someday.

Deb said...

Hi Jenn.....if I'd been at the thrift I would've snatched up the rest of those books....they are just wonderful!!! Hope some of your streets are open again soon so you can get out more and find the great stuff you find!

Hugs,
Debbie
www.shabbycozycottage.com

Anonymous said...

Lovely old books...I love them...and the hobnail glass...Well done! Cheers...Pam

Jenn Thorson said...

Queen of Fifty Cents-- Yes, I was surprised how vibrant the insides of the books were, and how many pages had color illustrations on them. Thanks for the well wishes for the yard sale-- I'm pretty excited about it. Here's hoping the weather holds out.

Rhet- That's pretty cool your family had the same books. Your mom being a librarian, I can see where she would have been drawn to them. It's such a nice collection of stories.

Debbie- thanks so much for the wishes of freedom from construction. I think it's going to be a long, long summer, construction-wise.

Pam- many thanks. You just need to come here to the States for some thrifting! :)

Francie...The Scented Cottage Studio said...

What treasures! Hello, my name is Francie and I am a bookaholic. Sigh.
I'm always looking through books at the thrift shops when I get to go.

Thanks for sharing those lovelies.

Anonymous said...

What wonderful books. I'm always trying to find stuff that wuold have come out around the time my house was built and those sure would have been a hit in my parade. I also have a thing for fairy tales. LOL

What a great find. Can't wait for next week. :)

Kelli said...

Pure magic! What beautifully illustrated books.

I like to collect vintage books too. My favorite is a compilation of vintage magazines called "Girl's Own Annual" -it's a peek into the lives of women during the 1920's & 30's.

crazyhaberdasher.blogspot has a great post about it with pictures if anyone wants to take a peek (see her post for Sunday, Jan 13, 2008)
~Kelleigh

Amy said...

Those kind of old books are the best though, I seem to remember having one called Peter Pan that was similar...

Jenn Thorson said...

Francie- Thanks for stopping by. The "Scented Cottage" sounds so pleasant, I will have to go pop by! And yes, thrifts are great for books, though book looking always TAKES me FOREVER... I just can't cruise through there the way I can the housewares. :)

Chyna, thanks! That's a nice thought, putting decorative books in your home from the time of your home.

Kelleigh- thanks for the tip, will have to check it out!

Amy- yes, there are some really nice editions of classics like Peter Pan out there. They tend to be a little more expensive (name value I guess) but really nice in a library.

Miss Shirl said...

I think I own a copy of one of those books. I've packed it in hopes of getting a home so I'm not sure.

Anonymous said...

On the price tag plastered on the cover. Too late now but can't you put something like that into the freezer and the sticker will just pop off? You'd have to put the book into a Ziploc bag to protect it from the moisture. I may be confusing that with something else though.

Jillian's Bella Rosa Antiques said...

Great books and excellent titles you picked out! I think I like your Goodwill...except for the sticker part. I hate it when they do that...

saffron said...

Love the books! Lucky you!

Anonymous said...

OH MY i really love the books you got, the children of lir ,was one of my all time favorites when i was a child. My mother still calls us [her children] her swans thank you for bringing back that memory Angie.

Jenn Thorson said...

SSB- So hopefully you'll be opening boxes in your new home someday soon and come across it!

Chyna- I'll have to look it up, the thing with the tags. I don't think this would have come off with freezing. It was well on there. But ya never know.

Jillian- Yep, of all the book surface to put those stickers on, WHY on the paper picture on EACH of them? Just not smart.

Saffron- Thanks, and thanks for stopping by!

Angie- oh, that's really cute, you and Pam being your mother's swans... Irish folklore is so beautiful, very poetic and visual.

Anonymous said...

I'm just reading this now, but wanted to say that Undu (a scrapbooking tool) will take those stickers off without damaging the paper. I'm not sure how it works - it's like a safe version of GooGone. Definitely worth having around.

Susan G

Jenn Thorson said...

Susan G- Well, thank you! That's wonderful to know. I'll have to check that out. I really didn't think there was any recourse.

So next time I face this sort of thing, I'll hopefully be better armed.