Treasure Box Wednesday: New Year, New Thrifty Discoveries

With the winds died down, the snow in more gentle spurts and a big case of cabin fever, I finally got the chance to hit some thrift store in a mini-adventure with my eager, ever-thrifty father.

One of my very favorite items of the weekend has a rather funny story with it. 
My buddy Scoobie has a friend who is a glass fanatic like myself, and she goes to estate sales and thrifts in search of her treasures. One of which, she passed along to me through Scoobie, as the piece just didn't quite go with her stuff. It's an opalescent pressed glass plate in the "American Sweetheart" pattern, done from 1930-1936 by the MacBeth-Evans Glass Company.

Given my love of opalescent glass, I was absolutely delighted.

Then I went to a Goodwill in Irwin on Sunday and saw, in their case, its twin! It was marked $2.50, but they were having a 50% off sale. So my collection doubled in the course of a day.

The cute little unmarked vase below came from Antiques & Uniques of Bellevue. They had gotten in someone's collection of McCoy, Hager and other potteries, and I couldn't resist this piece with its art nouveau tulip pattern...
It had a few issues around the rim, but the overall design was too lovely for me to pass up.

Then there was my last and most surprising find of the weekend. This was at the Goodwill Outlet in North Versailles, parked in one of their giant bins...
I recognized it as being fairly old pottery, with that matte finish organic feel found in some of my favorite McCoy pieces. It turns out this is likely an unmarked Brush Pottery piece, from the early 1900s. 

Brush Pottery was affiliated and eventually bought by McCoy Pottery. It ceased production around 1908 due to a fire which wiped out its facilities.

And yes, those are little mushrooms and wood knots on the side of the piece.

Anyway, that marks my treasures for this week's Treasure Box Wednesday. I know I've only been posting once a week, and that's because where normally I'd have used Sunday for a second post, my dad now lives in the city, and I've been spending the day on adventures with him.

I hope to figure out a new posting schedule soon so I can get back to two posts a week. I'll let you all know once I sort it out.

OH! And one last kinda of fun thing I wanted to remember to share, even if it is a little bit off-topic... 

I just learned a short story of mine has officially been included in the Lewis Carroll Society of North America's magazine, The Knight Letter. It's a little humor piece called "Lewis Carroll Tests Out Jabberwocky." I have it online here on my humor blog, where it was published originally, if you have a moment and would like to read it.

Hope you all have a great (and non-slippy-and-slidey) week.

11 comments:

Linda @ A La Carte said...

How fabulous to find that plate and at that price. It is gorgeous. Love your pottery finds. I am a huge fan of pottery, but they must be cheap! That's my price point...

hugs, Linda

Motherkitty said...

You discovered some wonderful pieces. Lucky girl!

Jenn Thorson said...

Linda- I'm that way, too, about pottery. And it can be really expensive at some places.

Motherkitty- Thank you, I'm feeling pretty fortunate! :)

meleah rebeccah said...

Oh!!! Congratulations on being PUBLISHED in the Lewis Carroll Society of North America's magazine! That is totally-super-awesome!

aimee said...

Beautiful glass and pottery - thank you for sharing! Love that vase with the tulip design.

And a big congrats to getting published in that magazine - what a thrill that must have been when you found out!

Lastly, don't worry about not blogging on Sundays - I enjoy your posts, but spending time with your dad is more important. I love hearing about him and his eagerness to thrift, though. He sounds like a great guy!

Jenn Thorson said...

Meleah- Oh a BIG thank you! I'm really excited to see how it turned out.

Aimee- Thank you, as well. YOU seem to be a super-nice person. I appreciate the encouragement for a guilt-free Sunday. :) Dad has always been a thrifter; I think it's genetic in our family. :)

Serena said...

Hey, Jenn! Congratulations on getting your story published. That must be so exciting to see your name and work in print! Is this your first time?

Jenn Thorson said...

Serena- Hey, thank you! No, I've had short stories published in a couple of literary journals, a Humorpress anthology, and in Romantic Homes magazine. But as I've been a fan of Lewis Carroll since I was a kid, having his Society publish something of mine just is extra dear to my heart.

dawt said...

Fabulous finds! I have some pieces of American Sweetheart from my mother, such a pretty pattern. The potter is lovely, you're getting quite the collection. And congratulations on getting published, wowie-zowie!

Anonymous said...

how blessed you are to have gotten that pottery! why can't i shop where you do? lol

Jobella Vintage said...

These pieces are wonderful. You have a great talent...

...www.jobellavintage.com