Treasure Box Wednesday: Pocketful of Roseville

Happy New Year to you, my virtual thrifting and antiquing buddies! Here's to an exciting year ahead for fun finds and creative collecting.

While I haven't been doing a whole lot of secondhand shopping lately due to holiday visiting and drafting the follow-up novel to my humorous sci-fi book, There Goes the Galaxy, I did have a little adventure this past weekend.

My bud Scoobie and I went an hour or so westward to the Fiesta outlet in West Virginia, to Pottery City in East Liverpool, Ohio and then north, to Columbiana, Ohio. It was at an antique mall at our last stop where I found my newest curiosity, this art nouveau-ish wall pocket marked Roseville...

Now, I'm not entirely convinced this can be real Roseville pottery. Maybe some of you out there might have a better idea about it-- and I'd appreciate anything you could share. I don't own any Roseville collecting books (yet) because it's always been so pricey, I never really had a hope of finding a piece in a price range I'd feel comfortable with. 

But the style certainly looks right. And there's a marking on the back, though I know with fakes that doesn't always mean anything...

Even if it is a fake, I only paid... wait for it... $12.50. So if it is a replica piece, it will look just as pretty on the wall in my diningroom, and I won't feel like it was a gigantic loss.

Anyway, I'll be interested to hear what you folks think!

Have you come across any fascinating finds this year? And if so, what's tickled your fancy?

Onward, to more thrifty 2012 treasures!
--Jenn

Romance at Pottery City Antique Mall: Rediscovering Lost Loves

Cabin fever and a driving need for Fiestaware led my buddy Scoobie and I to take a short roadtrip to Newell, West Virginia and East Liverpool, Ohio. While Scoobie had one of those magnificent days of treasure-hunting luck, where pretty much everything she collects was presented to her on a silver platter and even the platter was half-price, I uncovered treasures of another type...

I got the chance to hear tales of my fellow antique archaeologists on their quest for once-lost gems!

It began with the lady standing in front of a display of discontinued Fiesta colors, and I'd enquired about the color she had in her hand. It was a beigey-peach shade I hadn't noticed before, which she told me was "Apricot."

It turns out, this lady had begun collecting Fiesta years ago because the cheerful colors had helped soothe a day of depression, and recently some of that beloved china had come a-tumbling down off the shelf in a tragic display of gravity, broken pieces and a broken heart.

She lost sets in periwinkle, apricot, and lavender (adding to the tragedy, lavender is super-expensive these days) and now she's working to replace her loss.

Well, it turns out the apricot set before her was entirely too pricey-- five pieces for $200!-- so she said she planned to amass what she could separately from various booths in the mall.

I had the fun of encountering her in various spaces throughout the four floor mall, as she'd hold aloft a new missing piece like another important element of her quest. Here a saucer! There a tea cup! Here a bowl! There a plate!

Scoobie and I would cheer with each new discovery.

And I found myself-- having never noticed apricot before-- suddenly seeing apricot everywhere in my travels and wondering if my new friend would stumble on the piece herself in her search.

By the end of her shopping, the lady had recovered almost all the pieces she needed at prices she wanted to pay.

Hopefully joy, Fiesta, and a few stronger shelf brackets, will now be a staple in her home.

It was while Scoobie was checking out at the cash register, that the second tale of antiques redemption came to us. A middle aged man came swiftly to the customer storage area brandishing this wooden contraption and grinning like he'd won some grand prize.

"Have you ever seen one of these before?" he asked everyone at the register. The item in his arms was painted red and had a seat on it along with a long curved rail on the opposite side. I was wondered if it were some kind of a weird farming implement when he explained it was a sled-- a one runner sled-- some kind of "jumper" I believe he called it.  

My thinking was if you did much jumping in that thing, you had better have some wicked kind of good balance or you'll also be doing some cracking and breaking to go with it. But he said, no, it wasn't hard to use and didn't require much balance.

He went on to explain it was exactly the kind of sled he'd had as a kid and had spent years trying to find one like the sled he'd lost.

Saturday had been his landmark moment, and he assured us the jumper would jump again.

But, hey-- that's the romance of secondhand scouring. It may take time, but eventually you're reacquainted with that old lost love, no matter what your personal beloved may be.

Wishing all you nice readers a Happy Valentine's Day of your own. Here-- sniff these...

And have yourself a great day!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Look Out, East Liverpool!

We've been here before, but treasure hunters know, it's never quite the same trip twice. So Josette, Scoobie and I leapt in the car this weekend and headed to East Liverpool, Ohio and Columbiana. So come with us, too, today, and we'll take a look back at all the antiquing fun.


While the forecast had called for rain and thunderstorms, a general haze just pervaded over the day, making for decent driving. And our first stop was the Pottery City Antique Mall...

Four floors of booths awaited us-- which is why it's amazing we managed to do this in the three hours we had available for street parking!

There, Scoobie found this German Victorian vase with a cabin and landscape scene on it...


She also found a number of books, and one last red Avon Cape Cod candlestick to go with her dishes set.

Me, I uncovered this vintage souvenir pillow cover from Niagra Falls...



It reads:

To My Wife
A darling little Wife
Has made my dreams come true
She blesses all my Life
Her name is only You
You are my partner sweet
You share in all I do
And make my joy complete
By simply being You

I also found this beautifully-toned Victorian vase...



And a 1950s cardboard Christmas house with faux stucco walls...


Josette, unfortunately, left empty handed... Oh, but not for long!

Because after we had a bite of lunch and drove to Columbiana, Ohio, Josette uncovered this collectible vintage cat figurine...


And a vintage charm-style bracelet...


I found a 50s lady figurine in pink and aqua--similar in style to the ones made by Florence Ceramics I'd thrifted previously. She's already found a home in my entryway by my lamp...


At Vivian's I picked up this Depression glass refrigerator container for $2...


I snatched up this crystal Depression glass sherbet piece in the Anchor Hocking Waterford/Waffle pattern. I use this set sometimes at Christmas, but didn't have any sherbets. This piece was $0.50...


And lastly, a Victorian transferware bowl with a lady and a cherub...



At Main Street Antiques, meanwhile, Scoobie picked up these terrific Victorian game plates. These are intended to go with a Victorian Old West parlor...


With many a shop investigated, our feet tired, and the trunk of my car loaded, we turned the car for home.

Special thanks to Scoobie and Josette today for letting me photograph their goodies, and to Scoobie for taking the road-trippy pics-- thus ensuring the safety of my passengers and ALL my fellow drivers!

Well, I hope you enjoyed our little journey today!

• For folks who'd like to see Sunday's post on a unique attraction in Pittsburgh-- the National Aviary-- click here.

• For folks interested in checking out one previous trip to Columbiana, click here.

Otherwise, perhaps I'll see you Sunday when The Thrift Shop Romantic goes on a Virtual Vacation through Vintage Postcards! TTFN !!

Field Trip!: Treasure Hunting in East Liverpool and Columbiana

Today, we’re going on a little field trip. Seatbelts fastened? Sunglasses on? Great! We’re ready to roll!

Oh, what’s that? One second, let me turn the music down...

Where are we going, you say? Why, we’re headed just an hour north-west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the home of American whiteware pottery and the birthplace of Homer Laughlin Company’s Fiestaware-- East Liverpool, Ohio.

It’s a lovely winding road along the way, with various residents of the four-legged kind...


But the real focus is our first stop-- Pottery City. It’s an antique mall with three floors of vendor booths!

We step inside, and immediately I find myself grateful to my readers who kindly encouraged me to make the pilgrimage here. Why it’s called "Pottery City" is totally clear-- for those of us who collect American whiteware porcelain, this place does not disappoint. And if you’re a collector of Fiesta, you might just find a treasure worth celebrating, too.

But there are so many other things to enjoy as well. Furniture, glassware, books... you name it.

I can’t resist this Carnival glass pitcher that matches some drinking tumblers I have...

A spelter lamp I plan to rewire and give a little love...

...And some unique votive holders in pink and lavender. Can you believe I'm escaping without actually buying any Victorian whiteware plates?...

No, me neither. There are some great things, but I have limited space and specific colors I’m working with. And anyway, it’s just as well, because we still have some more stops-- Good to pace ourselves!!

But first, a little lunch. A nice local cafe offers soup and sandwiches. I’ll have the French Onion soup and a grilled cheese. How about you?

At the end of the street we notice the Museum of Ceramics-- a tribute to the heritage of the pottery industry that arose during the Victorian era in this region and to a lesser extent, still exists today around East Liverpool, Ohio, West Virginia and Western, Pennsylvania.

I’d love for us to wander around, but maybe another day. We still have the drive to Columbiana, Ohio, a half hour north.

And what’s in Columbiana, you ask? Why, this:

In this place with a quaint, hometown feel, we’ll explore a number of antiques stores. Vivian’s proves to be a worthwhile stop. Sure, the first few rooms may appear to be standard gift shop fare, but as we head to the right and then toward the back, we find fun vintage and antique items mixed in among the gifts. Then as we step into the basement, we don’t mind the damp much as we realize there are goodies here as well. Like a lamp for $2.

Back upstairs and these Carnival glass goblets catch the eye. And at 4 of them for $8, this seems like a very good buy! Could you hold two of these while I juggle the lamp, this terrific turquoise whiteware plate I just spotted ($3!) and the other two goblets? Thanks! You’re a peach!


Let’s put these lovelies in the trunk, and head down the street, to the Columbiana Antiques Gallery. It’s a three floor antique mall, with vendors specializing in a wide range of items.

And THIS, this is where I find a bit of whiteware I can’t pass up. A turquoise advertising plate from GC Murphy’s five-and-dime of East Liverpool. Looks like it was George C. Murphy’s then!


We venture into one last antique store, but are becoming a bit weary. If we make the drive back to Pittsburgh via Beaver Falls, PA, we COULD stop off at the Antique Emporium in downtown Beaver Falls...

It’s a whole other three-floor antique mall! So I think this time we’ll just ride on by and save it for another day. It’s been a good day, and I hope you had as much fun as I did. For your convenience, I will include the addresses of the places we visited below.

Next week, we’ll talk about some inexpensive ways to accessorize a modern kitchen so it has a vintage feel!

Oh, and before we go, two things-- thanks so much to those who have entered the Nifty Thrifty Gifty Giveaway. I think I’ve confirmed receipt for anyone who’s entered... (And if you didn’t get a confirmation from me, let me know!).

And secondly, there’s still time for folks to participate all the way up to October 13. So if you didn’t get to read about it last week, then just click here!


Pottery City Galleries
409 Washington Street, East Liverpool, OH, (330) 385-6933

Columbiana Antiques Gallery
103 South Main Street, Columbiana, OH 44408 (330) 482-2240

Vivian’s
24 S. Main Street, Columbiana, OH 44408-1361

Antique Emporium
818 7th Ave, Beaver Falls, PA (724) 847-1919