Antiquing haul

After yardwork, garage cleaning, and lunch, I went antiquing. I went to four different shops and spent--gulp--fifty bucks all told. But I got some fun stuff.

For some reason I was suddenly drawn to bottles. I'll have to figure out some way to display them, maybe on a shelf.

From left to right: an empty Sloan's Liniment bottle, a full bottle of clock oil YES CLOCK OIL OMG NOW I NEED A CLOCK, an empty bottle that might have been hand lotion or something--it says something about rose water and glycerin, two full bottles of litmus paper (red and blue), and a full bottle of "parchment black" ink.

I also got this rusty and gummy oil can, because I liked it and it wasn't very expensive.

I love old photos, and I got three very interesting ones. Two are of children. The first picture is of a little girl, who looks exactly like she was just told to sit there and "don't move," and she's tired and wants to change out of her good clothes so she can go play. The second picture is of a fat little baby who looks adorably squashy, sitting in a chair with...rocks in the background. And apparently those things in the foreground are rugs that are probably sitting out to dry. Because nothing says "I love my baby" like having its picture taken in front of rocks.

Lastly is this guy's picture. I spent considerable time digging through boxes of old photos, looking for a debonair gentleman to swoon over. As you do. Obviously I couldn't quite find one, but the more I looked at this guy's picture the more I liked him. He's reasonably good-looking, but even better, he clearly has a sense of humor. It was as though he knew, when the photographer was taking his picture, that a hundred years later some woman was going to find it in an antique shop and decide to make him her imaginary boyfriend. I wish it had his name on it.

Now, things I didn't get because they were too expensive. I wish I'd taken pictures, but I suspect that as soon as I can scrape up the money for them I'll go back and buy them if they're still available. The one thing I practically drooled over and must own eventually is an old brass blowtorch. YES. It was $90. It will one day be mine, at least as soon as I sell another story and can justify spending that much. I also really wanted the Underwood typewriter even though it needs refurbishing before it works. It was $95, which really isn't bad considering what good shape it's in. And I wanted the Singer foot treadle sewing machine for $125, but I'm actually not sure if the sewing machine was part of it; in those models (which are not uncommon) the machine folds down into the cabinet so it can be used as a table, and it was folded down. I didn't open it up since I couldn't have afforded it anyway.

When I got home, I spraypainted three hideous fakey-gold picture stands bronze, which will hopefully make them look less hideous. Once they're dry I can display my new photos.