Speed-Shopping Greenmead Flea Market!

Last Sunday was the spring flea market at Greenmead (a historical park in Livonia, Michigan).  I'd been sick all week, but 'forced' myself to go since the market won't come again until September.  We had something to do later in the afternoon so I had to speed shop -- I had to leave at 12:00 noon, which only gave me 2 hours!  I know I skipped some of the vendors and missed some things, but all in all it was a great day.

One of the favorite things that I got was this giant Santa head blowmold -- isn't he great?  Sometimes they're a little creepy, but I think he looks pretty nice.

Here are the rest of my speed-shopping finds...

This sweet Kreamer bread box.  I love the blue trim and the flowers on the front.  The handle is black bakelite and the inside is in perfect condition!

A ceramic spice set in a wooden rack

Gray graniteware pail full of clothespins, a melmac platter with  turquoise Queen Anne's Lace on it , 2 California  pottery dessert dishes and 5 sweet little chick figurines.  I don't think they're really old, but I just couldn't pass them up.

An old wood framed beveled mirror and some salt & pepper sets.  I always like the 'Made in Hong Kong' plastic nativities, too

New old stock stationary and greeting cards -- Father's Day, Mother's Day &  Graduation 

A collection of dish towels

A bunch of 1960s sport cake toppers -- check out the stylin' basketball players in their tightie shorts!

The great deal of the day -- a Texasware confetti bowl...and a kewpie doll

This little sweetie will be a gift for someone (she doesn't do the internet -- or even computers -- so I know I'm safe posting it.).  I just love the little birds all in a row.

California Pottery and Metlox Poppytrail

Lately, I've been buying a lot of California pottery -- Bauer, Franciscan & Metlox.  Two of the more recent pieces I've gotten were a swordfish vase & two swirl candlesticks by Metlox, and they made me want to know more about their history.

Sailfish vase & swirl candlsticks

Over the years I've become pretty familiar with the whole whole West Virginia/Ohio/Pennsylvania pottery industry (including the factory tour at Homer Laughlin -- a must-do, if you ever get the chance).  I didn't know much about California pottery, though, so I did what any so-last-century person does:  got a book out of the library!

This is a great book by Carl Gibbs Jr. -- all the information (and book pictures) in this blog post come from this book & he gets full credit!

1920s:  Metlox was started by TC Prouty & his son, Willis.  They'd moved from Michigan to California and began working in tile in 1920.  They started Metlox in Manhattan Beach, CA in 1927 & made outdoor signs and insulators for neon tubes.  The name Metlox is a combination of Metal and Oxide, which refers to the pigments in their glazes.  In 1931, Willis took over when his dad passed away and, after seeing what Bauer was doing with pottery dinnerware & how popular it was, he started the pottery lines we're familiar with now.

Their dinneware was equally colorful and pretty as Homer Laughlin's Fiesta line!

1930s:  In 1934, he had the '200 series' or Poppytrail line (my swirl candlesticks), followed by the artware line in 1935 (my swordfish vase -- which I found out is really a sailfish).  My sailfish was designed and signed by Carl Romanelli.  That was followed by Pintoria, Yorkshire and Mission Bell.  All of these were solid color pottery pieces.

1940s:  They stopped production during WWII and Prouty sold to Evan Shaw in 1946.  Shaw hired Bob Allen and Mel Shaw (no relation), who were animators & created lots of animal lines for Metlox.  They started doing painted pieces, like this California Ivy relish dish.  The hand-decorated lines were their most popular and rivaled Franciscan's Desert Rose line.

Vernon Kilns plaid salt & pepper and a California Ivy relish dish

1950s:  They bought Vernon Kilns (of the Blair plaids, like this salt and pepper and painted pot) and started using their molds & patterns.  This is the same way Homer Laughlin continued to produce pieces for companies they bought out in the midwest.

Blair handpainted decorative pot

1954 Free Form gravy boat -- I love this line, with its atomic-era shapes!

My newest find at the antique mall -- a large (13") Free Form platter!

1960s:  This was the high point for Metlox -- by then, their only main competitor was Franciscan.  They sold lots of their lines to department stores.

1970s:  Hand-decorated and open-stock dishes went out of style and people wanted boxed sets.  Metlox couldn't compete with foreign manufacturers (mainly Japan).  They still had the little animal line, though, and some planters called 'Poppets' that were designed by Helen Slater & which were very popular.

1989:  Metlox closed its doors for good.  They were the last California pottery works to go out of business. This is all that's left of the Manhattan Beach factory.

The old Metlox sign -- all that's left at Manhattan Beach

Here are some other California pottery pieces:

Franciscan Autumn Leaves divided dish

Franciscan ceramic tray, Gladding McBean (Franciscan) butter dish and Patio line salt & pepper

Franciscan condiment set

That's what I love about buying, selling & collecting vintage:  no matter how much I know, there's always something new to learn about!

Soggy Friday Sales

Last week, I took Thursday night off, which really means that I didn't get anything ready to take to the mall.  Instead of fluffing the booth, I hit a few sales to the south of our town.  It was a chilly, rainy day and the yard sales are almost all gone, so it was lots of windshield time with very little shopping.  I went to an estate sale where everything was super-high, except for the unpriced stuff in the basement (always a good place to dig).

A great old camera -- lovely for display

I filled up a bin with Christmas stuff from several piles in a corner.  The sellers priced the whole bin at $5!  I was pretty happy then, but even happier when I put this little beauty together at home:

This is a 'Crystal Pine' tree from the 1940s.  It's layers of clear plastic 'boughs' separated by plastic tube dividers.  It's wonderful!  

Next stop was a Craigslist sale about a 1/2 hour away.  It was a woman (in her 50s) and her mother (70s) who had a very interesting ad. The opening lines were about how they were both avid collectors and were having a sale so that they wouldn't be on TV in an upcoming episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive.  I can relate.

They had 3 portable car-port tents in their tiny front yard with everything sorted by category & organized (nice), but most of what they had was priced like an antique mall (not nice).  There were a few goodies that just jumped out at me, though:

 This sweet set of Royal Sealy kitties, Made in Japan, from the 1950s:

This Made in Japan Santa.  I love his happy look, but can't figure out what he was made for.  He has slits all around his back and sides and little holes in his hat (like salt & pepper shaker holes).  Not enough room underneath for a light bulb and no place for the cord and too big a hole in the bottom for a stopper.  He  almost looks like one of those napkin lady dolls, but that doesn't make sense on a Santa.  Any ideas?

This was under a table in the kitchen tent -- I was so excited and did the happy dance through the raindrops all the way to the car!

A Pyrex red with gold holly.  AND the serving rack  AND a lid!
I'd seen these in books, but not in person -- I'll definitely be keeping this one!

I had thought these were casseroles -- it's actually a 404 bowl.  

Last stop was Treasure Mart in Ann Arbor, an 3-story resale shop that has really fast turnover and usually has great items.  I was disappointed to see that their prices are getting higher -- almost as high as mall prices.   they have a 10% discount per month on anything over $5, but there were very few things therethat were even one month old.  I did find a few good buys, though:

A custard glass plate with ruffled edge

Metlox Californial Ivy divided relish and a Vernon Kilns salt & pepper set

A Monmouth Pottery Western Stoneware bean pot.  I really had to dig to find out about this one.  Monmouth Pottery was in Illinois and Western Stoneware was one of their main lines.  I like its art deco look.

I've been picking up so much more American pottery than I used to (Franciscan, Vernon Kilns, Metlox, Monmouth, Paden City).  I'm going to have to learn more about it!

Mid-Michigan's Largest Indoor Flea Market?

I had a free day on Saturday, so I decided to drive about an hour northwest to a sale in a K of C (Knights of Columbus) hall.  The sale was billed as 'Mid-Michigan's Largest Indoor Flea Market'.  It wasn't a total frog, but it certainly wasn't a prince, either!  If it's the largest indoor flea market, mid-Michigan is setting the bar pretty low and stepping right over it!

They said there were 100 dealers -- I think there were more like 50 -- and 2/3 of them were selling new things like cheap college logo throw-blankets, $1 Made in China flashlights, and Beanie Babies (which I just lump together under the heading 'tube socks').  There were LOTS of 'tube socks'!  Of the 1/3 vintage dealers, most were WAY overpriced!  I got a few things, though -- especially from one dealer who has a booth at Williamston Antiques, I think. 

I like the A.H. Perfect Coffee can -- I've never heard of that company (midwest-based), but it's still pretty.  I think the bank in the front might turn out to be the buy of the day!  I found a similar one online that an antique dealer wants $130 for, claiming it's from the mid to late 1800s.  I think that's a ridiculous price (and they OBVIOUSLY hadn't found anyone to buy it for that much), but who knows?  My favorite thing is the white poppies California Pottery teapot.

A lot of old spice tins, 2 ink bottles a waxed cardboard cottage cheese container, an old Pabst-ette Cheese container and a Royal Winton plate.  I really like the plate, with its tartan bow in the corner. The pattern is called Ye Olde Innes -- how very Scottish!

Some very pretty yellow & white dishware -- no maker's mark

  After the flea market, I went to a private estate sale that was right up the road.  I was almost afraid to go into the house, because the only sign was a hand-written one with marker on a piece of poster board right between 2 driveways.  I was worried that I'd go to the wrong house, but in the end the thrill of the hunt overpowered my possible embarrassment.  It was the right house, but the wrong stuff!   It sounded like most of the good buys had gone out the door early (though I got there about 2 hours after it opened) and almost everything left was also overpriced.   I think too many people watch Antiques Roadshow!  I got a metal canister set that needs LOTS of work, though, a few things from the 25¢ bin and 2 old suitcases that are both a little flawed (super cheap). 

They look nicer than they are...

After the flea market and estate sale, I took the long way back to the antique mall and fluffed my booth and still got home by about 3:00.  All in all, I'd driven about 120 miles round trip and I'd say I'd almost kissed a frog and never found a prince -- BUT the sun was out and it was a pretty drive over the back roads.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday at all!