National Bellas Hess

Since we were snowed in all weekend, I finished up most of my Christmas shopping online. Though I love Etsy and Amazon Prime....what I would give to shop via this 1957 National Bellas Hess catalog! Let's see....I would like to order the electric tree with bubbling lights (page 42), a box of argyle socks for Pat's stocking (page 2), a chenille robe for Lizzie (page 4), the happy 'n cuddlesome Humpty Dumpty for my studio (page 9), a perma-bend doll with pink dress for Lizzie (page 27), oh yes....annnnd...add on that economy carriage for the bend-y doll from page 38. Also, I would have to sneak in one of the 6 room steel dollhouse with the add-on family (page 40). This would be a present to myself of course ;) And lastly...a set of those "day of the week" undies as a more useful stocking stuffer. So let's wrap all this up....if I added correctly I've spent a whopping $27.32 + shipping which adds an outrageous $.51. But...if I spend $35.00 the shipping is free so what else do you think should I add to the order?

The Toy Yearbook

Thought I'd pop in and share this mid century toy catalog with you today. It's chock full of eye candy for you vintage lovers :) Lizzie and I enjoy browsing these old catalogs and then try to find our favorite items over on Etsy Vintage. Kinda neat to see what's still in circulation, how its aged and its current value. This one is marked The Toy Yearbook, 1954-1955 and was distributed by Genbill Toy Stores of Massachusetts. Some of these gems have found there way into my hands at one point or another such as the Halsam Blocks and the loveable Changeable Charlie. What wonderful memories these treasures must bring back to those of you who grew up with them...lucky you! Don't forget to click on each image for an enlarged view. And if you haven't had enough take a peek at others from my collection: 1955 Noah's Ark Catalog and another 1950's Toy Catalog.

Groceries Collage

Groceries Collage on Wood Cutting Board

Well I finally decided what to do with all those grocery snippets I'd painstakingly cut from my teetering pile of mid-century magazines. They transformed this 'ol cutting board into a quirky art object. Fun, fun.

1950's Grocery Snippets

While I was out grocery shopping today I remembered a little stash of 1950's grocery snippets I had cut out months ago when in need of some therapy (hah!). I made a mental note to find the clippings when I got home. No idea what I'll do with these now that I've unearthed them but I sure do love them. Makes me wanna step back in time and browse the aisles in these grocery stores. Happy September to ya!

1955 Noah's Ark Toy Catalog

Toy catalogs that arrive in the mailbox these days are full of slick pages and glossy photographs. When I came across this treasure on newsprint I had to add it to my ephemera collection. The catalog is from Noah's Ark department stores, Christmas 1955. Thought you'd enjoy browsing a few of its pages. Of course my favorite page has got to be the one with the doll house and tea sets! Just click on each image to enlarge and read--and, if you feel like reminiscing through more toys from the 1950's here is another catalog I shared last season.

1950's Grocery Blocks

I raided our stash of wood scraps and a pile of magazines from the 1950's to create these miscellaneous shaped grocery blocks. It was a fun project and they may be kinda hard to part with--you can take a closer peek at them here. Happy Friday!

Valentine Vignettes

Don't you just love these old-school Valentine vignettes? This set of lovelies are from a booklet published by Doubl-Glo circa 1950's. We've sure had Valentines on our minds here at home. I've been receiving daily love notes from Lizzie and so has her daddy. All of her Valentines have been mailed off to their recipients and she's busy planning the special day and trying to guess what the "surprise" is that I told her we bought for her last night (big mistake 'cuz I'll be grilled for the next 72 hours I'm sure).

1950's Toy Catalog

With the recent onslaught of toy catalogs arriving in our mailbox (only eight weeks until Christmas!) I thought I'd share one that I truly enjoy pouring over. Sometime last year I purchased this circa 1950's toy catalog. If I remember correctly, I paid around thirty dollars for it--more than anything in the catalog was originally sold for. Don't forget that you can click on any of these pages to get a closer look as some of the descriptions are priceless. For instance on the image below..."dolls are more fun than people". Enjoy!