Show us your Thrift and/or yard sale finds

[kampkatz]

One of my favorite hotels in Wellsboro, PA(which was built in the 1800's) still has the razor slots next to the bathroom cabinets. I find it nostalgic.

 

[Fatal Red]

That's cool, what with the case and the (presumably) original box o' blades and all.

Mind disclosing the where and how much?

It brings to mind the once-common razor-blade-disposal slots in bathroom medicine cabinets. I can just imagine the sights that were uncovered during remodeling projects, years and decades later. And the ones yet to be uncovered. I recall sliding a few blades into such slots myself, back when the good-old safety razor was standard issue, and when such medicine cabinets were as well.

Not at all! I live in Bakersfield, Ca. and picked this up at a local antique store ( I can't remember the name for the life of me) off of, gosh, I want to say 19th and Eye, downtown. I did overpay for it, but it was an impulse buy ($20.00) because I was looking for a gift for my boyfriend. The little green box does indeed have many razors in it, I believe all of which are usable. The store I was in also had a plain little shaving cup, but at $15.00 I can buy a new set.

 

[Shangas]

If you look at the previous page, you'll see my victorian writing-chest that I purchased at the Portobello Market.

Imagine my disappointment when I opened up the inkwell to discover this:

That the original inkwell liner was missing!

What are the chances of finding a replacement? Almost zilch. Until I found a little plastic jar that fits it perfectly!:

Now I can use it!

 

[Dinerman]

Novelty shot glasses anyone?

 

[Gutshot]

Hey, my dad has that same set!

 

[Shangas]

What ho, Chaps.

I'm just back from the local flea-market after roasting good and proper for about...Six hours.

Anyhoo. I purchased a razor hone for straight-razors. I had seen an identical one several months ago but I never bought it. When I saw that another one had popped up, I bought it almost on the spot.

It's in perfect condition and comes with its original box and papers:

Has anyone ever seen one of these? How old are they?

The fellow I bought it from is the local knives-dealer at the flea-market (he's also the chap who sold me my two straight-razors in my avatar). He said he used it for several years and that it works fine. As he had TWO of these such hones, he decided to sell the better one and keep the more worn and battered one for his own use. So I bought it, not wanting to miss out again.

More photos:

The inside of the box says:

"Makes old razors shave like new - Makes new razors keen and true".

The Hone-Your-Own Perforated Razor Hone.

Sharpen your razor on this hone just as easily as you would a pocket-knife. Rub it round and round or back and forth over the "holes", keeping it quite flat on the hone. Then strop it lightly and enjoy the finest shaves you ever had. No barber's skill needed. Those patent "holes" make honing easy. They remove "wire-edge" and prevent OVER-honing. Sole Manufacturers.

PERFORATED HONE CO. Walkerville, Canada and Detroit, U.S.A.

I'm going to hone one of my razors on this, strop it and have a shave and see if what they say is true...

 

[I Adore Film Noir]

Shangas,
I hope you found the shave superb.
I use my grandfather's hone to sharpen my carving knife.
We don't have his strop but I remember him using it, a long, well-used leather strap.

 

[Shangas]

Just honed and stropped using the hone pictured, and my hanging-strop and had my first shave in about three days.

I rate it a 4.5/5. Don't know if that's up to the honing, stropping or proficiency of my straight-razor use. But I'm sold!

 

[tonyb]

Found this old desk lamp today. Seller had it marked at 25 bucks. I asked, "what's the best you can do on this?" He said 15. I said sure.

I don't know if it works, seeing how there isn't a tube in it. I'll visit the store(s) tomorrow or Monday to find one. If the big-box home-improvement store ain't got the right one, I'll have to hit the lighting specialty shop, which has never failed to have in inventory the old lamp pieces I needed. Worst case scenario would be that it needs rewiring, but I doubt it will. The cord and plug are obviously replacements, and fairly recent ones at that.

BTW, anyone here know if there's a word for that faux woodgrain paint on metal, such as seen on this piece? It was once fairly common in automobile interiors. I imagine it presents a big challenge to restorers of such cars. But surely somebody specializes in that sort of thing, eh?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I know it's often done through a Tin Litho process.

 

[tonyb]

I know it's often done through a Tin Litho process.

Pardon my ignorance, and/or lack of imagination, but does that mean the finish is applied by what is essentially a printing process? I'm supposing that new pieces had the paint applied when they were still flat sheet metal, before being shaped (by a stamping process, I presume?) into their finished form?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Pulled this from a tin-toy collecting site.

Tin-litho (as it is frequently known) , however, is actually tin-plated steel. The colorful designs on the toys were applied through a process known as chromolithography. This technique was originally used in the printing industry. A drawing was done on special stones with a grease pencil before the printing ink was applied. When wet, the ink would adhere to the drawing and not the wet stone. The drawing was then printed on paper similar to how a woodcut would be used to print on paper.

In the late 1800s a process of "offset lithography" was used to print designs on tin-plated sheets using a rubber roller. By the 1930s the process was further perfected and machines were used to print designs on fifty tin-plated sheets per minute. This changed the whole toy industry since a wide range of colors was now available to the toy manufacturer. It was the real turning point for tin toy makers. Now they could produce colorful tin toys much more cheaply. With the new process and range of colors, buyers began to see intricate designs printed on the tin creating much more sophisticated toys.

The process moved from Europe to the United States around this time with toys being produced by the likes of Louis Marx and Company, Ohio Art Company, Daisy, Ideal, and American Toy Products. Shortly after this time the Japanese entered the market, supported by the United States, and changed the entire industry.

 

[tonyb]

Thanks for that, Tom. I'm guessing there just has to be a few people out there who specialize in restoring such finishes, seeing how they were once fairly common in car interiors and home furnishings, such as this lamp of mine, which, I'm pleased to report, works just fine. A 15-inch fluorescent tube was all it needed.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Glad to hear that it works! Also, I know a lot of people do airbrushing at least for wood patterns. It's getting very popular with us station wagon guys for doing the wood paneling down the sides without using a vinyl applique.

Thanks for that, Tom. I'm guessing there just has to be a few people out there who specialize in restoring such finishes, seeing how they were once fairly common in car interiors and home furnishings, such as this lamp of mine, which, I'm pleased to report, works just fine. A 15-inch fluorescent tube was all it needed.

 

[PoohBang]

got this the other day... Hamilton Beach Mixer model G

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Sharp mixer, I also very much love your stove and the clock above it!

 

[PoohBang]

thanks, I didn't get the clock or timer fixed on the stove itself as it would be a lot, so I picked up that Westinghouse timer instead...

 

[JAZZmann]

That mixer is amazing! I love it.

 

[Forgotten Man]

Picked this 1930 Regal TRF type Cathedral up at Saver's in Tuscon AZ over Christmas! $19.99 and it works!

 

[tonyb]

Wow! If that radio were at the typical thrift store around here, it would be kept behind a counter or in a glass case and priced at well over a hundred bucks.

Whaddya figure you could sell it for, if you had a mind to? Not that I'm in the hunt for such an item, but had I come across that deal my heart rate would have ticked up several notches, and I would have found a place for it around here.