Lady Sunbeam

Gold Country Sis Lori here again:
Let me just say ladies, if you can ever get your hands on one of these vintage Lady Sunbeam electric shavers, by all means, grab it!! I have been on the lookout for a good shaver for years. They just don't make them like they used to for a decent price. I found this gem on etsy a while back, and while I thought it was a little pricey at $28 plus shipping, decided to purchase it. It was complete, even with the little brush cleaner, and in mint condition:

It works sooooo well, I'm in love!!!

Tree Of Life Candelabras

When I saw the illustration below in my cookbook Cocina Mexicana (which I wrote about in this post).....
...it reminded me of this, which is the record sleeve from inside one of my Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass albums (see this post):

And then I became curious about these. I knew NOTHING about them whatsoever. So I Googled them, and found all sorts of examples on eBay, etc. They're really quite fabulous, aren't they?
I found the example below here:

And I found this one here:

And I found these others someplace!
Colorful and beautiful:

Since then, it seems as if I notice them everywhere! I see them in interior photos in my magazines, etc, including this picture from a Sunset Magazine article about San Francisco's Mission District. Pictured here are Gonzalo and Mia Gonzalez, owners of the Encantada Gallery Of Fine Arts, which sounds like a wonderful place to visit!
And here's one more, for good measure:

I just think they're very cool.

I Dreamed....In My Maidenform Bra

Does anybody out there remember these advertisements? I found a few examples in my vintage magazines, and I just think they're fun.
"I dreamed I was a living doll.."

" I dreamed I made an impression..."

"I dreamed I lived like a queen..."

"I dreamed I was queen of the Westerns...."

"I dreamed I painted the town red..."

"I dreamed I had a swinging time..."

Clever ads - and you know me, I'm a sucker for advertising, old and new!

Vintage Gold Discovery Glasses

Good morning, Gold Country Older Sis Tina checking in again. This morning I wanted to share a collection of vintage glasses which celebrate the Gold Country.
I know you've seen this picture before, but Grandpa wanted to come along and who am I to argue with my gold panning ancestor? He's just so cute sitting here at the Cosumnes River. Hope there's some color in that pan.

My Grandpa kind of reminded me of this picture of Black Bart under the tree on this selection of the glasses I am going to show you. As a background I am using a small piece of fabric I bought at a garage sale which shows several gold country scenes. Vultures on an overturned wrecked wagon... it was a tough life out there, trying to get to the west. No wonder we still have a lot of vultures in Kelsey.

Whoo Hoo! Eureka! I found gold! This is my single, lovely, Gold Strike glass. Heidi gave it to me, and I love it. This gold seeker was overjoyed about his discovery. This is a common theme, if you look up to the right at the fabric, there is another seeker waving his hat or pan in joy, as his mule or horse grazes to the left. I think maybe this didn't happen QUITE as often as depicted in our nostalgic art.

Next to the glass is a little cream pitcher which has a gold pan depicted on the side. It is in lovely condition, but has no maker mark.

I wanted to show you the side of the little pitcher with its gun. Unfortunately it is hard to think of the wild west without guns. I don't think they were quite as common as movies and TV depict. But they were part of life.

On the right side of the Gold Strike glass is a mule, which was also a common part of the gold seeker's life. I wish I had one to help me carry my veggies from my garden and help eat the weeds around here! Or, of course, to shoulder the many bags of gold I might pan out of the river (I wish).

These two, the first I am showing you of my Gold Discovery series of glasses, of which I have six, are showing a very important part of the old west, communication and transportation. On the left is the Butterfield Stage Lines, 1858, and on the right the Pony Express 1860. Now, with our modern automobiles, air conditioned, muffled and equipped with shocks, it is amazing to think of the bumpy, dusty, hot, thirsty, crowded accommodations of a stagecoach. Not to mention don't look outside and down, because the road was very small and there was usually a mountain on one side and a cliff or river on the other! And the hardy gentlemen who were riding the ponies to deliver your mail? I know the conditions for mail carriers even now are not easy, but at least they have improved some over the years.

Here again we see Black Bart, the Bandit Poet 1875-1883. I do not know much about him, I am going to do some studying up on him, and we may meet him again in another blog. The glass to the right is the Calveras Jumping Frog contest, immortalized by Mark Twain. I have only seen this contest once. It was a lot of fun. I need to get back there again one of these days.

I thought this was a fun photo, the background of a gold panner and covered wagon, and my glasses with the same. The glass on the left says Discovery of Gold by James Marshall, Coloma, and the glass on the right says Discovery of Gold in the Great American West.

Leaving you with a photo of gold seekers at Coloma in 1949 celebrating the centennial of the gold rush and hoping to start a repeat.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my collection. I am always on the lookout for more...

Summer Fun - Hot Dog!

Here are Mom and Dad ( in their spiffy matching outfits!), getting those hot dogs ready to go, as Junior looks on, eagerly:
This young man doesn't need any assistance - he's helping himself quite handily:

Wow! This fellow must be feeding a crowd!
Frankfurter Treats (click to enlarge for the recipes). I like this idea - looks as if they're getting ready to have them with S'more's. I'm ready to eat....

No matter which brand you choose, be it Oscar Mayer Wieners or some other brand (which won't have as catchy a theme song!), enjoy your summer fun with hot dogs:

My husband eats them all the time. I actually really do like them too , but the best-tasting one aren't exactly Weight-Watchers friendly, especially when you add a regular bun, so usually I just have something else.
But if I went camping? I would be right there waiting for mine, hot off the campfire grill.
And I'd enjoy every single bite.

Some More Of My Finds

Some more of my most recent finds from yard sales and thrift shops, starting with my favorite - this sweet little lady:

I have quite a few of these great old quilted satin organizers, but I didn't have one this size (over 13 inches square); at the same sale I found some hankies, lanterns and other linens:

I found a little blue Pyrex bowl and a yellow Brookpark Melamine bowl:

A set of Hazel Atlas Moderntone white sherbet dishes:
Metal utility boxes, one of them adorned with butterfly decals!
You know I love my restaurant china! A set of nine brown Hall china bowls; I'm picturing these with homemade individual chicken pot pies inside come fall:
A huge marbled green and orange lamp - I actually love it, but there is no place for it in our home:
A simpler pottery lamp in a mustard color:
And it's always nice to find a little bit of Christmas -this tin was up high on a shelf at Salvation Army where all you could see was the side. A bonus - it was full of buttons! Not terribly exciting ones, but there were a few neat vintage ones in there. Lori found the little glass candle holders for me:
I love the graceful lines of this deer - I have a similar, larger one, and they will look great together. Plus, I found a few little goodies for crafting:
Some of these finds are keepers, others I will put in the shop.
Because I can't keep everything.
(I keep telling myself that.)

It's A Small World (Again)

I have written numerous times before on this blog about my love for the "It's A Small World" attraction at Disneyland.

I have shown you some of the items in my small collection of "Small World" items:
I also showed you some of my paper dolls back in this post. I have had this set since I was a little girl, and I was always took great care when I played with them. That is why they survived the years, carefully kept in their colorful folder:

I had forgotten that I had this wonderful souvenir book! It was tucked away in the bookshelf with other vintage Disney books:

These pages, below, are from a book titled "A Day At The New York World's Fair". I don't even remember where I found it, but I bought it mostly because it had this two-page spread inside about the Unicef "It's a Small World" attraction ,sponsored by Pepsi-Cola:

I mentioned my book when I commented on a post over at Viewliner Ltd., and look what my blogging friend Richard sent me!
A postcard featuring the World's Fair attraction!! I was absolutely delighted to receive it. Thanks, Richard!
One more shot of the attraction. Isn't it gorgeous at holiday time?!

It's a small world, after all.

Barbie Dress Up Day #6 Let's Go Swimming!

Skipper said, "It's so hot! Can't we go swimming or something?"

So, they all put on their swim togs, and off they went!

Barbie decided to just throw on one of her old suits:

They were going down by the river, and she figured she'd probably get one of her good suits all dirty, anyway.

They had fun, and I hope they remembered to take their sunscreen!