Saturday, October 30, 2010

Antiqua, the Goddess of Lost Vintage Items

I have been a terrible bloggerette this past week.  I just realized that my entire "vacation" has slipped away without a single post all week long. 

"Vacation" is in quotes because it hasn't exactly been a week of lounging on a sofa and eating bon-bons.  I've been sticking with my goal of getting all my antiques organized and my house back into company-ready shape.  And so for seven days straight I have been cleaning (& organizing) cleaning (& organizing) like a good little Suzy Homemaker!

While going through all of my vintage/antique things, I had some items in mind that had gone missing at some point and I was hopeful that I would find them in one of the boxes or piles.

When I was a little girl, whenever one of us lost something my mother would say, "Let's say a prayer to St. Anthony." 

If you grew up Catholic, you probably remember that St. Anthony of Padua is known as the Patron Saint of Lost Articles.  He was pretty good at finding things for me most of time.  But I have lost so many things lately, I decided I'd better summon assistance from another source...

Have you heard of Antiqua? 


She is the Goddess of Lost Vintage Items.
You don't believe me?  Well, just look at what she found this week...

For the longest time, I've been missing a pretty little gray button from this vintage 1940's wool jacket, but I discovered it earlier this week buried in a drawer full of coins.  I was so happy, I sewed it back on right away...



This jacket is one of my favorites because it has a label from a popular downtown St. Paul, Minn. department store that dates back to the 1920's...



Antiqua also helped me find Charmin' Chatty's shoe under my bedroom radiator...


It was missing from this 1963 Whitman puzzle...

Any other Charmin' Chatty or Chatty Cathy fans out there?  I always liked Charmin' Chatty best because me and Charmin' both had to wear nerdy glasses at a young age.

Antiqua came to my rescue again when she helped me find this Hood's Sarsaparilla 1889 Calendar top that disappeared shortly after I bought it on eBay earlier this summer...

She led me right to the Sear's catalog where it had been absent mindedly tucked inside.



Did you know that Hood's Sarsaparilla not only purifies the blood and helps invigorate the liver...but it also cures Scrofula, Rheumatism, Billiousness, Dyspepsia and just about any other disease that you can think of!

You don't believe these claims?  Oh, yea of little faith...

Let me share one final bit of evidence of the goddess Antiqua's powers.  Not only does she help find lost vintage items, but she is also a good luck charm at estate sales too!

On Friday I spotted this lovely antique ledger book at an estate/moving sale in my neighborhood. 




Now I love beautiful old books almost as much as I love beautful vintage clothing - but I'm also very frugal. And I just couldn't bring myself to pay $10.00 for the book. 

Since everything was going to be 50% off today, the second day, I decided to take my chances and plan to be one of the first in the door this morning when the sale opened and quickly grab it - if it hadn't already sold.

Oh, I didn't tell you the best part of the book.  Mr. Chas. D. Freeman was apparently a pharmacist (or doctor?) or was studying to be one - and the first 43 pages are filled with his handwritten notes. 

Here are a couple of "recipes" for Liquid Soap and Boeckmann's Eye Water...

...and here are his notes on Floating Bodies in the eye.

Last night I kept thinking about the book.  How foolish of me to easily spend $10 for a couple of drinks at a bar, yet pass up the opportunity to buy this ledger book which has historical value!

Well, I'll bet you've already figured out that this story has a happy ending.  This morning when I arrived at the sale, the book was still there waiting for me in the very same spot on the bedroom floor where I had found it the day before.  And I got it for $5.00!


Hail to Antiqua! 


She's a great gal to have on your side. 

22 comments:

  1. I need to say a prayer to her! I can't find my black petticoat and I wear it with everything...How the hell could I have misplaced something as large as a petticoat?

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  2. Ooooh, that jacket! The seaming is just amazing. And I'm so glad to know about Antiqua, I'm sure I'll be calling on her powers!

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  3. I would say you have had a wonderful week of accomplishments and finding your treasures. Hail to Antiqua...

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  4. I did grow up a Catholic and had heard of St Anthony, but I think I need to be thinking of Antiqua a bit more often! How vintage does it have to be? My husband of not yet three months has lost his wedding ring....!

    Some amazing finds there. I am always losing buttons off coats, it makes me so happy to be reunited with them again!

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  5. Clever story about Antiqua. Strange she's mentioned so rarely on the Web -- only once as far as I can tell. :-)

    Anyway, glad you had a productive vacation. I hope your transition back to the realities of working life goes smoothly. Have a great week.

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  6. Thank you for visiting my blogs and becoming a follower of them. Much appreciated, God bless you with all success. Happy Autumn.

    if you like vintage images please visit my other blog, thank you.

    www.bouquetoftulleroses.blogspot.com

    hugs from
    FOREVER JANN

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  7. That ledger is a real find. Didn't they have beautiful handwriting back then? I found your blog at Dear Daisy Cottage, you had commented just before me. When you have a few moments, you might enjoy my blog madelinesmemories-ann.blogspot.com. I blog about my mother-in-law's lifetime collection of things most of us would have thrown out. I can't wait to peruse your blog!

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  8. Ah yes, Antiqua. I'm going to light a candle for her tonight! I have several containers that have lost their lids, bottles without stoppers, and armless Kewpie dolls. I'll let you know if she comes through for me!

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  9. I think I have to pray to Antiqua too! Love the ledger, all is well that ends well!

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  10. Even though I wasn't Catholic my Grandma always made us pray to St Anthony when we misplaced something. Now I know about Antiqua maybe she'll help me find my tapestry clutch bag that seems to have vanished into the abyss of my wardrobe.
    Love your grey jacket and salivating over that incredible ledger, what a find. xxx

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  11. Antiqua is going to be a very busy goddess looking for Vix's clutch bag and Mitzi's lids, stoppers and Kewpie arms, and Kim's petticoat - and most important of all - Lady Cherry's new husband's wedding ring! I'm sure that Lili and Creatology will be willing to say a few prayers too. ;-)

    Michael, dear friend - you seem a little suspicious because you couldn't find Antiqua on the web anywhere. It's one of those mysteries...you just have to have faith.

    Queen, Vix, Ann, and Jann - I was so glad to have discovered your wonderful blogs recently. Thank you for stopping by!

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  12. Dear, S - what a wonderful post! I truly enjoyed reading about Antiqua - I have faith :)

    That jacket really deserved to have all it's beautiful buttons in place (I wrote bottoms here...luckily I read through the comment first! *blushing*)

    What a splendid week you had - may Antiqua be with you!

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  13. Luna - your latest post is so much fun! That collection of early 1900's Halloween photos is amazing...

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  14. THANK YOU SWEETIE FOR LEAVING ME THE KIND COMMENT OVER IN THE FRIENDSHIP BLOG. ALL GOD'S BLESSINGS TO YOU. GLAD YOU FOUND ALL THE MISSING ITEMS, THE JACKET IS LOVELY. I LOVE VINTAGE CLOTHING ALSO.
    YOUR HOME MUST BE LOOKING GORGEOUS WITH ALL YOUR CLEANING. I NEED TO GET AFTER AFEW THINGS AROUND HERE. THANKS AGAIN FOR JOINING MY FRIENDS BLOG.

    "May you be given more and more of God's
    kindness, peace and love."- Jude 1:2

    my other vintage blog:
    www.bouquetoftulleroses.blogspot.com

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  15. Absolutely love your post!! Such fun to read. Our little 19 year old dog is in surgery and we were so upset we decided to visit some blog friends to distract ourselves. Your blog was perfect...just the right mix of humor and nostalgia. Sheila was a great lover of her Charmin' Chatty. One of the greatest wounds delivered to her early maternal instinct, came when a favorite Uncle innocently declared that she was one of the ugliest dolls he had ever seen. In all fairness to our Uncle, he did come from a generation who grew up with bisque and china heads, whose great beauty was readily apparent to any onlooker. Charmin' Chatty's brand of beauty was truly an acquired taste. I think Sheila loved her even more after the hurtful comment(to add insult to injury the injurious words were uttered with C.C. in full earshot!!) Sheila elevated her to fav doll status, and chose her over all the other dolls(and believe me there were plenty!) to take to bed. We had small twin beds and Charmin' was big, so our mom constantly worried that Sheila would come to some mischief(poke an eye out???!!!)Sheila even gave Charmin' the honour of wearing our Great Aunt's nurse's cap. Perhaps in her heart she thought that our Uncle would be unable to utter unkind words about an ugly nurse who was able to tend the sick, making them well with an inner beauty!!!

    Peace and Plenty,
    Sheila and Sherrill(the twins!)

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  16. such wonderful finds! lovely story about antiqua...

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  17. I never heard of Antigua, but I´ll light a few candles and saying a prayer ( if I renember how...) two years ago I saved a cat eyes glass from my mother ( 50s ) and I can´t find they ( sigh). You had a week of litlle treasures, so nobody can blame you forget the blog, heh, heh....

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  18. how funny....i need all the saints i can get my hands on to find stuff in my house....oh when the saints come marching in...they will look in my house for lost treasures.
    i so get you with the cleaning and organizing thing. it seems endless, right? it is a full time job that suzy homemaker stuff!!!!!!
    thanks for the laugh and such a sweet post!!!
    take care
    sue

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  19. Jann - You're so sweet to stop back and tell me that I'm so sweet. We could just keep going back and forth like this. :-)

    Sue - Being a Suzy Homemaker is impossible for me! My house is already a mess. I give up!

    Rosy - we'll have to add your cat eyes glass to the list for Antiqua.

    Sheila and Sherrill - I'm so sorry about your dog - hope he's doing better??? Thanks for sharing your cute story of Charmin' Chatty. I guess she is an acquired taste. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for dolls that others would call homely...

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  20. Oh! I love a good hunt and even one better that ends witha good find. Tho I tend to collect bags of buttons with little effort.

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  21. I'm so glad you got that book. It's amazing!!!

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  22. Atomic Mum - maybe you have all of my buttons!

    Mary Van - Happy that you stopped by to say hello. I was so glad to have discovered your blog this morning - it's wonderful!

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I love all of your comments - it's what makes blogging fun! C'mon, let's get a conversation going...

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