Saturday, March 31, 2012

Balboa Park Zoo, San Diego, California, 1963


This is a white peacock from the Balboa Park Zoo, taken in June 1963.


The Balboa bears ~


And the pink flamingos ~


Friday was 30% off clothes at Thrift Town so the NWT Angie skirt joined my collection ($6.99), a ruffled-edge slip ($1.39) and the fun TT summer coupon packet.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Do you believe in ghosts?

This image was taken on the first floor of the Hall of Justice Building (built in 1916) in Sacramento, California.  I photoshopped out a few of the random orbs that appeared in the original picture (which I have posted at the end of this blog).  But first - Friday's styling the find, the Ralph Lauren skirt, Van Heusen lavendar shirt, and the Liz Clairborne jacket were all thrift shop finds.  


The Hall of Justice over the years was the location of the police department, the health department, a hospital complete with maternity ward, surgery room and emergency room, a meat inspector (not all in the same rooms or at the same time), a City livery and wagon room, a municipal courthouse, judges' and attorneys' offices and a complete jail (there are still bars on some of the windows).

On the fifth floor walk-up you can see the pockmarks caused by bullets that the police used as an indoor shooting range.


The building is currently on lock-down so the public does not have access inside.  I was involved in the converting the 4th floor from raw space to office space and never have I encountered such unusual noises.  When I was speaking to the contractor, we would hear scratching noises emanating from the 5th floor.  Now, while those could be attributable to rodents, I never saw rodent droppings up there.  A former employee once commented, "You could get stuck up and there (on the fifth floor) and no one would ever know."  

On occasion, I would work late at night in the building and sometimes would hear the sound of children's voices (there are no children in or around the building).  

PJ Provencial in an article (publication date unknown) entitled 813 6th Street Revisited, for the Sacramento Police Officers Association,  notes:

"The old Hall even sports its very own ghost.  Often seen and heard roaming the floors, rumors persist that it is the otherworldly presence of a deceased prisoner.  Several people I talked with mention strange things occurring, cold blasts of air, feelings that they were not alone or that they were being followed and even reappearing images of an officer, seemingly distraught, sitting on a bench in the basement, an area that once sported a locker room."  

Back to the original photograph - there is one ghosties who seemingly decided to get up close and personal (see the largest orb).  I also count an orb to my left, another small orb on my jacket and another small orb on my skirt.  This was the only image of six taken that show these entities.  I did not photoshop this picture and have never had these type of orb objects appear in any of my photos before.


So, tell me, do you believe in ghosts?

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

A Smidgeon of Midge

It is not often you see Midge Hadley, Barbie's best friend, come up for bid on shopgoodwill.com.  Here is 1962 Midge's mugshot, she sold for $21.  


And a picture of Midge's arse (not sure why she was photographed that way ...) so degrading.


Another 1962 Midge mugshot (she sold for $25).  Guess she matured overnight in that year.


With her trade-out wigs.


And her backside - poor Midge inmates, at least they went to good homes.



Sunday, March 25, 2012

Los Angeles, California, Farmer's Market 1958


I spent the afternoon organizing my slide archive - the first image is my dad and brother.  


Here is some of the produce.  


Looks as though my dad caught one the of the gents by surprise.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

78 Corvette


One of my relations has a 1978 Corvette Pace Car so when I saw this framed print ($4) at E Street Thrift in Sacramento, I thought it would be perfect for their garage.  The thrift shop sale room produced a light blue cashmere sweater ($7), a Charter Club wool blend sweater ($2) and a darling print scarf ($2.99).  There I go again with the color scheme thing.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Trios ~


Trio of bunnies.  These ceramic cuties were obtained at a silent auction at a Ducks Unlimited dinner earlier this month.


Trio of Clamdiggers.  This image was from my first batch of "rescued" slides.  It was labeled, "Clamdiggers, WA, 1953, Heil, Ethel and Mama Newe in car."  It is one of my absolute favorites.  There is such an innocence and exuberance about these folks.  You can see the family resemblance between Heil and Mama Newe.


Trio of Hispanic Gentlemen.  This final image was in the batch I bought with the Ion slide scanner just the other day.  It was unlabeled but the other slides were images of Mexico taken some time in the late 1960's early 1970's.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Dana Buchman and more


A gorgeous spring day has developed in Sacramento.  One of the upsides to shopping thrift in a major city, is the high-end label clothing that just goes for the taking.  The Jessica Howard two-piece linen blend sleeveless dress with short-sleeved jacket combo was $11.99, and red-tagged items were buy one, get one free so the cashmere Daniel Bishop long-sleeved print sweater was the freebie.  Next to that is the Dana Buchman skirt for 99 cents.  It needs a little TLC, such as pulling in stray fabric pieces but that is easy enough done.  The skirt is lined with this adorable fabric that is also used as edging at the bottom of the skirt.  One of the other shoppers actually brought it to me, she was such a sweetie!


Here is a better shot of the cashmere sweater.  Did I mention my dry cleaners call me the "sweater lady?"


Snagged this Ion slide scanner for $2.99 (yes, I know I already have one) but I can use it as a backup should my other scanner fail.  Inside the box are also packets of 35 mm slides labeled "camping trip 1974-1975."  It will be interesting to see if there are any fun images I can manipulate and post later.



Tuesday, March 20, 2012

I didn't realize it was the first day of spring ...

until I started seeing my fellow bloggers' spring-themed posts.  I was going to include this image yesterday with mugshots, but she just didn't seem to fit.  But she does now, Nibbles Porcelain currently bidding on shopgoodwill.com for $6.99.


Spring just makes you want to buy a blue dress and drive a pink car!


Monday, March 19, 2012

Baby doll mugshots

What draws me to these sad little dollies?  Shopgoodwill.com is veritable gold mine of baby doll mugshots.  Here is the latest round of "inmates."  Lee Middleton Angel Doll, currently bidding at $10.


20' Composition Doll Molded Hair Sleep Eyes, currently bidding at $5.  "Has molded hair and applied wig held on by a rubber band."  Reminds me of the older ladies that insist on wearing their wigs askew.



Effanbee 1975 Hard Plastic Doll, currently bidding at $5.  Is it just me or does she look like Kat Von D?


 

I used to have a Chatty Cathy doll and am sure I found nothing sinister about her then, but I do now ... she is currently bidding at $9.99 (is 666 upside down ACK!)


This baby doll just wants a home - doesn't he have haunted eyes?  Hand Painted Hard Plastic Doll currently bidding at $5.

 


Sunday, March 18, 2012

Ladies in Pink

Good news!  My slide converter was not broken, there was this feature called a "reset" button.  Fancy that.  Anyhoo, had to show off these two ladies from my latest slide purchase.  The first image in Lady in Pink Hat, 1962.  Her necklace reminds me of the one the girl wears from the sitcom Two Broke Girls.  



Then there is 1963 Carmen from Arizona.  She is so classy and must be in her 80's or thereabouts now.  I like her ensemble, from the hat, to the white flower detail on the dress to her bracelets.  Two thumbs up!


Saturday, March 17, 2012

Rainy day project and Sunday School 1965


These two images are from my family photo archive labeled Sunday School 1965.  I know the gentleman on the far left is Johnny Johnson (who could ever forget a name like that?) and the second man from the left is my dearly departed dad.  The others in the photo, I haven't a clue.


This group was also labeled Sunday School 1965.  I can't identify a single person but love this snapshot in time.  Is it any wonder I wear skirts the majority of the time?  Must be ingrained in me.


I just finished viewing 60 boxes of 35 mm slides I purchased from shopgoodwill.com.  The images ranged from 1959 to 1965, I pulled only 38 slides to convert to digital images.  The whole lot will be placed on EBay for resale.  One image is Knott's Berry Farm in 1962 and in the third to the last box I discovered seven images from the 1964 New York World's Fair.  While I didn't attend that event, it might be of some interest to those who did.  

After I buy a new slide converter (I burned out two others from my family slides I converted), I will share the discovered images on this blog.

What rainy day projects have you completed?    



Friday, March 16, 2012

The Luck O' The Irish ...

ok, not so much luck as persistence.  It was 50% off clothes at Thrift Town and the Irish gods were smiling on me because I was able to hit a lull in the lines to get in and out quick.


The first goodies were the March of Dimes ducky with rabbit ear hat (69 cents) and a bag of toys ($1.99) which I bought specifically for the pink floral framed sunglasses.  I have an Easter photo shoot coming up and those two items will be part of it.  I threw out half the toys from the bag because they were damaged and gave three sets of crayons and three Little People toys to a darling Hispanic woman and her small daughter at the Mexican food place I frequent.


I blew the budget on this vintage pin which can also be worn as a necklace ($15.99).  It is so delicate, has all of its jewels, is marked 12 KG and a really bizarre factoid, it is engraved "Phyllis."  That is my mother's name.  I had to look at it twice, as the engraving is very, very small.  It really makes you wonder - how this piece came to me, of all of the pieces of jewelry I could have chosen.


And on to the clothing, a lovely Ann Taylor beige print skirt ($4), and brown Dalia Collection linen blend skirt ($1).


Ending up with one of my favorite labels of clothing - Jones New York brand olive green jacket and skirt combination ($5).  I snapped that up so quick I didn't even have time to examine it.  There may be a problem with a small oil stain on the jacket but I'll consult the dry cleaners.  But for $5 - just the skirt is well worth that!


Hoping you too have the "Luck of the Irish" over the next couple of days.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Girls Scouts Centennial

There is a reason the Girl Scouts of America is such a wonderful organization and here are two of the reasons-- Haley and Sierra in front of Ione Plaza Market in Ione, California.  


Inspiring Generations of Girls Who Change the World.


Sunday, March 11, 2012

Sometimes it's just a CD ~ Andrea Bocelli


I hadn't visited On a Mission Thrift in Jackson, California in quite awhile.  The shop had been reorganized.  Unfortunately, they still are pricing the clothing too high.  A used skirt for $15?  That is a big NOT.  But this Andrea Bocelli Cieli Di Toscana CD for $1, now we're talking.  I don't understand a word of Italian but with a voice like that, I don't need to.

Dropped in to Community Hope Thrift Shop in Amador County, thought I would give it a second chance, but this is a junk shop.  I know, I know, a fine distinction between a thrift shop and a junk shop, but that is what it is.  CHTS prices too high and is forever off my list.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Nut Tree, Vacaville CA


The Nut Tree in Vacaville, California, has closed its doors and re-opened a couple of times.  The image above was taken in 1969 (me, making one of my goofy 10-year old faces).


The Nut Tree Railroad would circle the property through the fruit and nut tree orchards and begin and end in front of the gift shop.  My 1969 outfit has to be one of those fashion "misses."


The last picture was taken in 1971.  There were also big rocking horses in front and an aviary in the center of restaurant.  I will always remember the Nut Tree marshmallow cream sauce served with fruit.  Makes my mouth water just thinking of it!


What memories do you have of the Nut Tree?

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Baby doll mugshots

Shopgoodwill.com has once again provided a plethora of pictures featuring these not-so-fortunate baby dolls.  Below is Vintage Composition bidding at $14.00.  All I can think of when I see her is "hangover."  


Next is shopgoodwill.com's description of Vintage Sleepy Eyed Doll in Need of TLC, currently bidding at $5.99.

"Previously owned; Very Used and needs Total restoration. Signs of use, holes, exposed filling, stains, discoloration, and crazing/dry cracks in material. There are dirt stains, scratches, rips found throughout. Hair is very disheveled/matted and seems hand cut. Material around head is ripped. We cannot confirm whether or not it will function as it was intended to, nor do we know if there are any missing parts/components."


This is Sugar Britches reproduction doll, currently bidding at $5.95.  WhatchootalkinboutWillis?


This one I just call Chucky's sister, currently bidding at $6.99.


Sourpuss, aka Donherl H. Drideen Doll, currently bidding at $16.00.


And a face only a mother could love - Vintage American Drink & Wet doll, currently bidding at $5.00.