Remembering The Fugitive and Why Bartering Works!

Could it be any more random?  I started to call this blog "Random Ramblings" but figured people would believe that what is ACTUALLY WAS and not want to read it.  So I reel you in with a snappy title, then proceed to randomly ramble.  Gotcha!

Most people are familiar with the movie "The Fugitive" made in 1993, starring Harrison Ford.  Some of us however, remember the television series, which was on the air from 1963-1967.  Now I was a wee one, but I do remember the show, and being scared to death of the "one-armed man".  Richard Kimble, Lt. Gerard and the One Armed Man.  That's about all I remember.  The show was set in Chicago and was filmed at times, in and around the area.  Imagine the excitement (not that I remember, but my sister does) when they filmed a scene in my hometown of Chicago Heights, on....wait for it....14th Street!  Yep, right at the corner of 14th and Halsted, Richard Kimble almost caught up with that dirty scoundrel and Lt. Gerard almost caught up with Kimble.  Every time I pass that corner I remember the story of how The Fugitive came to Chicago Heights.  I decided that I had to get a picture of it one day.  My street had it's 15 minutes of fame, right here:

This is a pretty busy intersection.  How I got this shot with no cars (except the ones for sale) in it defies logic.  It was the middle of the afternoon.  Worth leaving my keys, phone and wallet in an unlocked car in a vacant lot.  Right?  Dumb move of the week.  I won't repeat it.

Today I had to chance to meet, via the telephone a fantastic lady named Elly who runs an upholstery shop in Florida.  We met on Facebook and seem to have similar tastes in clothing and design.  I like her work, she likes my merchandise and we're both small business owners without a ton of dispensable income.  We decided to barter and I am so excited!  I need some custom pillows and she needs this amazing 1950's dress that I have for sale.  Voila~I'm sending her the dress and she's sending me the cushions.  Now wasn't that easy?  According to Mint.com:

The history of bartering dates all the way back to 6000 BC. Introduced by Mesopotamia tribes, bartering was adopted by Phoenicians. Phoenicians bartered goods to those located in various other cities across oceans. Babylonian's also developed an improved bartering system. Goods were exchanged for food, tea, weapons, and spices. At times, human skulls were used as well. Salt was another popular item exchanged. Salt was so valuable that Roman soldiers' salaries were paid with it. In the Middle Ages, Europeans traveled around the globe to barter crafts and furs in exchange for silks and perfumes. Colonial Americans exchanged musket balls, deer skins, and wheat. When money was invented, bartering did not end, it become more organized.

Due to lack of money, bartering became popular in the 1930s during the Great Depression. It was used to obtain food and various other services. It was done through groups or between people who acted similar to banks. If any items were sold, the owner would receive credit and the buyer's account would be debited.

And that's where the cut and paste ends!  Now back to my own rambling.  BTW, I see a couple of typos in that entry so remember that I stole it from another site.  

Tomorrow is my annual visit to Union Street Gallery to see what great vintage things I can find.  You will see pictures, whether you want to or not, OK?  And now, back to the DIY project I was talking about yesterday.  I'll show you the before:

My size at a thrift store--a rarity.  What, do only tiny people give their stuff away?  Thoughts to ponder.  Anyway, when I'm done pondering, I'll get started.  Happy Friday to you and holla back!!

Grandma's Yard

The weather today was...weird.  It was nice and warm, windy at times, with five minutes spurts of rain all day.  A drop hit my arm which was hanging out of the window.  It was so big it splashed and my whole hand was wet.  Seriously, the drop of rain was about the size of a teacup.  You're saying "she can think what she wants, but that was not rain!"  I sure hope it was.  Can't imagine what wet goop might be falling from the skies these days. Scary thought.

So during one of the extended sunny spurts I took some pictures.  I parked in an abandoned parking lot, left my keys, purse and phone in the car with the keys in the ignition and walked about 100 feet away to get a good shot of a used car dealership. I'll explain later.

What I can show you now are some beautiful pictures taken in my mom's backyard, which needs some serious attention.  Still, you can't deny the beauty of thick green overgrown grass, unattended flowers that come out every year regardless of their lack of care, and a shaggy dog that needs a haircut but is so much cuter with it hanging in his eyes.

I promised to stay away, but I ended up buying a few things at Savers today.  A few.  Believe that if you want to.  I did buy a pair of shoes that I am going to do a DIY on tomorrow.  I have a lot to squeeze into the day, but I'm prioritizing this project.  Of course, I'll be posting pics.  

As for the used car dealership, I'll share that story tomorrow as well.  It's an interesting piece of 14th Street history.  

Until then!

Channeling My Inner Movie/Television/Theater/Book Critic...

Last night, I decided to watch a new television show from beginning to end, giving an ongoing critique on Facebook.  I'm pretty sure it annoyed some people, but I enjoyed it.  I won't provide that much detail here, but I have to say that as a whole, we are very undemanding with what we expect from the networks.  Of course this is just my opinion, but it's also my blog, so allow me to vent: the continually declining need for talent in order to become famous is appalling.  Okay, that's all I have to say on the subject--for now.

I'm feeling a little bit of thrift withdrawal after the long weekend, but I am committed to holding it together until Saturday.  Union Street Gallery, http://www.unionstreetgallery.org/will be hosting it's annual garage sale/vintage clothing sale fundraiser.  Every year they have an amazing sale with so much vintage clothing, accessories and home decor that it keeps me coming back.  The gallery is housed in the old Elks' Lodge, built in 1927.  It's on Otto Boulevard in Chicago Heights, but started out on Union Street--thus the name.  Check them out online and come out to this fantastic sale.  If you love vintage, you won't be disappointed however there are plenty of other things to buy as well.  And it is an art gallery of course, so there's visual as well as vintage stimulation.  It's a fun event for a great cause.

Beautiful Junque

Annual Indoor Rummage Sale Fundraiser

May 31-June 2 | 8:30am-2:30pm

    

Annual Vintage Clothing Sale

May 25-30, during regular gallery hours

May 31-June 2, 8:30am-2:30pm

     

Note to self, and to all of you who are self-employed:  Don't underestimate the value of your work or your time or any combination of the two.  This comes to mind as I head out the door to put a few more hours into getting this townhouse emptied and cleaned.  I'm not complaining though because I love the flexibility.  Now for some consistency.  I think that's my mantra for today:  flexibility and consistency.  I have one, but I need the other.

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

14thStreetVintage on Facebook
Rewind.Play.Wear. on Twitter and Etsy

Hey!  It went okay today!  For the most part, people didn't show.  But the few who did took away a tremendous amount of stuff.  I guess shopping "free" can be pretty heady.  My work is more than halfway done.

The first guy to arrive (at 8:55--not too early) told me that people always respond to ads, then find out the location and decide that A.  it's too far away  B.  they don't like the neighborhood  C.  they figure everything will be gone by the time they get there.  I still had a lot of miscellaneous, plus a box full of high-end womens' clothing at noon.  In comes a late arrival and of course, I let her in.  She made a huge difference, taking away pretty much anything that was left since she had just moved into a new apartment and had basically nothing.  It was fun, I met lots of nice people and it's always great to help people out.  My absolute favorite thing to do!  Shout out to the cutest (seriously) toddler I've ever seen, Pedrito!  I loaded him up with Beanie Babies and he was a happy camper.  He skipped around the house for about an hour. I love to see happy children and this little guy was VERY happy.  Signs of a good life, good family, people who love him.  Security.  Confidence.  YAY for Pedrito!

Now for the pictures of yesterday's thrift haul:

Just the highlights...Michael Kors, Arden B, Ann Taylor Loft...

Gap.

I won't rub it in any more.  I found great stuff, folks.  Most items were under $3.  A lesson from growing up:  SAVE MONEY!  The lessons I learned on 14th Street continue to serve me well.  

Here's to a productive day, meeting new people, playing with adorable children, getting rid of some clutter and making a little money. It's All Good.

This was a very non-traditional Memorial Day.  Tradition has me sleeping in, waking up when my mom calls me over to help get the food ready (and me getting there a couple of hours later) and everyone ending up at her house by 3p to start eating.  This goes on until about 8 or 9p, the kids play outside, one of my brothers decides he's going to challenge the youngsters to a game of basketball and ends up getting hurt, half the family is watching a game on television and the other half talking so loudly that you can't hear the commentary.  Didn't do any of that, but it was chilly and wet, which seems to be the case more often than not on this holiday.

Today, I went out thrifting with a friend.  We went to a Salvation Army that was so packed with clothing and people you could barely move.  Not that it stopped me.  I came out with two bags of Gap, Michael Kors, Banana Republic, Express and Prada.  Score!!  

Then on to Whole Foods, not to grocery shop, but to get lunch.  Whole Foods is the perfect place to eat when you don't know exactly what you want.  Between the hot bar, the salad bar, the pizza, the sushi...if you can't find something you like, then just skip eating altogether.  You're a lost cause.

Of course I did end up at mom's later in the day.   I showed off the "spoils" of my shopping trip, ate dessert (should have skipped that) and got back home to 14th Street at a decent hour.  Tomorrow morning will be interesting.  I'm trying to empty out a house for a friend.  She moved and is renting out the old house.  Clever me, I listed a "FREE STUFF" ad on Craigslist.  The response has been overwhelming.  OVERwhelming.  There's really not that much free stuff to go around, but we'll see what happens.  Tomorrow I'm sure I'll be blogging about crowd control and what not to post on Craigslist.  

Popped some tags today!

Two weekends in a row now, I have set out to buy one thing in particular and never came back with that item.  Last Saturday I got a little bit of a late start, but still planned to make a nearly two-hour drive to meet up with a couple who have a lot of dress forms and mannequins.  The traffic on I-290 was insane and I gave up after I'd been driving for over an hour and was still in Chicago.  Instead, I went to the Economy Shop in Oak Park, IL, a charming city that was once home to Hemingway and Frank Lloyd Wright.  The Economy Shop is housed in a old house, operates with a staff of volunteers, is open just once a week, and is always full of great deals and surprises. There I found an antique clear resin trivet with dried flowers inside.  I was always intrigued by the lucite and resin jewelry, souvenirs and other decor items that were so popular back in the 60's.  How in the world did they get the flowers inside?  I really remember being crazy about those things and even now, as I collect lucite, I am still enamored of the pieces with the "floating flowers".  There are artists who are still making clear resin jewelry today, but of course I'm always far happier if I find an authentic period piece.

Yesterday, I was supposed to be heading 45 minutes south to an estate sale.  There were pictures of head vases all over the place, and if you read my blog yesterday, you know that I have been wanting one for quite a while.  Well, I decided to start with an estate sale right here in town.  On the way there I saw a sign for a garage sale.  On the way to that garage sale, I passed another one.  Needless to say, I never headed south and never got my vase.  I did however visit a great "blast from the past" 1930/40/50's house, filled with over the top furniture and clothing.  There was even a "wig room", a small bathroom that held nothing but a large mirror, a sink, and boxes and boxes of white wigs.  Oh  yeah, this lady was a glamour girl from way back and was apparently still concerned with her image.  It was like an old Hollywood movie, full of Hollywood Regency style furnishings like a gold filigree wastebasket, a round bed with a gold padded headboard, and glittery gold curtains.  I did not take my camera.  Forgive me.  I put about 25 dresses and bags to the side, then later went through them all and picked out what I could realistically afford.  One thing I wasn't leaving without was this fringed, floor length gown and black feather-trimmed coat.

Yep, I went all Gatsby and brought home this over-the-top ensemble that doesn't even fit me.  It will hang on Gertrude (the dress form) until I decide to sell it, or until the feathers floating all around the living room give me an asthma attack.  Let's hope I sell it first!  I've posted this outfit to Facebook, Twitter, and now here. I am loving it.

I also bought a gossip bench, which needs some love but it won't take much to make it shine.  I'll be posting before and after pics.  Overall, the house reminded me a lot of visiting Houston when I was about four, and going to my cousin Maude's house. She had grabbed hold of the opulent style of the 30's and 40's and wasn't letting it go.  Back on 14th Street however, my mom was already embracing clean lines and minimalistic design, although  there was always a vase of plastic roses on the dining room table.  I hadn't thought about plastic flowers for a long time until just now.  I'll have write about them soon.  Oh yeah, I'll definitely need to do that.  

Memorial Day is tomorrow so be sure to spend some time remembering (and honoring) your loved ones, and especially our troops.

I have plans to take advantage of 50% off day at Goodwill and have lunch with a couple of friends.  But of course, that's just plans.  My track record of following through with plans hasn't been so good of late. Who knows where I'll end up?  Whatever it is, I'll be sure to let you know.

Three days in, and for some reason I'm thinking about Cracker Jack.  As a child, I would eat it for a few reasons:  It was there, everyone else was eating it and I wanted the prize.  To this day, I really don't like it.  Now caramel corn has gone all gourmet on me and it costs way too much.  Thank goodness I don't like it, so that's one expense I can skip.  I try to gauge my ability to manage money by how much I can save by buying discount and of course, thrift.  But I also consider what I just don't spend at all!  Freebies in the mail, clothing swaps, my niece's quarterly closet purge.  The latter nets me the best deals of all.  High end clothing, bags and shoes that I would never buy myself.  I just don't believe in spending more than a certain amount for anything.  She however, doesn't care.  She is a true shopaholic and fashionista.  A retail store's dream customer.  I went out yesterday and realized that except for the clearance sweater from Old Navy, I had on nothing that I had bought new.  The shirt and shoes were from a thrift store.  The jewelry was estate sale.  The bag was from a swap. The slacks were from the aforementioned shopaholic/fashionista.  I looked MAH-velous.  

I'm going to an estate sale later today because I have been wanting a "head vase".  

\

As with a lot of things, I don't know why, but they appeal to me.  Maybe because they look like dolls, and even though I don't understand adult doll obsessions, I definitely was into them when I was a child.  And I do live on 14th Street, the home of all wonderful childhood memories.  If I get one, I'll report back.  I'm not to optimistic that I'll find the African American version.  They came late, weren't made in abundance, and probably didn't sell very well.  But I just  may find a blonde with ruby red lips and lots of eyeliner and for the time being, I'll be happy with that.  I just want a head vase.  Weird name, but really, what else would you call it?

Have a great Saturday and let me know if you find anything wonderful this weekend!

Due to my lack of blogger knowledge, I cannot find the post I did for today.  Not in the mood to do it again, I'm going to post some pictures of last weekend's Vintage Garage Chicago which was fun, informative and profitable.  Can't wait until next month!

Well check me out!  I'm late but I'm posting.  Two days in a row.  This is epic.

It's Friday which means that I could be in for a noisy night.  14th is a very busy street and there's a hospital on the corner.  It's getting warm, school is almost out, etc, etc.  Sirens will likely be blaring well into the morning.  Also, being close to train tracks, I hear a lot of whistles late at night.  Noise--not that I mind.  It means that people are busy, even while I sleep.  Busy is good.

I volunteered at a school all day today and the kids were great.  Two really great readers read the announcements and the whole school, including the Principal, recited the school creed. Just old fashioned school stuff.  Kids jumping at the opportunity to be singled out for something special. Not keeping the line straight as they walked down the hall.  Forgetting to whisper.  Sneaking a wave at the unfamiliar lady sitting in the hallway.  Best of all, they were enjoying school and that was cool.

 On my way home I couldn't resist a quick trip to the nearest thrift store. Mad Men style silver-rimmed glasses are always on my list of things to hunt for and I wasn't disappointed.  I never intended to collect barware, but I have several ice buckets and more glassware than I should and I haven't made the decision to stop so I guess I'm a collector. Root beer lucite bangles...lucked out again. They'll be added to my growing collection of bracelets and other vintage jewelry which I freely admit to collecting.  It's intentional.  Now I just need to start wearing it more often. It was a quick trip but a good one.  You have to be a serial thrifter to understand.  If I can get to a couple of estate sales tomorrow, life will be truly good.

I parted with some records too.  45's and LP's that were doing absolutely no good just sitting in the garage.  There's a company called DJ Records out of St. Louis.  If you call them, they'll make an appointment to come see your collection.  They pay cash!  No, you won't get rich unless you have something really rare (and signed) but it can eliminate some clutter and put a little money in your pocket.  I also rediscovered some cool cover art and made a pile of about ten albums that I'm going to listen to this weekend.  Dakota Staton, Billy Preston, the Big Chill Soundtrack, Billy Eckstine, Beach Boys, Brasil '66...my musical tastes are all over the place but I like what I like what I like.  And yes, I still use a turntable.

It's Memorial Day Weekend!  I was just thinking of becoming a vegetarian, but maybe after I eat one last slab of ribs.

Silver rimmed rocks glasses.

I love this faux-crocodile ice bucket.

Vintage jewelry found over the weekend.  The brown (root beer) bangles have a slightly different shape--a little squared.  I didn't have any like these so they were actually kind of necessary.

FROM DAY ONE...

So....I've been procrastinating about this for a few months.  I really wanted to start a blog to connect with other vintageaholics, retromaniacs and people like me for whom it is not a fad...it's our life.  My attempt to log into my newly created google account (and messing up the password a few times!) led me to the offer to start a blog.  Divine intervention?  Friendly nudge?  Opportunity to procrastinate a little bit longer?  I clicked the button, and wow--EaSy!  Shoulda, coulda, woulda...did.  I'm committed now, so smack me if I forget to post.

I am so over 9-5.  And working for someone else (other than my customers!)  And being told what to do, when to do it, and still walking on eggshells.  Now that doesn't mean I refuse to work 9-5 'cause you do what you gotta do.  I just don't want to.  Just not really for me, but God will decide when and if this self-employment thing will work out.  And I will continue to drop hints.  Heavy hints.  Heavy and often.

 I've been selling vintage online for a couple of years.  I've been collecting, wearing and decorating with it since I was a teenager.  I've been loving it forever.  14th Street.  It's where I grew up and played with my mom's perfume bottles on her dresser.  I'd arrange them according to size, in rows--and pretend they were a choir.  There, I said it!  My weird little secret is out.  (Confession is good for the soul.)  A few days later, I'd return and they would be "scattered" around, Odessa (mom) style.  And I would put them back in choir formation.  BTW, Evening in Paris was always the soloist.  I was six.

Over 40 years, two kids and one divorce later, I found myself back on 14th Street, a few miles from where I grew up.  On the other side of the street and in what used to be the other side of town.  Now it's pretty much meshed together, the descendants of the haves and the have nots blurring the lines and ignoring the hard work their grand and great-grandparents put into keeping them separate.  Now when I look out of my window I see the big white house on the hill that used to fascinate me when I rode by in the backseat of my Daddy's '61 Chevy, where the best a/c was the wind from the front windows and nobody made you wear a seatbelt.  I'm still fascinated and intrigued, but now instead of wondering who lives there, I wonder what kind of doorknobs they have.  Are they original?  Do they want them?  Can I buy a few?

So it is, and will be with my 14th Street Stories.  What used to be.  What is.  What is surely to come.  I don't  know how long I'll stay here, but it will stay with me forever.  You can take the girl off of 14th Street but...you know the rest.

Now to figure out how to add pictures...

DONE!