You push the button, we do the rest...

My paternal grandfather with camera circa 1940
click to embiggen

It's tradition at Willow Manor to hop in the old green Land Rover and head to the Franklin County Fair Grounds the Friday after Thanksgiving for the season opening of the Scott Antique Show.  Hundreds of vendors set up their booths once a month, from November through March. They happen to have a show in Atlanta, as well, for those of you who live in that southern neck of the woods.  I love to pull my red vinyl two-wheel cart along behind me, in search of buried treasure. 

I picked up a sweet little Brownie Flash Six-20, a 1940 variation of the quintessential American camera for $2.00.  The first Brownie was introduced by Eastman Kodak in February 1900, as a very basic cardboard box camera with a simple meniscus lens that took 2 1/4 inch square pictures on 117 roll film. The Brownie introduced the concept of the snapshot, intended as a camera that anyone cold afford, leading to the popular slogan, "You push the button, we do the rest."  The camera was named after the popular cartoons created by Palmer Cox.  

alien meets picasso

You've most likely been losing sleep, tossing and turning, wondering what item I found on my weekly thrift trip.  Actually, this past weekend was the last Scott Antique Show of the season, which is bittersweet, since there won't be another one until the weekend after Thanksgiving, but being the last day, vendors are ready to bargain.

I used my dickering skills, with a bit of extra charm, to land a great deal on this fabulous creamy mod head, with perfect patina, dated 1961, from Ray Mongenas, of Mongenas Antiques, Loveland, Ohio. Funny, his location is on Hanna Avenue, Hanna being my maiden name. He told me the fascinating story, how he found the head while picking at an old house in Cincinnati. Anyway, she's ultra quirky, very "alien meets Picasso".  

Her most delicious feature is her low chignon.  If you remember, I was all about the chignon last week.  Was I remembering the future? These synchronicities seem to come in groups of three for me.  I'll be watching for Chignon No. 3. Maybe this subject deserves a poem. I think it might.

Happiness is when what you think, 

what you say, and what you do 

are in harmony.

 Mahatma Gandhi

frozen Scioto and loot

Our snowy drive along the frozen Scioto River, January 22, 2011.

Yesterday, we braved the single digit temps, hopped aboard the trusty old green Land Rover and took the scenic route along the frozen Scioto River on a snowy drive to the Scott Antique Market. Hundreds of vendors set up their booths at the Franklin County Fair Grounds once a month, from November through March. They happen to have a show in Atlanta, as well, for those of you who live in that southern neck of the woods.  I thoroughly enjoyed pulling my little red two-wheel vinyl cart on a long slow meander in search of hidden treasure. I pride myself on having learned the art of dickering. It certainly adds to the trill of the experience. This month, I came home with a cart load of loot and only spent twenty bucks. I call it loot, since it was such a steal. Twenty. Can you believe it?

The winter white loot consists of a pair of vintage silverplate candlesticks $5, 

chunky cream ceramic candlesticks $1 each,

(one can never have too many candlesticks)

a ceramic industrial glove mold $8 and a white ironstone pitcher $5.

It all looks very much at home at the manor, don't you think?