Thrifted Christmas: Part II - December 19, 2023
Happy Birthday First Child!
At St. Vincent de Paul (where I went to only look at Christmas items, as their prices are sky high, selections few, and too many things are broken) I found some keepers.
Two vintage flocked Santa ornaments. Why is it that vintage Santas always look so creepy! Although this first guy just looks sad.
Other bags yielded a few things I kept. Like the vintage cupcake picks (creepy Santas!) and flocked deer.
Also these Mexican folk art tin ornaments.
Sold individually was this mercury glass Santa made in Germany.
Also from St. Vincent de Paul are these three 28" (without stakes) lawn stakes of heavy plastic.
Some Goodwill finds.
These assorted items were in two bagged lots, priced very, very inexpensively.
Two vintage Santas. One, a flat ornament, the other a rubbery plastic fella.
Vintage nativity figures. The man on the left is a "star-gazer," which I assume would be looking at the Christmas star. I'm not sure about the bagpipe player and where he fits in. I am unable to locate another just like him, although there are lots of other bagpipe players. They may both be shepherds.
They were made in Italy, and the 19¢ price shows the date of the star-gazer given online as the '50s would be correct. They were probably made by Fontanini, a company more than 100 years old and still run by a family member. However, they do not have the old Fontanini "spider mark."
The dog as well is part of the Fontanini nativity figures. They still make this type of dog, and some differences show it's not modern. Plus, the marking "ITALY" is stamped on the belly, not part of the mold as in the newer ones. Since it's part of the nativity, I will assume it's one of the shepherd's dogs. Now... do I pack it away with the Christmas decorations, or keep it out and add it to my dog collection?
I doubt these are specifically for Christmas, however they were in the same bags as the Santas and nativity figures. Also, since I have some knee-hugger elves, and other creepy elf-ish figures, I went ahead and put them on the same shelf, so include them here. I have no idea why one of the pixies is caught under a book! 1950s Japan, and were originally 10¢!
That's all for the 2023 Christmas Thrift Specials!
Have a nice holiday!
I was watching Pawn Stars with my dad the other day, and we commented on how all the old toys look creepy. (They were looking at an old ventriloquist dummy.) Is it the style of how things were made? Have our sensibilities changed that much? Or did makers just get better at making things cute? I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we're better at making things cute. However, look how odd the cats in middle age art look! Maybe the creepy Santas were modeled more after the European type, more like Belsnickels, than the U.S. jolly old elves. I have one Belsnickel figure. These old Santas are creepier.
DeleteThe mercury glass Santa caught my eye, as did the first Santa. To me, First Santa looked more thoughtful than sad. Maybe he's sad that he ended up in a thrift shop?
ReplyDeleteHe could be thinking about his naughty and nice list! I have these new ornaments, and didn't put a tree up! I have a big one (artificial) and got a small one recently at Goodwill with lights. I thought I'd put that on the coffee table. Put it together last month and one of the cats ate a bunch of the needles and barfed them all up. So, no tree this year!
Delete