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Show us your Thrift and/or yard sale finds

Messages
10,561
Location
My mother's basement
I like old yardsticks just because they’re old yardsticks, but I especially like this one. I thought for a minute that it might be a joke. But no, I looked into the history of Davenport, Nebraska, a settlement that at its population peak numbered but a few hundred souls, and learned that there really was an undertaker there named Roy Scott, who purchased his first “auto hearse” in the 1920s. It appears that locals weren’t kicking off with sufficient frequency for Mr. Scott not to have another revenue stream. Hence the home goods.

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I bump this because I mentioned this yardstick to an undertaker I was chatting with a few days ago while I was attending a funeral. He told me it wasn’t unusual for furniture makers and retailers to be in the undertaking business also because, you know, the caskets.

By pure coincidence yesterday I looked into the history of an old building that now houses a vintage/antique emporium and learned that it, too, had once been a furniture store and mortuary.
 
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Messages
17,535
I bump this because I mentioned this yardstick to an undertaker I was chatting with a few days ago while I was attending a funeral. He told me it wasn’t unusual for furniture makers and retailers to be in the undertaking business also because, you know, the caskets.

By pure coincidence yesterday I looked into the history of an old building that now houses a vintage/antique emporium and learned that it, too, had once been a furniture store and mortuary.
Seeing your yardstick reminded me I had these hand fans given out at funeral services in the days before air conditioning. These 4 fans were found among my grandmother’s things when she passed (1893 - 1980).




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Messages
10,561
Location
My mother's basement
^^^^^^
When I was a youngster it was common for groups such as the Boy Scouts to borrow steel folding chairs from a funeral parlor when they needed the seating for special events. The name of the mortuary was stenciled onto the chair backs.

I haven’t seen that in at least 50 years.
 

RBH

Bartender
Last weekends finds include 2 Jim Beam glasses and tongs that will be perfect for my bars ice bucket.
Also a Masonic walking stick that will need some work on replacing the “brass”.
All at a very nice price!
 

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Messages
10,561
Location
My mother's basement
^^^^^
I have spot on a wall here, right above a pair of French doors, positively begging for a set of longhorns. But the dewy~eyed bride is deaf to it.

Oh well. She rarely objects, so doing without a set of longhorns is a small sacrifice.
 

RBH

Bartender
Todays Fleamarket finds include, hand made walking stick ($4) jigger cup for my bar ($3) steamer that I hope will work for small adjustments to my hats ($9) and a 1942 lobby card ($19)!
I love those old western movies and serials.
Most had the bad guys wearing really cool fedoras!!!


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RBH

Bartender
^^^^^
Got a couple of old canes similar to that one myself. I keep ‘em in a pair of umbrella stands, along with old umbrellas (another weakness of mine) and yardsticks (ditto).

TB… here is my collection so far. Most belonged to my family members. So that is extra cool.

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