Scrapatorium

Monday, May 20, 2013

Fingerless Gloves

cased tintype, circa 1860s

I love gloves, both the physical objects and those that I find in old photographs. I buy a pair here and there at estate sales and have recently started to photograph them. I will post the series on this blog soon.

Cottage Industry

unfinished ceramic head vase and invitation, Nikon FE2

This photo was taken at an estate sale that once had a ceramic studio in the garage. All the molds and unfinished pieces were still there as well as paints, kilns, etc. Based on the designs of the ceramics, they had stopped production sometime in the 1950s.

Flash of Genius

collage 9"x12"

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Thigh-Rise

collage, 8.5"x11"

Inspired by my walk around the gym track which overlooks downtown.

Photo Humor

Hi Brows greeting card, 1967

Turpentine

"I saw this air ship in Beaumont last week. Sixty feet long and eighteen

feet in diameter."

postcard mailed from Call, Texas to Turpentine, Texas, 1910

Although this postcard is quite rough, I like it not just because of the airship, but also for the postmark. I had never heard of Turpentine, Texas and when I looked it up, found that it is now a ghost town.

Flying School

The Air Corps Advanced Flying School, Kelly Field, Texas

photo invitation and graduation card, 1934

Peek-A-Pix

snapshot albums, Empire Foto Service, circa 1950s

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Addiction

rolled nightclub advertisement inside a 1 inch plastic pill form, circa 1920s-30s(?)

Another Round Top find. I thought this was the coolest little piece of advertising and since one of my addictions is ephemera, a perfect addition to my collection. It's slightly larger than a real pill, but still tiny and amazing that it survived without being lost to time. I only shot a small portion of the rolled paper because it's too long to fit in one frame. I'm not exactly sure of the era, but the phone number is four digits with no letter prefix.

Ring My Belle

celluloid initial ring with silhouette of woman on underside, circa 1920s-30s

I'm a sucker for dollar tables at antique shows and shops. I usually walk away with something that I would have never purchased if it had not been a buck. An example is this ring which I found at Round Top mixed in with some junk jewelry. Even though my name does not start with the letter R, both my parents names do, so I bought it. While looking at it more closely, I saw a little cutout silhouette on the underside of a woman with a bobbed hairdo. I love hidden surprises.