With cabin fever on Saturday after all the snow, J and I ventured out to the Antique Mall at FeeFee and Olive.  We’ve gone in search of many things at this favorite location over the years.

We picked up our dining room chairs and a side table there just before we moved into our house four years ago.  It’s hit or miss sometimes, depending on what you are looking for.

But on a day like Saturday with time to kill, we took our time wandering around and browsing the consignment booths. With cell phone in hand, I just had to snap some photos of oddities that caught my eye, like these two old typewriters.

I remember my sister having one of the old manuals when I was kid.  I used to love to bang on it, and even learned how to type on one in high school until I showed excellent home key skills and got bumped to an electric typewriter in the back of the room.

The top photo is a Smith Corona, complete with carry case!  It makes me think of Dolly Parton in 9 to 5 for some reason.  The bottom one is a Royal, which I envision sitting on a bookshelf in an office or library somewhere as a conversation piece.  Definitely antiques, wouldn’t you say?

Speaking of antiques, this place really only has about 30% of that.  There’s lots of things that look like antiques, but there’s lots of clothes, necklaces, coins, toys, stuffed animals, furniture, artwork, and Elvis taking up the other 70% of clutter.

Do you still have a VCR?  If so, you can get VHS tapes galore here.  Let’s not forget record albums and CDs too.  Some are priced decently, and some not so decent.  For instance, a Village People record album caught my eye for which I would have gladly paid $5 bucks for just for the sleeve, but it was marked $35.

In one case, there was Michael Jackson (and Elvis) media galore.  The Thriller album at the top was marked $125.  I remembered owning this album as a kid, for which I think my parents paid about $15 for at Wal~Mart.  Notice the Playboy with Latoya on the second shelf, and poor poor Elvis down below on the third shelf.

Sweetbreads Not Included!

Like I said, it ain’t all antiques.  There’s one booth full of movie toys, posters, and figurine collectibles.  I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of the Hannibal Lecter action figure!  Complete with hard cart for just $10.  Unfortunately, I could not find chianti or fava beans.

Most days we’ve spent here consist of just a quick walk through, but I really did enjoy taking my time today, attempting to just soak it all in.  There’s so much junk to look at.

I took pleasure in some wooden cigar boxes for just $3 in one booth, old sepia family photos in another, and then stopped to read letters written on old postcards from vacations of long ago.  Sue Ellen and Marty sent Grandma Bertha a lovely beach front postcard from the Keys.  It had a 5 cent stamp on it and was postmarked 1957.

I almost felt like an American Picker!  Love that show!  These pirate face wall hangings were begging to come home with me.  Instead, I chose to immortalize them with a photo. I’m sure if you looked around, Captain Jack was hiding somewhere.  Like I said, there’s lots of pop culture and current century icons lingering about amongst the Santa Clauses, Ty Beanies, Marilyn Monroe collective plates, Aunt Jamima bottles, and porcelain angel figurines.

I also fell in love with this Wizard of Oz mod looking artwork depicting it being shown at a Drive-In movie theater.  Upon closer inspection, it was the collage of stuff around it that I liked even more.  A bull statue, a chicken Elmo, and a vintage counter top snow cone maker.  You can’t make this shit up!

J spotted bags of Green Army Men which also got my crafty juices flowing.  I used to melt those in the microwave, blow them up with firecrackers, and run over them with the lawn mower.  What could I possibly do with hundreds of them now? There’s enough of just about anything you can think of throughout the place which you could hoard if you wanted to.

Since I collect Santa Clauses, each and every one peaked my attention like spotting rare birds out in the field.  You’d be overwhelmed with Pez Dispensers and Baseball Cards, and then suddenly – WTF?  OMG!  Will ya look at that?  It’s a Hallmark Precious Moments Santa Baby from 1993 – still in its box!  And only $20 bucks, although it originally sold for $7.

JFK and Shirley

And speaking of crafty, there are mix matched nativity pieces everywhere!  Call me Daryl Hannah from Steel Magnolias – but I see a Baby Jesus Wreath on my front door real soon!

J was in search of that “special something” that he just had to have.  In one case, there were lots of 1904 World’s Fair souvenirs, but the price tags were pretty hefty.  I spotted a JFK Salt and Pepper shaker in another, only $12, but it was missing it’s other half.   Perhaps that was a Lee Harvey Oswald Pepper Grinder?  The blue Shirley Temple mug next to JFK in his rocker was hoot though!

I REALLY wanted this table!!

Did Joseph and Mary stop at Micky Dees?

I haven’t even begun to talk about all the furniture!  It’s mostly side tables or buffets, some chairs and rockers, and lots of brass.  I did spot an old baby carriage.

The little 3 drawer night table we got there several years ago was a steal at just $30 bucks!  On this trip I saw a small side entry table which someone had handpainted in a bird motif.  I would have loved to have brought it home but at $199 and in a booth that wasn’t on sale, I left it behind.

Tiger? Is that you?

Did I mention I saw Tiger Woods there?  Yep, right next to some antique moonshine jugs.

And toys! Toys, toys, toys!  Again, some new and some old.  I saw two or three of those old Ronald McDonald flat dolls.  Every booth had at least one Ty Beanie in it.  Old Barbies and Action Figures are everywhere to be found too.

I had a stuffed animal fetish growing up and spotted several that I had owned way back when included Patington Bear – and a mini one at that.  But he seemed drunk because he was hanging out with Humphry Bogart.

I love piggy!

A fat red piggy bank covered in Valentines hearts with glitter lips just dripped vintage and squealed with delight at coming home with me.  I didn’t bring home the bacon though!

Patington poses with Bogart!

And who can forget Fisher Price!  In one booth alone I spotted several classic toys I had owned including a wobbly Snoppy Dog with a shoe in his mouth on a spring and he creaked when you pulled him across the floor on his string.  And the Fisher Price barn with the door that mooed when you opened it!  Oh what fun!  I opened it just to hear it moo, but sadly all the lil figurines that could fit inside were no where to be found.

Fisher Price Heaven

They even had the telephone with the moving eyes.  And I found a clunky barn shaped necklace with a crank. When you turned it, it played The Farmer and the Dell jack-in-the-box style and had the words to the song printed on the barn.  And to think some little kid wore this around his neck in the Church Nursery during Sunday Service.  That kid was probably me!

I think it was a requirement for every booth to have something related to Star Wars too. It might be a book or a movie, or keychain or action figure, or collectors VHS tape, or limited edition plastic thingy shaped like Darth Vader’s head.  There were lots of those.

PEZ!

Oh, and let’s not forget Pez again!  Every booth had a Pez dispenser.  Most had been opened.  I did spot a three pack of vintage Chirstmas Pez Dispensers, and snapped this photo of one booth that had lots of old Pez friends still in their original packaging.  Check out that one that comes with a plastic body sleeve!  Totally cool!  My friend Amy used to give me a Pez dispenser for every holiday for a couple of years.  I’m sure I still have them somewhere.

And I have to mention books.  While I didn’t drool too much over them, they are indeed everywhere.  Lots of Grisham and King.  In an antique store?  Yep!  You just can’t get away from them.  And romance paperbacks everywhere you turn.  Some booths had more books than others.  I didn’t dig too deep on this trip. But a 1957 Tarzan book got me all hot and bothered when I pulled it out.  Check out the hottie on the cover!

There are vintage mags everywhere too.  Lots of People, Hunting Magazines, and Playboy.  Yes, Playboy – not just with LaToya either.  And not wrapped in plastic so you might want to hide your eyes.  Or you might just want to buy a few bring them home, draw a hot bath, and put on your Liberace records.  What?  You don’t have any Liberace records.  Well, why didn’t you say so?  The Antique Mall has those too!

Brooks and Dunn look puzzled.

Don’t like to read?  No worries.  Let’s put a puzzle together.  How bout one of Brooks and Dunn?  Oh forget that, this one’s already put together for you!  And wrapped in plastic and everything, ready to hang on the wall.  The vintage print behind it of the adults gathered around the screaming child begs for attention, don’t it?

One of the most interesting things I saw, which I would have loved to have purchased outright, was a small display case filled with small cast iron figurines, complete with lead paint and all.  I recently saw a collection of these go for around $500 on Auction Kings.  Most of these at the Antique Mall were soldiers of all kinds, however, there was a collection of four Gone With The Wind characters including Rhett and Scarlet.  You could buy all four for just $58.

From a Romeo and Juliet wooden cigar box for $3.00 to a sepia photo of pall bearers carrying a casket (also $3.00), to my JFK Salt Shaker for $12 or Valentine Piggy Bank ($?), I could have come home with quite an array of odd and peculiar things.  J even offered to buy a cigar box for me because they were in a booth where all items were half off.  I declined his offer and we left empty handed.

But my cell phone came home full of pictures and I laugh out loud to myself now as I look at them.  Just the trip down memory lane when I see a certain movie on VHS or a certain toy that I enjoyed as a kid was plenty enough for me.