Collecting Menus

Here is a very interesting and diverse area of collecting! People collect menus from restauarants where they have dined, from landmarks, from fast food places and many other areas! There are vintage menus widely available on Ebay! Menus from the golden age of the American Passenger Ship can bring hundreds of dollars! My wife has a large collection that is in storage right now! Mostly from places we have been! This is the only one that did not get into the storage for some reason! Most restaurants will give or sell you their menus! Some will press charges if you are caught stealing one so ask the waitress!

A Piece of New Jersey Folk Art

We were at a demolition sale at a very old house in Brielle NJ mainly after old lighting fixtures! We got a couple wall brackets at my risk of electrocution! As we were leaving my wife spotted this driftwood board with a painting of Barnegat Light on it! She asked the price and the person said "just take it." Right now it sits next to the TV here in Florida to remind me how much we want to go home to the Jersey Shore

Vintage Picnic Baskets Create Decorative Storage Space

Very easy to come by at affordable prices. I did not pay more than 7.00 for any of these! Don't they look better than piles of bills and periodicals? That is what is inside them!

The woven splint style like these are the most common! Redman made some beautiful geometrically patterned examples in varied colors! They usually carry the company's label on the inside! I sold a few a couple years ago on Ebay for 20-30.00 before the price of shipping killed the market!

Thanks to Faithful5252 for becoming my newest follower!

Pre Princess Grace Kelly

She was one of the most exquiste women of the century! I hope you enjoy this rare picture of Princess Grace when she was simply Grace Kelly and simply beautiful! p Thephoto is from American Beauty Magazine Issue #1 1955. Photo credit goes to Phillipe Halsman! Please do not copy for commercial puposes as the copyright is probably still valid! This is strictly for your enjoyment!

Slim Picking this Weekend

Someone I know once came to Florida in the smmer and described it as a lizard tank! It is so humid, especially in Pinellas Couonty because we are surrounded by 90 degree water. No matter which way the wind blows it is coming off of hot water! That make for very few yard sales because nobody wants to sit outside!

We did pick up this sweet little 1920s wicker basket! It looks good on the farmer made table from the 30s!

A Happy and Safe 4th of July

This 4th think of how lucky we are to enjoy the freedom we have! Also be thankful for those who fought for it and those who gave their lives! Remember our troops overseas!

Waiting for the parade!

Monkey has grabbed his spot early so that he has a good view of the parade!

Weather Finally Clearing Out!

The thunderstorms over the last few days wreaked havoc on the Tampa Bay area! But it appears that they have dwindled down to just a few showers like the one off in the distance!

You may not believe me but that little black speck in the water is a manatee! One of several that have been hanging around my aprtment compex this week!

Vintage Cocktail Recipes

My wife and I have a small collection of vintage stemware which we use frequently. One day my wife was watching The Barefoot Contessa on TV making a pitcher of Sidecars and serving them in sugar rimmed glasses. It sounded so good and a refreshing change in a world of Cosmos, Mojitos and Mudslides and it was just that. Then one day I found a copy of a mixology book from 1939. That was the dawn of the golden age of cocktails. Then another from the 1950s called "a Guide to Pink Elephants" that my parents always had lying around. I started to read and I was amazed at the drinks that I never had heard of. Dixie Whiskey, Bronx, Kentucky Colonel, Button Hook, Five Fifteen and on and on. So I decided that along with my vintage finds and articles I would post a forgotten recipe every few days or so.1Here is the next of the series! Maidens Blush (from a 1939 mixology book)

1 jigger Dry Gin

4 dashes Grenadine

4 dashes Curacao

1 dash Lemon Juice

Strain into a stemmed glass