Flea Market Extravaganza

I went to a flea market a couple of weekends ago. This is a larger, outdoor flea that is held twice a year. I generally go to flea markets to look for stuff for the website, but I did find a few things for me, including two items that are now, unfortunately, part of a new collection. I say unfortunately because I need a new collection like I need a kick in the face. That is to say... I don't need a new collection. So let's see if the new collection meets approval...


On the left, we have what is possibly a Steiff elephant. I found several others like it on Ebay, and it does appear to have a tiny hole in the right ear where a Steiff tag may have been. Either way, it's a cute little mohair elephant stuffie.

The wee horses are the new collection. I unknowingly had two of these already, and after buying these new little friends, discovered that they all have the same little tag, and are made by Kunstlerschutz of West Germany. Upon doing a little research, this company makes all kinds of funny little flocked animals although I do think the horses/zebra are the cutest.


How could I resist these little smiles? These little friends and the elephant where in a box with some other dollhouse-type stuff. I started pawing through it (after telling my friend to BACK OFF, THIS BOX IS MINE! in a nice way, of course) (one reason why you should maybe not go to the flea with people who like the same things you do) (Hi, Toni!)... Anyway, the owner of the booth sauntered by and said "Everything in that box is a quarter...." I had already grabbed the little elephant and the horses and for that price... well... I was pretty pleased.


Here is the new little horse/zebra family. The two I had are attached to little foil stars for some reason. I think I got those two in a bag of Christmas ornaments from the thrift store.

So that's the new collection, tiny flocked West German horses. Thumbs up or down??


A few other things I got for myself. Two silver cuff bracelets, a Made in Japan ashtray from Washington DC (for my souvenir bathroom, and since we are going there this week), a pencil tie clip (the pencil works!), a lovely necklace and earrings from Bali, and a German Bible from 1884; that was a dollar. I don't collect Bibles, but I collect old books and this one fits the bill, and the price was right. Oh, I also found an awesome micro-mosaic ring from Italy, that was my best find and it's not even in the photo. So much for my in-depth report.

My next update will hopefully be a report of my visit to a Washington DC flea market! Yay, Manto Fev gets a vacation this week!

sara@mantofev.com

Mini Books

Time for installation #2 in the lengthy series of my own collections!

This one is my mini book collection. It combines my love of books with my love for all things small. Most of these shown are about 2-3 inches high. I keep them in a vintage printer's typecase so that may give you an idea of scale.

Here is a general overview. I get these mostly at flea markets. I try to find them on eBay but there are so many books on there to wade through, it's hard to find good ones.

A lot of them are religious- small Bibles or prayer books. There are also small dictionaries (English and foreign) and some little notebooks, some even have their own tiny pencil attached!



Here is a tiny date book from 1928.

Tiny dictionary! I have two of these, they are leather bound even. These are super duper cute because they are about as fat as they are high.

If I was keeping track, this one would probably be the most valuable. I got it at an estate sale for a few dollars. I had it appraised by the Book Guys from NPR and they said it was worth about $75.00! It is an old French prayer book for kids, the pages are lined in red-- really cool!

I also collect little small things that look like books. I have a few little lockets, a tiny button shell button that looks like a book, a matchbox that looks like a book!

Happy Sunday to all.

sara@mantofev.com

Even ribbons enjoy a good rack.

Busy, busy, busy.

A few months ago, my dad and I made a ribbon rack to hold my growing stock of ribbons and trims. I was getting tired of keeping them organized in boxes and we designed this nice rack. I got all the trims put on it, but it was only about half full. What to do? Well ... buy more trims, of course! Ha!

So I bought these a few weeks ago and just got them posted today. Eleven new, old stock* vintage trims. I have a weakness for these; I love the colors and patterns.

Don't they look so nice in a little pile? But I can't wait to put them all on the ribbon rack! It's the little things that keep us going, right? :)

sara@mantofev.com



*Manto Fev vocab! New old stock (or NOS) means vintage items that were never used or sold. Most often they come in original wrappings or boxes.

Little things

It's the little things that can make someone's day.

Our weekend paper delivery person must have seen our dogs outside, and left this for us this past Saturday (also one on Sunday).

It made me so happy, such a little thing.

A new Manto Fev goal will be to try and do little things like this... to spread the happiness around.

sara@mantofev.com

I know how she feels.

Ha! This picture cracks me up. One sister looks very neat. Braided hair, folded hands, somewhat bored expression.

The other sister? Watch out! She's a pistol. Messy hair, mischievous grin, dress askew.

Now that I think about, Neat Sister looks more exasperated than bored. She's the good one and Messy Sister is always stealing the show. She's sick of it.

Vintage photos are such fun! This one will be for sale shortly in my flea market section. My flea market changes almost every day; you never know what you are going to find!

sara@mantofev.com

Hope

"Dear Cousin George.
I got your postal and was glad to get it. I hope you will get to come out here. Will look for an answer soon. your cousin Emma."
(Aug 2, 1910)


The front says:

Chrysanthemum.. The hope of love
"Don't worry about the future,
The present is all thou hast;
The future will soon be present,
And the present will soon be past."

I thought this was pretty and a nice sentiment to keep in mind. Click on the image for a larger version, and then you can right click to save to your computer!

sara@mantofev.com

First in a series: If you have more than one, it's a collection

Let's face it. Collecting things is fun. Finding something that you are drawn to... and then finding another one, and another one... well, you see where this is headed. Basically, it's a riot. And when you put those like things together, it's SUPER fun. So. In the spirit of fun, we begin the first in a long series documenting some of my collections.

First off, I've already broken the only rule this blog was to have, namely that everything is for sale. Then I made an amendment saying it was for sale if I could find it. Now I'm recanting the whole story and saying that not everything is for sale. My collections are not, certainly, until sometime in the future when I decide that they are. Who knows when that day will come, so in the meantime... not everything is for sale.

I should not make rules since I cannot even follow them myself. I won't make any more.

But let's get back to the fun. #1 in our new series is:

The Fur Seal Army.

This is a weird collection. I admit it. When I was about 12, my grandparents went on a cruise to Alaska and brought me back a little seal. I liked it well enough but didn't think about it too much. But within the past few years, I found a few more like it at estate sales (the first one I bought, I did so because I was told it would go to the "seal orphanage" if I didn't) and then discovered that, like every other thing ever known to man, they are sold on eBay on occasion. So, I have accumulated a few. How many? Well..... 38. Is that a few? That does not include 4 that are technically walruses (they have tusks) and one that is upstairs in the seal hospital (aka the art desk) awaiting reattachment of a flipper.


The polar bear (top left of the picture) is a recent acquisition, and I think it adds a little bit of drama to the otherwise mundane seal family picnic.

Seal Stats: Sizes range from 2 inches to 10.5 inches. One is red? 4 are walruses. One is injured. Yes, they are made from seal fur. This creeps me out, actually. So not only is this my favorite collection, but it is also the one that causes me a little bit of guilt. I assume they are made from the fur of elderly seals who lived long and polar bear-free lives until their deaths from natural causes. Beyond that I try not to think about it.

The seal on the right of this picture is the original seal acquired through grand-parental means. It is still my favorite and probably the cutest one of the bunch.

So there we have it. The first collection in this series and also the one that will probably make some people think I am loco. But seriously, they are so cute. Each one is different. One looks more like a swan than a seal. A few have very pretty spots. A couple have seal mange. One is bright red which I think must be a seal dye job. The job of that one is to keep watch over the polar bear. The other seals aren't so sure he's one of them so he stays with the polar bear.

So we love what we love. I love my fur seal army. If you want to blame someone, blame Ralph and Joann, not me.

sara@mantofev.com

Flea Market, Button Box Goodies

I went to the flea market yesterday. We have two per month here, and both are small-ish affairs, inside, with about 15-20 vendors. Not the large, outdoor junk-fests that I long for, the type you read about in magazines.

Anyway, one of my favorite things to buy is boxes/tins/bags of vintage buttons. I enjoy buttons, sure, but another thing I love is how button boxes were the junk drawers of their day. There are always interesting non-button things in with buttons, which are always fun.

So here are a few of the non-button things I readily noticed in a cigar box of buttons that I bought yesterday. Such as.... Sweet button cards, a card of "enameled" thumbtacks, a vintage pharmacy box with tiny glass buttons inside, a bone crochet hook, some buckles, and a butterfly rhinestone pin.

Amendment to Rule #1: Everything is for sale, if I can find it.

That is, the stuff in the photo is surely for sale... but since I already added it to a large box of other little bits ready to sell, finding them again is always a challenge. I'm a pretty organized person in that I generally have everything in a box. But within the box, all bets are off. I'll find it again. Some day. And when I do, it's for sale!

sara@mantofev.com

Hello, I am Stella, ruler of Manto Fev

Manto Fev enters the 21st Century. Kicking and screaming, as they say. BUT... this blog is going to be so rad. If you like art stuff and old stuff, and seeing pictures of said stuff, this will be just your speed. Also, things will be for sale.

Rule #1: Everything is for sale.

Also, if you find this dog cute, stick around. There will be more.

Her name is Stella. Darnit... I've already broken my very first rule because Stella is not for sale.

More soon.

sara@mantofev.com