Collecting vintage Thermos bottles: Thermos bottle frenzy

      

   It's a funny thing when you start collecting - you either find yourself buying things really fast so you'll have an instant collection to enjoy OR you take your time because the thrill of the hunt is often more satisfying than admiring a sought after collection.

    Depending on the collection I find myself doing a little bit of both.  My collection of Thermos bottles was one such collection I couldn't resist, nor could I rest until I had a shelf full of them!

    I'm not sure when the thought hit me to collect thermos bottles - I'm pretty sure it was on a visit to my folks' place in South Carolina. Whenever we made a family trip to the southland I'd try to hit every thrift shop in the area in the first few days of our visit, then I'd hit them all again a day or two before leaving town.

   During one such trip I noticed an abundance of Thermos bottles of various sizes, colors and designs in the kitchenware section. Seeing them grouped together on a shelf from a distance made me come in for a closer look. When I flipped each Thermos upside down to read the price written with black wax pencil, I knew that at fifty cents each I had the beginnings of a fast and furious collection. 

    I quickly made the decision to be somewhat picky since I didn't need to own every Thermos bottle known to man. I chose to buy only the metal bottles that were in good condition and contained all their original parts (stopper and cup). I bought about eight of them at my first stop and let me tell you, as I made the thrift shop circuit - I was on a roll and doing the happy dance along the way!

   After my thrift shop frenzy was over that day, I had over a dozen Thermos bottles to show off to my husband and my parents who all looked at me as if I grew a third eyeball while I was gone. My young children, however, were very curious about my purchases since they had never seen a Thermos bottle before. They were enamored with them as well, but purely for the utilitarian purpose that they could now take cold lemonade and chocolate milk everywhere they went. 

 

   By the time we left for home I had enough Thermos bottles to prove to the world I was a serious collector! My collection is still growing but it has slowed down considerably (mainly because I don't need repeats and I only have so much space for showing them off).

 

  

 

 

 

 

  
      I probably have around fifty or so, not including a few old coolers that I also find very fascinating - and very Americana! Now that I have more than my share, I tend to look but don't buy - unless of course I find one I don't have yet AND if the price is right.
      I can still find them fairly cheap at yard sales, thrift shops and some flea markets, (usually under $5). The price gets steeper when you go to antique shops or online auctions and like most vintage items, expect to pay more for mint condition and the rareness of the bottle (about $10 - $50).

   When my husband built our laundry room, he carefully measured each shelf in order to adequately display each Thermos bottle in my collection.  Unfortunately, we didn't take the humidity of a laundry room into account, which could have eventually caused my treasure trove to rust (bummer). I am happy to report the Thermos bottles have been relocated and are now perched high and dry in our newly renovated butler's pantry (thanks honey!). Make sure to display your Thermos bottle collection in a room with little or no humidity and also keep them from direct sunlight to prevent the colors from fading.

  
   I used to think I had a fairly decent collection until I came across this blog post written by Michael Williams about a retired Air Traffic Controller in Cleveland, Ohio by the name of Kyle Bitters. Mr. Bitters, who has been collecting Thermos bottles since 1990, takes Thermos bottle collecting to a whole new level (and I am unworthy to call myself a collector after seeing these photos taken by Eric Kvatec). Enjoy - and thanks for visiting Whimsybop! http://www.acontinuouslean.com/2013/03/20/the-great-american-thermos-hoard/

 

 

 

What to do with an old utensil tray?

   Back in July, I wrote a post called "Please pass the salt" where I shared about my Salt & Pepper collection and complained about not having a way to display my numerous S&P shakers. One reader suggested that I display them in my old pop crates - now that was a GREAT idea!
   I gave it some thought and figured out I wanted to display them on the wall of my newly remodeled butler's pantry. Since the space is long and narrow I realized the pop crates would be too big and chunky for such a small space - so I had to go back to the drawing board.
   It came to me that I already had the perfect solution: a few vintage utensil trays that I had picked up through the years that were being used around the house in various drawers organizing things like pens, pencils, scissors and make-up items.
    I gathered them up, gave them a good cleaning, flipped them over and rigged up a way to mount them to the wall - and voila' my S&P shakers are now on display!  
   I purchased these red utensil trays at flea markets and thrift shops for under $10. Red utensil trays seem to be the most popular making the price more affordable. I've seen blue and green vintage utensil trays at antique shops - some as high as $35. Although I'd LOVE to have more colors on my wall, that's still too pricey for this girl's budget. 
  This cute aqua tray was something I recently picked up at a junk shop in Amherst, Virginia - for $13 it was well worth the money since I didn't have to paint it! 
   These vintage utensil trays measure 13 1/2" long x 8 1/4" wide x 2" deep and are a perfect size for displaying itty bitty treasures. Too bad I still have about fifty more S&P shakers that require a larger display area...and so the hunt continues! (any ideas?)  

Collecting vintage lunch pails: Zeb Witherspoon made me do it!

 

    I've been collecting old lunchboxes for many years now. I love the fun & colorful ones from my childhood but I'm also drawn to these old ones from the good old days.
   I started to appreciate these old lunchboxes when my  brother-in-law, R.V. first showed me the lunchbox that once belonged to his father who had passed away decades ago. Like a museum curator, R.V. carefully handled his dad's lunchbox as if it were a valuable artifact. He turned the lunchbox to show me what his dad had carved into the side: "ZVW" - the initials of Zebulon Vance Witherspoon.
   He slowly and gingerly unfastened the two clasps which kept the box tightly closed. When the lunchbox opened we were greeted with the faint aroma of smoked meat. "Daddy made his own lunch every day which was always two slices of white bread with home-cured country ham. You can still smell it, can't you?" I shook my head in agreement and found myself speechless and almost tearing up from the unexpected emotion of sharing in the sacredness of a son remembering his father. 
   My eyes were drawn to the thermos bottle, still tucked behind the wire loop in the lid after all these years. "Daddy always took a thermos of black coffee with him. The inside of it is stained brown and still smells of coffee," he informed me with the knowledge of a tour guide and the nostalgic heart of a son.
     I learned a great deal about Zeb Witherspoon that afternoon; how he learned his trade as a young man working construction in the Civilian Conservation Corps on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the late 1930's. He later supported his family as a carpenter working near Asheville, North Carolina; working large construction jobs in his younger years and as a handyman in his later years. He and his wife Willa had R.V. later in life; Zeb died at the age of 73 when R.V. was only twenty years old. This lunchbox served as a link to a son and his father.   
    As I listened to the tale of Zeb Witherspoon, told with such admiration and love, I felt a bit sad and even a little jealous that I didn't have such a treasure from my own father - so like any collector would do, I went out in search of one!
      Some people save the whales and some people save trees - I  shamelessly save old lunchboxes and bring them home every time I find one, I'm thankful to have married a man who doesn't mind this weird habit of mine. I am happy to announce that I now have a modest collection of other people's father's lunchboxes! It didn't take long to realize that my quest wasn't so difficult after all. I have found mine through the years at yard sales, flea markets and thrift shops and usually spend between $3 - $12, depending on the condition and whether or not there is a thermos inside. I can always find them in antique malls too, but their prices are so high that I doubt they really want to come home with me.

   Due to the dome lid at the top, the only way to display these lunchboxes is side by side on a shelf (mine are perched on the top shelf in my laundry room).

   The benefit of having a shelf full of these old lunchboxes is that they are extremely useful when it comes to storage - it's easy to be organized when you have a lunchbox for: batteries, first aid supplies, pedicure tools, coupons, my stash of practical jokes (it's important to know where to locate the rubber doggie doo, plastic ants & cockroaches at a moments notice!), and my secret supply of peanut M&M candies (shh, don't tell!). I have a silver lunchbox marked "Barber Shop" where the hair clippers and accessories are stored for my husband's monthly haircut, a black one where I keep my sharpies when I leave the house to doodle, and a silver one with a leather strap (a handle repair) that stays in the car with granola bars and bottled water just in case anyone needs a snack while away from home.  


   My first purchase was a rust bucket, but I couldn't pass it up, (it was cheap). I am ashamed to say that I altered it to suit my needs: I took it home and gave it a good cleaning, put a shiny coat of black spray paint, modge podged a few old labels on it and presented it to my Mom as a gift to keep her flower & vegetable seeds inside, (which she loves and still uses to this day).
   That was the last time I altered one because after my arts & crafts project was finished, I was riddled with guilt for defacing something older than I am. From that point forward I decided to love them in "as is" condition, rust and all - and believe me, I do!
 

Collecting vintage lunchboxes: What's in your lunchbox?

   When I think back to my own childhood days of back-to-school shopping, perhaps the most important purchase for the academic year was the lunch box. Yes, the lunchbox; that overlooked cafeteria accoutrement that can make or break your elementary school career.

   In my day, the cafeteria was  Grand Central Station of all social activity. It's where playground games were planned and where notes were passed - and if you made a good trade with your oatmeal scotchies, you just might get to jump rope with the cool kids at recess. Carrying the right lunchbox was almost as important as wearing the right clothes, and could even be a golden ticket to landing a seat near the "Queen Bee" who did all the playground planning. Yep, a lunchbox was THAT important.

    My first years of primary school were trial and error and I must confess that the lunchboxes I carried in those early days were not so cool. The first was a red, white & blue U.S. postal service lunchbox (I think my Mom bought it on clearance without me), and I believe my second lunch box was Raggedy Ann & Andy - enough said.

 
    There were some kids, however, who didn't have a lunch box but used a paper sack instead. My friend Vicki was one of those kids who was so cool that she didn't need a lunchbox. Vicki's brown paper bags were full of goodies like potato chips, pudding cups and Twinkies - things that my mom would NEVER buy. Also, Vicki's lunch bags were always decorated with hearts, smiley faces and little notes written with pink marker that said things like "Have a wonderful day sweetheart" and "You are my sunshine!" Yep, Vicki could definitely pull off a paper bag like no other!

     I have had my share of lunchboxes through the years, most bearing the images of my favorite television shows. Unfortunately, none of those lunch boxes made it through life with me. By the end of the school year my lunchbox was ready for retirement. The broken handles that were glued or wired back together, the worn clasps and hinges, the shattered silver glass in the thermos bottle, and the body badly dented from whacking mean kids over the head all meant one thing: time to  throw it away (such a tragic end to a faithful school companion!).

   Now that I'm an adult I try to buy back the old lunchboxes from my school days along with the ones that I never had but always wanted. Thanks to online auctions I've had much success in finding the ones I'm looking for. My collection is not huge, by any means, but I do have enough to let visitors know that I am fond of them. 

    My kids have developed a love for these old lunch boxes themselves. This Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back lunch box was a gift to my daughter who proudly carried it with her lunch packed inside during her senior year of high school. My son, who is a big DC comics fan has been in the market for Super hero lunch boxes for many years now, but is tight with his cash and unwilling to yield just yet.

   If you're looking to start your own lunchbox collection, let me warn you that vintage lunchboxes can be VERY pricy. If you find one in perfect shape with it's matching thermos bottle, you can expect to pay around $100 (and higher), depending on the graphics and subject matter. A missing thermos bottle, broken handle, dents, color fading and rust keep prices low enough for folks like me to afford collecting them. Most of my lunchboxes were around $15 - $30 each. Every now and then I'll find one at a yard sale or thrift shop for next to nothing - and that's when I do the happy dance! 

     It's fun to stack them on the floor or display them on shelves - just make sure that you keep them out of the sunlight which will fade the colors fast and decrease their value.   They are handy little containers when you need to store things. I keep my kid's collections of small toys hidden inside - turning each lunchbox into a time capsule of their childhood.
   I'm still on the hunt for Lost in Space, Gilligan's Island, Wonder Woman, the Munster's and the Bionic Woman - wish me luck!  Now it's YOUR turn - what lunchbox did you carry as a kid?