One Last Treasure (or two)

I've been writing a lot about finds, treasures, and collections this week...

Ironstone collections also seem to be a popular trend lately, and I've spotted a lot of them in my blog-reading. I really admire the simplicity of ironstone -- and especially love ironstone pitchers.  When my sister-in-law and I ventured out the other day, I told her that I might be interested in starting a collection like that.  As we scoured the antiques mall, I looked for anything that might resemble one of these pitchers.  Admittedly though, I knew little about them -- like what markings to look for.  So, I wasn't sure I would make a purchase even if I found something I thought might qualify.

Until I got to one of the last vendor booths in the mall, that is.  That's when I saw it.  A sweet little white stoneware pitcher... of some kind.  It was pretty, and in good condition.  I turned it over, and saw this:

and I called out to my sister-in-law, "I FOUND it!"  This one came home with me.  I just couldn't resist another Buffalo connection!

When I got home, I got on the internet and found out a little bit more about Buffalo China.

"The Buffalo Pottery Company was established in Buffalo, New York, in 1901.  It was an offshoot of the Larkin Soap Company, which was founded in 1875."  [and where, by the way, both my grandmother and my great-aunt worked!]  "John Larkin and his brother-in-law Elbert Hubbard conceived Buffalo Pottery to make dishes that could be purchased with certificates from Larkin Soap.  In essence, the company was a gimmick to sell more soap.  Buffalo Pottery produced many different kinds of pottery for commercial use in hotels and railroad dining cars, as well as art pottery that is popular with antique collectors."  (source)

I also learned that the Buffalo Pottery Company was reorganized in 1956 and was renamed Buffalo China -- which is currently owned by the Oneida Silver Company. (source)

My best guess is that my little pitcher was made around that time, as many earlier pieces actually include a picture of an American Bison in their markings.  As you can see, mine does not.  I was able to find some dating information HERE that leads me to believe that my item was made in December of 1956.  If anyone has more information on Buffalo China and it's markings or dates, I'm all ears!

I'm so glad I grabbed this treasure.  I had heard of this china before, of course, and knew of the connection to Buffalo -- but I didn't know it had anything to do with the Larkin Soap Mfg. Co.  It sure pays to do a little investigating!

Have you chosen your collections -- or have your collections chosen you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now... the second "treasure" I want to share with you today is this: my sister has started a blog!  She has a lot of great insights about parenting (she has three amazing special-needs kids), and loves to chat about decorating her home and making it a cozy place for her family to live and make memories.  Stop on over and visit her at Still Keeping On The Narrow Way and tell her Sally sent you!  You'll make her day.

And Speaking of Treasures...

... because that seems to be my word of the week!

I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I was born in Buffalo, New York, and lived the first eleven years of my life there.  I still have family that lives there, including a 96 year old great-aunt, who is our family historian.  And by that I mean... she remembers things from 75 years ago as if she lived it yesterday.  Names, places, it's really incredible.

I felt honored, several years ago, when she asked me to put all of her old photos (really old!) in scrapbooks. She had seen my own family scrapbooks, and she trusted me to do whatever I felt was appropriate, confident that she would be happy with the results.  In doing so, I called her several times or spoke with her on visits to Buffalo to get names and details that went along with photos.  So, I've learned a lot of family history along the way.

Family history is my favorite kind.  The rest?  Not so much.  But, I DO love historical "stuff" and tidbits of our lives today that link us to the past somehow.  I never imagined that my new interest in Ball Jars would have a link to my birth place.  But it does!  This is what I found:

"Five brothers founded Ball in 1880, with a loan of $200 from their Uncle George.  At first they made wood-jacketed tin cans for products like paint and kerosene, but soon they expanded their offerings to glass- and tin-jacketed containers.  In 1884, the brothers began making glass home-canning jars, the product that established Ball as a household name.  The brothers -- Edmund, Frank, George, Lucius, and William -- moved the company from Buffalo, New York to Muncie, Indiana, in 1887 to take advantage of abundant natural gas reserves essential to making glass." (source)

I love that.

Stay tuned.  Tomorrow, I'll tell you about one last treasure that I found in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  There's another link to Buffalo!!!

New Rules for Treasure Hunting... and a revelation, too.

Sometimes important lessons (or gentle reminders) come from the most interesting places.

Case in point:  this lovely jar.

Can you see the texture or pattern in the glass?  Look at the area between the words "porcelain" and "lined."

Or take a peak through the inside.  See that wavy pattern that I've indicated with the arrow?  Well, this jar had me at "hello" because of that texture or pattern.  As I mentioned yesterday, I like to find jars that are unique in some way, and this one was different than any that I had seen.

Sometimes when I shop (and this can be for anything), I get so excited about one feature that I forget to check to see about other features.  Here's a perfect example, and a lesson learned.

See this lid?  It hides an ugly secret.

I actually found this jar in Carlisle, Pennsylvania while visiting my sister-in-law and her family.  She took me to a great antique mall in a very "antique" building with wonderfully creaky floors.  I passed up other blue jars for this one, and I was proud to show if off to my hubby when we returned home.  As I showed it to him, I removed the lid and...

 There was this:

I don't even know what to say.  I was stunned.  For a split second I was mad that I had "fallen" for something. And then I thought, "Well it's my own fault!  I never removed the lid to check the condition!"  Truthfully, I never even thought of doing that before.  (I know: DUH!)  Ultimately, I decided that I loved the jar anyways, and I would fill it with something just for decoration... or that I didn't need to access often -- so that I wouldn't damage that rim any further.  Lesson learned.  In the future, remove the lid to check that the jar is really in good condition.

But then this morning, when I was taking pictures of this jar for you, I kind of had a revelation -- and I felt like God wanted me to share something more than just rules for treasure hunting.

I was thinking about how layers of our heart carefully removed often reveal ugly secrets or... sin.  And how God loves us anyways.  Just as this jar was "my find" and I decided to love it anyway, so we are God's creation, and he loves us no matter how "damaged" we are.  No matter what the peeled back layers may reveal.  No matter what baggage we carry.  No matter how ugly our past.  No matter how poorly we behaved "in return" for someone else's bad behavior, or how damaged some of our relationships may be. 

No matter.  No matter.  No matter.

Jesus' blood covers it all.

I pray that you would trust him today with your brokenness.

Romans 5:8

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners,

Christ died for us."

Treasure Hunting

Happy Tuesday-not-Monday after a 3-day holiday weekend.  This has been a public service message from me to you -- and who am I kidding?  Also from me to ME to remind me what day it is.  I hope you all had a lovely 3-day weekend.  We got to visit my hubby's sister and family in Pennsylvania, and made lots of good memories.

So what's new?  Well, I feel like I have a bit of catching up to do.  I realized that I never told you about this recent find.

You may have seen me holding this jar up on my facebook page the other day.  It's one of my most recent finds. My hubby took me to a local antique mall, and though I was carrying around a blue Ball jar that was different than any I had, it was this one that I ended up going home with.  I love the color.

In my quest to find jars, I don't just buy every blue jar I find.  I look for something different --whether it's different embossing on the jar, or just a different shape or size.  And THIS time... ha!  It was the COLOR that was different.  I couldn't resist.

I've done a little searching on-line, and though I've seen these jars for sale on e-bay or etsy, I don't seem to be able to find out much about the story behind this jar.  It came with a zinc "Ball" lid, but I don't know if that's original to the jar.  I had to give the jar a good washing at home, as it had, not cocoa -- but sunflower seeds stuck to the sides!  The lid had remnants of chewing gum stuck to it.  A little peanut butter took care of that! Have you ever tried this trick?  It works great on adhesive from price labels too!!!  The oil in the peanut butter breaks down the adhesive.  I swipe a little peanut butter out of the jar, and wipe it over the spot in question.  Let it sit for a few minutes, use a little elbow grease to wipe it away, and TaaDaa!  It really works.  (My tip for the day!)

I also scored this metal locker basket on the same day.  I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but I played around with it a bit, and ended up corralling a bunch of jars and other goodies here -- and I'm happy with the look.



So, what treasures have you found lately?
--and, did you know about the peanut butter trick?

Drink It In

Oh, drink it in.
The last few days of summer vacation.

Not to be confused with the last few days of SUMMER.
Please.  Let's not rush things.

Life is good.