Scary Dolls 2019

I discovered a few years ago that people

like to decorate at Halloween with (ahem)

"well used" old dolls.

This year I only picked up a couple.

This is the first one,

one of her front teeth is cracked diagonally

and looks like a fang.

 This is the second one.

Her necks flops at odd angles which helps the creep factor.

And the eyes....

Sunday Flea Finds

 We arrrived at our favorite flea market by 6 am today

and I think it paid off.

Two wooden ladders, paid $5 each.

Two wheelbarrows: paid $10 each and sold each for $24.

 My husband surprised me with this little beauty,

he knows I like scary dolls.

 A cool looking scale, only $10.

Sold for $35.

 Old Mirror with surprisingly good frame, paid $10.

 Always looking for sleds. Paid $10.

This one has a nice aged alligator finish.

This one I kept.

 Boiler, and yes I already have one that I can't sell.

Now I will have two that aren't selling, but only paid $10.

Mr. Log Cabin also sold me this.

Three Conservo Steamer Cooker things,

still in their ORIGINAL Crate.  What?!!!

Probably from around 1907.

Here is the backside of the crate.  

Apparently Mrs. Winslow had a hard time selling things too.

Lots Of Old Doll Heads

 We had a busy weekend with the home sale.

But I still managed to buy a box of old doll heads.

Almost all of them had had some damage.

But they will make some awesome Halloween projects.

I love me some doll bits and bobs.

"Watching The Sunset"

Victorian Wax Doll

I had actually heard of antique wax dolls before.  Last weekend I had a chance to purchase one.  Which gave me the opportunity to learn quite a bit more about them.

They fall into three different types -- this one is the most common type,  the head being wax over composition.

Why use wax at all?  This kind of doll was less breakable than porcelain.  The wax gave a life-like translucent quality,  And the wax could be subtly tinted to further replicate skin.

The "heyday" of these dolls was the 1800s, mine probably dates from about 1880.
Most were manufactured in England.  Many do not have any maker marks, that is the case with this one.  This doll is 24" tall, which is taller than most wax head dolls.

Not surprisingly, these dolls did not adjust well to extremes in temperature.  So if they lived in Grandma's attic, they would have looked worse than this.  If you look them up on ebay, you'll notice many that time has not been kind to.

She will be listed on ebay soon.  I hope she finds someone who will cherish her, cracks and all.
Purchased for $5, sold for $158 on ebay.

Halloween Still Life In A Jar 2016

I came across a stash of old wide-mouth peanut butter jars a few months ago.

I knew instantly that they would be perfect for "still life" jars.

I'm saving a few for Christmas-themed jars.

I think I made five this years,

but only managed to photograph these three --

and I think all three have already sold.

Loved the skull on a stand that Dollar Tree

offered this year.  Perfect size for this jar.

Another of the peanut butter jars...

With a knob attached to the top it would

resemble a cloche.

Scary Dolls 2016

Specimen A 

Sold for $10.

Specimen B 

 Both beauties have already sold on ebay.

Sold for $31.

Scary Dolls Sold On Ebay PHASE II

I suppose you either love scary dolls or you don't. I don't necessarily want them in my living room, but I have a great time looking for scary dolls throughout the year to put on ebay in August.  See my post here on PHASE I, and here to see last year's crop of dolls.  So these were all listed on ebay in August, and most of them sold.

 

Can't get much creepier than this....

I swear, I do NOT alter them!

 

This is like the dark side of Ronald McDonald. 

For many of these dolls,

this is the last stop.  Barely rescued from the brink.

Some of these dolls may not have been

overly attractive to start with.

She looks like she had the mumps.

Yes, this one really is deathly white.

I do not know why.

Love the sweetness of the face.

She seems a little sad that Scary Doll season is over.

Scary Dolls Sold On Ebay PHASE I

As I sail through my junking adventures, I'm always on the lookout for scary (unaltered) dolls.  Dolls that are simply scary because of natural wear and tear.  Then, I gather up my precious collection and put them on ebay the last of August.  So these beauties have already been listed (most sold) in August. Because by September I am transitioning my vintage booth to Halloween, and if they don't sell on ebay they will end up in my booth one way or another.

This little brunette has more then just dry skin issues,

her half mast eyes travel from side to side.

She looks like something from Toy Story, right?

It is a little hard to see the gray stain on her left cheek leftover

from a child's artwork.

Just grin and bear it.

My, what realistic looking teeth you have!

I know that I feel like this sometimes.

Love the old tape marks,

like someone thought that was the answer.

 

Different doll, more tape.

Again, who thought this would help?

WHAT is that?

 

Honestly, this doll is just a little too graphically

gross.  So I'm just showing you the head, and that is almost too much.

(What possessed a child to draw eyelashes on the eyebrows?)

 

More to come!

There Is No Place Like Nebraska -- July Junking Trifecta

I went to a friend's house Thursday morning to do some weeding.  As I was weeding I got to thinking that we didn't really have anything going on over the Fourth of July weekend, and I needed to remedy that and make some plans.  As soon as I got home, my husband said "We need to talk."  No, I wasn't in trouble -- he had come to the same conclusion and took it a step further and done his homework. 

I quickly cleaned up and packed and we took off for Fairbury, Nebraska.  He said Fairbury was hosting southeast Nebraska's largest flea market over the weekend of the Fourth.  Although I grew up in Nebraska, I never recall having been to Fairbury.  So we took a little tour of the town...

Fairbury, Nebraska was home to Fairbury Windmill Company, which was in business from 1899 until 1961.  Many of the old windmills that you see around were made by this company. Their windmill weights in the shape of bulls and horses are well known to collectors. 

These two park buildings were SO COOL.

They were built in 1936,

so I assume they were part of the CCC or WPA program.

Many vendors were still setting up on Thursday afternoon,

but at least half were ready to sell.

 

This wallhanging was made out of grain.

What a creative piece of folk art.

We saw (and picked up) a few fun things -- I'll show off my finds on a future post. 
I loved this old sled with SKIS, out of my price range though.  Then we ate a quick bite at an iconic Runza Restaurant (fooling people into eating cabbage since 1949). 

We ended the evening by attending an indoor weekly auction.  It was hot, things sold slow and someone kept outbidding me on everything I wanted.  So after we spent a big $3.00, we went back to our hotel for the night to watch some Food Network.

Friday morning we got up early to hit a few garage sales (yes, a trifecta in 24 hours -- flea market, auction, garage sales).   We picked up a few things, including buying some items from "Vince" (left) whom I recognized from last night's auction (where he was the one who outbid me on everything!)

One of the things I bought from Vince at his garage sale was this scary doll, which he ironically purchased Thursday night at the auction after I left. It was on my list of something I wanted! You'll have to tune in soon to see my other Fairbury treasures.

After the garage sales on Friday morning, we hit the flea market again.  Visited the newly set-up vendors... .and spent every last dollar we had.  Luckily, Valentino's Pizza took our credit card to pay for lunch. So we headed home with a full van, full tummies, and empty pocketbook.