Today, It's Toys - The Sheer Trash Roadshow Continues

Monday here is off to a busy start:  payday (yay!), grocery shopping, packages to ship, and my son and daughter-in-law stopping by for a visit and to choose a vintage nursery lamp to take home for the upcoming baby's room. Somewhere in here I need to do a dab of housework and prepare some sewing projects.

But I did promise you this special sneak peak at some of the vintage goodies I hauled home over the weekend, and since there's no time like the present, I'll hop to it!

Today, it's all about the toys.

The first thing I want to show you is this fantastic 1953 Jaymar toy piano. Isn't it fabulous? My youngest says I should really call it a toy harpsichord because that is what it sounds like (plucked strings rather than hammered strings) and it has no way of changing dynamics (loud or soft). What a stickler! To me, it's a toy piano and a jolly nice one at that. All the keys play and it's even reasonably in tune! Apart from the wooden upper right hand corner of the top having some damage, it's in good shape. I think someone had a big puppy at some point along the life of this little instrument and he did a bit of teething. 

My middle son and his wife are both music teachers and they instantly fell in love with this wonderful old toy, so I guess it will be going home with them this afternoon instead of into my Etsy shop. It was great fun listening to my son playing on it--chords and whole shebang. He even managed a bit of Scott Joplin ragtime on it, but he ran out of keyboard. I think it made the piano happy.

You Generation Xers or Yers or whatever you're called will recognize this toy. I found this after pawing through a box of jumbled up toys at a church rummage sale. I've seen enough of the Strawberry Shortcake toy line for sale on Etsy to recognize it as collectible, so I bought it. It cost 25 cents. Then, an extra surprise--inside was this tiny doll. She's not Strawberry Shortcake herself, but she's plainly related. I'll pump faithful blog and Etsy friend Vanessa for the specifics.

 

At the same rummage sale, I found this knock-off doll--some kind of Strawberry Shortcake wannabe. She's made of flimsier plastic and she doesn't have the "American Greetings" mark on the back of her head. Instead, she's merely marked "Hong Kong". Still, she's interesting and with a good clean-up she ought to be saleable. Here I've posed her with a few of the vintage dollhouse furnishings I found during my foray. The doll was about 25 cents, if I remember correctly, and the pieces of furniture about 10 cents each.

Continuing with the dolls, I found this little boy doll at a garage sale. He's called a "Cola Kid". His bottle doesn't have the bottom closure anymore. I don't know how old this is--maybe not very old. It's marked "China" but that's all I see. He's kind of cute. Price was a whopping ten cents.

At yet another church rummage sale, I swooped down on this doll. I probably wouldn't have paid her much attention except that Vanessa has been educating me on her blog (vintagetoyfun.blogspot.com), so I knew this was a Rainbow Brite. Or one of the Rainbow Brite tribe.

She's dated 1983, and measures about 11 inches tall, excluding the ponytail. She needs a good bath, but then, don't we all? (Don't answer that.)

Growing up, my favorite toys were always my teddy bears and other stuffed animals. And while I see hundreds of cast-off plush animals at every garage sale and thrift store I go to, these two had that special "something extra" that made me break down and bring them home. The"something extra", in this case, being--in addition to their cuddly sweetness and loveliness of expression--their tags. Teddy (he's SO soft) is a KinderGund dated 1985. He has a rattle inside. Little Squirrel is a Dakin toy and he was made in 1978. I love his little face!

In case you're curious about the atomic design background in that photo, I'll show you the chair I put them in for their portrait:

I have two of these Danish Modern marvels which I've had for about 15 years now. They sit in my livingroom and look very classy flanking my vintage stereo console. Consider this photo an off-topic bonus!

Okay, lastly, cast your eyes on this oldie-but-goodie, still with its original packaging. 50 cents brought home this pair of vintage plastic roller skates. I used to have a red pair just like these! They came along after the metal roller skates and before rollerblades. They're not especially well-made and I remember a bit of frustration with straps that came undone, but I still had a lot of fun in them. We did a lot of skating in the sixties, outside on patios, sidewalks, and empty parking lots, and even inside in the garage or the basement during inclement weather. No helmets, no knee pads, no elbow or wrist guards, and guess what--we not only survived, we thrived. Ah, youth!

Okay, I must sign off and get to work around here. The next roadshow will feature vintage fabric, sewing notions, and yarn... 

Thanks for stopping by!