Pre-war thrift gold

The 30s: what a period! It shared my love of earth tones, which, being a child of the 70s, I acquired naturally and never developed a disdain for. (You?) This weekend, a thrifting friend with a huge stash of thirtiesiana was having a good clearout (on orders from her cat), so I went over to her very cute pre-war Somerville studio, and for $30 she sold me a huge pile of treasure, including this wonderful tin 'basket' - maybe for sewing, maybe for picnics?


There was also this cute striped baby Betty to go with the mama Betty. And many red-and-ivory kitchen linens, which are in the washing machine as I write this. (Show you later!)


And - swoon! - lots of planters. I have made myself a solemn vow that this is the year I become a gardener. Disclosure: I did just kill my rosemary bush (which was a pretty good size, for New England) and my lavender when I brought them inside for the winter. But by gum, I will do better!

Those little round planters with the feet are McCoy. Turns out, they're not as valuable now as they were a few years ago - you can find dozens at any given time on eBay, most of which are more exciting than the ones above, but I love mine and they should be good for herbs. That little watermelon planter on the right is nothing collectible, but I think it's awfully cute - something dainty like thyme would be right at home in it.

Finally, I leave you with the item I took as a sop to the engineer in the house:


The mighty Spee-dee mixer (dates unknown). That Bakelite handle is magnificent!