Awesome Auction

Mostly tools and a box of books with a special surprise!

Battery charger $6 (shopping for one anyway); box of tools with hand driver, tape measure, linemens, hammer, etc. $5; bar clamp $5 (could have been a jerk and gotten it for free since it was a choice times two); box of books with Images of Delaware, books on painting, guitar, cooking, astronomy, and a hidden black book Mated: The New Pictorial Marital Manual from 1968. Good thing the Relics are married (wiggles eyebrows).

Cigar Box Guitar

This White Owl cigar box was hiding on a high shelf at one of our favorite shops. Mr. Relic has an increasingly sever addiction to stringed instruments and had decided to try to convert a beloved cigar box of his Gramp's in to a cigar box guitar. Mrs. Relic spotted this box and they decided it was better to do a test run on a less sentimental piece before cutting holes into Gramp's.

Mr. Relic carved the neck and headstock out of oak. The saddle is a part of a door hinge and the sound holes were new grommets that were "aged" with heat and linseed oil. Two pietzos inside make it electric.

[acq. 4/8/12 - $8, guitar completed 5/8/12]

Panama Canal

Is it a sign, or a car plate, did it hold a flag? We have no idea, came from a family garage. Panama Canal The Land Divided - The World United. Lightweight metal.
Update 5/13/12: It appears to be a license plate topper, neither of us had seen these before, but they appear very collectable.
[Acq. 4/10 - Free]

Ship on the left and alligator on the right.

Was painted red and green at one point. This right loop appears to be broken.

Delaware Plate

OK, we love plates. They are small, cheap and easy to display. They come in every imaginable subject and style. This particular plate is the newest addition to both the sculpted animal plate and Delawareiania collections. Gotta love a crossover.
[acq. 3/25/12 - $8]

National Beer Bag

This National Bohemian Beer litter bag c. 1965ish was a family attic find. This was clearly from a time before drinking and boating was discouraged.
[acq. 7/10 - $0]

Boaters in the Chesapeake Bay were encouraged to keep an eye out for Commodore Frank Hennessy, and give the National Beer Salute.

Chester Peake says, "Put litter in this bag..not in the bay."

For a fascinating history of the Baltimore based National Beer Company, check out this City Paper article.  Then check out this video showing some of the multitude of other characters and mascots employed by the National Beer Company.

Pretty Plates

Mr. Relic's Grandmother gave Mrs. Relic the green and tan bird plate when she was downsizing. She loved it and hung it on the wall to Mr. Relics skepticism, though he didn't hate it.

Pretty yellow and tan bird on an oak branch. Back marked Italy.

Six months later Mrs. Relic spied the cute bunny plate in a store and was thrilled when she saw it would be free, based on auto-price-lowering policy at one of The Relics favorite rummage spots. Two like items make a collection, right? Well, it does around here, we now have a sculpted animal plate collection, preferable in a color scheme to match the green room.
[Acq. 6/11 & 1/12 - Free]

Pair of white bunnies on a leaf background. Marked 2000 CBK LTD LLC Made in China.

Crossing Guard Badge

Levy Court Crossing Guard New Castle County, Delaware. Stainless steel badge. It was a toss up between this and a bag of assorted enamel state pins, but Mr. Relic couldn't leave the badge there -- especially after bragging about our Delaware collection. Wondering if crossing guard badges come up often?
[acq. 3/9/12 - $3.50]

The number 24, is it the district?

Marquetry Trees

Only a small stripe of telltale wood was visible in the pile of poorly framed posters. Luckily, that was enough to require further investigation. The simple composition in a 17.25" x 25" wood frame even had the makers business card - "Reid H. Leonard, Ph. D Fine Art Woodworking". Mr. Leonard was a biochemist and a woodworker who makes marquetry tables in his retirement.

[acq. 3/9/12 - $13.50]

At least five varieties of wood make up this tree scene.

Detail of tree "leaves"

The artist's business card was tucked in the front of the frame.

The artist's business card is made of wood!- "Two Ply Tamarack" to be precise.

Unknown Instrument (Serbian Gusle?)

This unknown instrument called us to a new shop today. Carved goat headstock, natural skin drum head with (6) 1/4" sound holes appears to have marks from a missing bridge. There's also a central hole in the neck for a missing tuning peg, ?single-string? It's 33' long with a round back that has a cross shaped sound hole We've got a facebook message into an ethnomusicoligist to indentify (?Iktar, ektar?), will update if we identify it.

Update 3/17/12: Mrs. Relic's facebook friend did not know where the instrument was from. She guessed a dutar from Afganistan or mongolia (not her specialty) but had never seen them with the skin drum, nor carved headstock. She graciously tagged several of her West Asian focused ethnomusicologist friends. One of those friends was able to identify it as a Gusle from the Balkans. The Gusle is a one or two stringed instrument played with a bow. It is normally used as accompaniment for the recitation of sung epic poetry. How exciting, we can now try to fabricate the bridge, tuning peg and bow, we also have a lead on acquiring the gut or horse hair strings.

[acq. 3/9/12 - $20]

Head stock, straight-on

Headstock 3/4 view

Front full view

Delaware Mug

This large ceramic mug has gold leaf trim. On the front a soldier and the words "Delaware Regiment 1776 - 1976" The back has the story of "The Blue Hen Chicks"
[acq. 3/9/12 - $9]

Delaware Regiment 1776-1976.

The story of the "Delaware Volunteers" military service from the Revolutionary to the Korean Wars.

No idea on the maker but this is #128 from the series.

Book Truck

This book truck was given to us by Mrs. Relic's mother who is downsizing. She'd had it forever (?25 years?) and assumes she got at a library sale at some point. The three shelf oak book truck appears to be from the early 1900s. The small brass plate on the side reads "The Colson Company Elyria, Ohio U.S.A" and has a logo of an Eagle on a caster with the words "Colson Quiet Trucks"

[acq. 3/2/12 - $0]

One wheel on each end, two in the center.

The wheels are in rough shape - but work fine!

The trucks are bad ass.

Really hard to see logo of an eagle on a wheel with the words "Colson Quiet Trucks"
and then the words "The Colson Company Elyria, Ohio U.S.A"

Might be better view of the name plate.

Butler Cabinet

Knitting Postcard

Antique postcard from Mrs. Relics' Mother. Mrs. Relic found it inside the cover of Tina Fey's Bossypants that she was borrowing from Mother. Turns out Mrs. Relics' Sister pulled it out of the albums full of antique postcards she's going to try to sell on Mother's behalf.
"I Have Many Yarns To Tell You About" on front the back has "Post Card." above divided: "This space may be used for correspondence" on the left and " The address only written here" on the right.
[acq. 1/27/12 - $0]

Copyrighted by R.L Wells, 1906
Of course, according to US copyright law everything before 1923 is public domain now.

Tabletop Record Player

Columbia 360 record player. Originally was blonde wood but has been poorly painted black. It works!

[acq. 1/14/12 - $15]

The inside shows the original finish.

This close up shows the horrible black paint job. We've decided to try to refinish it.

It plays 78s, so we can try some of the old records from the farm.

The name 360 apparently comes from these side speakers which fill the room with sound in 360 directions!

Removable 45 spindle.

Sikes Company Chair

This is an approximately 100 year old arm chair from The Sikes Company - Philadelphia, PA. We found this surprisingly underpriced at a shockingly overpriced thrift store.

[acq. 1/11 - $12.12]

We love the solid stance

The label is black and orange and says "The Sikes Company, Phila. Branch Philadelphia, PA."

There is a yellow stencil that appears to read "Birch Mahogany" and a large chalk "13"