On His Own...

Every once in a while, I have to let Roger go to an auction on his own. This is is troublesome in a couple ways. First of all, I hate to be left out of the action. As our two year old is currently fond of saying, "No fair!" Secondly, I am a cheapskate. When the bidding goes into the double digits, I tend to back off. That's right, kids, I really am THAT cheap. Roger is not afraid of the double digits. So, he probably spent more than I would have, but he did get several pretty awesome things.

In and of itself, this is a pretty adorable (albeit dirty) bull dog. But, then you take him apart and he moves into the realm of awesomeness!

The spoon is his TONGUE!! The bottom is marked "Gold Castle handpainted Made in Japan". There's also a word that kind of looks like "Chikusa" if that makes any sense. If any one has more information for me, I would really appreciate it. I found information on Gold Castle china, but nothing like him.

Hurray for tin toys! We're suckers for them! The top has cute cowboys and cowgirls riding around the top. When you get this puppy spinning, it makes a whistling noise, because of holes cut at intervals all around it. Do all tops do that? I've never noticed it before, but maybe I wasn't paying attention.

This little bucket has slightly bizarre yet cheerful graphics all around it.

A Dick Tracy Target by Marx Toys made in the 40s. It's in pretty great condition. It originally came with a gun and ammo.

I love silhouette pictures, although my taste leans more toward the romantic scenes. These two are advertising pieces. The one on the right with the elk says, "Season's Greetings for 1942; Home Oil Company; H. R. and Lola Shaw; Plainville, Kansas". The one on the left has us a bit bemused. We have the pioneer man on his horse leading his ox drawn covered wagon through the dessert. (We know it's the dessert, because there is a cactus.) However on the right hand side of the picture is a red and white ringed circle of blue sky with an airplane in it. There's also a thermometer and a banner that says "Land of the Free". It's like the advertising department couldn't make a decision, so they decided to do it ALL! This piece is from Carpenter Grain & Stock.

Two store displays for hair nets! The DuroBelle display on the left is made of metal. The Rovina display on the right is wood. Cute! I love vintage stuff that can serve practical purposes. If I had a dedicated craft room, I would totally use these to store stuff.

More toys! We can't pass them up at the right price! The two wooden trucks at the back were made by the Cass company. The red and yellow truck in the middle reads "Super-X" along its side. The bottom is marked Arenwal Products.

Love this adorable peacock! We are drawn to peacock items anyway, and since this was also a tin toy, it was a double whammy! He seems to be missing his feet, but he makes up for it in pretty tail feathers!

Another Marx toy! This one is in fabulous condition!

I saw these Laurel and Hardy chalk figures on the auction website. I figured they were about 6 inches tall. I was wrong. They're almost 16 inches tall! They really are fantastic! The bases are marked "Paula's, Inc. St Paul, Minn". There might be a date that says '71, but it's hard to tell. I have found nothing about this company. I suspect it was a small local business that no longer exists.

Their faces are so expressive and interesting. I love looking at them, but it's getting a little creepy, so they'll probably be heading to the booth.

I have to say he did all right. There wasn't anything that made me say, "What the heck were you thinking?" although, I did raise my eyebrows at a couple of the prices. Fortunately, there were enough good deals to return my eyebrows to their normal position. But, next time, I'm not staying home.