best fine fella

I am not sure what the speech on this valentine is all about. Is this what Dutch people's accents were supposed to sound like? Is she even Dutch? It is unclear now. There is nothing on the back at all. There is a date on this, however, which is rare. It reads copyright 1902.

I just added this to my shop, along with some cute vintage school days valentines.

my first

I think this is the first piece of ephemera I bought. I got it at a huge old bookstore in Oakland around 1989. I am sure the bookstore is long gone.

I love the idea that little pieces of illustrated paper were prizes at one time. I can imagine that Lizzie kept this for her whole life. Maybe she placed it in the corner of a mirror or propped it up on her desk in her room while she was growing up. No doubt is was a treasured item.

collections

This morning I saw a post at Poppytalk blog about an article in the new Hallmark magazine. The feature is on artist Gail Tritten. She shows off some of her collections, along with some vintage Valentines. She mentions the collecting of ephemera a lot. It was nice to hear someone encourage people to seek these things out.

"The next time you’re at a flea market, explore the boxes of vintage paper ephemera to add to your craft supplies. You may find valentines that date back to the Victorian era."

bridge tallys

I have never played bridge, but I couldn't pass up these pretty bridge tally cards when I found them a few years ago. I find it interesting that they are made like bookmarks. I wonder if there is a book involved in bridge.


I just love lantern images. It is one of my favorites. I thought I would do something with these, with copies of them, of course, but I have not yet. I still might. Have I mentioned I got a sticker maker for Christmas? I haven't played with it yet.

victorian lovelies

I just updated the shop with some one-of-a-kind Victorian embellishments. These are not reproductions, but the real thing and are in great condition.

Two of them are glued on calling cards. Each has a name on it. The glue is almost gone, so they could be easily taken off. I just found the names on the card while I was doing this and it was very exciting.

Emma E Everett

John Egger

are the names. I get such a thrill out of these kind of things.

Victorian Die Cut Decorations

Just in time for Valentines Day, I recently found some antique Victorian die cut embellishments. These are originals, not reproductions and are in wonderful condition.

They are so charming. They were very popular and were used for scrapbooks and for making cards and valentines.

I have a few listings of some of these to add tomorrow night. But, here is a little preview.

new loot

This weekend I got a nice little bundle of new ephemera. Lots of cute things, including some awesome valentine things that I am hoping I will get up on time. Some of this will be in the shop and some I will post images of.

Here is a preview of what I got:



Below are 2 of my favorite new finds. I really like images of old stores where you can really see the merchandise. I love how grand and open the Marshall Field and Company Department store is in this photo. Man, I wish I could walk around a store like that. Look at how pristine the sections are. It looks like you were not able to just help yourself to the clothes. All the products are behind the counter and this store must of employed lots of young men and women working behind those counters. This store was in Chicago.



The following image is a pretty unique find. Someone snapped a Polaroid picture at this small grocery store . I like seeing the old packaging. Even the phone book hanging by a cord is something you see less and less.

man in overcoat

I got this image a while a go and tacked it up. I like thinking about him and the moment this image was taken.

First Post

Welcome to my new blog, The Cedar Chest.

I have been a collector of vintage ephemera and photos for 15+ years. It is a pretty big part of me and yet I don't really comment about it that much. I wanted a place where I could share the images that are my favorites and also the vintage ephemera I am selling in my online Etsy shop, The Cedar Chest.

So, I am starting the posts off with some choice items I have tacked up (magnet board, actually) in my den. Some are new things that I put up there for a while so I can enjoy and some have been up for a long time.

Here is an image of a Victorian room. I have long been attracted to images of houses and have collected many. I have used some of them for my zine of house fictions, Current Resident.

It is somewhat rare to find images of houses without people in front of them, but it is even harder to find images of house interiors with no one in them. For a while now these have been something I have been interested in. Oh, how I wish I had images of the house I grew up in like this. Why didn't we think to do that!



I am looking forward to sharing more images with you, maybe even some from my past! I have lots of great old slides I have been scanning.