Great New Thrifty Finds

Another good trip to the Goodwill! Adding to my little treasures from last week are two aqua glass insulators.   I don't think I'll be crafting with them because from my research so far they are as old as the early 1900s. One even has an original wooden pin inside.  I looked at them, and thought, I know those are very old and might be valuable, but for the life of me I can't remember what they are.  They were used on telegraph poles like this:

I've learned that what I have are  Brookfield glass insulators.  The the aqua color seems to have been very popular during the 1880s, but since mine are just marked B, I'm thinking maybe mine are more likely more recent (if you can call the 1920s recent!). Brookfield stopped making glass insulators in 1921.  I like the idea of having a row of them in a window shelf so the light shines through so I will be on the look out for these lovely little pieces every time I'm on the hunt now.
For more information about collecting glass insulators there are several books. They go from very cheap (I paid $1.99 each for mine) to crazy expensive (purple ones can go for about $80 or more). 

A Guide for Insulator Collectors: With Prices





Now I am off to sculpt a new idea that has been bouncing around in my head!

Good Will Hunting 1

          I've had my creative energies leaping in very different direction so I'm having trouble getting any project completed.   It's like the case of the shoemaker who has barefoot children.  I create and sell art, yet my home hardly has any of my work displayed.  So I'm trying to change that and hoping along the way to get inspired in new directions.  Today I got to do something I just LOVE.  I really enjoy thrift shopping.  In my area, it's hard to find diamonds in the rough, but I still find them.  Today I really scoured the books (in my area books seem to be incredibly under valued), wanting mainly ones that I can deconstruct for collage but also looking for old editions.  Was ecstatic to find a 1938 edition (the year it was first written) of "Rebecca" by Daphne Du Maurier, for $1.99. I'm pretty sure it's one of the first U.S. editions. I searched online and had trouble finding pictures of the same book to compare.  I love the story, so I guess the big thrill is getting something possibly that valuable.  I also found a very old copy of  "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell, but it's very unlikely to be a first edition although there was no date inside. 

        I also found :
6 glass jars with glass lids. ( I've been watching for a decent number of them so that I can make a set of  Sun Jars .  ) $1.99 each

Warren Kimble Chick and Egg Salt and Pepper Shaker for $1.99 in Box Henny & Penny



Book of postcards of Gustav Klimt Paintings $1.99

So all in all it was a fruitful afternoon of scavenging!