What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Monday Finds

I drove across town today to go back to a thrift where I had spied something last week.  It was an old display shelf from a store, I think.  It was a filthy dirty yellow and the top needed to be fixed up somehow.  But, that's just the sort of thing I like to put in my booth for display.  I saw it last week, but had no use for it. Fast forward to yesterday when I bit the bullet and doubled the size of my booth.  Now, I need lots of weird shelves and such to fill it up.  Sadly, that filthy beat up old shelf was gone.  Someone else saw the potential in it, I suppose.  I just hope it doesn't show up in my very own Flea Market to taunt me.  It's happened before. :(

So, I left without the shelf and nearly without a thing.  I figured in that huge darn store there had to be something in there for me.  So, I walked up every aisle and looked and looked and looked.  I was almost ready to give up when by almost pure desperation I found something.

An older receipt book.  I can add it to Ephemera packets or use them for price tags in the booth.

Almost to the check out and I spot a big Ziploc bag full of corsages for weddings of days gone by.

I can part some of these out or include them in different holiday displays in the booth.

These two are the best - the big foil leaves and the millinery flowers on that strawberry corsage are worth keeping.  

I was almost to the check out when I spotted a girl from the back bringing out a tub of new merchandise.  So, I followed her.  :)  She went to the craft area and started putting out bags of different items.  At this thrift you cannot touch items before they are put out.  So, I waited.  Finally she was done, so I swooped in for a look.

At the bottom of the pile, I pulled out this packet that said Picto-Lotto.  I wasn't positive what it was, but I had a pretty good feeling.  I told The Bean, "This is why we came!" 
 When I got out to the car, I opened the bag and saw this fabulous flash card on top.  Score!  

Now before I go on, I should tell you that I spend many hours on ebay looking for vintage flash cards.  They tend to sell for crazy money, but I am always in hopes that I will find a nice big box with a misspelled title or something.  (That has happened before when I bought a Rushton Zippy the Monkey for $3.00 and a box of 125 spun heads for $8.00.)  Anyway, I have sold a few vintage flashcards in my booth before, so I would love to find some more.  They are great framed in a kid's room, kitchen, mudroom or about anywhere depending on the image.
These flash cards are definitely from the 1950's.  Love that flower design on the glass.  Do kids even know that a phone ever looked like that?  And a saddle shoe!   
Skates with four wheels that snap onto your shoes.  And, isn't that a CAR, not an auto?

Some of my personal favorites:


Cake?  Yes, please.  Twins - going to my favorite twin girls. Rabbit  - look at that cute little bunny!

A sweet bird and a dwarf.  

Of course, they can't all be darling.  


Some are harder sells like meat and bone.  Still, maybe for a kitchen?

There are at least a hundred different words.  A few are keepers, but most will go in the booth.  I can't decide if I should frame them or just sell them individually.  I'm tempted to frame them.  But, I am super cheap and lazy, so I bet I don't.  (!)


WHOOMP.....
Whoomp.....There it is!

9 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about the need for shelving. Since I grew my spot, I still need a couple more shelving things and a ton of small furniture to fill it out. My smalls alone can't support the space. Yard sale season cannot heat up fast enough.

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  2. OK so those flash cards are wonderful. If there is a T for Tiger I would love to buy it!! Let me know. So you doubled your booth size, wow and good for you! Big Hus, Linda

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  3. Dont you love finding things like that when picking are slim?! So worth the trip!

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  4. Score on those flashcards...glad you followed that gal with the new merchandise back to the craft section. I don't like to hear of 125 spun heads for $8!

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  5. I love those, of course! Maybe pick a few and if you can thrift some really cheap frames for them, frame them? I don't know, if they're all ready to hang maybe people would be willing to pay more since you've done all the work. Just a thought.

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  6. I am also gasping over 125 spun heads for $8! But yes, the flash cards are so great! Bummed that the TWINS one is in the keep pile. lol I'm a twin, and it's so hard to find anything with twins on it.
    Great Find!!!
    Erica :)

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  7. HOLY MOLEY. It's times like these that I'm simultaneously thrilled and angry that we're shopping in the same place. Thrilled because it's proof that great things are out there and ANGRY BECAUSE YOU GOT THEM FIRST! But I will forgive you because they are AWESOME. In Chicago, those would go for four or five bucks PER CARD. Great find. You might even consider Etsy or eBay for those...bet you could get more.

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  8. YEH!
    Keeping 'The Hunt' fun!

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  9. Hello! I am so tickled you would like to be apart of my Supply Swap. I think it will be a lot of fun. I am pairing you with a very sweet gal whose blog is Faster Kitty Kill. An odd name, I know, but she makes the cutest craft videos ever. She is young and fresh, and I hope you enjoy swapping with her. Thanks again, and PS I am so excited to finally see your Follow button so that I can add you to my reader's list. Elizabeth PSS Have a HAPPY EASTER!

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