Sizzler Business Card

I found several old business cards in my grandfather's things after he passed away.  I love the graphics on them.

This one is for Sizzler Family Steak House printed in 1974 and features Uncle Sam asking the question "Can YOU do it at home for $2.19?".


According to the Sizzler website, the first Sizzler opened in Culver City, CA, in 1958 and you could get a steak dinner for $0.99 back then!

A Souvenir from the State Fair of Texas

The State Fair of Texas opened Friday, Sept 27th and runs through Oct. 20th.  I look forward to the fair every year.  There is so much to see and do!  And I must get a Fletcher's Corny Dog!  It just wouldn't be right to go to the fair and not get a Fletcher's Corny Dog!

Fan from the 2011 State Fair of Texas

This is a fan I got during the 2011 State Fair.  They handed them out in the Food & Fiber Pavilion.  In this building, they showcase Texas-related products.  They have booths that show how things are grown and used, foods to taste, a store so you can purchase Texas brands, and you can meet Elsie the Cow from Borden.

When I was there in 2010, I happened to go into the Food & Fiber building when some Texas Chef's were there greeting the public and offering food samplings.  The only one I remember is the Dread Head Chef.  He makes sweet salsas and dessert chips.  I loved the strawberry-mango salsa and the cinnamon chips.  Yum!

Webster Grizburg

Webster Grizburg...Just Duckie is from the Boyds Bears Shoebox collection of jointed figurines.

He is made of cold cast resin, is jointed, and stands about 4 1/2" tall.  He is wearing a duck costume and is holding a pot of spring flowers.

You can see the paw print on his left inside upper arm.

Vintage Valentine

Honest ENGINE!

I want CHOO

for my

Valentine!

My first Valentine's Day was February 14, 1962.  I was just 2 weeks old and this was my first Valentine.

Bailey's Birthday

This is Bailey's Birthday from The Boyds Bearstone Collection.  She is made of cold cast resin and is 4 3/4" tall by 3 3/4" wide and is musical.  The music box is from the San Francisco Music Box Company and plays Happy Birthday.

Bailey is sitting on a gift box and is surrounded by more gifts.  She is holding her birthday cake which is decorated with roses and a single lit candle.

On the back you can see the paw print and that it has a 1997 copyright.

Katie B. Howold...Not Tellin'

This is Katie B. Howold from The Boyds Bearstone Collection.  She is made of cold cast resin and is 4" tall and 2 1/2" wide.  The party hat she is wearing has a real white yarn tassel.

 The ribbon on the bottom says "Some Birthdays Are Better Than Others".

 Katie isn't looking where she is walking and is about to trip and ruin her Birthday cake!

  You can tell if your Boyd's collectible is authentic if you find the paw print somewhere on the piece.  The paw print on this one is on the edge of the base just before the ribbon begins.

Wednesday's Child

  My birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks so it is time to display my birthday things.  I was born on a Wednesday and Wednesday's child is full of woe according to the poem "Monday's Child".

 This is my Wednesday's Child doll by Susan Wakeen.  Susan Wakeen is one of my favorite doll makers.  

  Wednesday's Child is 8" tall.  Her arms, legs, and head are crafted of fine porcelain and movable.  She has sleep eyes that close when she lays down and a tear below her left eye.  She even has her own teddy bear.   She is copyrighted 1999.
  

Here is a close-up of her sweet face and the little tear below her left eye.

The poem I mentioned above called "Monday's Child" goes like this:

Monday's child is fair of face,

Tuesday's child is full of grace,

Wednesday's child is full of woe,

Thursday's child has far to go,

Friday's child is loving and giving,

Saturday's child works hard for a living,

And the child that is born on the Sabbath day

Is bonny, blithe, good, and gay.

Dept. 56 Dickens Village

  I started collecting Dickens Village when I received a piece for Christmas in 1982 or '83 from my then husband.  Each Christmas he would give me another piece. 

  One of my favorite parts of decorating at Christmastime is setting up my Dickens Village.  It is set up a little differently each year because I usually put it on my fireplace mantel and all the houses don't fit up there.  Most of the time I add snow to the scene too but since it has been so warm here in Texas this year, I didn't add snow.  

Ashbury Inn

 



 Plum pudding anyone?

 

 Carolers outside the Counting House and a man offering them cookies.

 

Oops!  Don't drop the packages!

 

Tiny Tim being carried over the bridge by Bob Cratchit. 

 

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

 

A boy buying a fat goose for Scrooge. 

inside the pickle jar (pt. 2)

Also inside the pickle jar were the following things:

Campaign buttons...
These buttons are from the mock Republican convention that my high school senior class held.  (Class of 1980).  Everyone in the civics classes played rolls in it.  It was very realistic with speeches, demonstrations, etc.  It was such a big deal that one of the local news channels (Channel 4) was there to report on it and there was a special segment on 4 Country Reporter as well!  When our votes were tallied, Ronald Regan was the winner and he won the real Republican Convention several months later.  Also, the principal, civics teacher, the student that portrayed Ronald Reagan, and a few other students that played key roles were invited to a fund raiser for Ronald Reagan.

a matchbook...

from a hotel I stayed at in Cancun.  I went there after my graduation from high school to have some fun before I started college.

 

 

a couple of matchbooks from local seafood restaurants...

I don't think either one of these are around anymore.  The one on the right was called Pelican's Wharf.

a baseball matchbook...
I love this matchbook because it is different, but I have no idea where I got it!  I have never been to Philadelphia and I'm not really a sports fan.  But, I used to go to a lot of Texas Ranger's games back in the 80's with my ex-husband.  I don't even know if they played against each other and even if they did, why would they hand out matches at the game?  Bobby Valentine used to have a restaurant that my ex and I used to go to.  Maybe I got them from the restaurant. Who knows?!

 a matchbox and a matchbook from steak restaurants...

 

 

a matchbook from the Crystal Terrace Restaurant at the Music Hall in Dallas...

The Dallas Music Hall is located at Fair Park.  If I remember right, I went there after a play.  I think it was a Christmas play and a reception was held afterward at the restaurant.

a matchbook from Loews Anatole Hotel and a matchbox from Routh Street Cafe...
I would have gotten both of these in the mid 1980's.  I remember going to the Anatole for a work party.  The company my ex worked for liked to have fancy parties.  Once a year they would send out an invitation to a gala.  All the men would dress up in tuxedos and the women wore ball gowns.  There would be a bar and hors d'oeuvres, and then everyone would go into the dining area.  Then while a meal was served, different managers and the company president would go up on the stage and talk about the how the company was doing and what the future held.  They would give out awards at that time too.
Routh Street Cafe was a very nice restaurant that my ex and I were taken to by some friends.  Stephen Pyles was the chef.  There were several courses and you could choose what you wanted for each course from the list of about 4 items.  We all chose different things so that after we tasted our food, we would pass our plate to the next person so we could get a taste of everything!  And everything was delicious!

another restaurant matchbook...

a restaurant matchbox...
Cityside is located in Boston, Mass. (The phone number is on the back.)  I have never been to Boston.  But my ex-husband used to travel for work, so I think he must have brought it home for me.

and motel matchbooks...
My ex and I took a few car trips on our vacations.

And that's the last of the contents of the pickle jar...but not the end of the stuff I will be posting!

inside the pickle jar

Inside the pickle jar were the following items:

 

A cute pin...

 

a sugar packet from Kansas...

(This was picked up during a trip to Topeka, Kansas after I was married.)

 

a token from Malibu Grand Prix...

 

Pizza Inn, Pizza Hut and Arby's matchbooks...

 

The Black-eyed Pea, Lone Star Cafe, and Le Peep matchbooks...

 

a Dave and Buster's matchbox...

 

a pin for a Labor Day celebration...

(I lived in Hailey, Idaho during my Junior year of High School.  Bellevue was less than 10 minutes away, just south of Hailey.)

 

a matchbook from Louie's and a matchbox from Warm Springs Restaurant...

(Both were in Ketchum, Idaho, north of Hailey.)

 

the pickle jar

 

When I was a teen, I began putting matchbooks and other small things I collected into an empty pickle jar.  The jar was stored in a closet in my home until just a few months ago when I moved it to my desk so I could look at it all the time. 

The jar itself is pretty old.  I'm not sure if it is the original pickle jar, but I know that this jar has been in the closet of my home since I moved here almost 28 years ago.  I tried to look up the history of Vlasic pickle jars to see what years they had a green lid, but I couldn't find anything helpful.

 

 

In my next post, we will take a closer look at what is inside the pickle jar.

about this blog

This blog is a place for me to post photos of a wide variety of collectibles, ephemera, and other 'stuff' that I have acquired throughout the years.