My mother, myself?

Clockwise photos: old hotel/restaurant silverplate items, vintage grey rubber glove molds, a perpetual calendar stick from the 60's, and two old ice cream parlor counter stools.




















Today is my dear sweet mother Pat's 77th birthday, so it just seemed appropriate to write a little "Ode to My Mom".

If you don't know her, my mother is a woman of amazing talent and vast knowledge on many subjects, but particularly the history of American antiques and furniture. Being raised in Pennsylvania, she is and always will be a die-hard collector of east coast primitives and early American furnishings.

My love of old things is a sentimental one because I was raised by this charismatic and dynamic woman who loves and covets antiques, as did her mother before her. With each item they collected they had wonderful historical "stories" to go with them. You couldn't help but learn to love old things too. It was the way my sisters and I were raised. It's all we knew!
For them it was all about finding them, trading them and selling them. When I was in my teens, they shared an antique business together. I have fond memories of sitting with either or both of them at countless country and city auctions waiting for the pieces that they had their "eyes" on to come up.

Vintage tin toys

To this day, though my grandmother has passed, there is not a month that goes by that my mother isn't attending some great sale or auction --- homemade piece of pie in one hand and an auction paddle in the other! She tells us she is only going to look , but we all know better than this.

Where this story is leading is to tell you how very different my mom's and my tastes are these days. You see, I love all things that are vintage and quirky, utilitarian, or graphic and unusual .... but my mom is very much a traditionalist. She collects things that are elegant, yet understated, leaning on the primitive colonial side. Early American pieces with heavy English, Welsh or Dutch roots make her heart skip a beat. The Windsor chair is the end-all for her, and if a primitive antique is hand-painted----all the better.

So maybe you can see why she will see a piece I have bought and she will say ..."why on earth would you want that? "


With that in mind, here are some of the things I have recently found while those very words were ringing in my ears!

Happy 77th, Mom!
Love you~ Alison


Old 1950's diner stool
(to be recovered soon!)