Under The Red Roof: My Kind of Treasure

November 12, 2007

My Kind of Treasure

The four of us Brian, Luke, Jackson and me went on my kind of treasure hunt Saturday. They all pretty much enjoy treasure hunting just like all of us do, however, pink doesn't tend to turn their heads like it does ours! I found a few things that thrilled me to death. First, is this large roll paper holder. One of our old neighbors (from the neighborhood I grew up in) has had an antique mall/flea market for years and years. I always buy my packing paper from her because she sells it to me for $3 or $4 per roll. Can't beat that and she's got rolls of it stuffed all over the place. I have a small vintage paper holder, but I'm close to running out of paper for it so I've wished for one of these large ones! I found it Saturday and it has the bonus feature of housing vintage Christmas wrapping paper which I really like. It should last me several years. I ALWAYS wrap every present in the same paper and this paper suits me. After Christmas, I'll take the wrapping paper off, pack it away, and insert a roll of packing paper which is also vintage BTW, so not only do I make all my stuff from vintage items, I also pack with vintage paper!!!! No wonder my studio smells like old people.

This next picture just shows some cool stuff. There is no way of knowing what the little plastic ribbons were for. The guy had gobs of them. He couldn't remember where he got them. Just a cool little slice of Americana. This particular shop was full of these types of treasures. Two men, who are now retired, have been collecting all their lives. Closeouts, estate sales, etc. A collection of two lifetimes. Fascinating and more like a museum than an antique store. The dice are from two Las Vegas casinos; the Horseshoe and the Stardust. The Stardust is, of course, gone. I like the Stardust dice because they've been used. I hope you can see the chipped edges. I like thinking of all the people who rolled those dice all those many years ago. So cool. William would be telling me to wash my hands after handling them.

This next photo shows an old pica pole. Most of you are saying, "what the heck is a pica pole." Well, I was in the advertising/graphic design industry many years before a Mac or PC existed. I'm not even that old (45) it just shows how much the industry has changed over the past 25 years. We ordered copy for the ads we designed from companies who did nothing but typesetting. We used Gonders (owned by Susan Gonders). All photos had to be blocked out when pasted up with stuff called Rubylith. It was dark red which is the same as black in the reproduction business. So, an ad with a photo and copy would be pasted up with Rubylith where the photo would be inserted (or "knocked out") by a guy who specialized in camera work. We used Milford Light for that. He was a genius with the camera. BTW, he had a son named Flash. Not kidding. He would make the negative or negatives depending on whether the ad was color or black and white. It's the negative we sent to the magazine or newspaper. We often used positives for newspaper ads because it was not always necessary to have such high quality for a newspaper. All that to tell you we did not measure by inches back then. We measured by picas and agates (or points). ALWAYS. It was unknown, in the newspaper industry, to use any other measurement besides columns and points. It's probably still like that. I don't know. I still use my beloved pica pole from the 80s. It's never far from my hand. Mine has inches on the flip side so it's moved with me to my new art. This pica pole, made of heavy brass, probably dates to the 20s or 30s. Cool.

This next one takes me straight to my mom and dad. As many of you know, my dad was an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman. He had quite an accomplished life. He and his partner, Gene Frusher, were sent to the New York City Police Academy for a year of training in order to come back to Oklahoma and begin the Patrol's first Scuba Diving Rescue Squad. That was in the early 60s. My dad was a rescue diver for 10 years. Many awesome dead body stories to tell. I'll share some another time. They are GREAT! After the diving years, he became a pilot for the OHP. He was Governor Dewey Bartlett's personal pilot. I've got a great emergency landing story I'll tell sometime too. When he retired, he was a Major and the head of the Aircraft Division. Oh, he became a pilot during WWII. Actually, it was military training after the war (because he intended to be career military). He was a bombardier during the war. ALL that to tell you that the center of this brooch looks just like the center of an Oklahoma Highway Patrol badge. Except the badge is black and gold rather than blue and gold. The highway patrol was such a huge part of our lives. All our friends were troopers' families. It was a great community of incredibly strong and dedicated men and women. Being the wife of a trooper, especially one like my dad who was often in harm's way, takes a poise and strength of character to which my mother easily rose. She was amazing and I NEVER spent one second of my childhood fearing for my father's life. Even when he was gone for over a month when there was a major riot at our state penitentiary. We lost several troopers in that ordeal. My mother was the picture of calm. I had no idea my dad was in danger. None at all. She was awesome. I'm about to cry now so I'll stop.

Posted at 05:09 PM | Permalink

Comments

Mildred, Mildred, Mildred...beautiful stories. I just love to hear the stories you tell of your childhood. Please, oh please, tell the dead body story about the cocky guy with your Dad. I just love that one.

Down to business. You are no longer allowed to give me any grief about my, "mammoth" posts--EVER! You are now in my league, congratulations on your first mammoth post!

Now, go wash your hands. you should wash your hands after such excursions. Must I go over the hand washing rules everytime!

Posted by: William | November 12, 2007 at 05:26 PM

What cool finds & great stories. I love the dice from the stardust. WAY COOL! Had to laugh about washing your hands :)
Nerissa

Posted by: nerissa | November 12, 2007 at 05:48 PM

What a post - so many goodies from the hunt.
Alison

Posted by: Alison Gibbs | November 12, 2007 at 05:51 PM

Such interesting goodies you have Donna! What a fabulous story of your Dad. An admirable man for sure and what accomplishments he had! Now I understand the picture of the lady with the shotgun at that top of your blog..hehe!

My Dad was also a policeman... there is a definate pride that one feels to know that their Father believed so strongly in upholding the law. Also... he was (is) one protective Daddy! lol

Posted by: Heather ~ Pretty Petals | November 12, 2007 at 06:19 PM

Donna I love hearing your stories! You are a wealth of information and can't wait to hear about your dad's 'dead body' and emergency landing stories!

Posted by: Natasha Burns | November 13, 2007 at 02:57 AM

Donna- Loved your post. My husband is a police officer and in the airforce. He dreams of getting his pilots license and is obsessed with any aircraft. He has worked on a project for years to get a helicopter at his agency.
My husband would have been attached to your Dad's hip, if they had met.
Bristol

Posted by: Bristol @ Cottage by the River | November 13, 2007 at 06:04 AM

Wow, you have so many fantastic stories of your family. I grew up with a Mom who was in advertising and remember well the rolls of rubylith and pica poles. I even learned to cut rubylith and work the process camera. I think my Mom would still be using it if I hadn't forced a computer into her hands. LOL What fun memories and even better treasures!

Posted by: heather | November 13, 2007 at 09:12 AM

What beautiful stories your treasures divulge!
Can't wait to see what you will create Donna!

Posted by: rochambeau | November 13, 2007 at 04:09 PM

Looks like a wonderful selection of goodies!!! Bet you will be making some really amazing things!!!

Posted by: Barbara | November 13, 2007 at 05:03 PM

no pica pole here but i do still have two pica and elite rulers :-) i am a cool kid too :-) (i remember rubylith but my favorite thing was the waxer for pasting up stuff - gosh i wonder if anyone still uses a waxe anymore - ahhhhh the fun these kids miss using computers dontcha think?!?)
i love that brooch and you know i love the stories - tell some more please... but wash your hands first before Will has a cow :-)

Posted by: Tracy | November 13, 2007 at 05:20 PM

Oh my! I LOVE your blog---you inspire, you make me laugh and you bring tears to my eyes all at the same time!!

Posted by: Susan | November 14, 2007 at 11:55 AM