Antiques and Collectibles Show Finds

Last weekend, on a whim, we decided to stop by the Clark County Antique and Collectibles Show in Vancouver WA.  It's one of the largest antique shows in the country, with over 400 booths of vintage treasures.  They do it right, too, because it didn't smell stuffy and old like I had predicted.  Well done there!

We are anything but professional antiquers...if that is even a word.  We know very little about the value of antique/vintage items but we are very certain of what we think is beautiful...and that's all that really matters, right?   After being wonderfully overwhelmed by so many amazing things, from paintings to light fixtures, dishes to jewelry, and furniture to textiles, we each settled on our one must have items.  For me, I literally swooped in and swiped this blanket out of the hands of two other couples who were slowly "contemplating" the purchase.  They were standing several feet away from it, considering the move to further investigate and I was down-right certain it was mine...

Some of you with a keen antique eye may do a double-take because it looks so much like a (very expensive) Hudson's Bay Point Blanket - wool blankets which have been made in England since the 18th century and were a luxury item for fur traders who needed blankets that were warm even when wet.  No, this is not a Hudson's Bay blanket which are sold for upwards of $250-$350 today (see below).

My find is a wool blanket made by Jack Frost Wool Blankets (now called Utah Woolen Mills) circa 1930s.  It was modeled after the Hudson's Bay blanket and is near identical in weight, quality, and appearance, but you'll see that it has 5 small squares/boxes on it (see top pic), distinguishing it from a Hudson's Bay blanket's 4 small blue lines (see above pic).  The part I love - the bold stripes - are identical in width and color for both brands.  You know you want to know how much I paid...only $25.  I looked it up on Ebay when I got home and you can get a worn Jack Frost blanket for $45-$60 but I still feel like I found a diamond in the rough because mine is in excellent condition with no stains or holes.  Best part, is it looks just like a highly sought-after Hudson's Bay wool blanket in design, but I won't worry about actually using it (as all blankets should be...).  Right now it's setting on my couch because I love those stripes!

Enough about my find...here is my husband's cool find.  A 1938 RCA 96T radio that has been completely refurbished with original components to play myriad AM stations (hot requirement there), but it also has a port for us to plug in our iPhones so we can use it as a speaker to play our music!

We love the way it melds today with yesterday, modern with vintage, new-fangled with classic.  It sounds amazing...it has that old-time deep and calming sound.  We downloaded some early Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong and that's all we've been playing on it because it just seems wrong to jam to Jay-Z and Lincoln Park on it.  I've already said that I now know why people didn't have blood-pressure problems back in the day...it's because they listened to beautiful and calming music.  What a find!  We originally thought it would go in our bedroom, but once we got it home we knew we had to put it in the living room where we could enjoy its looks and its sound.  So, we made room for it on our bookshelf...

To finish off the post, let's get our history on with some events and facts from 1938:
- German troops invade Austria
- Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) established
- Howard Hughes sets new around the world record - 3 days, 19 hours
- Honeymoon Bridge across Niagara Falls collapsed
- Oil discovered in Saudi Arabia
- Gasoline costs 10 cents per gallon
- Average cost of new home is $3,900
- Average cost of new car is $763
(from thepeoplehistory.com)

A blanket and radio from the 1930s.  Who knew that's the decade we'd fall for at the Clark County Antiques and Collectibles Show!  -Kristen