Just over a month ago I took the radio to Antique Radio of Iowa to get my 1939 Zenith radio restored and repaired. I just picked it up last night and they did a great job of polishing the chassis, replacing the burnt-out tubes, swapping out the old paper capacitors with modern ones, adding a fuse, fixing the dial, polishing the glass, and other little details. The radio plays very well now. I just need to get an AM transmitter to broadcast my old shows to it from my computer. Below are before and after pics.

Total spent today: $346.20

I’ve been looking for a mantel clock for a long time now and I finally found one on eBay which met all the preferences: a mechanical humpback style clock in good condition from the right period which worked, chimed, had a pretty face, pretty hands, had a key, had a pendulum, and had the original paper instructions intact.  From what I’ve seen on the market a clock with all of those qualities easily goes for upwards of $200.  This clock has a manufacturing date stamp of December, 1932 so it’s perfect.

Total spent today: $65.48

Jenny and I just got back from vacationing in St. Louis and on the way back we some antique stores, including the River Market Antique Mall in downtown Kansas City where I found a great hat rack for only $25. I’ve been looking for a coat rack for a long time and this one looks just like the style I’ve been researching. It has a broken hook, but I’m sure I can find a replacement.

I’ve also been looking for a fedora for a long time and they’ve been notoriously hard to date since it doesn’t seem like they changed much in the mid-20th century, the hats don’t have much information on them, and I’ve learned the condition of the hat is not a good indicator. In any case, it’s been really hard to find hats that fit, regardless of the age, style, and color. But I found one at this place and it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.

Finally, I got Jenny a lady’s hat which looks to be from about the right time (the tag said 1930’s).

Total spent today: $57

Jenny and I just got back from vacationing in St. Louis and on the way back we hit some antique stores in Missouri. One was Artichoke Annie’s about 11 miles outside of Columbia. This place was not your typical “antique store” which has a lot of junk in it; this place had some good stuff.

We found a couple magazine racks and I couldn’t choose between them so I got them both. The larger one is more practical since I already have a lot of things I could put in there and it has a cool drawer. It’s definitely from the 1930’s from my research.

The other magazine rack we found was smaller, but more the style that you’d expect to see and it’s more decorative. But I’m not super-certain about the decade; I’m following my gut on this one.

Total spent today: $68

Today Jenny and I checked out a new place in Omaha that just opened up called Lucky’s Vintage and the owner, Jeanne, was very cool. There were a lot of really cool things there and it wasn’t the typical “junk store” we usually see.

I finally found a desk chair which has been a priority for awhile. This desk chair is pretty unique; it has the simple look I’ve been looking for, but also there’s a plate on the back that says “Made by Milwaukee Chair Co. especially for Omaha Printing Co. Omaha, Neb.” That’s pretty cool. And the chair is pretty heavy.

It’s really hard to find any info on the Milwaukee Chair Company, but there is a chair here which has was manufactured in 1914 with the exact same style of plate that’s on my chair; except it says “especially for Rucker-Fuller Desk Co. San Francisco, Cal.”

We also picked up a half moon table which looks very similar to this one and other tables I’ve seen from the 1940s.

Total spent today: ~$41

It’s been awhile since Jenny and I went antiquing (I’ve been saving money) so we decided to go out again.

I found a really cool-looking suitcase and the only information I could figure out from it was the locks say The Eagle Lock Company, Terryville, Conn. Googling around, it looks like the Eagle Lock Company was in business and operating under that name between 1854 and either 1954 or 1975. So I don’t know if this is necessarily right for the room, but I’m going to keep researching. It certainly looks like it’s from the right period.

I also picked up 5 issues of The Binghamton Sun from Binghamton, New York. The papers’ list price is three cents and the issues are from June 27, 1940 to February 5, 1941.

Finally, I got an issue of Popular Mechanics from September, 1944 and an issue of Popular Science from September, 1946.

Total spent today: about $62

I *finally* found a sofa and the style is perfectly reminiscent of a Chippendale, giving it an obvious 30’s/40’s look without being way out there. And I love the four feet up front.

This thing is in pretty bad shape: it needs reupholstered, restuffed, and the springs adjusted, but 1. except for a relatively small crack, the frame is intact, 2. this just gives me an excuse to put vertical stripes on it as was common in the day, and 3. it was a STEAL!

Total spent today: $26.75

Last weekend, Jenny and I went to Fairmont Antique and Mercantile which just recently reopened and I picked up a couple board games.

The 25 Game Combination Board is copyright 1939 and has a double-sided board, 2 wooden dice, and a bunch of pellets. Most of the games are simple and unique. Jenny and I played a few and it was pretty fun. One “game” is the Game of Fate where you roll a die 5 times to make a sentence that spells out your fortune. For example, if you rolled 2, 6, 4, 6, 4, your fate would be “You will marry rich, ugly old man.”

The other game is Finance, copyright 1936 and belongs to the complicated Monopoly family tree. For all intents and purposes, you could say it’s a predecessor to Monopoly, but for the full history, check out http://www.worldofmonopoly.com/history.

Total Spent Today: $38.50

I ordered a beautiful MINT condition 1941 wall calendar from ebay and it arrived today. Each month has a print from Currier and Ives.

Total Spent Today: $34.59

My aunt heard about the forties room and sent me some things she had from my mom’s side of the family.

The first is a collection of pin-up girls that my grandpa got while in the army during WWII. My aunt said some of them had some bites taken out by “the mice.” She didn’t specify whether or not these were pet mice.

The second is a set of four ink blotters that belonged to my grandpa’s cousin. Ink blotters, as I found out, were used before the invention of ballpoint pens to remove excess ink on letters; since they used ink wells and fountain pens before the fifties, the ink would bleed and smudge if they weren’t blotted. In the picture below, you can see one of them was used.

Finally, I got a set of 1943 ration books, complete with envelope and instructions, sent to my grandma’s uncle who was a farm laborer in Hamilton County, Illinois and who had never married.