The Funky Touch – Delray Beach, Florida

The other day while just driving around Delray Beach, I found a new little shop called The Funky Touch. This is the  perfect place to find that one of a kind conversation piece. Their collections includes: Modern, Mid-Century, Antiques, Vintage, Retro, Lamps, Art & more.

The shop is located at 1550/1 North Federal Highway Delray Beach, Florida  33483 – Phone # 202-460-7722

Spotted this Vintage Suitcase for only $5.00

I chatted with the owner, Elizabeth Lammersdorf, she is a fellow picker and has a great eye for vintage and mid-century. She just moved to the area from Washington, DC to be closer to her mother. Her other business is called Betty’s Nest, which is  a professional organizing company.

I would say this shop is worth a look. She gets new items every week.

Olde Harmony Antiques – Moultrie, Georgia

I stumbled upon a charming antique shop today in Moultrie, GA at 15 Second Avenue, S.E.

Upon entering the shop I met Charlie & Lynda Belk, a little couple in their 70’s. Lynda told me the shop has been there over 36 years and they just open it up when they want to. Her husband Charlie used a cane and was adorable. He followed me around the shop, watching every move I made. Every time I looked back there he was, I found it very comical.  I love shopping in the South, you never know the characters you gonna meet along the way.

The shop is full of lots of glasswear, antiques and unusual items. Wow! It was hot and I could only stay inside their quaint shop for about 15 minutes due to the heat index and lack of air conditioning.

Here are the top picks of the day

ACME EGG SLICER

Estimated Resale Value $15.00

1960’s ENAMEL FLOWER PIN

Estimated Resale Value $8.00

Tops Picks – Day 213

I back on the hunt, after a taking a little break to Florida. I went back to my hometown of Delray Beach to do some renovations on my little cottage downtown. I am actually converting it back to a residential home and my mother and I will be living there.

Today was Goodwill Monday. We went to three stores in Thomasville, GA and Tallahassee, Florida. A large thunderstorm tried to ruin our day, but we were champs and took our shoes off, put a goodwill shopping bag on our heads and ran for the front door.

Here are the top picks of the day.

1960’s DAY DRESS (NO LABEL)

Estimated Resale Value $45.00

FRANKOMA MUG

Estimated Resale Value $30.00

Background on FRANKOMA POTTERY

Distinctive Earthenware a Legacy of Oklahoma’s First Pottery

Affordable dinnerware and serving pieces, mugs, novelties, memorial figures, Route 66 items, commemoratives, souvenirs–Frankoma Pottery has served the needs of everyday life since it’s beginnings in Norman, Oklahoma in 1933.This practical earthenware, known for its terra cotta look and colorful glazing, has gradually taken its place in the realm of serious collectibles.

John Nathaniel Frank, a graduate of the Chicago Art Institute and a ceramics professor at the University of Oklahoma, established the then-called Frank Potteries in a small studio in his home in Norman. His studio was equipped with only one small kiln, a butter churn for mixing the clay, a fruit jar for grinding glazes and a few other tools. Using light cream-colored clay discovered in the Arbuckle Mountains near Ada in southern Oklahoma, he began selling his pottery on a part-time basis.

After some initial success with the pottery, he resigned his post at the university in 1936 and renamed the business Frankoma Potteries, a combination of his last name and the last three letters of Oklahoma. At the time, it was the only commercial pottery being produced in Oklahoma. Along with his wife Grace Lee, he worked full time in his Norman studio experimenting with glazes and creating vases, decorative pieces and sculptures.

In 1938 they moved the entire operation to Sapulpa, Oklahoma but continued to haul clay from Ada, which required a three-day trip. The plant, then named Frankoma Pottery, was constructed in the hills in the northwest area of Sapulpa and is still in the same location today.

The cream-colored raw “Ada” clay remained the basis of the pottery until Frank discovered that the clay in Sugar Loaf Hill near Supulpa worked well for his pieces. In the mid-fifties the company switched to the red-brick colored Sapulpa firing clay which gave the pottery a unique look of older terra cotta. Due to the color changes of the clay the final coloring and vivid glazes of his pieces also changed.

Most Frankoma glazes have names relating to nature. Native American and Western-inspired Frankoma Pottery is most recognizable in the colors of Prairie Green and Desert Gold. Other glazes include: Sky Blue, Autumn Yellow, Black, Brown Satin, Flame, Redbud, Peach Glow, Robin Egg Blue, White Sand, and Woodland Moss. Frank experimented with formulas for his glazes using rutile, a mineral containing titanium dioxide, which allows the color of the clay to partially show through the glaze.

The early wares, especially those made with Ada clay and marked with a “pacing leopard” (1936-38), are highly sought by collectors. The limited editions and all wares with a Southwestern theme are becoming increasingly popular. Also collectible are the political mugs, bicentennial plates, ceramic Christmas cards, Teenagers of the Bible plates, and the Wildlife series. Frankoma has enjoyed increased publicity from exposure on various television shows, by Martha Stewart’s personal collection, in antique and collectible malls throughout the United States and on online auctions.The pottery is still affordable and is both visually pleasing and functional.

Frank died in 1973 and the Frank family is no longer associated with the business. After two fires and a bankruptcy, the plant was purchased by a Maryland investor in the early 1990’s who ran the operation for fifteen years.

Frankoma Pottery closed and shut down its operation on December 31, 2004. Although as a collectible, Frankoma Pottery is always in demand, the plant struggled in recent years to increase sales of its new products and was unable to remain profitable.

M.B. “Det” Merryman and his wife, Crystal, bought Frankoma in June, 2005. The sale included all designs, trademarks, inventory, the manufacturing facility located on more than seven acres, and the offsite property that supplies the raw terra cotta clay. By mid-August, 2005, the plant was again producing pottery.

Besides reviving the well-known classic Frankoma Pottery patterns that were established in 1933, the plant now produces a line of Merryman’s  whimsical, oversized ceramic dogs called The Merrymac Collection. This collection has regularly been featured on the television show “The Price Is Right”, and sold in gift, furniture, and specialty stores around the country. They also will soon introduce a new line of hand-crafted and hand-painted whimsical pet canisters and cookie jars.

One priority in development is a new collection of Frankoma dinnerware based on a pattern that John Frank designed over 50 years ago. It will appear on a plate that is decidedly different with a deeper well that could be used as a pasta dish or a soup bowl. The new dinnerware will feature a hand-dripped paint design that will resemble raindrops and will be called Rain.

Frankoma Pottery has issued a 2005 Christmas plate and three new Nativity pieces. As in years past, the mold for the plate will be destroyed on Dec. 23 to ensure a limited production.This is a 41-year tradition at Frankoma.

The Frankoma Gift Store reopened recently and daily plant tours have resumed.

The Merrymans have purchased a home in Sapulpa and plan to live there at least half time. The other half will be in Las Vegas where they have a permanent showroom for their ceramics. They will add the Frankoma Pottery line to that collection and show Frankoma at various trade shows across the country to further publicize the pottery and introduce it to a new generation. Crystal Merryman is the chairman of Frankoma and Det Merryman the president.

The Frankoma Family Collectors Association meets each September in Sapulpa. There are more than 1,000 association members in 44 states. The nonprofit group is an educational and social organization dedicated to the appreciation, preservation and promotion of Frankoma Pottery as a collectible.

Frankoma Pottery
9549 Frankoma Road
Sapulpa, OK 74066
Phone:   918-224-5511

source : http://reviews.ebay.com/Frankoma-Pottery_W0QQugidZ10000000001665064

1960’s BLEECKER STREET DRESS

Estimated Resale Value $25.00

LARGE LOT OF 15 VINTAGE TEES (1960’s to 1980’s)

Estimated Resale Value $120 (for all)

Tomorrow I will be going to my favorite shop in Moultrie, GA. All you can fit in a bag for $7.00, I can’t wait to show you what I find.

Top Picks – Day 185

Happy 4th of July. I have returned from my little Florida vacation, and back to picking in Thomasville, GA.

Today we hit the goodwill, as it was half off all the clothing. They were open from 9am-5pm. We will be back tomorrow for 25% off senior day.I eyed a bunch of non clothing items to go back and buy. Yes i bring my mom for the discount. 🙂

Here are the top picks of the day.

Vintage Tiki Mugs.

Estimate $20.00 each

Vintage Four Piece Sterilite Canister Set with Lazy Susan.

Estimate $65.00

Background:

Sterilite Corporation was founded in 1939 as a partnership between Saul and Edward Stone and Earl Tupper. Before that time, the Stone brothers were engaged in the manufacturing of wooden heels for women’s shoes. They formed the partnership to produce heels by the infant process of injection molding. The partnership was short-lived, however, because the plastic available then was not sufficiently heat resistant to withstand weight and stress in hot weather.

With the advent of World War II, they began manufacturing personal articles (plastic combs, toothbrush holders etc.) for the Armed Forces and in the years that followed, gained considerable expertise in manufacturing toys, plastic giftware, and a wide range of tabletop products, beverageware and household containers. During the 1960s the company developed a broad line of plastic housewares including innovative new products such as food storage bowls and a first generation storage bin.

In the decades that followed, Sterilite’s growth has been driven by product innovation, product line expansion, and an unyielding commitment to serving the needs of our customers. From a small partnership between two brothers, Sterilite Corporation has become the world’s largest independent manufacturer of plastic housewares.

source: http://www.sterilite.com

1950’s Pink Pottery Large Bowl.

Paid $2.99. Estimate $95.00.

NFS going in our personal collection.

Four Vintage Plastic Fall Wood Plaques

Estimated $20.00

Top Picks – Day 167

I picked over 25 items for $10 bucks. This is a place I go back to once a week. They have two tractor trailers on the side of the property they have not even gone through yet. WOW! I wonder what is inside those trucks. I guess that is why I keep going back.

Just a small selection of my picking today in Moultrie , GA.

Adorable Vintage Kid’s Dress ~ Estimated Value $20.00

Original Snoopy Sweater from 1950’s ~ Estimated Value $99.00

United Feature Syndicate Label

Housewife 1950’s Shirt Dress ~ Estimated Value $45.00

Vintage Lacoste Track Jacket ~ Estimated Value $75.00

Rene Lacoste entered the legend of tennis when he and his team-mates “The Musketeers”, stole the Davis Cup away from the Americans for the first time, in 1927. Not forgetting his 3 French Open victories, his two victories in Great Britain, and his two U.S. Open titles at Forest Hills.

Rene Lacoste was born in France on July 2nd 1904 and died on October 12th 1996. The true story of the “Alligator” begins in 1927. René Lacoste liked to recount how his nickname became an emblem recognized throughout the world.

I was nicknamed “the Alligator” by the American press, after I made a bet with Captain of the French Davis Cup Team concerning a suitcase made from alligator skin. He promised to buy it for me if I won a very important match for out team. The public must have been fond of this nickname which conveyed the tenacity I displayed on the tennis courts, never letting go of my prey!”

So my friend Robert George drew an alligator which I then had embroidered on the blazer I wore on the courts.”

An attentive spectator at René Lacoste’s Davis Cup matches was the winner of the British Women’s golf title, Mademoiselle Simone Thion de la Chaume, who soon became his wife and constant support.

In 1933 Rene Lacoste and André Gillier, the owner and President of the largest French knitwear manufacturing firm of that time, set up a company to manufacture the logo-embroidered shirt. The champion had designed this for his own use on the tennis court, as well as a number of other shirts for tennis, golf, and sailing – as can be seen in the first catalogue, produced in 1933.

To the best of our knowledge, this was the first time that a brand name appeared on the outside of an article of clothing – and idea which has since become extremely successful.

This shirt revolutionized men’s sportswear and replaced the woven fabric, long – sleeved, starched classic shirts. The first Lacoste shirt was white, slightly shorter than its counterparts, had a ribbed collar, short sleeves with ribbed brands and was made of a light knitted fabric called “Jersey petit pique”. It continues to offer the same quality, comfort and solidity on which it built its name and which constitute its uniqueness.

source : http://www.fragrancex.com