(my new) old thing

 

what: oliver courier typewriter, where: eBay, how much: £10

i had a little hunt online a few weeks ago for this baby after a tip off from my sweet cousin, helen oliver. i had no idea that there was an oliver typewriter company and i had so much fun learning about them.

check out this excerpt from wikipedia:

Thomas Oliver was born in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, on August 1, 1852. Having become interested in religion, Oliver moved to Iowa, after the death of his mother, to serve as a Methodist minister. In 1888, Oliver began to develop his first typewriter, made from strips of tin cans, as a means of producing more legible sermons. He was awarded his first typewriter patent on April 7, 1891. After four years of development, a “crude working model” composed of 500 parts had been produced.

it goes onto talk about how he went to chicago to find investors and sold the company–keeping 65%–to a businessman who began manufacture in chicago. THEN! in 1928 the company was sold to investors in croydon, england and it became the british oliver typewriter company.

i love it! who knows if we are related or not, who cares really, i just love me a good bit of interesting history: a christian dude named oliver had bad handwriting, so instead of simply working on his handwriting, he decides to invent something to write for him–out of tin cans–and ends up having an international company at the turn of the 20th century and changing the way we all process our words.

your sweet macbook would not have the keyboard it does if it weren’t for this guy.

needless to say, i had to have one, so i trawled on eBay during naptime last week and found this little beauty only 20 miles away and managed to get it for £10! it is a ‘courier’ model which (yes i looked it up. remember?!) apparently is one of the models licensed for production in austria.

i am in love. it is vintage. it is a typewriter. it is an ‘oliver’ typewriter. the only thing that could make it better would be if it was blue or yellow or something. but i am good with my vintage olive green colour. it matches my vintage phone.

now, go discover something cool about your (potential) past. it’s super fun…or super nerdy…

happy monday!

sarah

(my new) old thing

i think i can finally call this a vintage thermos collection now, thanks to this beautiful new orange patterned thermos i found today. it was hiding in what is now officially my new favourite shop in bedford, rose tinted vintage. it is a treasure trove of vintage homewares, clothing and accessories. i left behind a gorgeous camel-brown corduroy men’s jacket, 1950’s little girls pinafore and sadly, a wooden-handled 60’s clutch bag. for another day! this thrifting momma is on a budget.

(i actually officially bought this thermos out of the kid’s activities budget… trust me, the justification for this is humorously far-fetched.)

i look forward to many more thrifting adventures there in the weeks and months to come! yay!

what: vintage thermos
where: rose tinted vintage bedford
cost: £8

(my new) old thing

this week features my new fabulous vintage clutch! my fav things about it are: 1) it is big enough to fit 1 nappy and a half-used pack of wipes (not so bulky!) whilst still looking chick, sleek and non-mom-bag-like, 2) it has three thin sections for organising! and 3) come on, look at it, it’s gorgeous!

it’s also the perfect place to put my ‘we are bedford’ badge (button to us yanks!). if you live in bedford and don’t know about these ladies you are missing out! they are helping creating a buzz about bedford and networking local businesses and creative types.

what an inspiring idea. love where you are, see the good and invest in making it better!

what: vintage leather clutch, where: eBay, how much: £12.50

(my new) old thing

it’s been ages since my last vintage find post. more from lack of organisation than lack of finds–and purchases (i’m obsessed). but this sweet gift from a lovely friend is a great way to relaunch this blog feature!

item: vintage egg beater
found: car boot sale, uk
cost: 50p

my new (old thing)

i have been looking for a piano on eBay for months, six to be exact. but nothing was coming up that worked for us. this is probably because i was working with a budget of £25… hey, a girl can dream!!

and i did. and six months later, due to a superbly crap photo on the part of the seller, i got what i was hoping for. a sweet piano for-get this!-£12.50. holla!!!

bonus, because said picture was so bad, i thought i was going to have to paint it for it to be acceptable decor-wise. turns out it is not only fine, it perfectly matches my new (old) vintage sofa. score.

my new (old thing)

i already had a sugar container, but this vintage one was so much more fun, so i bought it, for £2. i love a good vintage deal!

my new (old thing)

so, i hate margarine. it’s true. it’s gross and fake. and butter is so darn good. there really is no comparison. but one must leave butter out in order to spread it. and if one has a superbly tidy husband, one is prevented from leaving butter out…

so then, one would have a perfect excuse to hunt out a fantastically adorable, vintage butter dish, now wouldn’t one?!

one man’s trash is another man’s treasure

(super cute print by ashley g)

i am well aware that (my new) old thing did not happen this past sunday!! apologies, apologies. truth be told, i have been so focused on packing and sorting for our upcoming house move that i completely forgot about it.

i have actually been doing the ‘other side’ of thrifting the past few weeks. to date, i think we have given over 5 bags of clothes and housewares to charity shops throughout bedford. today, i am going to take a car load of old papers and bits and bobs to the recycling centre and then, this weekend, i will drop even more unwanted housewares at emmaus village in carlton.

(digression: emmaus village is freaking awesome. i love it there. they are a homeless charity offering active support to formerly homeless people by providing real workable alternatives to homelessness. to read more about them click here!)

the sorting is so unbelievably cathartic. there was so much stuff in my house that i either did not use, did not fit, or i did not want anymore. it’s so funny isn’t it? in our consumer culture, we amass all this stuff. and then we get rid of it a few weeks, months, years later. usually because it isn’t ‘cool’ or ‘in’ anymore, or we just got bored with it.

it can be incredibly wasteful but (and this may be controversial) i do not think that i can live completely counter-cultural. it is not practical. i live here, i must contribute in some way and i will not be able to relate to any of my friends/neighbors if i don’t.

however, i had a great idea, that was spawned off of my love for old finds. i might not be able to live completely counter-consumer culture. but i can consume responsibly and respectfully! like, instead of just throwing  out all my old stuff that i don’t want anymore. i can freecycle it, or ebay it, or give it to a charity shop. this is not careless, it is reusing, usually benefitting the people in your area, or a worthy charity. it takes a bit more time and organisation, but the benefits are worth it! likewise, when we want new things, instead of just going to the shop and buying it new, why not check on ebay, freecycle or the charity shop first? again, it takes a bit more time and organisation, but we will be reusing, instead of creating more demand for production AND it’s usually a lot cheaper!

check out one of my favourite blogs, great smitten, for some fab ideas on how to get started with the art of ‘thrifting’!

another idea i had, that i want to teach my kids, is that i do not want to just amass a lot of stuff. fair enough, if i want a new dress, and i can afford it, great. but i probably have lots of great dresses already. so i am bringing in a ‘one in, one out’ policy for myself and the kids. if we want a new toy or new item of clothing, that is fine. it is one of the benefits of our culture. but out of respect for the rest of the world, who doesn’t have that luxury, and to not be wasteful, we will get rid of one thing too. i don’t know about you, but that feels awesome to me. i am not living with a mentality that all consumption is bad, because it’s not. but i am also not being careless and unaware of the rest of the world and the effect that consumption/production has on the environment.

i go to emmaus village and other charity/thrift stores all the time and find ‘treasures’ that i find fun enough to blog about. but someone threw them out. i would love to spur on a movement of people who realise that their trash might be material for someone else’s blog post. we can reduce landfills and support charities like emmaus village that are doing a world of good.

my new (old thing)

ok. this is exciting. my new (old thing) this week is…

our new house!!!

no. 10 the green, is a 3-bedroom, detached cottage on 1/3 acre of land in a small village just outside of bedford, called bromham. it is such a huge gift from god. for those of you who know and love our small terraced house, you will understand what a fantastic blessing of space this is for our little growing family. i would love to go into the whole story right now (its such a good one!), but i actually need to pack some boxes before this evening.

i will, i promise, tell the whole story sometime this week!!!

until then, rejoice with us in god’s extravagant provision, and pray that i can get all the packing done before moving day!!

i. am. so. excited.

my new (old thing)

i am seriously stoked about this weeks find!!! unfortunately, i can’t claim it as my own discovery. a friend of mine found it, get this, at the tip!!!! that’s the dump to us yanks, by the way.

who would throw this out i will never know.

it’s a fifth edition, hand-painted copy of the pilgrims progress by john bunyan.

no, i won’t shutup!!! what a find!! check out the inscription.

first of all, 1892? this book is 120 years old. i have no words…

second, we should all take penmanship again. it is a lost art. beautiful.

and, the last photo is for fun. a shout out to all the bedford gang! john bunyan was born about a mile from my house, and was imprisoned for sticking with his faith 2-minutes walk from my local coffee shop.

who says bedford isn’t a rockin’ place to live?!