Old Summit Antique Show ~ Part 1

{Nice combo of letters and images ~ clever way to fit 4 letters on one block!}

A few weekends ago I went to the Old Summit Antique Show ~ since it seemed like eons had passed since I had gone to a show, I ended up buying quite a few things and also taking lots of photos. A friend of mine who is a dealer allowed me to take photos of the wonderful collection of block sets he was selling ~ these are all from his personal collection he has decided to part with. Just take a look, such beautiful and unique sets ~ some of which I had never seen before. I love the gorgeous graphics of the typography and the packaging ~ rarely do you see sets like this in such great condition. Which is your favorite?

{A gem of a set ~ these were rather small, the whole box was about 4" x 6"}

{Hill's Spelling Blocks}

{Hill's Spelling Blocks ~ inside}

{Built in advertisement}

{Love the simplicity of the graphic letter forms}

{Naughty!!! Guess they didn't have copy editors back then!}

{My favorite ~ Beasts & Birds Rolling Toys}

{Round blocks with lovely letters!}

{Description and list of contents}

{lovely engravings as well}

Antiques on the Common Spring 2010 ~ #3

Finally, the third installment of this spring's Antiques on the Common ~ this one features the two items I purchased ~ a gorgeous old ledger book (1862) and an ancient German children's book(1894)! This is the kind of purchase my brother would just shake his head and ask me what was I thinking? Why would anyone want battered old books like these? Well, for one thing, I just love the covers ~ worn and torn, but wonderful patterns and color ~ great for scanning and using in a future art project . . . . then, when I saw the inside pages ~ these were both going home with me! The alphabet index in the ledger sold me in a second!

{spread from the children's book}

{irresistible alphabet index}

{lovely columns and rows of beautifully handwritten lists}

The pages in the ledger book are actually light blue ~ that seemed odd to me, but I was told that light blue paper was quite common ~ it's the first I've seen though. Don't you just love the neat and tidy look of a list? ~ I love things all lined up and orderly!