Rednesday: Fall Colors

Last fall I was able to take my vacation in beautiful and historic Virginia. I went in October when the fall colors were in 'full bloom'. Being a California girl I was so happy to experience the beauty of the changing season. This first photo was taken on my tour of "The Wilderness" battleground.

The next two photographs I took on the grounds of James Monroe's Oak Hill mansion and plantation in Leesburg, VA.

Photographs © 2010 by Reprise Vintage

I'm sharing this post for Rednesday which is hosted by Sue Loves Cherries. Drop over to see the other wonderful posts.

I can't wait to go back to Virginia again!  Do you live in an area where you get to experience a fall full of wonderful colors?

TV Tuesdays: 1964 Opening to "Walt Disney's The Wonderful World of Color"

I remember how excited we were to watch "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" each week. It made Sunday nights so special when I was growing up. Watching this gives me those warm fuzzy nostalgic feelings!



What TV show do you remember from your childhood that gives you those same nostalgic feelings?

Serenity Sundays: Water Lily

Photograph © 2010 by Reprise Vintage

Save the Date Water Lily by grnidlady

Reprise Loves: Grandmother's Bracelet

Photograph © 2010 by Reprise Vintage

Thrifty Thursday: Thrift Store Finds

I am off on Mondays so I like to hit the thrift stores with my sweetie. Here is what I found this past Monday.



I found three of these beautiful made in Bavaria handpainted and artist signed porcelain plates. I wasn't sure that I wanted to buy all three but when I got home and researched the mark I am sure glad that I got all three.



I love pottery, especially handmade pottery in blues and browns. I feel like I am rescuing a little piece of Americana when I bring home these gems. Yes, just like the boys from the "American Pickers" TV show!



Yee Haw! I love this 1950s era Tourist trade piece! It goes right along with my other western themed items.




I love books, especially old children's books. The Abe Lincoln book is from 1956. The "Pu Der Bar" is from the 1970s but I just had to have it because it is a German language verson of "Winnie the Pooh".

I'm adding this post to Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday. Join the fun!

Vintage Thingy Thursday: Vintage Montage

Photograph © 2010 by Reprise Vintage

For Vintage Thingy Thursday I thought I would have a little fun using some of my favorite vintage items. I created this montage highlighting a photograph of my Grandfather and his siblings. My grandfather is the youngest one in the chair sitting next to his sister. I love this photograph! My grandfather was a 'toe head' when he was young. In latter life his hair turned almost black. The antique book belonged to my sweetie's Great-Grandmother. The little angel is part of an antique postcard. The old pocketwatch I bought on Etsy. I love old coins! I've included some Indian Head pennies and two Walking Liberty quarters. These old keys came from a friend whose Grandfather owned a key machine. Hope you enjoy this vintage montage of some of my favorite things.

Rednesday: Bel Air

Photograph © 2010 by Reprise Vintage

Thought I would get in on Sue Loves Cherries Rednesday fun by sharing one of my true loves...classic cars!

I am so lucky that in my town during the summer months we have a weekly hot rod show. While many women go crazy over diamonds or chocolate, hot cars make me drool!

Wordless Wednesdays: Golden Hug

Photograph © 2010 by Reprise Vintage

Golden Hug by grnidlady

Reprise Loves: Old Bottles

Photograph © 2010 by Reprise Vintage

I love old bottles! I especially love my collection of old bottles becauses I dug most of them up myself. No, I didn't go digging around in a thrift or antique store for them, though I do scoop up any old bottle I find in one of those too. I literally dug these up from the ground. Treasure hunting in old dumps (mainly old farms and homesteads) can yield beauties like these! While many broken bottles are found, the occasional intact bottle makes all the hunting worth it.

What do you love and are always on the hunt for?

Music Mondays: Richard Harris MacArthur Park

This song always takes me back to the 1960s and spending time in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Serenity Sundays: Sunset Pier

Photograph © 2010 by Reprise Vintage


Perhaps, after all, our best thoughts come when we are alone. It is good to listen, not to voices but to the wind blowing, to the brook running cool over polished stones, to bees drowsy with the weight of pollen. If we attend to the music of the earth, we reach serenity. And then, in some unexplained way, we share it with others.
-Gladys Taber

Sunset Pier Bookplate by grnidlady

Reprise Loves: Dr Pepper

I'm a Pepper, as are most of my family members. My sweetie brought me home a 12 pack of Dr Pepper made with REAL sugar. Yummy! If that doesn't bring back memories of my childhood, I don't know what else will.

This is an old Dr Pepper advertisment from 1927. Dr Pepper was created in Waco, Texas in 1885 and, as such, is the oldest major soft drink brand in America. It is only natural that my family that has roots in Texas would be such a big fan of this soft drink. Happy 125 Birthday Dr Pepper! Are you a Pepper too?

Saucy Saturdays: Suntan Lotion

Vintage 1955 advertisement for Titan Suntan Lotion. Enjoy your Saturday and remember to wear suntan lotion so you don't get burned!

1950s Beach Dudes by grnidlady

Forgotten Fridays: Typewriters

I am old enough to not only remember typewriters but to have actually used them in school and at work. I even took a typing class in High School and was bummed because I got a C. Many school reports and letters were composed on a typewriter. My favorite typewriter was my early 1970s Underwood student portable with cover. I won it in a magazine subscription selling contest. In those days, mistakes were not as easy to remedy as the ease of typing on a computer keyboard today.

Here is a retro style business card that I designed that is in my Reprise Vintage shop.

Retro Secretary by grnidlady

Wordless Wednesdays

I took this photograph of one of my vintage Raggedy Ann dolls by pointing my 35mm camera through the view finder of an old brownie camera. That is what gives it a rustic vintage look.

Digging For Roots

I have always loved history but even more so after I began working on my family genealogy. My Grandmother and Great-Grandmother shared many family stories with me and got me started on our family genealogy. Several years ago I took what they had given me and started digging deeper. With the addition of the internet I have been able to find out so much more about my family roots. I thought I would share some of my favorite websites with those of you who would like to know more about your own family roots.

I start with a word of caution. Just because something is on the internet, it does not make it true. You might be saying 'duh' but I think one of the most important rules of genealogy is to get facts from the original sources. Don't just copy some tree somebody has posted on the web especially if it isn't backed up by realiable sources. If you find what you think is part of your family tree on the web make sure that it can be backed up with census records, marriage records, birth records, death certificates and other original records. It can save you a lot of time and frustration. Plus, I find the hunt for those original records part of the fun of genealogy anyway.

You don't have to spend lots of money to find original records either. Most of my favorite sites are free. Family Search is a great site with birth records, marriage records, death records, and census records. Another great site is the USGenWeb Project where each state and county in that state has it's own website with lots of free records. Find a Grave has photographs and information from gravesites around the country. Rootsweb is a place where you can find lots of family trees posted. Like I said earlier use caution if they don't site their sources.

Another fun way to explore your family genealogy is by including other family members. Geni is a site where you can post your family tree and invite other family members to work together to help 'grow your family tree'. It allows you to keep your tree private so you can protect your information too. When I first started working on my family tree it was all on paper. Soon all the paper files and boxes were making it hard to be keep it all organized, let alone work on it. Now that my family tree is online it is much easier to work on and to add the items that I find on the web.

Finding more about my family roots has helped me to understand more about where I came from and has given me a deep and heartfelt appreciation to all that those ancestors who came before me. In a way, genealogy has made history become more personal and alive for me. Genealogy is like a treasure hunt, sometimes frustrating, but always rewarding. If you have any favorite genealogy sites please feel free to share them. Happy researching!

Penny & Me circa 1964

I don't have time for a long post today but thought I would continue on my vintage Penny Brite theme by sharing this photograph of me with my Penny Brite doll. I believe this photo was taken on a Easter Sunday in 1964 since I am wearing my "Easter bonnet". The dress I am wearing was made by my Grandmother, as was most of my childhood clothing. The dress Penny is wearing is something my Grandmother or Great-Grandmother probably made too. I loved taking this trip back to the 1960s and hope you enjoy it too.

The Best Dressed Doll

Yesterday I introduced you to the 1960s era doll Penny Brite. Today I would like to share with you some of her wonderful outfits.

Here are two of Penny Brite's boxed outfits made by De Luxe Reading/Topper Toys. The first one is called "Anchor's Aweigh". The second one is not pictured in the Penny Brite booklet or on the back of the boxed outfits. It is called "Sweet Violet".
These carded outfits were also made by De Luxe Reading/Topper Toys. They were a less expensive alternative to the boxed outfits. Notice that they do not include complete outfits or all the accessories that were included in the boxed outfits. You can also see that even though two of them have the same dress, they do not have all the same pieces included. I believe that they were also a way to get rid of excess stock.






These two carded outfits were made by Premiere. On the front of each is a tag that says they are for Penny.




The first boxed outfit shown below is marked "Small Fry Creations" and was made by Ardee. On the lid it says that it will fit Penny Brite and similar 8" dolls. An interesting thing to note about this boxed outfit is that the outside of the box is decorated in the same star pattern found on the De Luxe Reading/Topper Toys boxed Penny Brite outfits. Totsy also made clothes that would fit Penny Brite. The girl on the box is holding a sign that says that the clothes will fit Penny Brite, Pepper and other 8-9" dolls.



The first NRFB outfit below was made by Princess Grace Doll, Inc. It says wardrobe for "Terri-Jo" and that it fits any 8" slim doll including Penny Brite. Again you will notice that they used the a star design on the packaging. The other NRFB outfit was made by "M. & S. Shillman". The tag on it says that it was made to fit all 8" dolls, including Penny Brite, etc. If you know of any other companies that made clothing for Penny Brite please let me know.




Penny Brite was available in other countries too! Both of these outfits are named "Smart Shopper". The one on the left is identical to the "Smart Shopper" outfit available in the USA. However, the box for this outfit is marked "Deluxe Reading Canada Limited, 1964 Toronto, Canada". I bought this from someone living in Canada.



The "Smart Shopper" outfit on the right is made out of a totally different material than the USA or Canadian versions. The box is marked "Made in Portugal for De Luxe Toys, Division of De Luxe - Topper Ltd., Hayes, Middlesex - England". The packaging on this outfit is different too. The outfit is taped onto a cardboard backing and the backing is sealed inside a cellophane bag. The outside of the box also has a coating over the cardboard. On the back of the box the picture of Penny's "Flower Girl" outfit has the word "Withdrawn" across it. The front of the booklet says "Distributed exclusively for De Luxe Toys" then below that it says, "Division of De Luxe - Topper Ltd. Hayes, Middlesex". Inside the booklet it pictures the 6 outfits that are in the USA booklet except that the word "Withdrawn" is printed across the "Flower Girl" outfit. It only shows 2 of the Penny Brite playsets, the "School Room" and "Beauty Parlor". This NRFB outfit was also purchased from someone in Canada.

Here is another example of a NRFB Penny Brite outfit made in Portugal for De Luxe Toys, Division of De Luxe - Topper LTD., Hayes, Middlesex - England. The sticker on the box reads #1724 Picnic Treat. As you can see the fabric for the scarf and the hanky is different than the US version of "Picnic Treat". The jeans on this version are also made out of a thinner material and trimmed in white stitching.



I hope you enjoyed my little nostalgiac trip into the wonderful world of Penny Brite. I will be sharing more about her wonderful playsets in another post.

Penny's World

Penny Brite was one of the dolls that I played with during my childhood. I remember carrying her around in her little see-thru plastic case, especially when on long car trips. I don't ever remember having any other clothes for her besides her original dress. Nostalgia kicked in a few years ago and I went shopping for those items that every Penny Brite doll deserves. Doesn't Penny have such a sweet little face? Be careful you just might fall in love with her just by looking at these pictures from my personal collection.

Penny Brite in her original plastic case (circa 1964). The carry case doubles as a closet for Penny's clothes when the handle is bent down inside her case.

Here is the cover of the Penny Brite booklet that came attached to the back of her case and inside her boxed outfits.

This is the back of a Penny Brite boxed outfit. It only shows 6 of the 12 boxed outfits that were made for Penny Brite by DeLuxe Reading/Topper Toys. The names of all 12 of the boxed Penny Brite outfits are: "Chit Chat" "Singing in the Rain" "Sun and Fun" "Winter Princess" "Anchors Aweigh" "Flower Girl" "Sweet Violet" "Velvet Princess" "Picnic Treat" "Sunday Best" "Smart Shopper" and "Sheer Delight".

In another post I'll share more of Penny's outfits, playsets and other goodies. What were some of your favorite childhood dolls or toys?

If you love retro like I do be sure to visit my Reprise shop.