Recent charity shop finds

The good thing about spending the summer in a small town full of old people is that there are a lot of charity shops and jumble sales, they often have good stock, don’t overprice and there aren’t a lot of other people looking for the same things as me (which is more likely to happen in a big city).

Teatray and trinket dish – £1 each

One of my other kitchen trays, a plastic one from Tiger, recently broke. This brown floral number is ideal for forcing tea and cake on visitors, Mrs Doyle style. (As soon as I found this picture of her, I realised that my dad actually owns that very same trolley- his has lived in the corner as long as I’ve lived, with a couple of half full bottles of whiskey and brandy on it, and an empty bottle full of 5p coins). I couldn’t find any information about who the artist of the geese print was, there was a “Praesidium” logo on the back, but they seem to have been a big manufacturer of coasters and ashtrays.

Handmade 60s dress – £3.50

This was someone’s home dressmaking project. There is no label, and all the hems and sleeves are hand-stitched. It’s really nicely made, and is fully lined with a gauzy skirt underneath. It fits me well.

It’s funny how the fit of clothes can change so quickly. I seem to have been a total average size in the 60s and 70s. Clothes from that era tend to fit me well. 80s clothes are always too big around the shoulders, which is not an area you can adjust easily. Currently clothes are too tight round the hips and too short in the waist for me.

The yellow striped fabric reminds me of the sets from The Prisoner. I’ll see if I can find some sort of No 6 motif or badge perhaps to add to the collar or the chest.

Set of 3 Hornsea Ware kitchen canisters – £7

These pottery kitchen sets from Hornsea were everywhere in the UK in the 60s and 70s. As well as being useful in the kitchen, they’re also very popular for putting plants in, which is what I’ll be doing with mine (the wooden lids also made great coasters). I’ve got lots of cacti and succulents which are outgrowing their original pots. I’ve been slowly collecting attractive pottery pieces from charity shops (including a bigger one of these Hornsea pots in dark brown), and once I have enough, I’ll have a big repotting session of all the plants. I still need to find 4 more pots though.

Dallas stickers – 10p each

Ideal for adding a bit of 80 oilman villainy to zines.

Bert oilcloth travel pass- 50p

This is going in the post to my friend Chella, a native New Yorker/Sesame Streeter (same place). She’s going to use Bert to keep her business cards in, and help her make friends and influence people.