Last week I stopped at one of my favorite junk shops up here in the mountains.
It is housed in several big old barns...dimly lit with layers of dust.
Lately there has been more new merchandise than old consignment items which...
... of course is disappointing to someone like me.
I poked around a bit and then decided I would look behind things and in the back of shelves to see if any older things were hidden away.
I hit the jackpot when I bent down to look under an old sideboard and saw two old plastic tubs filled with old wooden and metal stamps.
I brought them up to the counter to ask the price and after remarking that she didn't realize that there were any of "those" still left...
...the owner sold them all to me for a song.
Hundreds of metal signatures on wooden blocks!
My Dad got busy cleaning the dust and grime off of the bottom of the stamps and held a mirror in his lap so he could hold up the stamp and read the reversed name.
My sister Lynn and I recorded the names...
John P. McGuire
Edward J. Kelly
Kenneth L. Ensign
Joseph Spraker
Hazel Reiff
Merritt G. Montpleisir
Richard P. Hayes
Betty Brownell
Harold W. Mathias
Richard Pelham
J. Forrest Brown
Margaret K. Kelly
Alice L. Haynes
Louis A. Devaney
Donald E. Parry
Gilbert T. Edwards
Jean Parkinson
Richie C. McKee
Ward S. Hinkle
Rose Jane Quilesi
Mrs. J. Wayluzo
Kenneth Panjaun
Marjorie E. Marshall
W. H. Rew
Howard Putnam
Eliza May Engelhardt
Melvin E. Kruger
Rev. H. Bangs
...to name a few.
It was a delightful way to spend an afternoon...
We had a lot of fun making up stories of who these people might have been and why they had needed a signature stamp.
We are easily entertained!
The weather has been much cooler here the last few days...
...sweaters and sweatshirts...
...great sleeping weather!
I hope you have a good night and a great day tomorrow!
:)
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44 comments:
What a great find! I love the way the groupings of the stamps look in your photos. Very cool!
WOW!!! What an amazing find! I am soo jealous!
Cute post! I love the stamps and the vanilla bottle is awesome!!
wow,what ever will you do with them or how will you display them? do show them. Bestest,Denise
Hi! These "stamps" are engraving plates that they used to make rubber stamps from. They pressed the metal die into a molding material, and then they placed rubber on the mold and voila...had a rubber stamp. I've got a bunch of these too! I design and make rubber stamps for a living, so that is how I know about these. Maybe you already knew that too.
I've got a big box of them, along with big wooden letters I bought for a song too. I always thought they would make a neat collage.
Great find!!
Hugs, Sue K
Thanks Sue!! Now I know! :)
~*~*Such a great find Laura!!! Thanks for sharing~*~*Rachel :)
What a great find! Speaking of...I saw this on Etsy and I immediately thought of you!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/55605527/vintage-wire-locker-basket-52?ref=sr_gallery_31&ga_search_query=storage&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_page=5&order=&includes[0]=tags&includes[1]=title
very intruiging...where in the world could they have come from?
Those are incredible!
Oh, the things you can create with those wonderful stamps! :-)
What a fantastic find
so much history ... so much charm ... your Dad's a sweetie
what an amazing find! i wonder what you will make with them!
and your Dad reminds me of mine, all busy and working with his hands. i love it!
Let me know the answer. How I miss my Dad,
he always helped me. Any its fasinating
and has me thinking.
yvonne
I would have been entertained also. What a neat find....and how sweet your daddy cleaning them for you!!
You and your Dad sound like your having such fun together,he surely enjoys helping you! You probably have fabulous stories you share!
It makes me miss my parents...
Enjoy all those special moments they will be in your heart forever!
Thanks for sharing,
Gail
What an incredible find - they're fantastic!
Hi Laura. You never disappoint! What a treasure you found, and thanks for bringing them home so you we could enjoy them too. Blessings.
Beautiful photos as usual. Sometimes it is the simple things that are beautiful. We don't always need technology, well maybe just for blogs!
Amazing treasure, Laura!
lizzy
What a great find, that is the treasures that keep us hunting!! What a great Daddy you have!
Carol
Love those metal stamps - what a great find.
~ Tina
What an interesting find. I've never seen so many at once.
very very nice stamps.
can i ask you how you clean it ?
I have some with numbers and it always stay dust.
Thanks in advance if you can answer in a post.
have a good day.
That really is a fun find!
You are blessed to have such a lovely Dad.
A great memory for you all :)
What a great find !!.......theire is no Ria Bonhof between??? hahahahhaha!! love love love !! Ria......
Dear Laura, I love stamps. And this ones are so great!
I wish you a wonderful day,
Big Hugs, Yvonne
WOW, WHAT A FIND! I have ONE signature stamp, my husband's! He was the Director and had this stamp MANY years ago! I still have it:)
Love this cooler weather and LOVE that picture of your Dad working away at those stamps! Give him a hug from me!
Have a blessed day!
What an amazing find, Laura. Those signature stamps are incredible!
good thinking looking behind the new! what a great find. now that would have not only kept me busy but happy. thanks for the great post.
How fun! You just wonder who these people were.
Enjoy your day!
KarenSue
Fabulous find and what fun you all had!!
Love,
Susan and Bentley
xxoo
First of all,what a great Dad you have...I love these how unique ...only you would stumble onto something like this!! x0x0
If my name was Merritt G. Montpleisir I would have a stamp made too...just to avoid writer's cramp!
Little art forms and your dad is one special guy to sit and clean them for you!
Debbie
I love these signature stamps! How lovely they all are! I've long been a collector of printers letter blocks, but I've never come across a whole signature. ::Jill
What an interesting find! It's always fun to find things that have a history with names.
Your dad is charming. So fun that you share this together.
You really did hit the jackpot...i wonder what the connection is???
What a great find and how wonderful that someone like you apppreciates such a Treasure. My youngest Daughter has an Uncle named Kenneth Ensign so that name caught my eye on your list... perhaps the signature of one of that side of the Family's long lost relatives?! I like to imagine the lives of all of the people of the various Treasures that I find and acquire... each I'm sure has a rich story and a History and though in my imagination the stories are somewhat embellished *wink* its so much fun to imagine isn't it. I'm so glad these wonderful little Treasures have found a new Home again.
Dawn... The Bohemian
Wow :) Lucky you.
Perfect for scrapbooking ;)
Hope you've had a nice day.
Regards from Norway
The signature plates are amazing, Laura! What a treasure!!
I am so curious... what are you going to do with them? would love to see!!!!
Wouldn't they be great stamped on muslin and made into napkins or pillows?
So much fun to see what you found. I love little treasures like these.
Yvonne
OMG.. I love love love these Laura
What a lucky find!!!!... I can imagine the hours of enjoyment you will get... Can you stamp with them.. being metal???? love them anyway... and of course love the little blue bottle!!
trying to catch up on missed posts!!! on to the next!! ... xxx Julie
Love the name plates. I just picked a few of the more unusual names and googled them. Looks like they are from the Ohio area? Don't know the time period but maybe the mid 1900's. An Eliza May Englehardt came up in a cemetery layout and Hazel Rieff celebrated her 100th birthday in 2009. You might want to see who else you can find like this.
I read your adventures every day. I must not follow your example, but I am awfully tempted. I love junk. carolyn
LOVE THESE!!!
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