25. Nice stash of clean 50's LP'S. The Santo and Johnny is stereo, still in the plastic. And I have never seen a copy of Cliff Sings.
24. Bold western style sport coat found at the local Goodwill. They wanted $99 for it...I said if it comes down to $20 I'll buy it. A few weeks later it came down to $24.99 and I pounced.
23. I discovered this eskimo in the cat's bed. OK, not a true collectible, but what the heck.
22. Nice collection of vintage children's books found in Hinsdale.
21. Interesting assortment from an estate sale in Yorkville. Early Who, rare Blind Faith cover, hard to find New Colony Six, plus an EROS magazine.
20. Butt ugly lamp found in Darien.
19. Actually found these motel chairs 30 years ago abandoned in the parkway in Westmont and had them stashed at a rental house. Decided it was time to bring them out.
18. Housewarming gift of poodles from Wisconsin friends.
17. Hard to find paperback acquired in Hinsdale. This book was actually written and released as a publicity stunt. A bunch of journalists got together and decided to write an intentionally naughty book and see how it went over. They used Penelope Ashe as the nom de plume. It went over well, I believe.
16. Nice metal doll house from my cousin in Brookfield. I really like these but they take up a lot of room.
15. Tropical wooden trays found in Downers Grove. I already had a couple of these and they are all slightly different.
14. Found a case for my vintage Firth & Pond guitar in Three Oaks Michigan. This is a wooden 'coffin' style case, correct for the period (1850's).
13. Stunning paint by number.
12. My dad's harmonica collection in homemade case. I thought they were lost forever but found them under a bunch of books.
11. My old piggy bank found at my Uncle Frank's estate sale. Actually, not sure if it was ever really mine, but I remember it from my early childhood.
10. Could not pass up this piece of folk art found in the local Goodwill.
9. Fascinating 8th grade math book from the 1930's. I believe this would be college level today.
8. I started taking coffee carafes seriously this year. They all seem to be different, but they usually have some black and some gold. Blue is optional.
7. Very early Stevie Wonder single which I have never come across before. His first single, from 1962 pre- Fingertips.
6. Deluxe shoe horn from my Uncle Frank.
5. Clean collection of first edition Mad paperbacks, from my Uncle Frank.
4. Early photography magazines from the 30's and 40's.
3. Collection of magic magazines, early 60's from my Uncle Frank.
2. Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time. I was at Goodwill when the clerk was putting this out. At $2.99 I had to grab it right away. (Talking about the face on the pole, not the Clam Broth pot) And no, I don't know what it is.
1. Jerry Mahoney, ventriloquist dummy from my Uncle Frank. He need to be reassembled and repaired. I still need to fix the lights on the bow tie but I am waiting for a part. Check another post on this blog for details of the renovation process.
OK, fans, that is it for 2014. Stay tuned for more adventures of the Moderate to Severe Collector!
The Moderate To Severe Collector
I had seen this at the Brookfield Mega Blowout, but it didn't catch my fancy. Looked like a box of miscellaneous parts and the last thing I need is another project, especially repairing a doll.
Turns out nobody wanted this broken up dummy so it was left over at the end of the sale and the owner offered it to me, so I figured I would at least add it to my archives. Plus it came with some miscellaneous old papers and I rarely turn down old paper.
Did some research and determined that this is a Jerry Mahoney dummy probably made by Juro sometime before 1968.
Jerry has one hand and one leg separated (but not missing, fortunately!) , his eyes move but don't spring back to position and his mouth does not work at all.
My initial fix to the eye mechanism was to use a rubber band. That worked but is not a permanent solution.
Went to the local Bales Ace Hardware in Westmont and bought a selection of springs. I knew this would take some trial and error. Some springs were too strong, some too weak, and the length would have to be adjusted.
Here is what I ended up with - and it seems to work fine. The eyes are controlled by finger from a plastic ring below and when released snap back to the original position.
Next, the mouth. This was a real challenge. Somehow you have to get a spring onto that little hook on the back of the jaw. But how do you do that when the mouth is in position and what does it hook to? I suspect a plastic part on the back of the head has snapped off. I was tempted to drill a hole to give me access....
But then I had a better idea. Time for the handy Dremel Moto Tool and a small drill bit.
I drilled a hole and installed a small screw to hold the end of a spring.
The idea was to get the spring attached to the screw put the jaw back in and then use a wire to hook the other end of the spring to the jaw.
This was challenging and took many tries, but I got it to work! The mouth works by moving a little wooden lever up and down.
Next the hand. Tried a rubber band, tape and plastic strap. Finally settled on elastic cord tied in a tied loop .
Susie wonders who this new guy is.
Took a break from repairs to start tidying up the outfit. Decades of wrinkles from improper storage needed to be ironed out. The shirt:
The pants had to be unstapled for ironing.
Now the detached leg. I ended up stapling it back in place.
Here's a naked Jerry on the operating table:
The finished product and his master. But which is which?
The Moderate To Severe Collector Blog
Day 3 in Brookfield and the shoppers just keep on lining up....
Here's my bag of stuff ....can't wait to break open this bag and check the stuff out.
The
rebuttal to Dale Carnegie's 'How to Win Friends and Influence People';
'How to Lose Friends and Alienate People'....also from the 1930's.
Nice batch of photography magazines from the 50's...
These are the oldest gems in the bunch. Popular Photography from 1938, the others from the 40's.
Super batch of Genii - magician's magazines from 1962 and 1963.
Not vintage, but I have been looking for cd towers and here I found 3 that match....
My brother Charlie arrives to check out the goodies.
Lynn's Mob of Merry Merchants
Closing
with a milk bottle from the Hinsdale Guernsey......hey why did I have
to travel to Brookfield to find one of these? We grew up a block from
the Hinsdale Guernsey.
