Throwback Thursday

Halloween will be upon us in just over two weeks. I have my costume ready! Since Halloween is so near and I was looking through some old photographs, I thought I would post the photograph above.

That is me in the green, oriental dress. It was one of my paternal grandmother's dresses. I had eye makeup on to make my eyes seem more Asian. The girl next to me was a friend of one of my sisters. I cannot remember her name but I can remember being impressed by her costume...heck, I'm still impressed by it now. The other person in the photo is my oldest sister. I cannot tell (nor remember) what she was dressed as.

I believe this photo was taken in the early 1970s. We had moved into the new house in 1970. The new house was built on an old farmstead. The old barn and garage were the only buildings left from the farm. I remember my dad burning down the old chicken coop to make way for the new house before construction began.

My sisters, brothers and I loved playing in the old barn. We cleaned up the stalls and played house in them. The hayloft still had some bales of hay in it and we would play in those too. Our mom had been the one to suggest we have a Halloween party in the barn.

We decorated it (see the elbow of the paper skeleton behind me and the orange crepe paper ribbon on the wooden post) and had games like Bobbing for Apples. We had a costume contest and I believe the girl dressed as a man won.

I do not remember the year the old barn burnt down. It was maybe sometime during or after my college days, because I was no longer living at home when it happened. My brothers were burning some trash in a barrel when a spark flew up onto the hand-split shake roof. The fire department was called but the barn could not be saved. My mom had stored an old loom in the barn. She had inherited it from one of her aunts. She was heartbroken over that. In the years before the barn was destroyed, people would venture up our long, curved driveway, knock on the door and ask if they could buy the barn. It was never for sale.

I do remember the dusty, musty smell of the old barn and what fun we had during that Halloween party.

Bye Bye Birdie

Those of you who are followers of my blog know that I like love mermaids and have many representations of them around my house. I also have books about mermaids and T-shirts, bags, a bar of soap and a purse that sport mermaids on them. I even have a Voodoo-ish mermaid key chain (she hangs in my kitchen window. I got her in Key West).

The Colonel and I were just in our favorite antique-filled town. We went for an early anniversary lunch and some shopping. Here is my latest mermaid purchase. I just love her face.

I now have the likeness of a mermaid that I carry with me at all times. Yes, I have gotten a mermaid tattoo. I had been thinking about this for some time and when Ink Life Tour (with 200 top tattoo artists) came into town last month, I thought what a perfect time to see about maybe making my mermaid tattoo a reality.

The Colonel, Judy (an older friend of ours who may eventually want a tattoo) and I went to the event center (the same one Yam and I were in for the County's 80s party). After a purse check and paying our entrance fee, we went into the huge room that was packed with booths of tattoo artists and tradesmen.

We walked around the room and stopped at various booths. The tattoo artists all had binders full of examples of their work. There were some very, very talented artists at the event. I stopped by one booth in particular and asked the artist if she could maybe help me out.

When Spud was a toddler (he is 25 years old now), I got a tattoo of a bird on my right ankle. We were in Texas visiting The Colonel's sister and her husband. I mentioned I was thinking about getting a tattoo and Tony, who had recently gotten a tattoo, said he would take me to the place he had gotten his. When we got to the tattoo parlor the artist asked me if I had been drinking. No, I replied. He informed me that they did not tattoo anyone who had been drinking. Good policy. Tony and I walked around the small parlor and looked at pictures of items he could tattoo on my ankle. I knew I wanted a bird and not a large one. He did not have much of a selection to choose from and the bird I chose had a rose in its mouth. I told him to ditch the rose.

The bird was my first tattoo. I did not know what to expect. The pain was intense but bearable. I remember using some Lamaze breathing techniques as the tattoo artist was working.

Back to the tattoo artist in the event center...So, I asked her if she could maybe do something about my bird tattoo. As she was looking at it, The Colonel suggested I get the bird covered up by a mermaid tattoo. I would still have my bird but it would be incorporated within the new mermaid tattoo. It just so happened that the tattoo artist I was talking to specialized in tattoo cover-ups and watercolor tattoos. I asked if she could oblige me and she said sure. I would be her first tattoo of the day.

The tattoo artist was named Cee Jay Inky Jones of Sassmouth Ink out of Riverview, Michigan.

Online Image

I am not immersed in the tattoo culture and was not aware that there is a television show called Ink Master. Cee Jay Inky Jones was on season two of the show. My confidence in Cee Jay's abilities increased and I was committed to getting my new mermaid tattoo.

I joined Cee Jay in her work space. She had set up a table for me to sit upon and began to get the tattoo supplies together.

The look on my face betrays my feelings at the time...I wanted to do this...but I was not looking forward to the discomfort.

With Cee Jay's help, I decided upon the design for my mermaid tattoo. Cee Jay then began sketching the mermaid on my leg. She hid my bird tattoo within the mermaid's tail.

Once Cee Jay had the sketch done, it was time to begin the tattooing.

I had forgotten just how painful tattooing was. I was doing the Lamaze breathing again as well as having a death-grip on the cuff of my shorts or the table. Once the needle pierced the skin, Cee Jay was able to put some Lidocaine cream on my leg...that helped a bit with the pain...a bit...but the needle had to pierce the skin first. This new tattoo was considerably larger than my little bird tattoo too.

The first part of the tattoo was complete...the outline...

Bye bye birdie...Now time for the colors...

Nearly done...Thank God...

Two hours and fifteen minutes later and my tattoo was done...goodbye birdie, hello mermaid!

You may be able to see in this photo of Cee Jay and I, that not only was I sporting my new tattoo but I also was sporting a colossal headache. The tattoo session had taken more out of me than I had anticipated. No more tattoos for me...I am getting too old for this kind of thing.

There were all kinds of contests during the tattoo event. One contest was for the best cover-up. Cee Jay entered my new tattoo into the contest. I lined up with the other contestants and when my name was called, I had to show the three judges a photo of my old tattoo and then show them my new one. I was not the winner.

The Colonel and I kept seeing a heavily tattooed and pierced man walking around the room as I was getting my tattoo. I wondered what kind of job he could hold (besides maybe being a tattoo artist or biker) with all those tattoos and piercings. Well, I did not have to wonder long as he was the featured human in the World's Sickest Human Suspension Show (I kid you not, that is the name of his show).

This man had his back pierced and was suspended by his back as he was swung around the room. The big guy in the black shirt helped to swing the pierced man. A couple of times the black-shirted man held on and swung along with the pierced man. Ouch! The whole crowd watching let out a moan. I felt a bit sick as I watched this.

A friend of mine said one of the reasons she will never get a tattoo (aside from the pain) is because she would be afraid that she could be identified, via her tattoo, if she ever committed a crime (I cannot see her in any criminal capacity...she is an Oxford trained PhD). I Guess I will have to keep my nose clean while sporting my new mermaid tattoo.

I Could Become a Hoarder...If it Wasn't for the Price of the Stuff!

Just look at that gorgeous, soothing, milky-green color above. I could just surround myself with it. I don't know if they make a bathtub out of Jade-ite, but if they did, I would bathe in it daily (and that's coming from someone who doesn't do baths...only showers...I think baths are a waste of water and the thought of bathing/soaking in your own dirty water is repugnant to me).

My first pieces of Jade-ite were two mugs that I purchased from an antique dealer about four years ago. I usually have my morning coffee in one of these mugs.

Then came my butter dish (the letters that spelled out Butter have since worn away) and my spoon rest with the strawberry motif.

Let me show you my current Jade-ite hoard. I placed all I have (thus far) on my dining room table and took a photo (I have more than I thought).

On my birthday, The Colonel surprised me with some new pieces. He bought me two new mugs and a very beautiful lady dish.

I keep some of my pretty jewelry pins in the lady dish. She is so lovely and unique. Thank yous to The Colonel!

Yam and Spud gave me money and gift cards for my birthday...guess what I spent it on?

Jade-ite chili bowls and a set of nesting mixing bowls...what else?

Since I am talking about bowls...The Colonel and I go north to a town that is full of antique dealers (where I got my first mugs) and every time we go I check out the Jade-ite items. Here are some more mixing bowls I bought.

I also found a pretty cake stand but it did not have a top to it. So, I bought a glass cake stand at a discounted price. I kept the top and gave the bottom back to the dealer so she could sell it again (that was part of the discounted price negotiation). During another visit to the antique-filled town I came away with the hens. The large hen holds my phone charging cords as she sits on my kitchen counter and the tiny hen (a salt cellar) sits on my toaster oven.

I had some more birthday money to spend and looked online for more Jade-ite items for sale. I saw some pretty cereal bowls and dinner plates on Ebay. I just had to have them. The Colonel helped me bid for them and keep an eye on the other bids. With his help, I swooped in at the last second with the highest bid and won them.

The dinner plates had never been used. They still had the manufacturer sticker on them (a bit of a history lesson later).

The Anchor Hocking Fire King Jade-ite is highly collectible and pricey but you can find some pretty green glassware (non Jade-ite) at Wal-Mart and Target. I have four little, square plates, a salt/pepper shaker and a tiny cupcake stand.

When I saw the tiny cupcake stand I had no idea what I would do with it, I just knew I wanted needed it (it is so cute). I found the perfect use for it. I had and equally tiny doily and tiny copy of Edvard Eriksen's The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark. I put the cupcake stand, doily and mermaid statue together and sat them next to a log cabin (one of my mom's, she collected them) on my kitchen counter (not too far from the hen).

Three years ago, The Colonel and I took a trip to The Cumberland Gap and while there we stopped by one of the curio shops that dot the area. This shop had all kinds of rocks and pieces of slag glass strewn about outside. I saw a pretty piece of milky green glass with a thin ribbon of pink running through it. I asked the shop owner where did the glass come from and she told me it was from the Anchor Hocking Company. I bought it and set it in my rock garden.

The color of the blob of glass (minus the pink) looks like my Jade-ite items. That would be because the Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation produced the Fire King Jade-ite ware. Remember the original sticker on my dinner plates?

Here comes the history lesson I warned told you about...

In 1905, The Hocking Glass Company was founded by Isaac Jacob (Ike) Collins in Lancaster, Ohio. It was named for the Hocking River nearby. The Company merged with the Anchor Corporation & Closure Corporation in 1937.

The Anchor Hocking Corporation produced Fire King "Jade-ite" to withstand high temperatures in ovens and stoves (do no microwave it...there were no microwaves in the days it was created). Fire King items came in many colors like pink, light blue, turquoise, ivory, white and of course green.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Jade-ite, a stain and heat resistant, milky-green glassware was sold in hardware and Five and Dime stores. They were sometimes found in bags of flour or box of oatmeal, as an inducement to the consumer to buy more of a set.

Jade-ite Fire King ware was mostly produced between the years 1945-1975. It is still produced by Anchor Hocking but with design variations in reproductions so not to be mistaken for originals to maintain the integrity of genuine status of original Jade-ite articles. The new items are marked as Fire King 2000.

We can all blame Martha Stewart and her daughter Alexis for starting the Jade-ite collecting craze. Unlike Martha Stewart, I do not have endless amounts of money and a army of people scouring the world for perfect Jade-ite ware.

Guess I will have to be content with my hit or miss purchases at antique stores and online (or more surprises from The Colonel).

Note: The next day after publishing this post, The Colonel and I went to the town full of antiques and had a delicious pre-anniversary lunch and I found these Jade-ite steak plates. I bought the set of four.