"Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true." - Leon J. Suenes

What is the price of dreams? Do you make monthly payment plans? Do you pay as you dream? What if you don't have any more dreams or, what if you don't remember ever having dreams once you wake up? Do you pay full price for a dream you can only remember in odd fragments? What kind of currency is used? Do they take debit?

I know the quote isn't about dreams you have while asleep. But, what if it were? What kind of story plot could you come up with using the idea of paying for dreams?

Typically, you grab the knob, turn it to open the door and step inside. How many doorknobs have you had in your hand and not really noticed them at all?  I like the unique, decadent doorknobs made of crystal, glass and metals. I've seen especially nice brass doorknobs in Creemore, Ontario.

If you look for antique or vintage doorknobs online you will find yourself pulling up a lot of salvage sites. As an explorer of old and abandoned homes I'm not quite happy about salvage companies/ people who basically find old houses so they can rob them and then sell their stolen good for a lot of money. While I may cross the line and fall into trespassing on property to get photos, I don't harvest, remove or take away anything from inside the house. I usually don't even go inside of them at all. "Take only photos; leave only footsteps" is the basic rule for urban and rural explorers.

There are a lot of places that sell salvaged hardware from old houses. I don't think you can ever know if they come by the hardware legitimately or not. It's a shame because the old doorknobs are so glamorous and decadent, very hard to resist. Some modern hardware is designed to replicate the old. This seems a better option to me. Or, there are artists who work with glass, brass and other materials. I'm sure you could commission a truly unique, glamorous and decadent doorknob. It may not be old but it could be even better, designed to your own style.

Flickr: Glass Doorknobs

Flickr: Doorknobs and Doorhandles

Flickr: Knobs and Handles

The rocking horse I remember from when we were kids was not the typical vintage, wooden horse. Ours was plastic, set on a frame with four big springs holding it to the frame and giving it all the bounce it needed. I can remember the sound the springs made as it bounced and rocked back and forth and side to side, once you really got going.

I didn't find anyone collecting that plastic rocking horse. Maybe there is a line between what is vintage and what is antique and some things (like rocking horses) don't become valued until they are old enough to be antiques. Kind of a shame. Now that I've got thinking about the rocking horse I miss the sound of those squeaking springs as they stretched back and forth. Then the hollow sound the plastic horse made when the littler kids were on it, their legs flopping around while we kept them from flying off.

Flickr: Rock a Bye Baby -- Rocking Horses

Rockimals: History of the Rocking Horse

Rocking Horse and Art Design Holland -- Includes pages with vintage and antique rocking and carousel horses. (Note: Spams with pop up windows).

Rocking Horse Maker (UK): Makes and restores rocking horses.

Jane Hooker Rocking Horses: Restores vintage rocking horses, based in the UK.

Lexi's Rocking Horses: Personal blog from a restorer and collector. No recent updates.

The Guild of Rocking Horse Makers

A very modern rocking horse from the Boing Boing site.

I remember luggage from the old movies. Big trunks, body size standing up and deep enough for a couple of bodies. Inside were drawers and a full closet with a mirror.

When I started planning for my first big trip as a kid I wanted one of those. My Mother and I went shopping for my first luggage (of my own!)  I was looking for one of those big trunks. Even though I had no idea how I would cart that trunk around on my own, I was already having the adventure of  planning everything I would pack into it!

I didn't find a big trunk. But I wasn't disappointed. I got a new suitcase, vintage 1970's, blue, with tiny wheels. Mine was pretty plain and practical, none of those handles that extend out, no extra pockets on the outside to stash secret treasures or books to read. It's long gone now. On some kind of trip of it's own I guess.

Later, I wanted a suitcase like my Grandmother's. It was plain brown with a broken handle. It's only real charm were stickers from all kinds of places. I don't know if she had been to all of them herself or if some came from other family and she kept adding to them that way. I do know that she came from Ireland as a young woman and went out to BC as a married women with her husband and children. After that she moved back to Ontario again, when I was already born or at least heading that way.

We went on family trips, sometimes my Grandmother took trips with us. I never noticed her getting stickers for that suitcase then, but I was just a kid. There was a lot I didn't notice and a lot I did notice. We were in dozens of US states up and down starting from Ontario and ending up back there eventually. We took drives out to BC in a big, huge camper which we delivered to Red Deer, Alberta and then took the train the rest of the way. She may have added more stickers to that suitcase all along the way.

She's been gone awhile now. I don't know where the suitcase is. I never would have dared to go looking through her things, it just wasn't something I would have felt right to do and I know she liked to have her things left alone. I don't have any truly firm beliefs about what happens after we die. But, if we get to choose I think my Grandma would be keeping up with what we are doing and yet, I hope, she takes a few road trips too. Pack up her suitcase with the essentials and enjoy her sense of adventure forever.

Flickr: Vintage Luggage

Go Nomad: Travel Chic: How to Refurbish Vintage Luggage

The Queen of Re: Vintage Luggage as a sculpture.