There are many obsolete technologies since mobile phones began taking over the world. I miss the elegance of watches in particular. However, some vintage technology is just misplaced and not obsolete. Frogs are one of those.
Not frogs of the living kind, but these frogs which were used in floral arrangements. The frogs usually came with a vase (or flower holder of some kind) which they fit inside. So the frogs were made to fit the vase.
Sadly the frogs were easily lost or misplaced. So not every vase still has the frog it came with originally.
We recently lost the frog to one of our own vintage vases. It was a silver frog, one of those which had to be polished. I hope we find it again, before it gets heavily tarnished. I can clean it but I can't do much if the silver gets pits in it from being tarnished. I'm sure this is why silver has lost it's popularity. As lovely as it still looks, stainless steel is much easier to look after.
Have you seen any frogs lately?
Vintage flower frogs...what are they? How many 'frogs' do you have? How many did your Mom or Grandma have? Frogs were used in the bottom of vases to hold the flower stems just right. They are usually metal basket weave grid, or fine textured metal spikes or made of clear or colored glass disk with holes....
Source: Flea Market flower frogs
I like Old Postcards from Towns and Cities in Canada
Mostly I have postcards which I bought myself during family vacations and adventures. But, some I have found in second hand stores, hobby shops and so on. The postcards I treasure most are those which are vintage, becoming antiques (100 years or more in age).
I really like seeing how each city used to look so long ago. The postcards are more like drawings coloured in shades of water colours, then photographs..
So many of the majestic, grand old buildings which were in cities then are now gone, demolished to make space for modern buildings, streets or parking lots. Other than these old postcards there aren't other pictures to remember so much of the architecture and the creative details which are missing from modern buildings built for efficiency rather than art.
Old postcards carry so much history. Not only forgotten cityscapes but a link in image form of life then. Postcards were sent in the days before cameras and photography were available to most people. There were no family vacation photos but you could buy a postcard and remember you were there.
Postcards are a Tresured Link to the Past
The sad part of history, architecture and antiques is that nothing last forever.
Postcards of old Canadian cities, towns and places I have been in the current time are a treasure. Old postcards show how a place used to look. How the streets, buildings and even the trees were when most of it was still new.
The street views are my favourites. Some still have just the horse and buggy going down the street. Often there are people in the background too. Not people drawn in as a feature in an illustration but real people who were there at the time the photograph was taken or there to be included in the artist's rendering for the images before photography.
Travels? History? Collectibles and antiques? Art? What do you think abut old postcards? Have you seen many in museums or libraries, hobby shops or other likely places? Or do you have a few yourself?
Typewriters are about as useful as a dinosaur in modern times, so you think... But, there are some people who are not quite willing, ready or able to give up the old typewriter yet. Myself, I still like the old sound of the clacking keys, but with a modern keyboard (it's so much easier on the fingers).
Typewriters are still being made into art, they have a place in creating music and some are being broken up to become jewelry and sculpture. It's a bit sad to see an old typewriter get broken up into bits, but at least it's not just being sent to the dump in disgrace or melted up to become a new car, eventually.
Of course, there will always be people collecting things and wondering what they are worth, typewriters are not an exception.
Just Because Your Typewriter is Old Doesn't Mean It's Dead!
A typewriter isn't so antiquated that it can't still have some practical use, as a typewriter - a typing machine.
Black Spruce Hound suggests:
- typing invitations and thank-you notes (great for people with less than great handwriting)
- holiday cards and recipes (things you can't easily print from the computer)
- poems and quotes (give them an older and decorative look)
- ransom notes and hate mail.
Beautiful Old Typewriters on Planet Oddity
Typewriter Sculpture
Typewriters Used for Music
Other Typewriter Uses
Typewriter Conversion
USB TypeWriter conversion !
Typewriter Collecting
Why wear a mood ring? Why not. Mood rings can be a mystery, a mood indicator, vintage fashion, or just colourful and a conversation starter. Mood rings were created in the 1970s, they use chemicals and temperature changes to indicate the mood of the ring wearer.
You may not know what a mood ring is. The rings were around in the 1970s and 1980s as rings which changed colours according to your mood. I had one. It did change colours but according to my mood ring I was never in a good mood. Of course, it might not help that my ring tended to suffer frequent water damage and I have always enjoyed cool/ cold weather. I think long walks on a cold and rainy day would have a negative effect on a mood ring - though it left me feeling pretty great.
My sisters had mood rings too. We would check our rings (they had to be worn in order to show results) at different times over the day and compare the colours. The rings came with instructions which explained what the colours meant.
It was fun and interesting (a great way to pass the time on long car rides) but not very efficient as a mood tracker. I wouldn't trust a mood ring as a way to evaluate anyone's mood. But, they were fun, colourful (most often shades of blue and violet for my sisters and I).
What are Mood Rings?
Two New York inventors, Josh Reynolds and Maris Ambats created mood rings in 1975. Mood rings were a fad of the 1970s but had a little comeback in the 1980s.
The mood ring stone is a hollow quartz or glass shell containing thermotropic liquid crystals. A strip of crystals with a protective coating. Temperature changes cause the crystals to absorb or reflect light and they change colour.
If you feel happiness or passion your body temperature increases and the crystals reflect blue. Stress or excitement will cause blood to flow less on the body surface and the skin temperature cools down a little so the crystals reflect less light and become more yellow. If the ring is damaged (water tended to finish off many a mood ring) or in cold temperatures, the stone would be unresponsive, showing a dark grey or black stone.
Mood Ring Colours and Their Meanings
- violet - romantic or happy
- blue - relaxed or calm
- green - peaceful
- yellow- imaginative
- amber - excited or tense
- brown - restless
- gray - anxious or nervous
- red - excited and energized
- pink - uncertain or fearful
- lilac - sensual or clarity
- black - very stressed
The original, vintage Love is... drawings were created by a woman to the man she loved. They later married, in May 2011.
The new Love is... has all the love, happiness and spark of mischief which the old Love is... is missing. This is likely because the original artist hasn't been drawing the cartoons for many years. It was taken over when her husband (the man she loved) died and she stopped drawing the cartoons.
If you loved the old Love is... cartoons in the 1970s take a look at HJ Story, the Love is... cartoons for the new century. He has a Deviant Art page which gives more of his story, their story.
The History to the Vintage Love Is... Couple and Illustrations
The Love Is... drawings were created by New Zealand artist, Kim Grove, as a series of love notes in the late 1960′s for Roberto Casali. They later married but Roberto became ill with terminal cancer and Kim stopped working on the cartoons in 1975. Roberto died in 1976.
Since 1975 the cartoons have been drawn by Bill Asprey.
My own photo of a Love Is... glass I found at the local thrift store.