found recently: stamp set

Here's a favorite among my most recent estate sale finds: A 1940s American Sign Printer Rubber Stamp Set. I found it at the same place I unearthed the vintage Twins matchbook. Let this be the start of my new, once-in-a-while column I'm calling "Found Recently," about items I like so much I have to keep for myself.

I love this because:

It's graphics and typography (both on the box and on the stamps themselves) are phenomenal! What a cool piece of history. Vintage fonts have so much charm.

It's original box has such vivid colors, too. It was pretty dirty when I brought it home but easy to clean because of it's coated cardboard. And what a nice surprise underneath the grime! It's hard to come by vintage packaging that is still so bright and hasn't faded.

The rubber stamps work like a charm, too! I used them to stamp names in red on Valentine envelopes this year for the gals at work. Love that drop shadow on the letters. And of course I always appreciate something vintage that looks pretty and  it's something I can actually use.

Plus, the box is in great shape and complete. It has the packaging structure to hold the stamps inside, the original instructions and all the pieces.  Plus, all the numbers are there along with bonus punctuation stamps! It holds more value when it doesn't have missing pieces, and bonus points for any included paperwork a shopper would receive when buying this item new.

Even though the stamps have been used and show ink residue on the rubber and box, it is nice to know that someone actually enjoyed this, even if not often. A lovely connection to the past and unique addition to my crafting arsenal.

found recently

i always share vintage finds that are listed in the shop, but i thought i'd post a few things i've unearthed and charmed by enough to keep them for myself. i'm a collector after all. i found this minnesota twins matchbook at a juicy estate sale last weekend south of the twin cities.

i love this because:

i'm a twins fan (of course). things with a regional connection are always a little bit nostalgic. it means more to me than it would to someone in rhode island with no ties to the upper midwest. but it might mean more to a baseball collector in a different way than it does to me.

it's also in such good shape. the cardboard is stiff, there aren't any creases and only a little surface wear. plus the matches are still inside, which completes the package. i actually love that two matches were used - in that way, i can tell it wasn't found with 100 others fresh out of the box, it was actually saved and preserved by an actual baseball fan. that makes it a little more unique to me.

another plus is that i know what year it is from: the 1970 home game schedule is printed on the inside. often you can't accurately date an item without in depth research.

lastly, i love it because it's a little piece of american advertising. vintage matchbooks are easy to find because everybody printed them back in the day. matchbooks were better than business cards because smoking was the norm. easy advertising.

who knows, maybe it'll end up in the shop someday. (that's the beauty of having your own vintage shop.) but most likely it'll be a part of my personal collection for quite some time.