Today we traveled from Chattanooga, TN to Crossville, TN. It's only 86 miles, but it is packed with sale after sale so getting through those 86 miles takes a bit of time. We have been blessed with relatively mild weather on this trip and today was no different. It is usually blistering hot when we do the sale. It has been in the low to mid eighties this week. Entirely bearable (pun intended—you'll see later in the post).
Our first stop of the day resulted in a jackpot find. This 1953 Mattel musical tin litho egg! I collect vintage Easter items, so this will not be sold. It has a bit of rust, but overall the lithography is in great condition. And it was only 75 cents. Yay!
Tin litho has been a theme on this trip. I picked up this cracker tin on Signal Mountain. The little pebbles in the glass knob keep the crackers fresh—no more stale crackers!
I found this turkey on a nest near the end of the day today. I see a lot of hen on nests, but I have never seen a turkey on the nest.
If you are shopping on Signal Mountain Nana Diana is peddling brittle—peanut, cashew, pistachio, and pecan. We picked up a bag of the pecan brittle, and may or may not have backtracked to get a second bag because the first one, um, disappeared. Yeah, it disappeared. That's our story and we are sticking to it! It is delicious. If you see her, pick up a bag, or two.
Signal Mountain is one of my favorite stops. There is a HUGE sign on the north side of Signal Mountain saying there is a barn sale at the top. Make the trip. It is worth the drive up.
It is a wonderful farm with critters running all over the place. There are different animals every year so it is worth the trip to visit it again.
They also have several vendors on their property. I rarely buy anything there, but today I found this vintage basket. I was so excited that I was finally able to buy something for my trip up to the farm. And then I ran into some old friends that really made the trip worth the drive.
Old friend number 1: Elsie the cow. I worked in advertising for most of my life. Elsie is iconic. First used by Borden for advertising in 1936, she has been used in ads and trade shows for Borden for decades. I was thrilled to find this cup.
I also found this Elsie shopping reminder.
You may also have seen her husband Elmer on Elmer's glue—which incidentally is also a Borden-owned product.
Elsie and Elmer had some calves, including Beulah which came along in 1946. You don't see much of Elsie/Elmer advertising in the wild, so I was thrilled to find these.
Old friend number two: Smokey the Bear!
The National Forest Service began using Smokey the Bear in 1944 in promotional pieces to promote awareness of forest fires. I found two mugs, a glass and a record.
I was able to find multiple Smokey the Bear items. I have a very small collection of Smokey items, I think I doubled it today!
Old friends are the best friends—don't you agree? We didn't find a ton of things today. All the sales are starting to get picked over already. The adventure is in the hunt and when you find treasures like these, it is all worth it.
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