Feb. 1, 2017 A Fun Day

I spent 3 hours at the USO this morning with 7 other volunteers making up rack packs.  How many?  We made up 1,025 rack packs! In case you don't remember what they are:  One of these goes on each single Marine's "rack" when they get back to the barracks after a deployment. They're items they might need immediately, like toothbrush, and paste, razors,  a bar of soap, deodorant and a small snack among other things. In case it's not obvious to you, since they needed 1,025 rack packs, that means some Marines are on their way "home."  When we make "deployment" packs, that means....some are headed out.  Here I am in gray sweater:

After that I stopped for a quick lunch and decided to visit some thrift stores since I was in that part of town.  I never know what to expect from thrift stores, but today was a good day.  I visited this place: 

It's been a thrift store before, but I think it has new owners now.  I saw a plate that looked interesting but it was marked $5.  I saw that it had some chips so I decided not to buy it, but the woman working there, said, "Oh, I'll give it to you for $1.00."  OKAY!  I'll take it.  There was also a small china saucer (blue and white, which I love) marked $3, but I told her no on that too.  That's when she said, "Just a dollar."  Another OKAY!

An older man came into the store saying he'd never been in and wanted to know, "What can I do without?"  Right there I thought of my dad.  The employee showed him something she just bought herself and he said, "But I wanted that!"  Oh my gosh, that sounds just like something my dad would have said.  Later he saw me pick up my mystery piece.  I asked him if he knew what it was and he answered, "No, but I wanted it!"  So much like my dad would have said to someone.  He was kidding of course.  On my way out he said, "You gonna let me buy that?"  I told him he could have it for $20 (I paid 1.75).  He offered .50.  So, no deal.  Ha ha. Here's my purchases from there:  

The luncheon plate is from the 1930s, made by W.S. George Co.  The saucer says Turin and a number on the back, but I couldn't find the pattern anywhere.

Here's the mystery piece.  

 The mystery is not necessarily what it is, but why it's made the way it is.  It stands up on four rubber feet but opened, it is a grater on both sides, with a piece of wood in between.  It's stainless steel and has the word "SlimSlice" on it. The company name is Invento Product Corp.  I found that it was started in 1960 but currently inactive. Can't see much use as a slicer, but the grating part sure is sharp. (Maybe it's missing something?)

I also went to the Infant of Prague Catholic thrift store and found three small Fire King custard cups in the primrose pattern. 

(Forty cents each.) Etsy has 182 Fire King Primrose items listed.   That's nothing; some vintage items can have 4-5 thousand listings of the same thing, or at least similar.

All of these things can be added to my Etsy shop. Hoping February is a better month for sales!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PicketfencesVintage

It's always fun when I find some deals that I know could possibly sell on Etsy, and so cheap!  Tomorrow I do laundry.

(Friday, another USO event)