My sources for vintage have changed over the years, mainly due to geographic location and flunctuating taste. When I was younger (ie 8 years old through high school) I looked mainly for 1960s troll dolls, powder compacts and beaded handbags. Usually I shopped with my parents at the many antique malls and indoor flea markets in Northwest Arkansas and every once in a while would stop at a garage or yard sale. When I moved to LA I became more interested in costume jewelry, clothing & kitchenware so began to take frequent trips to the Good Will and to the many outdoor flea merkets held in Pasadena and West Hollywood. In Chicago there's not only 3-story Salvation Army stores but large church rummage sales and my favorite, estate sales. When I first moved to Chicago I used to leave my favorite thrift stores with bags stuffed full of items; now I buy mainly from estate sales and have found the thrift stores to be less plentiful this year. I've only been shopping at estate sales since last March but they have quickly become my vintage source of choice. While they can be hard to get to (they are typically located in the far North of the city or out in the suburbs), are generally higher priced than thrift stores and there's a lot of competition with dealers, they do provide items that are generally in good condition or still in the original box/packaging, they yield items that typically aren't found at thrift stores (like paper ephemera, old beauty/vanity items and consumer goods like cupcake liners from the '50s)and you also get the chance to be a bit of a voyeur and explore the interior of someone else's home (and see bathrooms or kitchens that have remained unchanged since the 1970s).

The items below are from a sale I went to last week in Norridge, a neighborhood located in a township just on the border of the Chicago city limits (near Park Ridge). The 1950s ranch home belonged to an elderly couple that had decided to move to a retirement village and thus were selling off all their excess goodies. In the basement they had a Tiki bar and swell rattan furniture... wish I had the room in my apartment for all the furnture I find at these sales! Unfortunately by the time I got there most of the clothing had already been snatched up but there was still plenty of jewelry left. :)

Don't you adore the bright colours of these buttons? They're probably from the 1960s... originally these were bought for a friend but I've decided to keep them instead! Paid $1 for all.

A little goldtone earring box lined in red velvet. I liked the little pearl-studded crown on the lid & the little rhinestone closure. Luckily this box was still around the second day of the sale so it was only fifty cents.

There were trays and trays full of costume jewelry at this sale-- at least fifty pairs of clip earrings from the 1940s-1960s and a hundred or so pins, including dozens of bright 'flower power' metal pins. On the first day I restrained myself and only bought the four above pins-- two colourful 1960s flower pins, a more delicate copper heart pendant and an older filigree bar pin with what looks to be a garnet cabochon in the middle.

A close-up of the little heart pendant.

Lately I haven't been finding/buying as many kitchen items as I usually do... the Pyrex tends to be gone by the time I get to an estate sale or there's only white/clear Pyrex pieces. This time I found a little lime green & a sunshine yellow dish... don't know how old these would be, maybe '70s? I'm sure Jade would know. :) Also pictured is a meat mallet/tenderizer with a pink & white marbled handle made of a rubber-like plastic marked Plasmetl Made in U.S.A. and a green-handled egg beater from the 1940s. Paid a little more for the egg beater than I wanted to ($3) but the mallet was only 50 cents and the Pyrex dishes were $1.50 for the two.

I found this lilac headband with oversize bow in a box full of vintage hats. Haven't quite figured out how to wear this without looking ridiculous... maybe if I wear it with a really plain dress or outfit.

Surprisingly there were quite a few pins left on the second day of the sale (when everything was 50 percent off or more) so I decided to buy more! For some reason I gravitated toward the pink/ivory/cream pins, they seemed a bit more dainty I suppose?

Two more pins and a pair of 1950s earrings that look like candy (miniature Chiclets?).



The last of the pins... the rhinestone bird reminds me of a dodo or emu (maybe it's the beak). The goldtone eagle pin says "G.S." and appears to be military-related, not sure if it was actually a veteran's pin or just something sold during the era for women ('sweetheart pins') to wear on their label to show support. My favorite is the roller skate with the double hearts that read 'Bob and Helen.' I can imagine the couple going on an old fashioned date at the skating rink.

EDIT: Thanks goes to J for pointing out that the eagle pin is actually not military-related but actually is a girl scout pin. Obviously I was not a girl scout in my youth... :)