The Gems of Sharpless: July 23, 2014

When I walked into Sharpless today, the woman at the front desk said to me, “There’s lots of good stuff to take pictures of today!” She was not lying.

-A miniature player piano — which kind of blew my mind.

-An old photo and a seductive pose. Scandalous!

-The Montgomery Ward catalog from fall and winter, 1940/41. Flipping through the pages, I saw prices for housing shingles, bicycles, and hen feeders.

-The “New” Erector. Better than the “old” erector. I was mostly amused by this because if the funny-looking cartoon boy.

-Descriptions in antique tea cups.

-I think the pink-colored plates are Depression-era glass.

-Some interesting bar mirrors.

-These are not the most cheerful paintings in the world, but I think they are close.

-Whoa! An Econofoods-style box from HyVee.

-A vase from the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle.

-Tavian Banks, Tim Dwight, and Matt Sherman — models of teamwork for the Hawkeye football team in the mid-nineties. I’m pretty sure this same poster was somewhere in the gym when I was in junior high.

-Nearby was this touching photo, which probably dates from the 1930s or 1940s. It kind of makes me wonder what will happen to my baby pictures when I’m dead.

-Once a workhorse of the American education system, overhead projectors are now useless dinosaurs sent to auction.

-A 32-ounce bottle of 7-Up.