This recipe for Mexican Twelfth Night Bread is another classic recipe from “Meet the Millers“. In a poor decision the recipe was released 4 days afterthe traditional celebration of Twelfth Night (released Tuesday January 9, 1958; Twelfth Night is traditionally celebrated January 5th). They tried though.
The thrift store. the funky smells, the Bible verse screaming woman, the men in dog collars… err wait not that sort of post today. One of the fun things to do when at the thrift is to look for old store tags. If you are lucky the store separates the “New with Tag” clothing from the regular donations. Those racks can be a treasure trove of old price tags from old school and dead retail (and a few laughs when the thrift tries to price stuff for more than the final markdown price…).
This week was sort of boring in the old school price tags, but a few were found.
Kmart K-10
Ahh Kmart the land of the blue light specials. I’m not sure when Kmart switched over from using these tags to using the UPC scan system but I know these pants were in someones closet for quite a long time.
Thank you for Shopping AM&As
I can say these pants were in a closet somewhere for at least 20 years. Bon-Ton Stores bought out AM&As in 1994 and it took a few months for the rebranding to happen. I still miss AM&As. Bon-Ton is OK but it is not the same.
Hills
Hills is where the toys are! Growing up my family was not Hills shoppers- Kmart yes, Twin-Fair (later Gold Circle) yes, Two Guys yes. I don’t know if they didn’t like Hills or if it was their long time cash only policy. I really started to “shop” at Hills when I was in college. I would go to the Ames across the street since Ames had a much better Arts & crafts supply department but for some reason Ames could be empty but there would still be lines at the registers. I last shopped at Hills in Richmond, VA before moving to Texas. So I missed the whole Ames buying out Hills and running them into the ground.
The Sheridan Drive, Amherst, NY location circa 2007:
The Delaware Avenue, Buffalo NY location circa 2007 (It is now a Kohls). The Big Lots is a former Tops Supermarket:
Not new but a few other fun finds:
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Grants 100% acrylic
A lovely 100% acrylic sweater from Grants department store. It was actually a fairly nice looking cable knit sweater but again- cheap acrylic. I’m sure Salvation Army was selling it for close to what it cost new.
Memorex Tape
Finally- the coveted clear memorex tape. Everything about this tape screams 1980s mix tape with a side of sitting by the radio waiting for the songs you love to come on so you could record it.
I love finding old carded buttons (and other sewing supplies) at the thrifts. The packaging alone is usually a work of art & they often are examples of our old retail landscape. In today’s finds I found old Twin Fair and Hens & Kelly tags- along with a cursive Sears logo.
Who else remembers shopping at Twin Fair?
Just “by using these buttons (snaps) your dress will fit- it promises Success in this great vintage card.
Old School Le Chic packaging (fashionable buttons guaranteed washable)
Not just quality- but Superior Quality
Hens & Kelly Department Stores- a much missed local department store that also gave out Green Stamps. From back in the day when department stores actually were more then clothes and housewares.
More Old School Le Chic Fashionable Buttons (guaranteed washable)
Remember when Sears sold buttons? Must have been back when department stores actually were full line stores- today the only store that comes close is Walmart and let us face it- Walmart is nothing like the department stores of yesterday. (Some could say Walmart is where the cesspool of humanity goes but I digress). Too bad Eddie Lampert is slowly destroying both Sears and Kmart turning both companies into shells of what they used to be.
(amazon ads below)
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**blah blah blah there are some advertising links here**
I’ve caught the damn cross stitching bug that has gone around. In full disclosure I did do some cross stitching when I was much younger but gave it up because all the designs that were out in the late 80s & early 90s were really twee and vomit inducing cute. Even now I don’t do the cutesy crap- see the cats with happy “hang in there” type sayings
And yes I just posted a link to examples on Amazon. Because while I’m shaming the twee I will still try to make a few cents from it. So try an Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
Oh where was I? Talking about this kit. I found it at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store and it looked like it would be a good first project. I’ve made a couple of mistakes in counting but nothing that an extra stitch or two couldn’t hide… From what I can tell Musgrave designs is no longer in business but i found a few other kits over on eBay (and yes more links below)
Kasymilon yarn from Sears- the finest in 100% Acrylic yarn.
It includes the handy 7 reasons why you should buy yarn at Sears.
Each yarn goes through 18 different inspections to give uniformity of weight, color, strength & quality.
Sears yarn is pull-skeins for instant knitting (apparently not meant for crochet)
Each dye lot is numbered to give the most perfect color match
Sears interchangeable Yarn Chart helps eliminate guesswork in pattern and yarn selection.
Sears will teach you how to knit. Ask about our schools for Beginners or Advanced knitters. (Today one is lucky to find an employee willing to take your money)
Sears knitting teachers are available for consultation after class or in the department (and today can’t even find anyone able to mix paint for me. Much less an actual knitting teacher- and what about crochet?)
“Satisfaction Guaranteed Or Your Money Back” (tempted to try this to see if I could get the $1.29 this originally cost back. But that would assume I could actually find an underpaid employee to help me).
