http://www.salvagestyle.net/index.htmlHot News!enuser@domain.comCopyright 2011 Jeanne Harco2012-02-27T09:54:10-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:07:48 -0800user@domain.comBlog2012-02-27T09:54:10-08:00http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/5b1c83d915df0f22886e2773d1284bad-9.html#unique-entry-id-9http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/5b1c83d915df0f22886e2773d1284bad-9.html#unique-entry-id-9user@domain.comBlog2012-01-19T11:45:15-08:00http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/99681d9a10b9e610218bdba015c78496-8.html#unique-entry-id-8http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/99681d9a10b9e610218bdba015c78496-8.html#unique-entry-id-8Facebook page, so please check it out. Be one of the first to “Like” it and post a note. Let me know if you’re looking for something cool that I can find for you, or tell me what you think of something I’ve got for sale on my site.

I’m also excited to be joining a select group of vendors at the Beggar’s Banquet. A fashion-oriented retro sale taking place in the heart of Vancouver’s hip Gastown. It’s an evening show on Friday night and then again during the day on Saturday. The location has a bar, which should lend itself to a great time. Come down and sip a cocktail and browse for some treasures. I’m going to be debuting my new line of greeting cards as well as some fabulous vintage Valentines Day cards, retro dishes, some awesome vintage purple curtains and much, much more! I’ll post some pics on Facebook next week.

Every day my Ebay store is filling up with lots of great vintage treasures. I’ve listed a huge number of vintage dishes, collectibles, and other treasures. My favourite things right now are the awesome 1970’s T-shirt transfers, including Rolling Stones, Allman Bros, Dylan and many more. These are old store stock, original from the ’70’s and look great on T-shirts today. I wear one of mine at least once a week.


I recently listed some really wonderful old maps, from the 1920-1940’s. Beautiful rare pictorial maps that are illustrated with symbols, stories, figures and landmarks. The illustrations are so beautifully done, these maps are works of art. Most of them have sold, but there’s still a few in my store, so check them out.

Next up is my Etsy store, which will be coming soon. I’m working on some cool surprises... so keep checking back. In the meantime, if the snow is still coming down in your part of the world, drive safe, and happy treasure hunting!

]]>user@domain.comBlog2011-10-25T22:28:51-07:00http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/31ec9c00dbe097eb53ef737ab5e861de-7.html#unique-entry-id-7http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/31ec9c00dbe097eb53ef737ab5e861de-7.html#unique-entry-id-7]]>user@domain.comBlog2011-09-05T20:58:48-07:00http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/eab30139b49cbf828c394535468f28fc-6.html#unique-entry-id-6http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/eab30139b49cbf828c394535468f28fc-6.html#unique-entry-id-6

I’ve got my own big plans for the fall season, including - finally - getting my store back online. Apologies for the delay. I’ve been renovating a house so things got a little sidetracked. I’ll post some pictures of the renos when we’re done. I found out today that the house dates back to about 1932 when this part of White Rock, BC was a holiday community for rich Vancouverites and down the hill from my house was one of the first saw mills in the area. We don’t know who the original owner was, but it was likely a summer vacation home. When we pulled up the laminate flooring a recent owner had installed, we found some lovely old 2” fir flooring in the dining room. I don’t know if we can save it, but it was fun to find. I’m trying to incorporate as many recycled and repurposed items as possible in the new house plans, including several lovely vintage doors, some classic old light fixtures, stained glass, and also some reclaimed barn wood from my own old barn! Very cool. I will be working with Scott Landon to create some of the projects... so check out his website for inspiration.

]]>user@domain.comBlog2011-06-29T12:09:00-07:00http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/523788de3e00a8436da97aac388d4c26-4.html#unique-entry-id-4http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/523788de3e00a8436da97aac388d4c26-4.html#unique-entry-id-4page. I’m also planning on moving to a new house (closer to the beach) so I’m juggling a lot of different projects right now!

So, I apologize for the delays but in the meantime, you can sign up for my newsletter so I can let you know when the new site is ready.

I also want to send out a cheer to the gals at www.ivoryvintage.com for the very cool Ivory Vintage Market in White Rock last weekend. It’s a great event showcasing local artisans with a wonderful, whimsical recycle-art slant. Really inspiring. Can’t wait for the next show.

Also, a shout out to Scott Landon for the launch of his fabulous new website design. I recommend everyone check out his site and if you want a treat, visit his showroom in Vancouver or his workshop in Cloverdale. It’s a little slice of heaven!

]]>user@domain.comBlog2011-04-28T21:47:22-07:00http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/78d8a3c99b45d761cb5009d2c419081b-3.html#unique-entry-id-3http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/78d8a3c99b45d761cb5009d2c419081b-3.html#unique-entry-id-3
I’ve been doing a comprehensive inventory on all the cool stuff I have ready to put online and it’s brought back memories of some of the coolest items I’ve sold over the years. The fun part of my work is the element of surprise. I never really know what to expect on a daily basis. I get surprised by the things I find buried in the bottom of a box of “junque” and I also get surprised by the prices some items fetch online and the great stories my customers tell me!

This fantastic creature is known as The Great Garloo and he was a battery operated remote control monster toy created by Marx in 1961. If you search his name online you can find a video of the original black and white TV commercial. He will smash buildings... or have tea with you!

When I found him in a box with some other toys for $10.00 at a local antique auction, he was in several pieces and very dusty but with a little gentle coaxing, he roared back to life and ended up selling on Ebay for over $250.00! The coolest (and most bizarre) part of the story was the fact that Garloo was bought as a birthday present for the designer of the Pee Wee’s Playhouse TV show who lives in New York! He’d played with this toy as a boy and had looked for one for years and his good friend bought it from me to give to him at his 50th Birthday party.

Another of my favorite Ebay stories was the time I was able to reunite a family in Philadelphia with their original 1880’s era family photo album. The album was gorgeous. It was one of the really special antique albums that families used to treasure and hand down with care over generations. It was covered in red flocked velvet with gold metal buckles and was full of cabinet photos of a prominent family of Philadelphia doctors, lawyers and their wives and children. A few of the photos had names on the back, so with a little time on the internet, I was able to figure out a little bit of the family history. Usually these albums are anonymous. It’s hard to believe, but family members did not always write their names in the albums or on the back of the photos. It’s even harder to believe but I find these types of family albums all the time at auctions and estate sales. People just don’t treasure their family photos as much as they used to. But in this case, I decided to try to find the original owners of the album, not simply put it on Ebay and make money off it.

I called several historical societies, emailed people with the same last name and contacted museums in Philadelphia... but no one was able to help me find the right family. In the end I decided to put it on Ebay after all. I had exhausted all my ideas and thought that maybe someone in Philadelphia would buy it online and at least it would be closer to home!

To my great pleasure and surprise, the very next day a person from the family contacted me after seeing the listing online and asked me if I’d consider ending the listing early so that he could have the album shipped to him on time to take it to his family reunion in a few days! It was a happy ending... and over the years I’ve reunited several people with family members photos through Ebay. I even found a mystery for my own family. In one of the albums I found a photo dating from the 1800’s of a woman who is a dead ringer for my great grandmother from Scotland. And the woman in the photo has the same name! But her photo was in another family’s album. No one seems to be able to explain this mystery and so her photo remains on my desk and hopefully she will find a way to talk to me someday and tell me who she really is and perhaps reveal if my great grandmother lived a mysterious double life!

]]>user@domain.comBlog2011-04-11T12:14:51-07:00http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/5da1460fc59737c6ab5ccc11e9c228ac-2.html#unique-entry-id-2http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/5da1460fc59737c6ab5ccc11e9c228ac-2.html#unique-entry-id-2
I admit to being a huge Canucks fan. I’m not alone! Everywhere the team travels, their jerseys fill the stands. For me, it started because of the many years I spent as a hockey mom, sitting in cold arenas and sweaty summer ball hockey stands. Even though the Canucks have struggled in the post season in years past, I have faith that winning is possible since I watched my goalie son win a gold medal in the National Ball Hockey Championship. (I’m bragging, I know it!) Now that he is grown and isn’t playing hockey anymore, I cheer for the Canucks.

This year, my annual vacation coincided with the Canucks training camp in Penticton, so I even got to meet a few of the players before the season started. That was a blast and I did get a few autographs on our jerseys, so now we have a few hockey collectibles to treasure and wear with pride and good luck this upcoming post-season run! This should be our year!!

If you’re a sports nut, perhaps you collect memorabilia! As a collectibles dealer, I come across sports items sometimes and know people with some very serious collections. It can be big business for those who specialize in it. If you are looking for anything in particular, drop me a line and I’ll keep my eyes open for it. And keep your fingers crossed for the Blue, Green and White!]]>user@domain.comBlog2011-03-11T16:05:16-08:00http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/001720b3d7e202858f4ab9df1ec6cab3-1.html#unique-entry-id-1http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/001720b3d7e202858f4ab9df1ec6cab3-1.html#unique-entry-id-1
It turns out that great music comes in many forms. Along with some fabulous jazz and early rock n’ roll, some of my favorite finds have turned out to be old Canadian country singers like Buddy Reynolds who recorded with Aragon Records in the 1940’s. Aragon was western Canada’s first record company and it’s founder went on to build Mushroom Studios in Vancouver, which recorded everyone from Heart to Led Zepellin.

Who knew I liked country music? I certainly didn’t, until I started to come across these great old scratchy ‘78’s! Many of these singers were street musicians before their big breaks. Another favorite from the 1920’s is Bud and Joe Billings, Springtime In the Rockies...the old stuff is just so classic and more like bluegrass than today’s country music.

My passion for vintage vinyl started many years ago when I brought home a box of lps from an auction and dusted off my old record player to see what I had. Turned out the magic in that box that got me hooked was The Definitive Pearl Bailey. She is coolness personified! If you’ve never heard her version of Baby, It’s Cold Outside with Hot Lips Page... well it’s a lesson in seduction!


From there I found a great LP of Edith Piaf, Fats Waller, some bootleg Miles Davis... stuff that will take you places you’ve never been. A few Christmas’s ago I asked for a digital record player so I could record these finds into mp3’s and I was off. From then on, my days and nights have been filled with whatever music I’m in the mood for. And friends have been gifted with “mixed tapes” of my favs.

For about a year I was mostly into ‘78’s, the earlier the better. I have a few one-sided records from the early 1920’s which are great! I find the really magical ‘78’s are from the 1920’s that sound like they were silent movie soundtracks. Check out (if you can find it) Sleepy Hall’s Melody Boys - Goodbye Broadway, Hello Montreal! Great song about sneaking up to Canada for a drink during prohibition! And there are days that really suit the free-wheeling melodies from the 1920’s swing era... there’s nothing like a bit of Bix Beiderbecke to put you in a sweet mood for the rest of the day.

Even though I sell vintage items, I don’t really collect records for their financial value, but mostly because I enjoy listening to them. I will eventually list some of my records for sale, so drop me a line if there’s something you’re looking for and maybe we can make a deal.

These days, I’ve jumped a few decades up to the 1970’s and 80’s, as I’m feeling nostalgic for my own teenage days! I usually start my day in the kitchen with a glass of home-squeezed juice and a blast of music. Last week it was Carole King’s Tapestry and today, a particularly bold choice of Nazareth’s Greatest Hits. As I said, I’m not picky! As long as the neighbours don’t mind... turn it up! Next week I think I’ll track down some Ramones or Sex Pistols lps! Wish me luck.]]>user@domain.comBlog2011-03-06T11:08:38-08:00http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/7af6d90d78028f6a3b7e50436f8a3ab9-0.html#unique-entry-id-0http://www.salvagestyle.net/blog/files/7af6d90d78028f6a3b7e50436f8a3ab9-0.html#unique-entry-id-0

Now I sit here on a Monday in the first week of March while the sun is streaming into my office and a gentle breeze is blowing the robin’s call in through my window. The cat is diverted to the window to investigate and I am dreaming of hitting the road with the music roaring in search of wide open spaces and treasures tucked away in forgotten hamlets.

There’s nothing that a vintage nut loves more than the “hunt”. It’s what keeps us going. Some are driven by the money such treasures can bring, but more than the money, it’s the stories of what we found and where, that keeps our passion levels up. The idea that somewhere a jug or vase or picture has lain undiscovered for decades just waiting for us. For me, the sentimental value of items are really important as well. One of my favorite treasures was an old 1930’s Boy Scout blanket I found a few years ago that was filled to every corner with badges. Collectors the world over bought those badges. It was a great moneymaker and the collectors were excited. I always wondered about the boy who put that blanket together and whether he was still alive to know someone in his family had donated his treasure to a charity thrift shop where I found it.

Yesterday I went to Ken Passmore’s auction in Cloverdale. It was great to see Ken again, he’s been at it a long time but his sales have been out of Chilliwack for a few years and it’s just too far a trek for me most weekends. The auctions are a social event as much as a sale. Our local community of dealers and sellers is a good bunch. Always friendly, no matter the rivalries between us to get the “good stuff”. There’s enough respect amongst us to go around. And we all have our own little niche.

But today I’m back to the grind of redesigning my website and revamping my online presence. It’s serious business now, and I have to start thinking about Twittering and Facebooking. I think I spend too much time in front of the computer as it is, but I guess it’s never going to end. Meeting new customers online is the best part of being on Ebay. I’ve sold vintage items to people in Russia, Japan, Malaysia, every continent and all over the world. It’s always a thrill to send my treasures off on their next journey.

I got an invitation today to add my website to the Canadian version of the American Pickers TV show. The History Channel is inviting dealers like me to post some antiques for sale on their site... so I’ll have to investigate that. Of all the antique shows on TV right now, the Pickers is the most realistic and is really quite fun to watch, even for someone as jaded as me. Also, today I’m going to order some new blades for my mat-cutter so I can finish a few art projects to add to my Etsy site. And I’ve got a bunch of boring paperwork to deal with this week, so hopefully the sunshine won’t distract me too much!

Cheers for now.
Jeanne]]>