Two New Finds

On a whim the other day, I stopped in at one of my local thrift shops. I didn't have much time to browse around, so I almost didn't stop. But, being a thrift store junkie, I couldn't resist taking a quick look. I'm so glad I did because I found this darling, red vintage scrapbook. Red happens to be one of my favorite colors, and it was priced at only $1.00, so I decided I had to have it. It measures 8-1/2 inches by 11-1/2 inches and the pages inside are all blank. Whomever owned it, never used it. I'm not sure what I plan to do with it for now, but I'm sure I'll think of something. Any suggestions?

My second find, is a copy of the April 1954 issue of Holiday Magazine. I have never heard of this particular magazine, but it showcases getaway vacation spots. It has wonderful old ads for cars, shoes, clothing, appliances, filtered cigarettes, Cris Craft boats, makeup and more. I love the travel ads for Bermuda, New York, Miami, Brazil, Nova Scotia, South America, Oregon, Virginia, and other fascinating places. There are ads for airline travel and train travel. It also has some very interesting and insightful articles; I especially enjoyed one written by Nobel Prize winning author William Faulkner describing growing up in his native Mississippi in the small town of Oxford. The story relates how much Faulkner loves his native land and its people - "He was born of it," Faulkner says of himself, "and his bones will sleep in it."

Another article that I found interesting was about South Carolina's Pirate Coast. In the early 1700s, the infamous Blackbeard, "gentleman pirate" Stede Bonnet, and other lesser known buccaneers sailed from Carribean harbors to Charleston and the sea islands of Carolina's coast. Blackbeard was notorious for wearing an arsenal of pistols and lighted matches in his hair. The article went on to relate the legend of the young woman who lived in a large house near the old city gate. The author, Herbet Ravenel Sass states, "In the preserved house is an old family Bible, on the yellowed flyleaf of which is written a scandalous thing: that a daughter of a certain excellent local family had run away from home and kindred to become the latest 'wife' of Captain Edward Teach - the celebrated pirate Blackbeard. Now I had long known about this woman, but only as a legend, a whisper from the Coast's incredible past - a whisper which said that of Blackbeard's many loves his ultimate favorite was a magnificent creature both beautiful and damned who had been a high-born Carolinian lady". Mr. Sass goes on to state that as a youth he had dismissed the legend as one of the old wives' tales with which the Coast abounds, but now believes the story to be true; a pirate treasure better than a chest of doubloons.

Here is a picture from the magazine depicting Blackbeard with his guns and smoking hair. The magazine is oversize and will not fit on my scanner, but I will attempt to take pictures of the ads and post them soon.