3.13.2008

Celluloid in the Garden...

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Lunch Break.

Yesterday, while planting the rest of the bulbs in the Garage Bed, I found this about 5" to 6" beneath the top soil:







With the dirt still all over it, I thought it was a cuttlebone for a second.
But once I cleaned it off a bit, I knew exactly what it was...

An old Celluloid (French Ivory) nail buffer from a vanity set circa 1930s (I only know this because I am 1930s/plastic collecting nerd).

Images of vanity sets I found online...

Some were simple:


Some a bit more fancy:


Some were personalized:



This one looks exactly like the one found in the yard shape/color-wise:


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I hope I come across the handle.
And I wonder how it ended up there in the first place.
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www.day-lab.com
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1 comment:

Unknown said...

I have a fantastic dresser set that I think is celluloid. I really have no idea of the period, and I'm pretty good at these things. I used to study Near Eastern archaeology, and this set was a gift because it's decorated with Assyrian motifs! It's so cool, has an Assyrian bull-man on it. If it were Egyptian, I'd say it was 1920's Egyptian Revival. But it's definitely Assyrian, although kind of crude. I don't think it can be as old as the Assyrian craze of the 19th century, although I could be wrong. It's not ivory, I used to have a family mirror made of ivory, and it feels very different. It's some kind of early plastic. The point is, I love it! I love dresser sets too, but that's all I have. I recently bought my sister a gorgeous Liberty & Co silver and turquoise manicure set--it matches a dresser set she has. I have no idea what a couple of the instruments are supposed to do, but, hey, they're gorgeous. Can't wait to give it to her for her birthday in a few weeks.