Rosie's Ramblings

August 3, 2000

Hello Out There,

I have been out of town almost constantly since I last wrote. Consequently, I have done no research. I have made no improvements to Rosie’s. I have no idea what has been happening on eBay. I haven’t even answered some of my visitor’s email (but I will).

During the first part of July I went on a solitary venture to South Carolina to visit friends. I stopped at every antique mall/shop that I saw along the way. Unfortunately, I was at the mercy of road signs. In one town, there were 5 antique malls close together – unfortunately I arrived at 15 minutes before closing time. Instead of getting to leisurely browse, I ran into each one and asked if they had any needle books. That is not the way that I prefer to shop. Many mall clerks don’t even know what a needle book is. I did manage to find two great needle books on that trip in spite of myself (I’ll be showing these finds at a later date). I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but other sewing things catch my eye as well. On my way home I found this beautiful ribbon doll. I know it’s not a needle book, but it is sewing related and I simply fell in love with her. I am most curious about her history. From what others have told me she dates from the 20’s to the 40’s. If anyone has personal knowledge of ribbon dolls, I would sure like to hear your story. I’m assuming that ribbon doll making was sort of a fad, like macrame was during the 70’s.

The last part of July, my husband, my 2 dogs, and I piled in the pickup truck and pulled our camper west to Colorado. Needless to say, antique shopping is not an easy thing to accomplish in that situation. They did let me stop briefly in a few places as we crossed southern Missouri on the way home. I found a strange variation of the Century of Progress book, but I’ll have to save that story for a later date.

I’m kind of proud of myself. I survived a whole month with very little e-mailing and almost no eBaying. In most of the touristy towns I saw signs at various establishments saying “Check Your E-Mail!”. I never even stopped to see how much they were charging for their services. I mention it only because it illustrates how much technology has become a part of our lives.

My additions this month consist of some fairly common needle books that visitors have asked about in the past: Finepoint/Superior ATC, Broadway Lights, and United States. You can find them on my alphabet pages. I will let the pictures tell their stories while I share one more of mine. Antiques Roadshow is coming to St. Louis this weekend. Tickets went on sale one Saturday several weeks ago at 1:00. I tried to call constantly for over an hour. After that I tried every 10 minutes or so. I finally got through at 3:15 and they were sold out. The moral of the story is -- if you want to get tickets to the Roadshow, have your mother, dad, brother, sister, etc. all try to call…maybe someone will be able to get through. I know that I have nothing that would have made the cut to be on TV, but I sure would have enjoyed watching the people and their stuff.

See you in September,

Rosie

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