1 Town + 2 Thrift Shops + $7.00 = 3 new Cocker Collectibles!

Wonderful Additions to My Cocker Spaniel Collection

I can't believe my new finds! Being from the East(ish) Coast (Upstate New York), I'm a little less than optimistic when entering an estate sale, yard sale or thrift shop in Southern California. Seriously - a super antique dresser on the east coast may be found at a garage sale for about $50 ... out here it would go for over $500. Collectibles also have the "West Coast markup", usually. And when I narrow my search for something even harder to find (Cocker Spaniel collectibles) - well, let's just say that in SoCal I usually end up not spending much money, since I usually can't locate anything in my teeny tiny interest range.

All this to lead up to a fantastic couple of hours spent with my room-mate (and my Cockers' favorite groomer!) at two different thrift shops in our small-ish town of Santee, California last week. I'm seriously watching my spending while I catch up on some unexpected debts (a wonderful Rescue supporter was the Sponsor on a 3-month fundraising tour I scheduled in 2010 - and his life was cut short by a drunk driver before he could fulfill his part of our quest). I had $10 in my pocket, saved up designated as "mad money" and I was thinking it would be spent on a dinner out with a dear friend of mine. Until I entered these local thrift shops, that is!

The photo above is of a wall ornament - unfortunately a previous owner had used some sort of spackle on it, and any maker's mark on the back was no longer visable. But other than a speck on the nose (and the spackle-stuff on the back) it was in great shape. It wasn't priced, so I added it to my basket to ask about it at the front counter.

This adorable planter was at the same thrift shop as the wall ornament. The little guy on the right has a small nick in his outer ear, but other than that, it is in pretty nice shape. If any of my blog readers know anything about Napcoware, this Cocker planter is marked C7201 - I'd love to hear more about this piece! An initial search online gave me only limited information. The planter and the wall hanging together ran me $4.00 - who could say no to that?!

Rusty, written by Nason H Arnold. Published in 1930 by Lothrop, Lee & Shephard, Co. - Rusty is a Cocker Spaniel, and even tho this book is in poor condition, for $3.00 it happily found a place in my collection as a starter issue. As I find better quality editions, I'll trade up, offering the lesser book to another Cocker collector. Gotta start somewhere, right?

As I mentioned, I really don't expect to make many "finds" in Southern California. While on that Tour I mentioned, I loved stopping at various thrift and antique shops along the way. In Ohio, one stop yielded 5 Cocker items ... all with great prices! A beautiful red/white parti Cocker stayed with my friend Julie in Minnesota. She provided a wonderful working vacation for me (and Indie and Bennett!) while I did some healing from a broken foot. Her dining room table became my "office" every day and she was SO diligent about not bothering me while I worked on photos that needed to go out. Her nursing instincts helped me to not over-do things (which I am prone to do) and allow the healing process to do its thing. And Julie's two beautiful Cocker Spaniels were so patient about sharing their home with my kids (the cats, not so thrilled ...).

This wonderful pair was also a part of my Central Ohio jackpot. I'm hoping to find an artist friend to paint them up to match my parti babies, Indie and Bennett. There are no maker marks on them, so their history is bound to remain out of my reach. But they just had to come home with me!

What are some of YOUR favorite dog collectible items? What breed do you look out for? I'd love to hear from you - and I thank you for enjoying my new finds with me!