LOL.

I laughed myself silly when I stumbled upon this photo online. This lady smoking her cigarette in a plastic-lined room is just classic, don't you agree?



I remember my grandmother's large off-white plastic covered sofa. It was like sitting on a big sheet of Saran Wrap!



Did you have family or friends that covered their sofas or draperies in plastic? How about lamp shades? Because, God forbid, we wouldn't want to ruin them, would we?

photo: unknown

s.w.a.k.

Yesterday I spent some time perusing through thousands of old postcards at the San Francisco Vintage Paper Fair. It's amazing just how passionate collectors are about old ephemera.

I like to purchase special French or hotel-themed postcards as a token of thanks to my customers.


I remember the days of receiving and sending postcards and proudly displaying them on my bulletin board. It's already August and I've only received one card saying, "wish you were here." Although, I was thrilled to receive it, sending postcards is definitely becoming a lost art right there with letter writing.

While on vacation, do you still mail postcards?

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Today would have been Lucille Ball's 100th birthday. How much joy did we get from this legendary woman? I think the I Love Lucy show was the only program I could watch repeats over and over again and never tire of. I remember when I was 11, I got to see the live taping of "Here's Lucy" in Southern California. I remember that day so well and just how exciting it was to see Lucy in person!

Have you seen Google's interactive 'doodle' on its homepage that features 7 classic clips from I Love Lucy? So clever. You must take a peek.

What was your favorite Lucy episode?

Times are a Changin'

A few days ago the beautiful 3-story Border's Books in downtown San Francisco closed its doors. Another one bites the dust.

I've been so distraught thinking about how much life is rapidly changing and how the internet has affected us in both a good and bad way.

Of course, I make my living with an online shop, but there is something about "mom & pop" shops that nothing can replace. I miss the old days.

Do you remember these?

Or these?

I remember in 1981 when the first little local video rental shop opened. We'd pay $20 to rent a VCR for the weekend along with some VHS tapes. It was so exciting! Now to think that just 30 years later, most of us have lived to see that come and go.

Remember the fun spending hours browsing through a record store? Piling up your stack of 45's or LP's and standing in line. Now with iTunes, there's not even any need for your CD's. And all the record stores...gone.

So, where am I going with this? I don't really know. It's just so depressing to watch things change like this. And I'm saddened to watch "out of business" signs in every town you visit. People are struggling.

I am guilty of purchasing books at Amazon at a discounted price. Perhaps I'm one of the culprits that contributed to book stores filing chapter 11. But, we may not even have books in the future. Reading will probably be online and I'll still be scouting around to find "real books." No wonder so many folks are unemployed...

Tell me, how do you feel about the possibility of no print media? newspapers? books? magazines?

What would you miss most if it was replaced by the internet? Do you think that local 'mom and pops' such as shoe or jewelry repair shops will become extinct?

Am I just having a "feeling-old-at-fifty" moment or do you feel the same?

1911 on YouTube

In honor of April Fools' Day, YouTube is taking a trip down memory lane with an old school twist on modern videos. Take a look...it's great!