Monday, June 13, 2011

Calgary 4th Anual Caswells

Last weekend I took my family to the 4th annual Carswells Antique Furniture & Collectibles show and sale and it was AWESOME! My boyfriend amused himself by looking through all the hockey cards well I trolled around checking out the booths. Right as we entered the show my little guy spotted this very loud and obnoxious rattle. It was only $3, so like any "bad parent" I gave in and bought it thinking this would keep him occupied well I checked things out. It kept him occupied alright! the damn thing is so loud I would cringe every time he shook it. Which to him meant, shake it louder and harder cause mommy makes a funny face when she hears it. Needless to say, I took it away ten minutes later and choose to listen to my screaming child instead. It's now Jake's "outside toy" and he thoroughly enjoys it. I tried to look up what and where it came from but there is little information. The company US Metal toy mfg co. was at one point a manufacture of tin toys circa 1940-50 and would roll tin into flat sheets in order to make the desired shapes however that's about all I can find. This particular rattle has a visible hole where they have inserted the marble ball which is responsible for the loud clanking. Post World War II, Japan became the leader in tin toys which slowly transitioned over to China. The fact that this is a U.S made tin toy will be unique years from now but currently I don't think you can ask much more then a few dollars for it. The highest amount I've seen for a similar rattle was $9. Nothing lost, nothing gained.


The second item I picked up was an itsy bitsy charm which I found after ten minutes of digging through a shoebox of dismantled charm bracelets (I LOVE Charm bracelets). It caught my eye immediately because it looked like a University of Saskatchewan logo. As I squinted to read the fine print, I made out the bottom which read "University of Saskatchewan" (I inferred from the Latin letters). However, I then noticed at the top it said Campus Regina.
"That's weird" I said out loud.
Growing up in Saskatoon, and being an alumni of the University of Saskatchewan I know that it is in Saskatoon not Regina. Therefore, I bought it just to get to the bottom of this mystery. I can't report I know much yet about this charm but Patrick from the University Archives department is working to find me more information. There was a brief period of time between 1925-1974 which the Campus Regina (now the University of Regina) existed as part of the U of S. Originally being a junior college working its way towards offering accredited college classes, and eventually attaining degree granting status in 1961. I am hoping that the shield graphic may help narrow the time frame down.

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