My Vintage Addiction is a proud sponsor of Green With Indie, an eco-friendly art + craft show from the St. Louis Craft Mafia showcasing St. Louis’s indie handmade creations alongside vintage treasures. If you’re a local vintage seller, apply for the show! The Call For Artists is open until April 24th, so don’t wait.

If you’re a vintage lover, mark your calendars! Our very own Robin (The Fancy Lamb) will be there with her vintage finds + I’ll be hawking my handmade goodness. Stop by, say hello + get your shop on ~

Green With Indie
Date: Saturday, June 5, 2010
Time: 10:00am – 6:00pm
Location: Webster University, 125 Edgar, Webster Groves, MO 63119

[Be a fan of Green With Indie on Facebook]

With the Luck O’ the Irish, we’ve stumbled upon more green, Irish, and leprechaun-worthy vintage finds than ever before! Stay tuned to our Tumblr for a new vintage find ever half-hour in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Don’t forget! Share your own finds with us via our Flickr group.

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya!

Coat :: pineapplemint
Leprechauns :: amy b
Buttons :: mathilde_2193
Barbies :: inmyjammiesintx
Dress :: 13 bees

We asked. You answered. Our new weekly post will feature YOUR thoughts on vintage, thrifting, and the thrill of the hunt. This week we wanted to know how you felt about where to hunt for vintage off-line. Read our fans’ answers and voice your own opinion in the comments, below.

What are your thoughts on hitting estate sales vs. thrift shops? Any preference?

velvetavalon :: estate sales require prior planning and scouting. thrift stores are easy, always there and have regular hours.

theillumiletty :: I noticed at estate sales there are a lot very good quality unworn shoes in smaller sizes. which is excellent for a size 5 like me.

Joe :: Estate Sales!

maibyrd :: i prefer estate sales…vintage, in my opinion, have a better story and are more special when found in a strangers closet. :-)

SmallEarthVtg :: Personally prefer thrift stores. Estate sales can be treasure troves, but you need to be among the first in line & pushy.

Renee :: I love Estate Sales! I just always seem to work or want to sleep late!

UniqueFashion :: 10 plus years since I did my last Estate sale. Too many people and not worth getting up so early to be the first in line.

wizbeff :: i love both, but would choose estate sales over thrift stores. there always tends to be more quality items at the estate sales i go to.

ktkeating :: Love both!

mirthandwonder :: I’ve found thrift shops to be more accessible and less expensive.

natajean :: I love them both! but sometimes estate sales are more hit or miss while I’m almost guaranteed at least one find while thrifting

Coronation Vintage :: prices are always cheaper at thrift shops.

cur8vintage :: The latter, but both are full contact sports.

Dawn :: I prefer Thrift Shops (if they are not expensive) because at an Estate Sale there are always a long line of people waiting to get in and then it is bumper to bumper in the house. To hard to look around or keep your “STASH” away from others. It nevers fails at a estate Sale, no one will be looking at an item until I AM! Then people come out of the woodwork to look too! LOL

Which do you prefer?

The My Vintage Addiction family is growing fast! Our latest addition to the MVA crew is Kaitlin from My Vintage Secret. She loves thrifting and hunts for new finds regularly in Toronto. Kaitlin will be sharing her vintage fashion finds with you every Wednesday, so stay tuned & give her a warm welcome!

About Kaitlin:

A prairie girl at heart, I moved to Toronto to get my degree and with my new student budget fell in love with vintage and thrift shopping. I love vintage for the originality it adds to any style and for its romantic sensibilities. These items have lived, laughed, and loved alongside someone else and now you get to add your style and memories. My favourite vintage moment was when I got two pairs of oxford shoes for $2 at a garage sale last summer. They were sold to me by the original owner who was an adorable woman in her eighties. It’s nice to know we have the same taste!

Howdy Vintage fans and fiends! We’re ramping up to a bigger, better 2010 here at My Vintage Addiction and to do so, we’ll need a few more members of the MVA team. Our weekly columnists enjoy the perks of free advertising for their shop/website while sharing their glorious finds with the world. Check out our lists of open positions below & email finds@myvintageaddiction.com for more information!

PLAY :: If you love vintage toys, games, and gizmos worth a few giggles- we want you!

VOYAGE :: Addicted to vintage luggage, airport photos and classic cars? This is right up your alley.

MELODIES :: For the die-hard oldies fan. Can’t get enough of pre-1990’s tunage? Perfect.

PICTURE SHOW :: Old Hollywood and it’s stars are what fill your heart. Share the love.

Photo courtesy of ☆★ picturemaker ★☆

While browsing through those vintage drugstore images, I came upon this lovely photo of a girl behind a soda fountain. The story that came with the photo is one of those thoughful glances we sometime get into the past lives of our loved ones. This one is told to Joey Harrison by his mother, of a special day, D-Day, spent behind the soda fountain.

[Photo and comments by Joey Harrison's mother]

Our apartment in 1950 was above the Unclaimed Freight Store. Next door to it was a Rexall drugstore, on a neighborhood corner. It was owned by a grumpy guy who filled prescriptions, sold personal goods that were kept behind the counter in those days, and did everything except tend the soda fountain. In this photo darling soda-jerk Margie Chrisman poses while sipping a fountain Coke and waiting for the after-school crush. See the “signs of the time” posted behind her!

If you’ve seen one Rexall drugstore in that era you’ve seen ‘em all, like the Rite Aids of today. This photo could as well have been me on D-Day, June 6, 1944, as I worked at a soda fountain in White Cloud, Michigan. A quiet, bright June day in the drugstore and Mr. LeMire, the pharmacist/owner asked me to clean shelves. A woman came in for a prescription. A soda-fountain customer asked for a chocolate soda. I pumped chocolate syrup into the bottom of a tall glass, added a half- scoop of ice cream, then tilting the glass zapped the combination with a pressurized stream of soda water until the bubbling mixture reached halfway up. Now a large scoop of ice cream was added. Soda water to fill the glass. Topping of marshmallow cream from one of the white ceramic tilt-front containers, all with chrome covers. A cherry. Two big straws and a long spoon. The customer was my boy-friend Jim Champion, who had recently planted a first kiss the night before my 16th birthday. As he sipped and spooned the chocolate goodness I leaned over the counter in his direction. It was OK to schmooze the customers.

Jim’s mother was our high school principal. One afternoon I called the operator and asked for Jim’s number (no dial phones there). I knew his Mom would still be at work. A cultivated voice answered. Oh-oh, Jim’s grandmother. I asked for Jim. Grandmother asked who was calling. Taken off guard, I answered shyly, “I’d rather not say.” Aristocratic Grandmother replied tartly, “Then I have no information for you, young lady.” CLICK. Stung and shamed, I never ever called Jim again. Today the humiliation is almost as great, just remembering! I learned a lesson, and never forgot it.

Recently while surfing for information about Newaygo County an amazing tidbit surfaced. Jim’s grandfather, William Julius Champion had walked to Yale from his home in White Cloud, Michigan, a distance of 897 miles!

Other customers were few in LeMire’s Drug that June morning. I was wearing a summery blue dotted-swiss U-neck dress. A teenage newshound, I turned on the radio while washing shelves and learned of the landing at Normandy.

A very big thank you to Joey Harrison for giving us permission to share his mother’s photo and story. View more of Joey Harrison & his mother’s photos on his Flickr page.

We’ve been busy spreading our vintage finds across the web over on our Tumblr blog & now you can join in on the fun! Submit your own vintage photos, videos, music, or stories by either visiting the site or emailing myvintageaddiction [at] tumblr [dot] com to submit posts into our submission queue for approval.

We’ll still be posting more in-depth articles and features right here after our short holiday break, so stay tuned.

Happy New Years from My Vintage Addiction!

Found by :: Millie Motts

I spent the past 48 hours in bed, sick as a dog. Let me tell you from first hand experience, the Flu is an amazing beast and probably the only thing this year that has kept me away from my laptop for two days. After much needed rest, I’m feeling better.

I should’ve used this concentrated killer of disease germs to avoid the Flu. Epic FAIL.

Thanks to a pal who scours the web like Ms. Nancy Drew, I was referred to a group of local St. Louis thrift/vintage shopping fans that get together to shop St. Louis. Of course, I joined immediately and will report back after my first meetup with my finds. The next meetup is November 21st at the Scholarshop.

From their Meetup.com page:

This is the place for thrift store junkies, garage sale addicts, and flea market shoppers. I’d like to start out planning a monthly lunch and thrift store visit – if we have enough fun we can move that to every other week or even weekly!

Courtney Chesley believes the thrill of the hunt is almost as fun as the find. read her mind over at CourtneyChesley.com or follow what spews out of it while under the influence of high doses of caffeine and re-runs of This Old House on Twitter.