Monday, July 27, 2009

The Pigeon


This is one of the earliest thrifted items I remember...Let's see, July 1976 Ogunquit Maine a porch sale....
I was 11, the sun was shinning, the air had that brinny sea quality....I was happy, nothing could go wrong. Nothing went wrong that day either. I remember my Dad climbing the porch stairs to look at the merchandise, I was busy staring at the porch ceiling which was the loveliest shade of blue, just like the sky only paler...
First thing I knew the pigeon was ours. I think Dad paid 3$. It had damage, the tail was broken as was a twig from the nest. My Mom fixed it with a glue that turned yellow (ugh!) it looked awful. But that didn't stop me from staring at it for hours, I loved the color and the intricate nest, it looked so fragile, but had survived for such a long time!
Dad left but the pigeon stayed with it's ugly repair. When it was time for Mom to sell the house, I managed to 'steal' the pigeon and give it a new home. Mom didn't want me to take anything from the house, my aunt convinced her otherwise but I only was able to take some trinkets. Everything went to charity. Sometimes I feel sad because of all the treasures that were lost. I sure hope that they made people happy!
Anyways I soaked the pigeon in hot water, was able to remove the glue, and repaired it with crazy glue. Now it looks so much better 33 years later! I also found out that it was made by Westmoreland. I love the blue milkglass pigeon!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

WOW! It's beautiful... And the story is really great. so sweet :)

Vonlipi said...

Thank you. Every time I look at it and think about that story. It just had to be writen.