VINTAGE WORK APRONS

   Among the many things that I pick up here and there are old work aprons, and the more used and abused the better. It's easy to look at them and picture some guy or gal busting their hump using this piece of cloth tied around their body to protect themselves from whatever it they endeavor to do. A handy pouch, pocket and strap to hold your pen and notebook, knife, nails and tools within easy reach is essential, as is a place to wipe your hands. An apron is an invaluable piece of work wear. Here are some great examples.

Handyman style. Nice paint spatters.

a little tar really hammers home the fact that it was worn by a roofer.

this one is great, looks as if it was longer and the upper was not needed and cut off.  The rust stains are cool.

Hard to tell by the photo but this one is small, very small. it looks like the shroud of Turin with all the water stain marks

never been used. i liked the "chateau" font and graphic.

super used

nicely faded with the addition of clasps to get around tying and untying.

another roofer. Bird roofs.

one of my favorites

I worked as an electrician in NYC for years and if i wore this i would be laughed off of a job site. Kind of neat though.

this is the apron i wear most of the time. It's a Japanese maekake. A shop apron, you see them a lot in bars or restaurants.

another maekake

common denim shop apron

denim H&A apron. I wear when I'm using ink

denim

HIATUS AT AN END/NEW FINDS AND NEW PROJECTS

So, Mrs. H&A and i bought a house in April and for the last few months have been making it ship shape. Couple that with European visitors, craft fairs, a trip to the east coast and general unpacking and settling in, and what you get is me slacking on my posts. Let's get this train back on track. Some new flea finds, some new projects and some of my equipment. 

 grabbed 50 of these in Maine last moth. dead stock ice cream wrappers. make great bags for small bits at a shop. i love the design.

my little sis and her beau are fixing up our mom's place in Maine, tearing out the walls and ceilings. look what she found in the attic floorboards. great old army pouch.

close up of pin one the military bag

got 10 of these old shop rags on the cheap at an estate sale. gonna try and incorporate them into some bags

picked up this huge hide at the PCC swap meet last weekend

working on some bags using that same leather

i have a ton of vintage zippers and small pieces of cloth. pouches make sense.

a few made from old feed sacks. soon to be available at horseandanchor.com

wooden nickels are rad. period. i grab them when i can find them. these i got in Maine last month

Lubec is down east in Maine near Quoddy head park on the coast near Eastport

backside was blank

this one is from where i grew up. i need to find out how many other states claim Paul Bunyan as their own. Growing up, we  raced horses at the state fairs and race tracks around New England, the fairgrounds in Bangor Maine had a giant statue of Paul Bunyan at one of the entry gates.

Paul Bunyan backside

great set of metal stamps (note the anchor and horseshoe)this is what i used to mark the squished nickel

new (old) juki. a little scary how fast this thing can move. has sped my process up quite a bit, this thing will sew through leather and thick canvas with no problem

bucket of cut straps, just waitin' to be put on some bags

leather washers for the copper rivets, needing center hole struck keeping them in one of my domed lunchboxes

squished nickel from estate sale, 60's or 70's  that I'm thinking of incorporating in some projects

picked up the horse stamp at Casey rubber stamps in NYC last month. Great shop on east 11street between 1st and 2nd ave. didn't have it in stock so made on on the spot. took like, 5 minutes. the anchor I've had a while

THRIFT AND FLEA

here is some items that I've acquired recently. either by flea market or thrift store. i think they're pretty cool. if you read this, you may also. been real busy with the new house, found alot of cool stuff. I'll post some favorites next time

cast iron horse bookends, rad

three mouth harps and a tin kazoo

communist red army cap with badges

badge

super cool flight bag. not sure if i'll keep it as is or transform it into one of mine

on flight bag

cocktail flag, just because

martinis ahoy

diver flag

anchor flag

SO excited about this one. found at the bottom of a box at a flea market, Jacques Cousteau's flag from his ship the calypso (replica) still super cool

skeleton keys

old rulers

old book of apple recipes. just apple recipes.

bell jar diorama. i made this. sand dollar from the pacific coast, duck skull from the L.A. river, glass slide of a mosquito head from flea market. fish jaw from the ocean and vintage Vietnamese money.

unicorn rat skull bell jar. rat skull from my parent's barn when i was 16. horn is a seashell from the pacific coast. flower is from Brooklyn.

old key, fish jaws from Maine coast, seed pod from Los Angeles, bullet casing found in an old box of my father's

possum skull found in a buddy's garage, old skeleton key from a flea market, fake roses I've had since the 1980's

hand painted (by me) vintage photo, skeleton key from flea market, found dice (snake eyes) revolver pin from flea market

had to add this, i did not make it, it was a wedding gift from some friends to Mrs. H&A and i. hand carved eggs in a nest of feathers. beautiful.

my bell jar pride and joy.

monsieur squirrel