It is time for Vintage Thingies Thursday again, a fun event hosted by Suzanne at Colorado Lady. Be sure to check out her blog to find a list of the participants showing off their vintage things.Below is a picture of our Clark's "O.N.T." thread cabinet. I discovered this cabinet about 40 years ago in my Dad's shop on the farm with his vise mounted to the top of it. It must have been there when I was a child, but I have no recollection of it then. Guess my eyes weren't trained to see wonderful pieces of history as a kid! When I did find it, I asked my Dad if I could have it. He explained that it had come from an old mercantile store in our small town. After bringing it to my home, I checked with the Coats & Clark Co. in New York; and they verified that it was from 1887. The cabinets were given to dealers, free of charge, with orders for specified assortments of thread. On the bottom of one of the drawers, it is signed by the cabinet maker and dated July 30, 1887.
This started a whole new collecting field for me. I started finding wonderful trade cards advertising Clark's "O.N.T" thread from the 1880s & 1890s. So many of them have adorable children pictured with clever slogans. This one says, "Foreman of the Jury, Our unanimous verdict is that O.N.T. beats all others."
Starting in the upper left, this baby is "Born to be a Philosopher"; upper right is "Born to be a Musician"; lower left is "Born to be a Surgeon; and lower right is "Born to be an Editor".
More beautiful children selling thread.
This is a large trade card with the O.N.T. logo; quite beautiful with the Tower of London.
This is a little book and has several nursery rhymes in it.
More cute kids, plus a calendar from 1878.
These are the four little sewing boxes that I have found over the years. The one in the back row on the left is signed by the same maker as my cabinet.
Assorted thread boxes and thread.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my Clark's "O.N.T." collection. By the way, "O.N.T." stands for "Our New Thread".
Sally
Sally
41 comments:
wow so cool! The history behind it is amazing.
WOW, I have never seen those little wooden thread boxes before and the one with the horse and rider (If you EVER decide it needs a new home>>>>I HAVE ONE FOR IT). I collect horse sewing stuff, we have horses too. Quilting and horses who would have thunk it???? LOL. Great stuff, love vintage sewing stuff and YOU HAVE ALOT. Thanks for sharing.
Sally, How great that it was in your father's shop! So glad you rescued it from that vise. It is lovely, and I love the fact that you have a sewing box crafted by the same artist who built the display piece. I love vintage cards, and these C&C cards are so pretty. Thanks for sharing this great collection. laurie
Well I tried. :) IT is pretty cool and I think I would hang on to it too. And I would love to see your doll clothes. I have those too. :) AND THE DOLL!!!!!! one of the 1st Barbie or Midge (Not sure which) dolls.
love it all! especially the thread cabinet!
Hi Sally! Oh, the cabinet is just wonderful! I don't guess I've ever seen one like this! I love the Fast Black name! All of your little thread collectibles are amazing! Those little children are so sweet!
Thanks sweet friend for popping in to see me! I just had to take some time to visit a little!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :)
What a unique, cool thing to collect! I would LOVE a cabinet like that, how nice that it is a family piece that has brought you such an interest!
What an amazing cabinet and story. I think this is rather interesting, infact, I have not seen anything like this ever. Love the graphics, so cute!Thanks for sharing.
Oh my gosh Sally, these are such treasures. I would love to have them all..they're just wonderful. Happy VTT and have a lovely day.
oh oh oh!!!i'm having heart papitations!!!..i adore all your treasures, the cabinet, the trading cards, the thread boxes..all ADORABLE!!!!!!!
Sohappy it made it into your home and started this wonderful collection. This is a beautiful piece of history.
Your cabinet is such a treasure and to think it was right there under your nose all that time! You have a wonderful collection of boxes and trade cards. C&C has some of the best images I have ever seen used in advertising. I have to admit that I have a weakness for sewing items, too!
Wow what a great collection. I have a few of the empty wooden thread spools from my mom, which I treasure. So many things that use to be made out of wood are now plastic.
What a fantastic collection!
wow amazing collection and precious! and the cards are just wonderful! love them! happy VTT and thanks for sharing..
This is my first time joining VTT! I am pea green with envy over that cabinet! It's breathtaking:)
What a neat collection! The page from the nursery rhyme is my favorite. All the trading cards are so beautifully illustrated!
Manuela
This is a super collection. I have a few spools of ONT thread--that's it.
Love it! So fantastic, belongs in a museum!
Treasures are everywhere all along our paths of life...glad you discovered this one before it got away from you! Pretty cool...love that it is from 1887...the older something is...the cooler I think it is!
ACK! WONDERFULLY , WONDERFUL! I love it all.
Wonderful, simply wonderful cabinet and collection! My jaw just dropped when I saw that cabinet and stayed open! Love the Little Piggy rhyme...the perfect sewer's rhyme!
What a fabulous collection you have! Wonderful items!
Oh how I love (lust after) the thread box. What a treasure!
The Raggedy Girl--Roberta Anne
Wow! What a fantastic collection you have!! I enjoyed browsing through all the photos. Have a nice day!
What a wonderful colletions - I'm jealous!
That is a FANTASTIC Cabinet! Your not going to believe this but my boyfriends mother has the exact same one in a reproduction that her father (woodworker) made for her. The exact same thing is written on each drawer and everything! Yours obviously has the much desired history! I'm jealous - I love it! Can't wait to tell everyone!
I am quite envious of your vintage O.N.T items! They are fabulous!
Your post brings back so many memories for me. How interesting. Now you are lucky to find a spool of thread any place. I wonder if my kids even know that thread was sold in boxes once upon a time. I am sure they would say Way Back in Mom's Time:) Thanks for sharing.
Joyce
Hello my friend...
Girl...I just love your Clark's "O.N.T." thread cabinet!!! Wow...what a treasure!!! You know, I just love all kinds of wooden boxes...but this one is so unique...signed and dated by the cabinet maker himself!!! That's so awesome!!! I certainly can see how this "sparked" a collection...hehe! I sure did enjoy seeing all of the darling thread ads...just precious!!! Oooh...and more little wooden thread boxes...I adore them! This is a lovely collection, Sally! Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us!!!
You know, I never thought about using a silver ladle with my soup tureen...however, I don't have one of those either! Hehe! But I really like the idea of the silver...I think the white and silver are very pretty together! I will be keeping my eye out for one...thank you so much for that grand idea!!!
Hope you're enjoying our Spring weather...it's so warm here, it's feeling more like Summer! Hehe!
Chari
What a magnificent and unusual collection! You have amassed quite a respectable variety of items from Clark's! Thank kyou so much for sharing!!!
Wow, Sally girl...you have a magnificent collection here. That chest in the first photo is to die for. I love that!
Sorry...just me again. I was looking to sign up as a follower of your blog so I won't miss any of your good posts..seems I have missed quite a few...But, I can't see where to sign up ??
Great post:from thread chest to advertising cards. Fabulous collection! Ruby
What a delightful collection. Those babies are so pretty!
Hi, Sally,
If you click on your Dashboard and then Help, type your question in and it will show you how to start Followers.
I know what you mean...I can barely turn my computer on and off...I stay lost most of the time and if it weren't for fellow bloggers help, I wouldn't be here..
Any trouble, holler!!
Sally ~ what an amazing post and what an amazing collection. I loved reading the story and looking at the precious images.... thank you so much for sharing.
What an awesome collection...it's all beautiful and I love the history behind it...but lets face it...that drawer cabinet is making me DROOL!!!!
I love this post. I so wish I had one of those drawer cabinets. I have always loved them. I never knew about ONT. Very interesting!
That thread cabinet is amazing! The thread cards are like little works of art! Love them! Too funny that your Dad had his vise mounted to it!!! :-) Susan
Do you know anything about the blue and white Clarks boxes? Dates of manufacture or anything?? Thank you!
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