Vintage Copy of My Favourite Book

As a kid, I was a voracious reader. Even more so than I am now! I was at our local Value Village when I saw an interesting looking copy of Jane Eyre. Not too weathered but had a haunting image on the front and back cover. I asked the clerk if this book was priced the same as their regular hardcovers and he said yup, they are all priced the same. Unfortunately when I got to the till, the more senior cashier told me it was actually 4x the price I thought.

I left it.

When I got back to my computer I found out that it was a 1943 Random House copy with prints from Fritz Eichhenberg's wood engravings. It was originally published as a 2-book set with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Wuthering Heights by her sister Emily Bronte. They were going for big bucks on Etsy!

Of course when I went back it was gone, but luckily for me, another thrift store I hit up (SPCA Thrift Store on Victoria Drive) had both books in great condition - except the covers were blank. I shrugged and bought them anyway. All the Eichenberg engravings inside the books are the same. One oddity is that Jane Eyre is upside down... What I mean is that the book cover was applied upside down, but all else is fine and Wuthering Heights is a-ok.

I'm looking forward to getting re-aquainted with an old favourite and seeing if I will like it as much as I did when I read it years ago...

Inspired

I grew up tagging along with my dad to yard sales... funny I was the only one who joined in his excitement when he saw a local "Garage Sale!" sign. I always thought the first sign of the year signalled the beginning of summer!

Recently my interest in vintage stuff was rekindled when preparing for my wedding. I had a great pair of blue satin shoes but I thought they needed a little pizazz. Luckily I stumbled on a pair of vintage enamel Sarah Coventry Tahitian Flower clip earrings in the peach colour. Perfect to double as shoe clips on the big day!

Hello and Welcome!

Welcome to Six Balloons - a blog describing discoveries I've made rummaging at local thrift and yard sales stores in Vancouver, BC.

The Six Balloons name comes from the surprise and delight seen on my little nieces' faces when presented with colourful balloons - as any good explorer knows, this is the look one tries to contain when stumbling upon a perfect condition pyrex bowl, a vintage edition of your favourite book, or a stunning Cathrineholm ice bucket that you knew nothing about till you saw it.

Stay tuned for updates on my discoveries!