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House of Hawthornes

DIY Projects, Gardening Tips And Thrifty Decor Ideas

Vintage Picnic Finds

By 26 Comments

In the summertime I gravitate toward vintage picnic supplies at yard sales and estate sales.


I found this vintage metal Skotch Basket at an estate sale recently for $6.00.


Love the green plaid.


I paid $3.00 for this funky thermos.

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I had no idea what language this was until I Googled it.

It’s German. My husband’s family is 100% German.

Uncanny coincidence? Or fate that the thermos and I were brought together?


It has a weird top to it that you don’t normally see in American thermoses.


And I know that because I bought this thermos at a garage sale this weekend for $1.00.


It’s a Thermos brand thermos with the normal screw on lid.


Do you remember the original Jarts games? Found one for $1.50 this weekend.


I had one as a child and played it often.

They changed the design of the darts in the 1980’s, because they were sharp and the point of the game was to throw them in the air and try to get them in a hula hoop type circle (sort like cornhole or horseshoes).


So picture people standing behind the hula hoop while you throw darts at them in that direction.


Get the picture? Too many darts protruding from heads, feet or worse yet, dogs.


OK, so Sheba’s sniffing the darts, not actually sitting with one in her skull, but you get the idea why they were taken off the market.

Weren’t games more fun when you had to take life into your own hands when playing them?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. La

    Great finds, Pam.

    When I was a kid, I had a red plaid lunchbox that looked like your picnic pail. Yeah, when my little brother was little one of these Jarts ended up in the center of his OCCUPIED playpen.

    Reply

  8. Katie@LeBeauPaonVictorien

    Love the Skotch basket! I like vintage thermoses also…my father had one exactly like your red plaid one. The German one is really cool too. ‘Dreipunkt’ I think translates as ‘three dots’ or ‘three points’. I took German in school for six years. 😉
    I wish they still made the original Jarts…it was such a fun game! As usual, it only takes a couple of people to do something wrong to ruin it for everyone else! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  9. Pam of Eastlake Victorian

    Those are great finds! We had a red plaid cooler like that when I was a kid! And my dad took that same red plaid Thermos with him to work every day. Ah, memories. BTW, my mom wouldn’t let us get Jarts. Then years later, SHE bought a set at a garage sale for herself… the nerve! 🙂

    -Pam

    Reply

  13. GardenofDaisies

    I LOVE the green plaid! Usually I only find the red ones, but I much prefer things in green and blue shades. This is the perfect time of year for lawn games. Our family always loved croquet. And at summer church picnics we would play horseshoes and lawn darts. Good memories.
    Be sure to come by my blog. I’m having a little giveaway.

    Reply

  14. lanakwaustin@att.net

    You find the MOST AMAZING and unique items!@ I’m completely in love with your vintage treasures!!! Seriously, people throw around the word “unique” and the word “treasure” but those words rarely truly apply. They are certainly applicable to your awesome items!!!!
    Hugs,
    Lana In Italy

    Reply

  17. Paula

    I love all of your vintage picnic finds and would have jumped at the chance if I had it to buy any of them. I think my mom still has a plaid thermos like the one that you found.

    Reply

  18. DearHelenHartman

    Is it wrong that I so envy you your dangerous lawn darts? I would love me some of those – who needs toes or eyes or short term memory there’s fun to be had on the lawn! Love the picnic basket, too!

    Reply

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