Unusual Knick Knacks

Grampa Don

Grampa Don

Yep, that's me
Location
Orange county, Calif.
Do you have any unusual knick knacks? Here's one of mine, a Chinese water pipe I picked up in Hong Kong in 1965 when I was in the Navy.

chinese-pipe.jpg


Don
 

I don't know how unusual these are maybe others had the same idea but they are to me as well as having sentimental value.
The rooster is made of peach pits and was given to me by my sister in law when I was still in my chicken collecting mode.
My grandpa made the sewing basket out of an acorn top, the knitting needles are stick pins. Not sure where he got the tiny scissors. peach pit.JPGacorn.JPG
 
Grampa Don said:
The smoke bubbles through the water cooling it, same thing as a hookah. I tried it once and wasn't impressed. There was a time long ago when I smoked a pipe. Nothing beats a good briar or Meerschaum.

Don
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I couldn't agree more about briars. I have a nice collection going back to the 1920's through 1950's. I also have a stash of classic vintage pipe blends. A few times each month, I grab a good book and spend a few hours in the "wayback machine" with my old pipes and baccy.
 
Ruth n Jersey said:
I don't know how unusual these are maybe others had the same idea but they are to me as well as having sentimental value.
The rooster is made of peach pits and was given to me by my sister in law when I was still in my chicken collecting mode.
My grandpa made the sewing basket out of an acorn top, the knitting needles are stick pins. Not sure where he got the tiny scissors. View attachment 168107View attachment 168108
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Neat-O, Ruth!

The little miniature pair of scissors remind of the little scissors, screw driver, hammer, saw, and a few other things that came in one of those toy clear plastic bubbles out the machines for kids back in the day.

Parents put a quarter in and then turned the handle and out popped a clear plastic toy bubble filled with play things for children.
 
I don't know if you'd consider this a knickknack in the strict sense, it's rather large (wingspan is 19 inches - 48 cm), but has an interesting history. My mom worked for a local newspaper a long time ago. She was having some photos developed at a photography studio (this was decades before digital cameras). She saw this white metal figure on a two-colored marble base there and came home and told my father about it. The following Christmas, there it was under the tree. My dad had gone to the photo studio and got it for her. He would never disclose how much he had to pay for it. I sent a photo of it to an auctioneer in Massachusetts for appraisal. He said if he had it at his auction, he'd start the bidding at $2000 and wouldn't be surprised were the gavel came down.

angel 1.jpgangel 2b.JPG
 
debodun said:
I don't know if you'd consider this a knickknack in the strict sense, it's rather large (wingspan is 19 inches - 48 cm), but has an interesting history. My mom worked for a local newspaper a long time ago. She was having some photos developed at a photography studio (this was decades before digital cameras). She saw this white metal figure on a two-colored marble base there and came home and told my father about it. The following Christmas, there it was under the tree. My dad had gone to the photo studio and got it for her. He would never disclose how much he had to pay for it. I sent a photo of it to an auctioneer in Massachusetts for appraisal. He said if he had it at his auction, he'd start the bidding at $2000 and wouldn't be surprised were the gavel came down.

View attachment 168111View attachment 168112
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In the antique world statues in this manner are known as winged victory.

That's very pretty.

Is the ball in which the figure is standing, marble?
 
Yes, black marble with golden streaks and under that is a cube of light and darker brown streaked marble.. I finally moved it off the radiator this year. Too difficult to reach to dust with all the yard sale things piled up in front of it. Besides, not good to have it out and visible at a sale when it's not for sale.
 
This is it and I promise I'm done. It's a piece of the USS Diodon. She was rammed by another boat during docking and it tore up part of the forward teakwood deck. I scrounged a bit as a souvenir. She was decommissioned in 1971 and sold for scrap the next year. It's just a stick, but it means something to me.

diodon-deck.jpg


Don
 
Grampa Don said:
This is it and I promise I'm done. It's a piece of the USS Diodon. She was rammed by another boat during docking and it tore up part of the forward teakwood deck. I scrounged a bit as a souvenir. She was decommissioned in 1971 and sold for scrap the next year. It's just a stick, but it means something to me.

diodon-deck.jpg


Don
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Don, those are the best kind of knick knacks, those with a story behind them, at that point they become valuable keepsakes to be treasured.
I wouldn't mind seeing more.
 
You might love your tiny ceramic cat wearing a sombrero, but it’s just a knickknack, a small collectible ornament. A knickknack isn’t valuable — except sentimentally.

Little statues, candles in quirky shapes, or prizes found inside cereal boxes, are all knickknacks. Anything that decorates or clutters the shelves of someone's home, especially if it's basically worthless, is a knickknack. The word knickknack was originally a 16th century version of "dirty trick," from knack, and its now-obsolete meaning "deception or trick." Don’t freak out if it’s spelled knick-knack because that’s ok too.
 
PamfromTx said:
You might love your tiny ceramic cat wearing a sombrero, but it’s just a knickknack, a small collectible ornament. A knickknack isn’t valuable — except sentimentally.

Little statues, candles in quirky shapes, or prizes found inside cereal boxes, are all knickknacks. Anything that decorates or clutters the shelves of someone's home, especially if it's basically worthless, is a knickknack. The word knickknack was originally a 16th century version of "dirty trick," from knack, and its now-obsolete meaning "deception or trick." Don’t freak out if it’s spelled knick-knack because that’s ok too.
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You just described our place. My hobby room has more knick knacks than Pee Wee's Playhouse. How about a candle shaped like a dragon? Got one. A dunking bird, one of those too. A cup with the characters from Last of the Summer Wine? Yep. A little Homer Simpson? Sure. It all feels like home.

Don
 
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