If you are looking for inventory for your Etsy vintage shop or antique mall booth, or you’ve been itching to increase your personal vintage collection with an abundance of chic treasures, then this is the jackpot you’ve been waiting for!

Since I am in the midst of moving out of state (more details to share soon!), as well as enjoying the giggles and laughter of four-month old Jet, I don’t have time to list and sell items individually in the Poetic Home Etsy shop.  Thus, I’m happy to offer this “wholesale” lot of treasures originally intended for the Poetic Home Etsy shop, but which will be equally happy in your home or Etsy shop!

Here is a list of what the vintage wholesale lot includes (which is not all shown in the photos):

• VERY COOL 1920s telephone pole lettering kit! This comes in a metal box with three trays of vintage type of numbers and letters in different sizes, original paint, spatulas, and more.  Retail: $100
• Vintage red wall mount rotary phone. Retail: $65
• Vintage Wizard Husky fan (works perfectly!). Retail: $30
• Vintage GE fan (the motor and blades work perfectly, but since it rotates a bit shakily, I recommend this only for decoration purposes). Retail: $20
• GE Electronic Tubes traveling case (that opens up with shelves inside). Retail: $25
• 2 vintage Tensor lamps (one is gooseneck, while the other is mid-century modern). Retail: $40
• 2 perpetual calendars. Retail: $40
• 2 vintage pencil sharpeners. Retail: $50
• 1 wooden two-hole punch. Retail: $15
• Miniature “bookshelf” of paper supplies, wherein some of the “books” still contain air mail labels, photo corners, and more. Retail: $5
• 4 antique maps of France, Europe, South America, and Italy (each is already wrapped in cellophane and backed in cardboard). Retail: $60
• 9 pairs of vintage cat eye glasses. Retail: $225
• 3 10″ and 1 16″ vintage Hollywood movie reels. Retail: $90
• 4 home movie reels and canisters. Retail: $20
• Kodak Instamatic Hawkeye Camera in its original box (They still make the film for this!  I have not tested the camera, however.).  Retail: $30
• Antique wooden stereoscope with 12 black and white stereoscope cards. Retail (via eBay auction prices): $150
• 2 wooden antique shoe molds. Retail: $15
• Pottery wall art by a Benedictine monk (the original sales tags are still attached). Retail: $15
• Plaid vintage suitcase in great condition. Retail: $20
• Antique leather war field phone.  Retail: $50
• Vintage watercolor palette (which has been lovingly used, but is still quite cool with life left) and typewriter erasers, an assortment of wooden alphabet blocks, a handful of vintage thread and spools, and more odds and ends!

The lot would retail about $1000, but I’m selling the entire lot for only $350, plus $50 for shipping within the continental United States. If you are a local buyer picking it up in San Diego, I’m happy to include an antique 1920s Underwood typewriter as a free bonus too!  You can buy the lot via this listing on my Etsy shop.  Thanks!

My vintage typewriter collection has outgrown my home’s desks, bookshelves, and even stacked vintage suitcase “tables.”   While some will eventually find their way to other homes, I still need to find a way to showcase my beautiful collection without starting to use my dining table and kitchen counter as displays!

How about literally writing on the wall?  With brackets, typewriters become beautiful wall art, yet still retain their functionality for short bursts of upside-down typing, and  I especially enjoying viewing them from a different perspective.

magicfly adds splendid “color to the corridor” with this collection of cheerful typewriters.  It looks like 1D paintings now have some competition!

How can you display your typewriter collection if you have more than a dozen of these treasures?  If you are a writer, you should showcase them in your bedroom, which will certainly bring the power of typewriter osmosis to your dreams, as seen on HGTV.

Talk about a new perspective!  Before seeing them on a wall, did you ever know about all the facial expressions typewriters could exude?  Highlux did and captured this fantastic typewriter display on a wall at the Lyttelton Coffee Company.

Spotted by Kazi Noor at Anthropologie, even one typewriter displayed on the wall creates a charming and whimsical (written) conversation piece.

What do you think of displaying typewriters on the wall?  Where do you keep your typewriter(s)?

“Vintage typewriter” conjures up connotations of tapping keys, assertive strokes, and the feeling that what you are typing is real.  The physical presence of your words through a typewriter, as well as the delightful announcement of the end of a line, can never be replaced by software programs that mysteriously lose your work into the digital abyss.

No wonder the literary greats composed works that still move us today!  We can only imagine Hemingway, Steinbeck, Twain, and Orwell hunched over their machine of choice late into the night, with furrowed brows and their large, trusty waste paper baskets overflowing at their sides.  If you are curious as to which piece of machinery your favorite Hemingway, Orwell, Steinbeck, or Twain novel was created on, here is an overview:

Ernest Hemingway: 1940s Royal

As one of the greatest American authors, Hemingway penned many of his novels on a Royal Quiet de Luxe, including Death in the Afternoon, Green Hills of Africa, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and many others.   Whether he was writing in Florida or Cuba, Hemingway utilized his trusty Royal typewriter to compose great American novels.  In fact, in his Cuban home, Hemingway kept his Royal in his bedroom – one never knows when inspiration will strike!

Hemingway’s trusty Royal, still in its leather case, was recently sold at an auction for $2750 in 2007 – which seems like a steal for this vintage aficionado!

Hemingway’s Actual Typewriter via Havana Journal, Writing Desk via Mr. Typewriter, Bio Photo via Gary Scott Thompson

George Orwell: Remington Home Portable

George Orwell was an overworked journalist around the time he began working on “1984.” It has been said that his Remington Portable (model #2) was his “right hand man,” and that his preoccupation with both the machinery and “1984″ led to his early demise. By the time the novel was packaged up to send to the publishers, Orwell’s physical health had deteriorated, and he collapsed – never to pick up a pen or use the typewriter again.

There are several photographs in circulation of Orwell seated at the Remington. The typewriter is easily identified by the gold lettering above the keys, and by the retractable toolbar which was intended to lower the profile of the machine for travel.

George Orwell at his Remington via Orwell Today

John Steinbeck: Hermes Baby

In 1935, portable typewriters were hard to come by. Moise Paillard and the Thorens family sought to produce a typewriter which could be easily transported and used whilst traveling. When the dynamic duo collaborated with engineering expert Giuseppe Preziosa, the Hermes Baby portable sensation was born.

Both Steinbeck and Hemingway used the Hermes Baby amongst others, and the authentic Steinbeck typewriter is still situated in the Martha Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies. This institution is located at San Jose University, if you are interested in paying a visit.

Mark Twain: Sholes & Glidden

Twain is thought to be the first person to submit a typed novel to a publisher. “Life on the Mississippi” 1883 was a typed copy of a written manuscript, and in all honesty, the grunt work was probably not done by the great man himself.

Twain used a variation of the very first typewriter which was called the Sholes & Glidden Treadle Model (1874). What made this model so special was that the traditional foot pedal, which was used for providing quicker carriage return, had been substituted with a handle. In actuality, the typewriter looks strikingly similar to an old sewing machine.

It is actually quite a romantic notion to think of bare, dark, smoky rooms, sans computer, keyboard, and mouse. Some of the vintage typewriters used by the literary greats are available for sale, and others have been donated to public institutions.

Vintage typewriters are becoming highly collectible, and if you aspire to be like the literary greats, perhaps your next Pulitzer Prize winning piece will come from the keys and strokes of an antique typewriter.  Check Poetic Home’s Etsy shop for vintage typewriters – the inventory is ever-changing, and one day, your inspirational typewriter may just be waiting to turn you into the next Hemmingway!

Lovely Victoria of sfgirlbybay, one of my daily reads, posted a fantastic story yesterday on how we too can get the look of the Mad Men AMC series, which is beautifully set in the 1950s.  She was so kind to include my Etsy shop‘s vintage industrial Pensar lamp in her furniture memo!  Thank you so much Victoria!!!    I am very honored to have my lil’ lamp pay homage to the fabulous style of Mad Men.

As we start to bid the winter months goodbye, you can now dream about the hot, warm summer days that will soon be upon us.  Think about your cute summer outfits, drinking strawberry lemonade, and enjoying croquet on the lawn — and imagine just how cool and stylish your home will look with this 1950s Westinghouse fan, with excellent art deco style and chic design lines.

In immaculate condition, the 1950s antique fan is just as beautiful off as it is functional when it is on.  Whether you are adding flair to your vintage industrial office or your chic dining room, this vintage fan works hard to keep you looking cool.  Pick up this antique collectible at our Etsy shop here.

Well, they just want to artfully hold and display all of your precious jewelry! This antique bronze love bird sculpture has been thoughtfully designed, with artful lines that bring the magic of the outdoors right into your home.

Whether you display this antique sculpture on your mantle, or keep it on your dressing table to hold your beautiful jewelry, these love birds bring a smile and warmth to any room. To hear their bronze *chirps* visit our Etsy shop here.

James Bond, the ultimate womanizer, had a powerful secret weapon:  the sexiest, wisest antique martini shaker.  “Wisest?” you ask….”How could an art deco martini shaker be wise?”  Well, my friends, this retro martini shaker is complete with 16 sexy recipes, all one spin away on the shaker itself.

Have you ever wanted to be the chicest cat on the block?  Whip up a “Between the Sheets,” and you’ll have the ladies (or gents) begging for more.  Feeling sophisticated, perhaps all dressed up and ready for the town?  Pre-party with the “Manhattan” or “Clover Club” and impress your friends with your socialite status.  For the complete drink listings of this ultimate Bond secret weapon, visit our Etsy shop here.

…er, your heart-shaped bottle cap that is! Indeed, this certainly could be the antique key to your heart (it is from *Italy* after all), but this brass key is the symbol of multi-tasking prowess. Not only is it romantic, but its solid brass makes it the perfect paper weight – and it will open all of your bottle caps easily with charisma.

If only every man could hold down all your important papers, open your heart – and all your bottles! Pick up this brass Italian Stallion at our Etsy shop here.

I’m sorry poor bunny ears, but we no longer need you.  Your tots turn into shoe-tying pros, as their little fingers train and perfect tying on this antique toy, the perfect wooden “lace and tie shoe.”  Easily seeing how to lace shoes from all directions, with practicing fun against the colorful antique wooden shoe, kids will squeal with delight as they graduate from Velcro to shoelaces!

Even better, in the sense of protecting Mother Earth, after your tots learn how to tie their shoes, you can “recycle” the shoe into an adorable pencil and pen holder!  Now that is an antique toy that grows up with your child, and the “Sandberg Lace & Tie Shoe” is waiting at our Etsy shop here.

…is looking for a writer to call his very own. It appears that the original owner of this 1930s Remington Rand antique typewriter was busy – very busy – and never used the typewriter to write a sonnet, love letter, or novel.

Originally designed for businesspeople, writers, and teachers, Remington Rand forged the path for portable typewriters, and they believed that the Remington Rand Model 1 would be “without question” the best typewriter on the market. Were the right? Looking by the shiny exterior, eager antique buttons, and thoughtful design, I would say yes!

Produced through the 1930s to the 1940s, the Remington Rand Model 1 was very popular; this antique typewriter is from the early 1930s production, as its front is straight, instead of the minor curve that followed with later models.

This was the little antique typewriter that could, and he simply wants a loving home to call his own. Answer his call at our Etsy shop here.