May 2018

Good Morning!

You never know what you’re going to stumble across when you head down to the basement for cookie dough! This week’s throwback was an accidental find, and an old one at that!

Fresh cookies are, of course, a staple at Fitterer’s. We bake them every morning, and enjoy spreading a little joy in the form of sugar to our awesome customers. Last week, while prepping the morning’s treats, we stumbled upon a roll of media memorabilia. The bundle was full of newspapers and miscellaneous prints of varying age, held together by a piece of masking tape marked “1927-1983”.

We carefully peeled back this old tape, and started going through the stack of papers, some clearly older than others. The roll contained several articles on the Fitterer family, Fitterer’s Furniture and downtown Ellensburg, from assorted publishers.

An especially old set of pages stood out right away, not due to discoloration or damage, but the advertisements! The name stood out as well, “The Evening Record” was a predecessor to the “Daily Record’ we know today! The year on the paper: 1927.

The first ad we saw was for Fitterer Brothers Furniture, featuring a Colonial Range for $79.50. We’ve come across a few Fitterer’s ads of this vintage in frames, but never in a true publication, so this was a fun find! Any newspaper approaching 100 years old is rare, especially one in such great condition with such little protection!

On the back page ( Page 4.) , Yantis Furniture has a competitor ad for various home furnishings, situated above a vintage ad for Camel cigarettes. Cigarette ads are certainly something you see less of these days!

Each ad in this 91 year old newspaper is truly a fantastic look into the past! The hand drawn artwork done for these antique ads, and even the font type isa beautiful testament to the way things used to be done.

Enjoy browsing the photos of one of our oldest throwback finds!

Good morning!

There’s something so special about the nostalgia surrounding old toys. This week, we brought in some vintage doll furniture to feature for our weekly throwback – a doll collection that you may recognize, in fact!

Suzy Cute in her bedroom set up! The coat hanging from the coat rack is actually a Mattel Ken© doll jacket , circa 1950’s/ 60’s

We have a mix of old toys, stored carefully in a basement for decades and most have held up brilliantly over the course of their 50+ years!

In colors of vibrant yellow, pink and green, the collection includes a full bedroom set for a beloved doll by the name of “Suzy Cute”.

The ‘Suzy Cute’ doll, and her bedroom furniture were made in 1964 in Elizabeth N.J. by Topper Toys. Topper was a popular toy manufacturer in the 1960’s , producing a variety of dolls and other toys for children. Topper also went by the brand name “ Deluxe Reading” and had a few other name changes over the years.

We only have the “Suzy Cute” doll, but after some research, it looks like she had some sisters that went by ‘ Suzy Smart’ and ‘Suzy Homemaker’ as well. You can also check out this reel of old Topper commercials on YouTube!

Pictured Above: Pages from the ‘Suzy Cute’ booklet that came with the doll’s original packaging. 

Our little collection includes Suzy herself, her coat rack, dresser and crib with the original mattress included. The mattress even has a law tag attached, like you’d find on one we’d deliver to your home today! We actually looked up the company listed on this toy tag; though its not real, the address of 121 New Jersey Railroad Ave appears to be home to Vara Contracting Co Inc.

Pictured Above: The ‘Suzy Cute’ crib mattress law tag. 

While these fun vintage toys aren’t as old as some of our antiques around the store, they are neat blast from the past! We found a few other odds and ends from other companies in the 60’s and 70’s as well – take a look at some of these fun toys from Storykins! We especially love the mini black and white tv set!