I spent a night last weekend in east-central Minnesota, near Banning State Park. My husband and I meandered our way up from Minneapolis, spending a big chunk of the afternoon in a town called Cambridge.
I used to work in Cambridge, commuting in from northwestern Wisconsin for a year back in 2013 or so. There were a couple of local thrift stores there back then, so I'd often go browsing after work. (You know, to avoid having to spend any meaningful amount of time in northwestern Wisconsin.)
The town has grown since then, and now there are three thrift stores and a nice-sized vintage/antique store. So obviously I insisted on stopping in for a quick browse at each spot. My husband found some movies for his collection. I got a stack of vintage wrapping paper to use for crafting (and probably to add to the Backgrounds page).
We also came across signs for a "toy show," which we followed into a quiet strip mall next to our first thrift store stop. There were 15-20 vendors selling random old toys of all kinds.
I enjoyed digging through the bin of old Happy Meal toys (and I did end up buying a Furby for a buck). But the best thing I came across - and did end up buying - was a scrapbook collection of old cards from the 1940s and 1950s:
I was drawn in by the Valentines (I collect them), but there are also some fun birthday, Christmas, and other miscellaneous cards. I love them.
The scrapbook is super fragile and falling apart, so (controversial plan ahead!) I am going to remove the cards so that I can store and display them more easily. I've already photographed the pages so that at least the original setup will be preserved. I will likely share more of the scrapbook on this website sometime soon.
