A Crystal Ball & Fate With Carmen Miranda and The Andrews Sisters!

Picked up lots of things last weekend at Bowie's "Second Monday" trade days Readers!  The Fransiscan cream and sugar were a steal at $2.00, the Ivy vase (which now holds kitchen utensils) was $2.00, the 50th Wedding cake topper was $0.25, The clear glass bottle was found for $3.00 (it  now holds sugar, don't worry I cleaned and boiled the bottle first!) The green glass water/juice jar was in a free box, the two dishwashered Pyrex fridgies $0.99 for both, and the Morton's pickle jar lid was $0.25.

We went to our favorite thrift store in Downtown Bowie, When this Turquoise 55(?) Bel-Air was parked out front we KNEW it was going to be a good day!  These sweet church ladies run it and the prices are so low and all sales go to a good cause. We always walk out with an arm load to help them out!Friend Jenn and I were digging through the records, and I was thumbing through 78's when I stumbled across this...

(The Matador- Carmen Miranda & The Andrews Sister)

I Jumped up off the floor and started doing a happy dance, I said to Patricia and Jennifer "OH MY GOD!!!" They, were not quite as excited as I... I was delirious because I knew when I flipped the record over what would be on the other side!

(Cuanto La Gusta- Carmen Miranda & The Andrew Sisters!!!)

You might be thinking about how annoying that tune is, But Carmen Miranda is one of my favorite 1940's idols. Her outlandish hats, the "Good Neighbor" policy with Brazil, her rocket to American fame and how Latin lovers, song and dance swept the United States by storm... Why Foxtrot when you can Rumba! Any who, what is so special to me about this record is the fact I have bought it SEVEN times and never got to play it until now. 78's are brittle and even thought I would win the bidding wars on the big auction site, the seller would NEVER package the record well enough and i;d end up with a box full of dust. So I was ECSTATIC to actually find one in the wild, this one made it all the way home and is now safely tucked away in my "Andrews Sisters" album of 78's!

Thank You Mrs JoAlan Spears for buying this hit tune so many years ago, and taking good care of it! Oh and the best part of this tale? The long searched for record cost me a total of $0.10!!!

 Victorious in our hunting we stopped at Sweetboys Diner for lunch, this is one of the BEST places to eat in Bowie and we always make a stop here for the delicious food. I ordered the "small club sandwich" with onion rings and as you can see the sandwich was bigger than my hand! Seriously one could have fed a family of four on this thing! After lunch it was back to hunting, a little bit of business with pleasure- I was searching for props to use in "The Wizard of Oz" and I found just what I was looking for...

(The Crystal Ball...)

I must say I was thrilled, and quite surprised to find this gem for $35.00, I really think is a paper weight, but to us at the theatre it will be Professor Marvels mystic crystal ball. The one he sees "... a house with a picket fence... and a woman in a clean but worn gingham gown..." it is perfect for our show, the ball is quite heavy, but the way the stage lights shine on it and make it glow it makes the scene!

After a long day of hunting we weary travelers headed home with lots of fun finds!

Tune in next week for The Wizard of Oz set post reveal! YIKES "On The Town" is Next Thursday too! Wish us break a leg and lots of luck!

-Mick-