Josh Quinn of Tigertree: My Favorite Vintage Finds
By Josh Quinn, owner of Tigertree
'60s Delta Travel Posters
As my wife Niki can attest, I have a real problem with vintage posters. I gravitate toward war propaganda and travel stuff. I have this great WWI British recruitment poster that says, "If you cannot join the army, try and get a recruit," which I think is such a hilariously polite way to opt out of military service.But my favorite group of posters has to be a set of six Delta travel posters from the '60s.
I have found a lot of luck in antique malls that specialize in something that maybe isn't my thing.That is to say, if you find a mall that is all Tiffany lamps and English furniture, the one or two mid-century pieces are more likely to be inexpensive because it tends to be something the dealer came across but isn't really attached to.In one such mall in Illinois, I happened upon these six rolled up posters in a box in the back corner of a booth.I believe they were $10 a piece, and she gave me a deal and sold them to me for $50 because I took them all.
Boy Scout Tiki
Many customers over the years have experienced my groans at not wanting to sell a vintage item I have grown particularly attached to, but this tiki takes the cake for my most regretted sale ever.(Seriously, if by some chance whoever bought this tiki has grown tired of it, please, please, please sell it back to me for more than you paid for it.)
We got it from this junk shop in Kentucky. The store's owner was an almost famous country singer in the '80s who did a couple of tours and now has a thrift store in a bad part of town with a stage in it. He said the tiki came from this dentist in Louisville, who was a scout leader in the '50s. He took a trip to some South Seas island and brought back a log with him and had his scout troop carve him a tiki for his yard. I had a few guys who know about wood verify the wood was not from America. (I don't really know how people know that sort of thing, but it was five feet tall and at least a couple hundred pounds. I remember I had just gotten my appendix out and had to have the guys load it up for me.)
Bunny Lovers
I really hated these things at first.To be honest, I'm not very into taxidermy. It kind of grosses me out, and I have pretty conflicted feelings on even owning vintage stuff.However, one buying trip (can't remember where, sorry), we came across these two bunnies mounted together. One of them had jackalope horns and looked kind of angry, and the other one was nuzzling up to the horned one.It was so reminiscent of the way our little loving dog acts toward our older, crabbier one that it was really endearing.
I told Niki I didn't want them in our house, but we both talked about them all night at dinner. We broke down in the morning and went back to get them before we hit the road.At some point we ended up with a miniature mounted bull wearing a sombrero that looked way cooler without the hat, which ended up fitting one of the bunnies perfectly.Now I can't imagine our home without them.
Horse Painting/Mobile
These are totally different items but basically the same story. The horse painting was from a school auction.It was originally a ring toss game. School auctions were amazing 3 to 4 years ago.Basically it would just be the people that went to the school and you, and the people that went to the school just wanted trophies, so you could really do well on charts and furniture and things. They've become so overrun with buyers now that they aren't really worth doing anymore.
At one of these auctions, I went digging around a basement with a flashlight found this really cool horse painting that I had to practically beg the auctioneer to sell me. Similarly, I was doing an estate sale a few years back and found this great mid-century mobile hanging in a carport that wasn't slated for sale. I had to bug the auctioneer to add it to the list so I could get it.