Sunday, June 29, 2008

From Soap to Nuts

I often shop in thrift stores; you never know what treasures you'll find there. Most stores have a glass case at the cash register where especially valuable or fragile items are stored. This usually consists of dollar store figurines, gaudy costume jewelry, and out-dated computer software. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a genuinely valuable item in the case at the local Salvation Army: a mint-in-box Mr. Peanut Avon soap set! At just two dollars I couldn't resist adding it to my Mr. Peanut collection.

Here's the lime-green box with Mr. Peanut on one side and non-anthropomorphic peanuts on the other:


The top - Avon Nutty Soap Dish:

And the back with the carefully packed soap:

The soaps themselves, nestled in their plastic peanut shell dish:


This soap dates from 1975, the height of the 70s novelty soap craze. First came soap-on-a-rope, then all kinds of strangely shaped soaps followed - I even had a box of Soapaghetti! Truthfully, the soap and dish are a little disappointing. The soaps are very realistically shaped, but they don't smell like peanuts, just a generic pleasant soap scent. The plastic dish can be used for serving real peanuts, as the inside lid flap suggests, but there's no trace of Mr. Peanut on the soaps or dish. Still, a very good find!

4 comments:

Maria said...

You've sure been finding some real steals lately!

Sparkle Plenty said...

Wow! What a cool find! re: Your post below, I think I have some of those cooperative extension leaflets, too! I'll post a picture of 'em if I can find 'em and let you know! :-)

Lushie Peach said...

Maria, I have had a run of good luck lately!

Thanks, Sparkle! I'd love to see your leaflets if you can you find them!

Sparkle Plenty said...

Hi, Lushie! :-) I found the cooperative extension leaflet I was thinking about--only the cover has an eggustration (I think the home economist who did it was pretty much a one-woman department). I did find a few other items that might be of interest to you and Maria, 'though! Scroll down in today's post (7/7) and you'll find photos for you! Cheers, Sparkle