Tip #1 ZIP Code Identification

As you might already know, there are usually several ways to determine the age of an item. If not exactly, at least approximately. Sometimes your lucky and the item actually has a date or hallmark right on it. Though a lot of the time it takes some detective work.


 From time to time I will be sharing Tips, Tricks, and other useful information and techniques I have learned. Check back often for new ones and "Like" us on Facebook ( Drew's Finds on Facebook!) for some exclusive Tips and Tricks.

 Tip # 1

Knowing how an address was written and used in different times can help narrow down a the date of an item.

The Zone Improvement Program (Zip) and their codes as we know it did not come into use in the US until 1963.  As the population and cities grew it became necessary. The Post Office already had a Zone program in use since 1943 in large cities but was not needed everywhere. It was a 2 digit number and would be written as  between city and state in the address. Rural and smaller towns used no numbers. 

In 1963 the "Zone Improvement Program", or ZIP, was put into use. A zone's 5 digit assigned number would be placed after the state for all address. Not just the big cities.

In 1983 the post office added an additional 4 digits to the already 5 digit ZIP code for the bigger cities. Cutting them into even more zones. This addition to the ZIP code was never made a requirement as it was not widely accepted by the public. It is still in used but is not required. It does help in the big cities.

So addresses between 1943 and 1963 would look like this

Philadelphia 14, PA.

After 1963 it would look like this

Philadelphia, PA. 19148

After 1983 (Not required)

Philadelphia, PA. 19148-7461

The address here could either be Pre-1943. or Rural 1943-1963. 

Selling on Ebay!

I have recently decided to sell SOME of my items on Ebay. Mainly things that I would want to turn over quickly or things that need a bigger audience. 

You can check out what I am selling on Ebay here: 

Drew's Finds on Ebay

Off to the Flea Market

Got everything loaded up and ready to go. Will be heading to the Flea Market here in a couple hours. Need to get a nap in first. 2 hours should count as sleep :) The Store will be placed "On Hold" until I get back since I am taking some of those items with me.

***Store is back online***

Got the store up and running!!

I have finally have the store up and running. You can check it out by clicking on the Store page above or this link below. It looks like ecrater.com was the best bet. It is fairly easy to work on and it is free! Ebay just takes too much of your $$.
I'll be adding new items daily so check back.
Consignment available. Contact me for more information.

Taste of Absinthe

I picked this little bottle up awhile ago. It was one of those things, as usual, "Hey that is cool. I MUST HAVE IT!!! " It fit the description of the things I like. It is a bottle. It is small. It is old as dust. Even still has the contents. It is in perfect shape and even has a little bit of the label left on it. Good thing too, because without the piece of label I would have had no idea what the heck was in it. I still had a couple questions though. Who is L.E. Jung? and What the heck is Anise? (hey I didn't know)

Antique L.E. Jung New Orleans Anise Bottle 

After poking around the net a bit I found very little information. Apparently L.E. Jung & Wulff was / is a distiller in New Orleans. Earliest I found was founding in 1883 I think. I'm sure someone out there knows better then me on that. Other then saving space, I am not sure why this bottle only says L.E. Jung and does not include "& Wulff". Maybe it is from the beginning before Wulff got involved. Maybe it is just to save space or money. Heck, I don't know...

...and Suddenly an Indoor Flea Market Appeared

Happened across this place last Saturday. It was a pleasant surprise. This place is inside a huge probably 100+ year old factory. I'll have to ask what it used to be. They had food and everything on the other side. Nice, clean, and had that really old building feel too.  Really nice and surprisingly not many people knew about it. We found a few nice items. Best one as soon as I walked in the door. Maybe we will stop by again this Saturday while we are out.

California Nugget Chop Cut Tobacco Pouch. The hunt is on!!!

I was searching the net as I usually do, trying to find out more information on my California Nugget Chop Cut Tobacco Tin. I was on Google Images when I saw what kinda looked like my tin, with the label California Nugget Pouch on the picture. Pouch? I didn't even know a pouch existed that matched this tin. As a matter of fact until that moment, I didn't consciously  know about any tobacco pouches. Once I saw one, and thought about it, images of cowboys in old black and white movies having a pouch and papers, rolling their ciggs popped into my head. Oh yeah! Duh!

This pouch looked just like my tin. It also seemed to be the perfect shape for the tin to fit right in it. After looking at the pictures for about 2 seconds, and the shock of finding it, I had to have it. I mean I absolutely positively had to have it. This was even before I seen the price, location, or even which website I was on. I got even more excited when I noticed "1892" marked on the pouch. Now I had a date for my tin!!! This was some of the info that sent me on the daily search anyway. (Both pictures at the end)

Antique California Nugget Chop Cut Tobacco Cloth Pouch

The ad was placed on a seemingly up and coming collectibles website. The person had the pouch listed with a price and offers accepted. So I did some research on tobacco pouches and what they were going for. He was asking at least four times what I was seeing the higher end pouches were go for, so I made him an offer of half the price. Even then, my offer was still more then double what other tobacco pouches were going for. Now I just had to wait and see if he accepted my offer.