Things We Love: Having Mom and Dad Drive Us Around in a Smiling Car

How great would it be if mom or dad picked you up from school in this happy British convertible from 1960? Or if they let you drive it when you turn 16...

Ebay Shopping: Indian and Egyptian Lead Soldiers

Militaries have done so much for fashion. What would Michael Jackson have done in the '80s. What would every American man do without khakis? The Egyptian and Indian armies had even better ideas. Look at these beautiful costumes! These British made lead soldiers are a must for any collector. Bidding is at £6.50 with less then a day to go on Ebay UK.

Ebay Shopping: Child's Folding Beach Chair

Despite it's allure, I've never been much of a beach person. Seaweed is slimy and gross...the sun burned me and left me looking like a dalmation...and most terribly, I always got sand in my bathing suit. If only my parents had thought to bring a vintage wooden folding chair with striped canvas to the shore! With stripes like these, you can make this weekend's trek to East Hampton feel more like a Riviera jaunt. It's only $14.99 on ebay.

Things We Love: Classic, White Keds

We had a long standing Hovey ritual every August: an annual excursion to buy new white Keds (which our mom still called U.S. Keds). Like white jeans, white canvas shoes get dirty by just looking at them and it took Hurculean energy and care to avoid any early-on-in-the-school-year Keds destruction. I still remember the heartache I felt after a fateful decision to get involved in a heated game of kickball on the first day of second grade, ruining my new bright treasures for all of '85/'86. Keds the company is unfortunately missing out on the hipster frenzy over copies of the tie up below, whilst they tinker with bad soles, odd shapes and heinous, gaudy patterns. We recommend staying with the original, even if the manufacturer doesn't appreciate its past like it should. The little baby ones go for $22.99, while the girl's and boys sizes run $24.99. Still quite a bargain if your kid promises to go no where near a kickball.

Things We Love: J. Tillman

Last week two wildly polite, handsome and talented Amsterdam-based design students crashed with us and gave us quite a music education. We thought we knew the singer-songwriter space pretty well, but we're years and years behind. They told us about J. Tillman, a guy who left New York for Seattle to sing like an angel on a different coast. Now we're telling you. Take a look at his other videos, as well. They're oh, so pretty!

Ebay Shopping: 19th c. Carved Carousel Horse

Daddy, I want a pony! You could probably buy a real horse for the price of this antique carousel one, but just think of all you'll save in grooming, feeding and board fees. Bids for this guy start at $3,300, but if you win him, shipping from the Netherlands is free!

Things We Love: Sailor Chic

This week is Fleet Week. New York welcomes our sailors to dry land and reminds all of us that the sailor look never is old or dated. This idea was reinforced when I stumbled upon these two photos on my new favorite website of old photographs. Time Tales is a collection of found photographs ranging from pre-1930s to the present. Of course Hollister and I aren't strangers to the sailor chic look either. The photo below was taken on Easter around 1985 on the Country Club Plaza.

Ebay Shopping: Rain Rain Go Away

We're tired of all this rain that we've been having in New York. But, it might ok if you get to sport these great Bata rain boots (childern size 11) from the 1950s. They're sooo much cooler then your standard Wellington, we love how they buckle on the top! Buy them now for $31.20.

Songs We Love: Buddy Holly's Peggy Sue

Can't get enough of Buddy Holly -- the glasses, the swooning ladies in their perfect dresses and gloves, the perfect heart throb. This video was taped live from New York in 1959

Ebay Shopping / Things We Love: LEDERHOSEN

This photo is everything we love all rolled up into one thing: 1930s, lederhosen, photography, and Ebay. I don't think my day can get any better! You can buy this now for $3.50.

Family Photos: Looking Foward to Memorial Day

We're counting down the days until Memorial Day Weekend. I was talking with our friend, Mark von Kreuter, who, like a bazillion other Manhattanites, plans to kick off his summer in South Hampton at a posh clam bake on the beach. It brought me back to stories our father tells about his summers in the Hamptons as a boy, including the time when Truman Capote offered him a ride home from the beach club. That's dad up above, with our grandma (who had the best body ever) and great grandparents. As for the Hovey girls, we're staying local to prepare for our two gigantic summer initiatives: our Raj on the Roof and the launch of Hovey Vintage!

Things We Love: Kiki and Polly

How amazing are these portraits from Kiki and Polly! They're simple and graceful. You send them a favorite snap shot and they create these beautiful line paintings. The best thing ever is that they also create custom made wall paper. A huge thank you to Bloesem Kids for profiling them.

Things We Love: Fake Handlebar Mustaches

Awww . . . the handlebar mustache! So your baby really can look like they're from the 1890s.

Ebay Shopping: Steiff Zebra

The aution for this great Steiff zebra ends in 6 hours. Bidding is at $23.00. Good luck!

Song We Love: Bruce Springsteen's Used Cars

Things We Love: Kay Bojesen Wooden Animules

Kay Bojesen started making many little toeheads happy with his wooden toys in the '20s. Rich little blondes and brunettes can bask in similar pleasure today. This 60 cm monkey goes for $1,950 at babygeared.

Things We Love: The Occasional Modern Accessory

Those roaring '20s were almost a century ago, but that era's streamline designs look more futuristic than an iPod.  Patrick Messier's Mamma Rocking Chair takes the future even further.  If you have $6,000 handy, you can rock your baby on what looks like band of ribbon frosting.

Artist We Love / Things We Loathe: Kent Rogowski / Puzzles

I hate puzzles. I never had the concentration or the patience to actually sit down and complete one. Of course I always tried to force pieces together that didn't fit. And by the end I was just too frustrated to continue. Obviously, Kent Rogowski is a better man than I am. His new exhibit Love = Love at the Jen Beckman Gallery sheds new light to my childhood frustration with fitting different pieces from 40 different puzzles to create beautiful landscapes with montages of flowers and skies. "Although puzzle pieces are unique and can only fit into one place within a puzzle they are interchangeable within a brand." This show runs until June 14th.

Thing We Love: Overalls

After coming across the great photos from yesterday's post, I've become slightly sentimental about growing up in the Midwest. In my warped mind, instead of thinking about riding my bike through the streets of Mission Hills and playing in the yards of the huge mansions, where all of Kansas City's elite live, I like thinking about class trips to Dustin Dolginow's family farm for hikes down to the stream and playing on huge haystacks. I like daydreaming about a little Hollister perched on a bar stool eating livers and gizzards at Duke's, my Aunt's bar in Benedict, Nebraska, a town with a population of 278 people. I like to think this is how we spent our childhood -- in overalls and playing in the water.

Things We Love: Piggies and Robin Eggs

I couldn't resist sharing these lovely pictures from Tony Cross' wonderful blog Quietlike. I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I do!

Ebay Shopping: 1940s Paper Dolls

Bidding for the fabulous paper dolls from the '40s is a must! The current bid is $10.49. Good luck!

Things We Love: The Wonder Years

Things We Love: Pip-Squeak Chapeau

This weekend the Hovey sisters ventured to DUMBO for the Brooklyn Design fair and some and some fun shopping. It was like being on a little vacation. One of the darling booths that we just loved was Pip-Squeak Chapeau. Brooklyn designer, Sveta Dresher, makes wonderful little clothes and knit hats with all natural fibers. They also have fun things for mom!

More Prams!

Looks like Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are pretty hip to the HOVEY VINTAGE asthesic. In a recent photo shoot for Harper's Bazzar they're seen pushing little Harlow in a carriage made by Silver Cross that looks pretty similar to the one Mike Blain picked up for us in Virginia.

Thinge We Love: Straw Hats

It’s never too early to start worrying about wrinkles. If sunscreen isn’t enough, a hat can do double duty – save your skin (and life) and make you look extremely stylish. However, deciding to wear said hat on the back of your head, yarmulke style, will do you little good in the protection department. Both these examples go against our mom’s near obsession with wearing a hat down over the forehead. It’s a miracle that this photo evidence exists today. So, grab your straw hats, and give a downward tug on the brim and you’ll be ready to roll.

Things We Love: The Sound of Music

Things We Love: Two by Two Cookies

Hollister and I came across these charming cookies this weekend when we popped across the street to pick up some goodies at the Bedford Cheese Shop! These little pieces of heaven are handmade in England with fabulous organic ingredients like Madagascar vanilla, Yorkshire toffee and real strawberry juice. Artisan Biscuits have taken ques from some of our favorite children book tales like "Tortise and the Hare" and have made the cookies in the shapes of the animals. This makes story time that much better!

Ebay Shopping: Steeple Chase Pinball Game

In loving memory of Eight Belles who died tragically at the finish line of the Kentucky Derby. Bidding on this steeple chase themed pinball machine starts at $19.00, but the reserve has not been met yet.

Ebay Shopping: 1940s Backgammon Set

I always loved sports, but was never one for games (of the dating or board variety). I'd answer Trivial Pursuit questions, but couldn't be bothered with the dice and all those little pies. Porter inherited none of this obstinance. If she or my father came within 20 feet of a bakelite disk or a domino, a heated game would ensue. When going the backgammon route, Porter and my dad most commonly stacked their chips on an amazing brown and peach needlepointed gameboard, which, for aesthetic purposes, allowed me to appreciate the game from afar. But standing by my principles, I never had an urge to personally put it to use. This beautiful set from the '40s can be appreciated by a stick-in-the-mud aesthete as much as an actual gaming fanatic. Bids currently sit at $10. The auction ends in 2 days!

Things We Love: La Lettre by Michel Gondry

Things We Love: Old Class Photos

We found this great class picture that was taken in the 1930s in Blair, Nebraska off of on our favorite blogs of vintage photgraphs -- The Boat Lullabies

Ebay Shopping: Salvadore Dali

Start the appriciation for the great surrealists at an early age! This Salvadore Dali painting is up for auction on Ebay. Bids starting at $999.00 or you can just buy it now for $2,500.00.

Things We Love: Madras

Porter, around age 2, in a boy's jacket and itty bitty pigtails...

Porter, around age 5, in a Ralph Lauren dress and tie with bigger pigtails. Mom can sport this great look too with the spring collection at A.P.C.

May Day, May Day!

Pembroke Hill, the school where we spent our first formative years, knew a thing or two about tradition. It came into being when Pembroke Country Day (a boys' school started in 1910 where our grandpa spent a few years) and Sunset Hill (a girls school just South of the Plaza started in 1913) tied the knot, shook up the sexes, sent the young kids to the girls' campus and the older ones to the boys'. This great sugar-spice-and-everything-nice-meets-hammers-nails-and-puppy-dog-tails-union occurred when I hit first grade...and what a shake up it was. Luckily, they kept many of both schools' long-standing traditions, namely: May Day Field Day. For the May Day component, which started at Sunset in the '20s, the littlest kids dressed up as Robin Hood (thank god, for those fancy KC parents they didn't follow through with that sealing from the rich bit...), the 3rd through 5th grade girls (like Porter, above, in 3rd) threw on custom made ribbon skirts and danced with a hoop of flowers, while the 6th grade girls, in the same costume, braided the May Pole with boys dressed in tennis whites. Afterwards, we'd strip down to our little white gym shorts and reversible red/blue shirts and Field Day would begin. Oh, the 50-yard dash! Such bitter competition. Such fun.