By Hand...

"By hand. Everything used to be made by hand. Nobody in 1750 would have said, "This skirt was hand-made." Wouldn't have made any sense. "By hand" is what is called a "retronym." When something comes along that casts its predecessor in a new light, first the new thing and then the old thing get renamed. So we have "acoustic guitars," and "electric guitars," where before we only had "guitars." All ships were sailing ships, all furniture was made by craftsmen-not necessarily competent ones, of course. Just because it's old doesn't mean it was any good to begin with; merely that it has transcended the random disasters that visit all material goods, and their owners, too. History is written by the victors, and our image of the past is formed by the people and things that survived." -David Lance Goines

I am speechless. I have found amazing things at our local thrift stores before. Ikat summer dresses, italian leather combat boots, our couch, giant wooden framed photo of mt. fuji, a desk, our amazing desk turned buffet...so many, too many things to count or list. But nothing has compared to this gem. This made my stomach tingle and my heart race, and once I realized what I had I held it under my protective arm as I lurked out of the store, feeling as though I had stolen something...but I hadn't. I paid for it, a whole $9.99. As far as retail therapy sessions are concerned, this was a major break through.