A history lover's bonanza at the thrift store

When Aunt Jane and I last went thrifting, I had one of my best days ever with some particularly fun finds that warmed my history-loving heart!

As much as I love rose garlands, I don't often find them on teacups, so when I saw this English bone china cup and saucer set for $3.99, it was definitely going home with me. The back stamp says Radfordian, which is a name I don't believe I've come across before.

Because this thrift store supports several ministries, they get some unique donations, and someone had donated several old tea strainers. The others were chippy china, but this lightweight metal one caught my eye because it was obviously well loved …

And also because of all the marks on the back. I definitely need to do some research to see if I can determine the maker. I thought this piece was worth the $2.99 just for the research. You'll also see above a vintage maple leaf pin from Avon, another $2.99 treat that I'll enjoy wearing this fall. (Or writing about if I decide to feature vintage Avon jewelry in a Junkin' Jewelry mystery one day.)

Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I've gotten into cross-stitch again. Well, this particular thrift store has added a "vintage" section featuring more upscale items donated by supporters of the store's ministry, and many items weren't yet priced. I've been checking on this sampler for months, but they still hadn't priced it. I figured I probably couldn't afford it anyway since genuine antique samplers usually have pretty hefty price tags. I mentioned to the nice man who runs the store that I sure hoped they would price it one day, and I told him that I stitch samplers myself. That interested him, and he told me that he'd recently sold another sampler for $250. ("Ah," I thought. "Fair price, I'm sure.") But then he surprised me by saying, "You know, since you make samplers, look, I'm really big on items going to the right person. No pressure or anything, but if you want it today, I'll sell it to you for $50." I couldn't pay for that sampler fast enough!

I'm having so much fun studying the stitches. This portion from the upper right corner looks like a flag to me. Do you agree?

And this tree is so faded that it blended into the fabric, but when I used the flashlight app on my iPhone to study it one night, it practically glowed. Interesting!

The store manager and I think this sampler is dated 1816. Wow!

The big mystery: What is the maker's name? These faded stitches are difficult to read, but the first four letters look like "Cari," which is curious since that's how one of my nieces spells her name. (Alex thinks I'm seeing things, and he may be right.) Those first three letters are stitched in a very pale blue, though, so maybe CAR stands for the maker's initials and the last part is something else? 

Here's another view. Guesses welcome. Meanwhile, I'll be sipping from a lovely new garlanded teacup as I study this sampler and work on one of my own!