Thursday’s Unique Picks – Cheers to 80 Years

Today’s Unique Picks brings us to an exciting birthday celebration for a man that recently turned eighty years young.

Express your excitement for any occasion, with this great original cross-stitch from *grace and light* on etsy.

While thumbing through the paper last Sunday the hubby happened upon this announcement in the special occasions section…

“Belated 80th Birthday Dickie-Do”

From the newspaper that gave us Ted Williams (not the baseball player), The Columbus Dispatch, we found this birthday announcement for Dickie-Do.

Unfortunately, I am not one of Dickie-Do’s “Special Friends”…just an admirer. We clipped this little nugget out of the paper and every time I see it, I have to chuckle a bit.

With such a vibrant expression on his face and a great nick name like Dickie-Do why wouldn’t it be fitting for him to be this week’s Unique Picks inspiration?

This one's for you Dickie-Do.

This cheerful birthday card from ellipsis by esauer26 on etsy reminds us, "better old than ugly". Ain't it the truth.

Sure, I don’t know the guy, but I still decided to take a stab at finding some great items from etsy sellers that would not only delight this enthusiastic eighty year old, but could be unique finds for folks of any age.

This 1980's birthday mug from hollieshobbs etsy shop, also poses another important birthday sentiment, "Age Is Mind Over Matter...If You Don't Mind, It Doesn't Matter". This is a great gift for anyone you know that whines every year about getting older.

Before we start the gift giving, I just wanted to give you a few fun facts about the year Dickie-Do was born.

In 1931:

(1931 fun facts were found on The People History and Wikipedia.)

The Empire State Building is completed, and becomes the tallest building in the world

This great original artwork from Nesta Home shows the Empire State Building in New York City. The skyline was created from an original photograph and printed on a 1929 atlas page.

The Star Spangled Banner officially becomes the U.S. National Anthem.

This large gallery wrapped canvas is a print from an original photograph from Clicks Photography's etsy shop.

Another famous Dickie makes his debut. Dick Tracy to be exact. The Dick Tracy comic strip was created in 1931 and first appears in the Detroit Mirror newspaper.

This upcycled spiral bound notebook was created from a 1941 Dick Tracy card game box, and can be found in Another Work in Progress's etsy shop.

 From my in depth character assessment of Dickie-Do, from his clipping, I would assume...

It is pretty obvious that he is a fellow with snappy taste in clothing. He seems like he may be into wearing vintage clothing. Can you say hipster.

This vintage 1940's-1950's plaid button down from Vogue Vintage Clothing on etsy seems like it would be right up his alley.

Dickie's look wouldn't be complete without a vintage graphic tee.

Perfectly modeled by Kenny, it is pretty obvious why I picked this vintage tee from skippy ha ha 's etsy shop, because it is Awesome.

But an 80th birthday calls for something a little more "special"

How about a tie?

Not just one, but four great vintage ties from Retro Homme Vintage's etsy shop.

I also brain stormed with my hubby on other gift ideas for Mr. Do.

As per hubby's suggestions:

1. Good reading light

This great reading light, upcycled from vintage books can be found in Typewriter Boneyard's etsy shop.

2. A nice magnifying glass for...

If you have to use a magnifying glass, might I suggest that you use a snazzy vintage one like this one I found in Tricky Vintage Refreshed by trix0120 on etsy.

3. Crossword puzzles

Not just any old crossword book for Dickie-Do will do. This vintage roll of novelty toilet paper from EdwardFarms etsy shop will cleverly keep you occupied.

Thanks hubby!

I personally think he might be up for something that will get his heart rate up.

I love this vintage postcard from savannahsmiles4u's shop, dotted with bathing beauties. Who needs a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue when you could be checking out these classic hotties?

And Beano...not because I think he might be gassy, I just thought he could use a break from Bingo.

This "Peppy" 1930's-1940's game is from MissMaggiesBureau on etsy. It is just like Bingo, but the word at the top of the card is "Beano". That is what makes the game peppy.

Well Dickie-Do, I hope you approve of all of these great ideas I had for birthday gifts just for you.

Could this be our little Dickie-Do? You just never know. This original photograph from the 1930's was found in Ephemera Obscura's etsy shop.

I hope that for your 80th birthday you got something better than that year you got the wagon and a pipe.