Today's guest is someone we all know, and someone who's collection we already know a little bit about. Friends of the pod have been asking for this episode for a while now. So finally, by popular request (and just for the fun of it), the Mavens are interviewing Sam Mashburn! Sam goes deep into her small-town upbringing and how it's influenced her current collecting. She introduces us to Templeton, one of her many misfit antiques, walks us through her estate sale hunting strategies, and lets us take a peek at her bathroom's gallery wall. But wait... How does one interview one's self? Not to fear, a guest co-host has been invited into the inner sanctum (Sam's living room) to assist Jill with all the hosty parts. Who is it? Any guesses? Join us with the La Croix flavor of your choice to find out. 

Intro Voiceover by Caylyn Temple

Intro and Outro Music : Down the Rabbit Hole by myuu

Source: https://soundcloud.com/myuu/down-the-rabbit-hole

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Get music free for a link from https://starfrosch.com

Edited by: Grae

Copyediting by: Cait

It's finally here! All Hallow's Eve is just a few days away. We love to celebrate the harvest with a good ghost story and a sweet treat, so this week we have a specially curated subject to fill both those slots. Mr. Hayden Peters, a man of Australian persuasion and the podcast's first international guest, joins the Mavens for a serious deep dive episode. Hayden is a world renowned expert on Victorian mourning and sentiment. That's right, Sam's obsessive need to collect other people's hair is actually part of a long held tradition with a respectable history. Hayden walks Sam and Jill through the fascinating history of how the western world used to say goodbye to the dearly departed. Sit for a spell with the potion of your choice and learn about the intricacies of Memento Mori, gimp work (no, not like Pulp Fiction) and some time travel frivolity. Happy Halloween!

Everybody has a twin, a doppelganger. Last week Jill met hers. This week Sam found her Spooky Soul Sister in Ms. Laura Lee, The Halloween Collector. That's right, Laura Lee collects Halloween EVERYTHING, and thanks to the wonders of technology, the humbled masses can gawk at her pieces in all their spoopy glory. Victorian anything is always creepier. Skeletons? Check. Black cats? Check. Extremely hard to find paper mache jack-o'-lanterns because why wouldn't you? Double check. Which types of Halloween decorations are worthy for year round display is discussed at length. And in the spirit of the upcoming All Hallows Eve celebrations, Laura Lee shares a ghoulish family connection to pre-revolutionary America. Curio Corner gives us the unique history of tomatoes and the east coast. The headless horseman also makes an appearance in the form of an incredible hand painted mural. 

Intro Voiceover by Caylyn Temple

Intro and Outro Music : Down the Rabbit Hole by myuu

Source: https://soundcloud.com/myuu/down-the-rabbit-hole

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Get music free for a link from https://starfrosch.com

Edited by: Grae

Copyediting by: Cait

Jill has found some kindred spirits! This week's guests are a sisterly duet with a passion for fashion. The old adage tells us if you pick a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life. Who among us wouldn't love to pick and thrift to earn a living? Karen and Sarah of Redbird Vintage Subscription Box are living that dream. They've lived all over thanks to their dad being in the Air Force, and have solid family roots in Texas, but now they call Florida home. Their service is literally one of a kind: You can't get a curated box of vintage fashions by subscription anywhere else. These lovely ladies didn't grow up thrifting with Grandma, but she still played a part in their collecting and inspired some very specific decorating goals. Stick around for the Curio Corner all about the history of costume jewelry and a haunting in Pennsylvania.

Intro Voiceover by Caylyn Temple

Intro and Outro Music : Down the Rabbit Hole by myuu

Source: https://soundcloud.com/myuu/down-the-rabbit-hole

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Get music free for a link from https://starfrosch.com

Edited by: Grae

It's a small world out there, creatures and cryptids, and today's guest is a prime example. Kelli Webster has been recommended for an interview to the Mothball Prophecies more than a few times and just so happens to live in merry old Idaho. While Kelli used to deal antiques and  musical equipment on the vast ocean of eBay, she's settled down for a quieter life of private collecting. Having found home in Idaho Falls, Kelli and the Mavens talk thrifting in town and lament over local estate sales that never were. This interview takes a lot of entertaining detours. Price gouging rears its ugly head again, Kelli spills some insider secrets, why do all spouses seem to collect such weird stuff? and of course Jill fawns over Pyrex, regardless of current condition. Also included in this week's episode: the traveling Neil Diamond shirt, fashions from our mothers, dumpster diving, and Sam revealing that's she's actually an octogenarian. Did we mention tiktok yet?

Intro Voiceover by Caylyn Temple

Intro and Outro Music : Down the Rabbit Hole by myuu

Source: https://soundcloud.com/myuu/down-the-rabbit-hole

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Get music free for a link from https://starfrosch.com

Edited by: Grae

You guys know what to expect when you tune in for an episode of The Mothball Prophecies. Whatever that expectation is, throw it out the window. This week's guest is a new level of niche. Kate Hart, owner of Bitter Squeaks, is the empress of fangirls. This woman and her collection almost defy explanation. Kate used to be your average gothic bonbon of delight, but one fateful day she discovered a bizarre squeak toy that changed her life. There began the strange journey from estate sale to Etsy with a bunch of weird stops in between. Based in Long Beach, California, Kate collects originals and reproduces toys designed and inspired by Edward Mobley. Her collection includes toys in mint condition (still in the box!), prototypes, copper molds, and everything in between. During the interview, the Mavens somehow end up talking about quaint hometown traditions that leave us all wondering what's really going on in Idaho. Keep hands and feet in the vehicle at all times kids; this one's a roller-coaster.

Intro Voiceover by Caylyn Temple

Intro and Outro Music : Down the Rabbit Hole by myuu

Source: https://soundcloud.com/myuu/down-the-rabbit-hole

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Get music free for a link from https://starfrosch.com

Edited by: Grae

The Mothball Prophecies had the great pleasure to sit down with Emily and Kim Kvamme. These two are a mother-daughter duo (a dynamic duo you might say) from a formidable matriarchal family with a history steeped in female strength. Both Idaho natives, we retell their stories and their heritage. This family is inescapably intertwined with the equine community of Idaho Falls and, indeed, the international appaloosa denizens as well. Kim's mother Edith, the matriarch, was a tenacious horse women who's principals never wavered and held fast until the moment she passed away. She was a genuine trailblazer and an inspiration to her descendants. We talk to these inspiring women about their collections of equine paraphernalia (if it involves horses, these ladies have it), antique porcelain and pie safes (pie thrives everywhere shudder at the thought). Did we mention the Golden Girls? Because there most definitely is a tribute to that fabulous foursome you'll be sorry to miss. There might be singing. It might be terrible. While we started off on a more serious foot, by the end of it none of us could keep our composure. The mavens are not responsible for any coffee being snorted out of noses, so be cautious with beverages while listening. Hilarity most definitely ensues. 

Intro Voiceover by Caylyn Temple

Intro and Outro Music : Down the Rabbit Hole by myuu

Source: https://soundcloud.com/myuu/down-the-rabbit-hole

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Get music free for a link from https://starfrosch.com

Edited by: Grae

This week's guest has the voice of an ethereal being sent from the void to calm us and educate us. Perhaps the most soothing interview the mavens will ever conduct, please allow yourself to be wrapped up and cradled by the story of Eric Daw (spouse of previous guest Melissa Daw!). A hometown boy if ever there was one, Eric grew up here in Idaho Falls. His love affair with guitars and the 50's aesthetic started quite young and he considers himself lucky that his passion is fed by both his collecting and his career. A professional guitar mender and builder, Eric spent 15 years living in Seattle working at Emerald City Guitars. In 2017 he decided to come home and bring his family with him. Guitars, amps, and other related flotsam are an obvious part of his collecting, but he's also quite fond of percolator coffee makes and dice. Among the nerdy guitar facts and everyone's mutual love of mid-century vintage, Eric drops some deep, soulful truth that made our copy-editor cry. A wiser or more humble man will never be found. 

Donella McGiff, Donnie to her nearest and dearest, is one of us. A hairdresser like Sam and fond of using her finds like Jill, Donnie is a kindred spirit. Collecting is so often a practice passed down along the family tree, and Donnie is no exception. Her father's unique form of collecting was a definite influence on Donnie, and we must say, rather inspiring to us as well. Every collection starts in one place and ends up somewhere different in line with how our lives change. Our collections grow and change with us. This week we take the interview to a deeper place, discussing how parenthood and growing up changes what we buy and what we seek. Thrifting isn't what it used to be, and estate sale price gouging feels like a threat to our community. Items discussed include Vinyl (both old and new), Merry Mushrooms in all their myriad forms, and a tangent on GWAR that no one say coming. 

Intro Voiceover by Caylyn Temple

Intro and Outro Music : Down the Rabbit Hole by myuu

Source: https://soundcloud.com/myuu/down-the-rabbit-hole

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Get music free for a link from https://starfrosch.com

Edited by: Grae

Terry Foster comes to the Prophecies from inside his personal Fender guitar museum. Terry is an absolute geyser of knowledge. Pick an item to talk about and chances are Terry knows about it... at least the most interesting bits. This man's capacity for information is astounding. We took a deep dive into a rabbit hole or two that range from West German pottery, Polish circus posters, and Adrian Pearsall furniture. We could have picked his brain for hours about his massive collection of Fender ephemera, guitars, amps, service lists, and advertisements but, alas, we have lives outside the podcast and Terry didn't want to move into Sam's basement. His loss. Co-Author of "Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970", Terry is the cool uncle that left your conservative hometown only to come home and turn all of your cousins into free-thinking, wannabe punk rockers. This guy is the real deal.

Intro Voiceover by Caylyn Temple

Intro and Outro Music : Down the Rabbit Hole by myuu

Source: https://soundcloud.com/myuu/down-the-rabbit-hole

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Get music free for a link from https://starfrosch.com

Edited by: Grae