Retro Renovation

Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

Home / What to Collect / ... bling to buy

1937 Derby Lady’s Leg cocktail shaker by Shelton Silver Co. – Aly scores big at the Goodwill

pam kueber - Updated: May 1, 2011

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

derby-ladys-leg-cocktail-shaker-by-shelton-silverAly Starelli specializes in mid-century and period perfect vintage properties in Portland, Oregon. I met her there when I had dinner with the MCM League, after I spoke at the Eugene Home Show in 2009. Aly and I keep in touch, and she wrote to share a fabulous find:

Alyssa StarelliHey Pam,

I wanted to share this amazing find I found a few months back.  I was at Goodwill and found a cocktail shaker in the shape of a ladies leg. I took it home, mentioned in on FB, only to be told by Marci Holcomb (ex-mcm leaguer) that it was very valuable — I just figured it was standard 30’s cocktalia… Well after some research, we just posted it on my friend’s etsy site, cuz I know if left in my care, I’ll break it. It is the most amazing find I’ve ever found, though!!
.
Aly
Haha, I agree I’d have to sell this one, too, Aly, if I found it, out of fear of dropping it, too! Aly told me how much she paid at the Goodwill, but I’ll leave that detail out. Suffice to say, she’s headed for a tidy profit — although, given all the time we all spend scoping Goodwills and estate sales and the like, the profit-per-hour is quite minimal. We do this for love. The shaker is now for sale by fabgabs on etsy.com for $998… and here is some more history, for the record:

The famous 1937 Derby Lady’s Leg cocktail shaker is made of frosted glass by the Shelton Silver Co. Widely recognized as one of the most rare and desired shakers from this period! It is marked with the Patent No. 2091604.

The white glass is frosted – the leg has a curvy pin up shape. “She” wears a 1930’s style silver dancing sandal with a perfect cuban heel and working buckle. (Yes, you can take her shoe off.) It features a chromium cap and strainer with air spout for easy pouring of your top-shelf classic cocktails.

It measures 15 1/2″ high and 6″ wide at the foot.

Wanna buy or sell a mid mod house in Portland? Aly Star’s coordinates are here: www.aly-star.com

Reader Interactions

Comments are closed. 

18 comments

Comments

  1. Karen says

    OMG! I just peeked at the listing on Etsy and what a great find! I have found such great vintage items at the Goodwill stores but not anything like that. That truly was a diamond inthe rough! Good luck with the sale, I can’t imagine it be available for long!

  2. Mariah says

    Great post! My husband would love that terrific cocktail shaker, we collect vintage barware and ashtrays. In fact before I even scrolled down and saw that the shaker was now for sale on fabgabs I recognized Aly as the lovely model who wears all those gorgeous vintage dresses for sale on fabgabs that I wish I could buy…its a favorite etsy store of mine! 🙂

  3. Debbie says

    My aunt used to say my uncle had a hollow leg, but I guess it’s not the same thing… is it? Seriously, this is an amazing find! Thanks for sharing.

  5. Cara says

    Fantastic! It’s amazing it didn’t break between the donation bin and the shelf!

    I also enjoyed Aly’s website. I just saw one super cute, mint (furniture, appliances and all) house in our area listings and the realtor described it as “outdated and needing work” Ahh! So it is nice to know someone out there is marketing these to buyers who will appreciate them.

  7. Bird says

    Wow, that is really special. I haven’t seen anything like it before. Love the fact that the shoe comes off!