
When I found the Rain-Runner in a Fort Lauderdale thrift store -- the grand prize for my Mystery Giveaway that'll be sent along with a personalized copy of
The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating With Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details -- it evoked many memories of small-town ladies keeping their hair-dos from wilting in a Spring mist or from shriveling under a full-on downpour.
Of course, my Grandma Williams who lived in Mulberry,
Arkansas, came to mind. She was not a fashion plate, and I can't recall her ever wearing makeup, but oh-my-my goodness, her pride and joy was her hair. Being a preacher's wife, she got her hair done every Saturday so she always looked her Sunday's best. I always think of that funny Southern saying, "The higher the hair; the closer to God." Now I wouldn't go so far as to say she had a super-big bouffant, but it was thick, white and wavy, meticulously coiffed, and never moved an inch even when met head-on with a mighty gust of wind. Toward the end of her life, even though the occasion for her to go out in public dwindled, her hair did not, as she always made it to the beauty parlor to have her hair puffed back to perfection.
So before I get all sappy over a rain bonnet, let me reveal the winners of my first Mystery Giveaway. Since I'm the one doing the giveaway, there are now three prizes.
FIRST PRIZE
Someone who follows me anoymously by the name of "Lurky" guessed that the mystery gift was "one of those plastic hair caps that my mother always had in her purse in case a raindrop fell" with the second clue on December 1 at 10:41 PM.
Now "Lurky," you have a choice. You may select the Rain-Runner from Fort Lauderdale OR the red ILGWU rain cap featured below that I purchased for 10 cents at a rummage sale in Independence, Missouri. It'll come along with your personalized copy of The Find. I promise not to reveal your identity, so just email me your shipping and personalization instructions at theelegantthrifter@gmail.com. (I'll give you a week to respond, but then I'll need to pass the choice of bonnets off to the second prize winner.)

SECOND PRIZE
LuLu Kellogg at
Coastal Sisters chimed in a mere hour-and-a-half later guessing a vintage rain bonnet. Once "Lurky" decides which bonnet he or she wants, then I'll send you the other piece of fabulous headgear along with a personalized copy of
The Find. Email me at theelegantthrifter@gmail.com with your shipping and personalization instructions and I'll have your goodies in the mail as soon as I hear what "Lurky" has selected.
THIRD PRIZE
Shara at the
Monkey Box guessed on December 3 at 11:25 that the mystery gift was in fact a rain bonnet "folded just right so you can never get it back correctly." I'm going to send Shara a personalized copy of
The Find as well. So Shara, just like the others who have a rain-bonnet second sense, send me instructions to theelegantthrifter@gmail.com and I'll have it out to you in no time.
Always Frugal, Always Fabulous....come rain or shine
The Elegant Thrifter