A Rare Tuesday Estate Sale

Most estate sales around here start on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.  Today there was one in a nearby town and I've had cabin fever, so I decided to go.  The pictures and ads were all about the primitives, Civil War stuff and things from the late 1800s, so I didn't expect to find much.

I was number 30 and as we 'extras' (they usually only let the first 20 in to start) waited in line, several of the poeple talked about how high this dealer's prices were.  So, I figured that not only wouldn't I find anything I wanted, but if I did it would be too expensive for me!

They were right -- it was ridiculously high.  Now, I'll be the first to admit that I don't know anything about Civil War memorabilia or primitives, but I know that a fairly common glass & zinc lidded mason jar shouldn't sell for $20.  There was so much stuff and there were so many people NOT buying much!  

Upstairs, though, was the sewing room and wadded up in a pile on a chair was a crazy quilt top made out of feedsack fabric and dated 1935.  It was so pretty and the colors were amazingly bright.  I cringed as I looked for the price on it...and was pleasantly surprised (AND did the happy dance with it all the way down the stairs.  

Isn't it beautiful?

Apparently the dealer doesn't know how to price linens or vintage handwork!  Tucked in a closet in the same room was a bag lot of feedsack hexagon pieces and blocks for a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt AND a bag lot of 13x13 feedsack crazy quilt blocks.  They were priced really low -- unbelievable!  

Crazy quilt blocks -- 24 of them!  Plus some darning cotton and a darning egg

Grandmother's Flower Garden pieces and blocks

Here are closeups of some of the blocks from the friendship quilt...

This little house is so sweet!

In case you can't read this, it says 'Ernie Rogers 1935'

I added in a few books and a few more things from the kitchen (largely ignored by the primitives folk) and I was on my way home with my treasures.

I especially like the Torte and Cake cookbook and the Edgemont tin.  The green bowl is a mid-century design that I usually see in plastic -- this one is enamelware!

I've never heard of this 'Bezique' game before, but it's quite old (looks like early 1900s or even late 1800s).  The little books are butterfly and flower field guides.  The bigger red one is all photos from the Spanish American War

Here's what the field guides look like

I've seen this print several times before in different sizes and colors.  This one is 8x10

Fun Finds: 'Yellow Drawers'

I went to the antique mall last week to restock, take in more Christmas and 'fluff' the booth.  One of the other dealers there, Giselle (who shares my love the truly odd and kitschy), showed me a little chenille & pinecone gnome ornament she was buying.  (As if I need MORE vintage Christmas!)  She thought that I'd want one, too -- she was right!

Actually, she was wrong...I wanted three.   She bought three, as well and we stood at the checkout desk for a long time discussing their various merits:  they were all part of a gnome orchestra set and each had a different instrument and different colored hats, chenille legs and spun cotton feet.

The other employees were laughing at our discussion about which ones we wanted to keep and which to put back, especially at my final observation:  "I just have to keep this guy because I'm partial to his yellow drawers"!

Here are the other two guys...

 And here's old 'yellow drawers, himself" (isn't he cute?):

What Do You Think This Was?

I picked up this very interesting table at the local thrift -- I paid more than a 'thrift' price, because I loved the styling and thought buyers in my booth might, too.

It's all brass (I think) with a wood inset top -- even the legs and shelf on the bottom are brass.  It has casters and they're little metal ones like they used years ago.

The detail on the drawer is lovely.  The drawer is wood and faced with a brass sheet that's been folded around it and nailed in place.

The top is inlaid and looks like oak to me -- it's joined wood, not veneer.

I could see this as a bedside table in the hospital sets of Downton Abbey, or as a bank or cashier's table in The Sting.  It really looks like 1910s to 1930s to me, and the quality speaks to that era, too.  It could be newer, just made to look old, though.

What do you think?  When do you think it was made and what do you think it was used for?  I'd love it if one of you could identify its era and use!

Fall Friday Finds

I was just lamenting that I hadn't been to any good sales lately -- none of the kind where you do the happy dance all the way to the car.  I still haven't, but today's sales were a little better!

Fall has come to Michigan.  The trees are all turning and leaves are falling.  It was chilly and damp when I left this morning to go to some late-season garage sales in a nearby town.  One had been listed on Craigslist and the seller had used words like 'destashing', 'mid-century' and 'anthropomorphic condiment dishes', so I knew I had to go.

She lived in a condo and her garage was barely wide enough for a car, but she had tables with 2 aisleways set up in there.  It was a tight fit for the 5 or 6 people who where there when I was.  Still, I got some good buys -- mainly old photos from the 1930s and 1950s.  The anthropomorphic condiment dishes?  Well, I was hoping they were Holt Howard, but they weren't.  They were just big vegetable & fruit heads and were $25 each -- not what I wanted.

An Argus camera with full flash equipment & original box, plus more photos . 
These are from the early 1950s and included Christmas and kiddie football pics.

A photo album with pictures from the 1930s -- mostly from a trip to the Catskills

Her condo development was supposed to be having a community garage sale, but I only found 2 other sellers.  At one of them I bought an old fiberglass & metal mail bin.  It has 'North Campus Library Annex' painted on it and, since we have several universities around here, I wondered if the old man I bought it from had stolen it.  I was afraid to ask him its history, though, because he was very crabby and a little scary.

After the condo complex, I went to a couple more sales in a couple more towns (it seems nothing in our part of Michigan is really close together) and ended up filling the car!

One thing I was happy to find was a tall unit of 4 shutters (door-height) hinged together.  I've been looking for shutters like this for over a year, because they're great for creating an instant wall in the booth.  You can also turn them slats-facing-up and hang things on them with S hooks.  These are perfect because they're painted a soft green that will look good with my booth walls.  One of them is broken, but I don't care about that.  I might even repair it...

All in all, it was a good shopping day, even if I didn't do the happy dance.

Here are some of my fun finds:

An old sled

A fifties stepped end table & a shabby red chair

Driving-range sized baskets

A framed cutwork & embroidered 'Welcome' motto

A silhouette jar and some sweet 1920s button on cards

A pyrex casserole, Moon & Stars compote and a Stetson 'Scots Clan' cream & sugar (sweet!) 

STRANGE BUY OF THE DAY:
This  little golf bag holder with plastic golf club drink stirrers. 

BEST BUY OF THE DAY:
A McCoy large jardiniere.  It has a small (and short) hairline crack at the top. Other than that it's perfect!

SECOND BEST BUY OF THE DAY:
A wooden box with etched mirror and a bakelite knob

FAVORITE BUY OF THE DAY:
A pair of mid-century wall pockets with elves.  Honestly, who would want to hang these on their walls and put plants in them?

 I hope you had a fun junking week!  I'll have to check all your blogs to see what you found.

I Found a Heart's Desire!

I went to a sale last week and had VERY low expectations:  it was advertised as a selling point that the items were 80-90% new and never used by the owner (not a big draw for the lover of all things vintage).  It was less than 3 miles from my house, though, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity. 

I bought a great 50s starburst tidbit tray that was out in the garage on a shelf (totally unappreciated) and a little Made in Japan Enesco lamb figurine. Even the linens were new and in packages!  Then I went upstairs and saw this:

I was SO excited!  I immediately grabbed the price sticker and found the upstairs worker to mark it 'SOLD'!  I've wanted a metal headboard & footboard ever since the days when my husband and I were first married and would go to stay at his family cottage on Buckeye Lake in Ohio (outside of Newark).  The room we got had this marvelous wood-look metal bed with open mesh panels -- I always hoped he'd inherit it if the furniture was ever divided up.  I never said a word, though, since I was just the daughter-in-law and new to the family and assumed that one of his sisters would surely want it.  It ended up being scrapped because I'd never spoken up and no one claimed it (I learned my lesson...)

I've been looking for one ever since, and here was one at this 'mostly new' sale!  Check out the wonderful flower decals -- they're in almost perfect condition!  I think it's from the 1920s or 1930s.  I'll have to do some research to try to date it, bur it doesn't matter in the least. 

It's all set up now and waiting for Christmas houseguests.  I topped it with a yellow chenille bedspread my sister gave me as a gift years ago and added a quilt I'd gotten at an estate sale.

The marble topped table next to it belonged to my grandmother and the star-patterned lamp (with the hideous shade) is from the 50s.  It was always on an end table in our living room when I was growing up.  I still really love it (it needs a new shade, though, don't you think?)

Pay no attention to the way the rest of the room looks -- it's first on our re-do list for January!