I went to a 'sleeper' sale last weekend that turned out to be a real treasure. Sleepers, to me, are the ones that aren't well advertised and don't have lots of pictures and might be totally missed. This one was only 6 miles from my house and I almost forgot about it because it was only listed on craigslist -- not in the newspapers and certainly not on estatesales.net!
It was the estate of a lady who'd had a stroke several years ago and just passed away in the last few months. Her children weren't local, so they let her church run the sale & have all the proceeds from it -- how nice! It's in a very small town and all the workers knew her well and obviously loved her.
The house was a 1960s ranch and turned out to be filled with mid-century goodies! Everything was priced low and I got many, many bargains. I filled a couple of bags and bought so much furniture that I knew I'd have to make a trip back the next day to collect it. I forgot to take pictures of my loaded car, but here's how the kitchen looked when I brought it all in:
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| These blue lamps have TALL drum shades & the orange corduroy pillow was free! It looks great on our turquoise sofa... |
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I got lots of odds and ends...
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| This Christmas decorated box was great all by itself, but had 10 different colored silk scarves in it, along with a Vera scarf |
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| A metal tabletop easel |
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| I've seen lots of these collapsible type hangers, but had never found one before |
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| I love this Jack n Jill booster seat! |
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| Some fun books -- the Sears outdoor cooking book is too funny! |
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| A very cool light-up globe from 1972 |
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| I almost bought a meat platter like this the other day at a mall & now found one with the warming tray, too. I'm glad I waited for the 'thrill of the hunt'! |
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| 3 class pictures from the 1910s, 20s or 30s. I'm not sure how to date them. |
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| These mid-century lamps are wonderful! I ended up putting one of them in my living room. |
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| I'd never heard of a lipstick blotter before I found these. |
In the garage I got a wonderful enamel top table with a drawer and a home-built kitchen island or workshop bench:
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| The workbench is at the back. In front is a fantastic stepped formica end table with a big faux wood & white checker board pattern. So retro! |
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| The enamel topped table |
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| A great mid-century chest of drawers with original hardware (the last pull is in the drawer) |
Here's the deal of the day -- a three piece dining room set, priced at what one piece might normally cost! I didn't buy it (initially) because I wasn't sure if I could get the china cabinet home, didn't know what I'd do with it (I have no dining room and don't have room in the booth to sell it all together) and MOSTLY because I was afraid that Mr. KV would hit the roof about it. I got all the way home and just was sick over leaving it behind. I got in touch with Mr. KV and he told me it was all good, as long as it didn't just stay in the barn forever. That was all I needed to hear -- I dropped everything and hurried back to the sale & the set was still there! I'm so excited! It took us 4 trips (2 trips with both cars) to get all the furniture home...
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| Here's the china cabinet in the house (can you read the price of the set?) |
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| Drop leaf table with 2 leaves, 4 chairs and felted table protector pads |
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| the buffet |
I love this set so much -- it will break my heart to part with it! My youngest son & his wife might take it for their home, which would at least keep it in the family.
Here's the small world part of the story -- and one of the best parts for me...
I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and saw lots of Cincinnati & Ohio stuff at the sale. I asked the ladies running it if the woman had come from there. She had and so had her husband. They said that she and her husband had grown up together there, gone to the same high school married different people, both gotten divorced along the way and had reconnected at their
45th high school reunion. They'd gotten married after that (they had to be 63 then! I asked what high school they'd gone to and it was the same one my mother, dad and aunt had attended. So, I asked how old they would have been...92 this year. They had to have known my aunt! The ladies at the sale knew the husband's name and the wife's last name from her first husband, but not her maiden name.
When I talked to my aunt the next day, I told her the story and the husband's name -- she rattled off the wife's name immediately! She remembered both of them very well and was thrilled that I'd ended up with some of her friend's stuff. I was struck by how interconnected we all are -- especially since our country is so big and we've become a very mobile society.
As I said earlier, the ladies running the sale really loved this lady. They invited me to come to her memorial service in a few weeks and to say a few words (because, they said, I'd bought so much of her stuff -- I have to admit that THAT'S strange to me). It's our mall's dealer day and it will be tight to get to the service, but I will try to get there. When I say my few words, it won't be because I bought a lot of her stuff, but to speak for my aunt, her girlhood friend, who remembers her as a young girl who was smart and funny and had her whole future ahead of her. I want to tell those gathered there that my aunt still thinks of her fondly. I know it will make the church ladies happy!
