my estate sale haul from this weekend! I'll be taking pics and scanning more things individually, but I couldn't wait to share the overview pics. And this was totally by accident, too! A friend and I had gone to a craft show in Scottsdale which was a disappointment (too much stuff that was too similar, and it had quite a large number of items that were not handmade and/or commercial). On the way back across Shea Blvd, we saw an "estate sale" sign, I made a U-turn, and we spent the next couple hours happily immersed in boxes and piles of stuff, a la the "American Pickers" guys!!
this pic is Saturday's haul-- I didn't want to get too many things, so I tried to limit myself by thinking, "what would I do with this?" before I picked something up. Sherry, on the other hand, picks things up and sorts thru that question after she gets them home. Thus, I did miss out on some things, because we do like some of the same sorts of things. But, I still got some cute stuff!! vintage greeting cards (from their trash pile; more to come about that later), little chotchke items, a couple vintage glass canning jars, and a tiered chrome serving tray from the 50s-60s. After we got back to Sherry's house, I said, "gee, I wish I had gotten that small muffin tin... maybe I'll go back tomorrow" (meaning today.) Sherry was game, so we did.
The small muffin tin is in here, I swear!! along with lots of other yummy stuff... LOL!! We did some more rummaging thru their garbage/castoff pile, and even got to go thru desk drawers of paper items that were still inside the house. (I think they appreciated the fact that we came back again!) We told the woman running the sale that we liked paper items, so she let us look thru them even before she sorted thru them. Which is good, because some of the things she probably would have thrown away, but since both of us are artists with a high regard for paper ephemera, we rescued most of them.
The contents of this packing box is mostly photographs, with some other paper items and vintage greeting cards added in for good measure. I've started sorting through them with the help of a magnifying glass, and I can't wait to get some of them on the scanner. The sale was the estate of a 90-year old woman who recently passed away by the name of Aurelia Booker (isn't that a great name--- Aurelia!). It's kind of tragic, in a way, and now I'm wishing we had taken all the photos and paper ephemera, since there aren't any family members close who would want them. We have managed to piece together some of her life already-- her son Charles died during WWII, and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. We even found some of their correspondence to each other when he was in the military.
This is a close-up of the tiny chotchke pile from yesterday. I'll show more closeups of the individual items, but I wanted to whet your appetite! (and mine-- it's like Christmas, almost, sorting through these things!)
This is the tiered serving tray-- no marks on it, so I don't have any idea of the maker, but I do think I scored, since I only paid $2.50 for it! I'm thinking late 50s, early 60s, by the looks of it?? I'm going to use it as a display piece for the craft shows I have coming up... (oh, I didn't tell you about those, did I?? I will in a couple days.)
(This is the canning jar I told you about on the phone, Mom.) Presto is the company, and it has a two-part glass and aluminum lid. This was another of the things that we dug out of the junk pile behind the house... I think the lid was on a different jar originally, so I am sure happy I managed to grab both of them! I didn't even realize that until I got them home-- talk about lucky! If this is the half-pint size (I'm no good with those measurements- whaddya think, Mom??) then it could be worth about $15, from the quick internet searches I did.
This is one of the greeting cards I found in today's searching. She is just darling!! It was never used, the colors are not faded at ALL, and it's even die-cut on the upper edge. Early or mid-1950s, I'm guessing, by the style??
Here's the inside, where you can see that the cuteness continues!! This gives you a better look at the die-cut edge around the little girl's head, and isn't that little winking dog just great?!? He would certainly cheer me up when I wasn't feeling well, that's for sure! I think I'll sell most of these things in my Etsy shop, or use them as art supplies, but I'm not sure I can part with all of them... maybe after I live with them for a while. But I will show you more pics (after the camera batteries charge up), that's for sure!!
from 1907... I love the snowdrops and the pussy willow branches! There was a pussy willow tree at the south end of our property, next to the garden, when I was growing up (Mom, is it still there??) Anyway, the pussy willows budding was one of the best sure signs of spring's arrival.
I picked up this postcard yesterday at an antique mall in Mesa; I spent the day poking around it with my friend Shery- it was a lot of fun! She and I like the same type of paper ephemera and vintage photos, which is fun, but that can make shopping difficult, too, since we sometimes want to both purchase the same item! (thank goodness for scanners!)
I had to get this Holy card, too... I just love the blue background, and the blue in Mary's robes. It was printed in Canada, and is written in French, but I forgot to get a scan of the back.
I don't purchase a lot of vintage photos, but I do buy a few when they "speak" to me. I tend to notice the ones with animals, or an outdoor/garden scene. These children with their calf is so cute, I couldn't leave it there! I love how she's holding onto the calf, instead of just standing next to it!
This one caught my eye, too-- I thought there were only two children with the horses, but zooming in on it showed me there were three. Below is a zoomed-in crop of the same pic:
Looks like the girls in back are next to the horses already hitched to the wagon, and the boy is next to a younger horse?? There was writing on the back, but I think it was in Swedish, which was no help to me...
This one, I've had for a while, but never got around to scanning before-- such a sweet photo!! I scanned a bunch more postcards, but need to edit them (crop and color-correct) before posting them... unfortunately, that will have to wait, though, because the alarm clock is ticking away the hours till 5 am! (ick!)
