October 10, 2010

I should be asleep right now, but I just had to show you...

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!!

1 comment:

Trish said...

Too great...I am pea green. Good haul woman.
-Trish