Jammin' Weekend, Act I

The weather was being touted as PERFECT for the weekend, so what's left to do but get in the pickup and hit a few estate sales--and hit 'em I did. I decided to skip the first day of the sales since I figured that the professionals (translation: grabbers, pushers, dealers) would be there bright and early and both sales were too far away to get up before dawn for, just to get mad at someone and then get mad at myself for being spineless AGAIN. Side note: With my doctor's help, starting today I am weaning myself off the happy pills, so in about a month, Mr. Big Fat and Sloppy better watch out!

The first sale I went to was in Tylertown, MS, about 2 hours northwest of me. It was the usual sad tale--the grown grandchildren were selling the house and most of the contents, the grandparents had lived in the house forever, and there were lots of stories about various items up for sale. I like these kinds of sales more than those run by a professional service since sometimes when you pick something up a family member will offer up a little story about it. When I picked up the boxes of Shiny Brites, one of the women said, "Oh, I'm so glad someone finally showed some interest in those. They bring back such nice memories of when we were kids and decorated the tree with them." $2 per box, ornaments all there, intact, and the cellophane front unripped. On top of the ornaments are eight unopened boxes of vintage holiday matches.

The grandparents were obviously avid readers since the hallway was one long bookshelf, the bedrooms and living room had bookshelves, and there were stacks and stacks of magazines, some dating back pretty far. I could NOT pass this one up: It's the Summer 1952 edition with jokes and cartoons and a hilarious interview with Martin & Lewis, wherein we learn that Dean Martin was born Dino Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio in 1917, changed his name to Dino Martini when he started his singing career, and finally became Dean Martin. Jerry Lewis was born in 1926--his father was a veteran burlesque performer and his mother an accomplished pianist. Jerry & Dean met in 1942 and teamed up a few years later.

What is REALLY cool about this magazine are some of the ads: "How To Write Love Letters" (98 cents) and "How To Get Along With Girls" (98 cents). For $1.98, you will receive "Bed Manners" the "friskiest discussion of nighttime intimacies you have ever read! Full of roguish, devilish wit that will keep you laughing from cover to cover . . . you'll want to send for this hilarious book of Bediquette for married people today!" And of course, no 50's magazine would be complete without a full page ad that screams "SCRAM! YOU SKINNY SCARECROW! The boys shouted at me ONLY A FEW WEEKS AGO! I was a SKINNY, scared, girl-shy skeleton. Now I feel and look great. Pal, do as I did, right NOW! Mail the coupon below." Not Charles Atlas, either, but George F. Jewett, and for one thin dime, he'd send you 5 books GUARANTEED to give you a new he-man body! Wowza!

The Girl Scout Equipment catalog is just beyond fabulous:

Any former Girl Scout of a certain age would positively drool over what's offered in these pages: uniforms for Brownies (including chubby sizes), Intermediate Girl Scouts (again, taking care to include the chubs), Senior Girl Scouts, Mariner Girl Scouts, and Adult Girl Scouts/Leaders; official REALLY REALLY sensible shoes; outdoor wear; at-home wear ("For Dates With Dreams"); and accessories, accessories, accessories! And badges! And troop crests!

Ohhhhhh . . . this camera. I want one. Now. Other books scored were "Tricks & Puzzles for Boys & Girls" (1945), "The Dinky Ducklings," named Peter & Puddle, "Slappy" a little duck who didn't like being a duck, "Hiawatha" and "Cowboy Eddie" (both Rand McNally Book-Elf Books), "My Daddy is a Policeman" by MISS FRANCES herself (so naturally, this is a Ding Dong School Book), and two vintage Little Golden Books: "Daddies" (1953) and "Walt Disney's Donald Duck in Disneyland" (1955).

I paid the same price for these books that I would have paid way back then: 25 cents.

The memories the books brought back: priceless. As I walked to my car with my loot, (thankfully assisted by one of the great-grandsons since I had much more than shown here), I happened to look back at the side porch, and lo and behold! A CHIPPY CHAIR!!!!! A CHIPPY ROCKING CHAIR!!!! And not only that, but a rusty kettle with lid, a rusty meat grinder, a rusty cupcake pan AND a bashed up aluminum pitcher--all for less than $10!

Lagniappe--a bird's nest in the pitcher!

I still had another estate sale to go to in Brookhaven, MS. Act II coming up!

Great Finds!

Friday and Saturday was an orgy of driving and sweating (and buying). I drove north of Jackson, MS for an estate sale (2-1/2 hour drive from home) and found some great things, as one usually does at estate sales. It was being run by a professional service, so I figured they'd know what was valuable and price it accordingly, but I did manage to get some good bargains. This Foley Bone China "Highland Heather" sugar and creamer went for $2! That's my red toaster in the background--I love it.

I think one of the best bargains I've EVER gotten is this Westmoreland Glass "Della Robbia" candy dish, which was marked $3. It is worth considerably more and I'm thrilled to have snagged it!

Other wonderful finds were an "American Sweetheart" Monax sherbet, two "King's Crown" crystal with cranberry flashing cups, a Royal Copenhagen square butter pat or teabag holder entitled "Borsen" ($1.00) and more. I was also happy to find a 1942 edition of Marjorie Rawling's "Cross Creek" (and while I loved the movie with Mary Steenburgen, it apparently took just bits and parts from the book) and a copy of "Stella Dallas" that was issued with the 1925 movie version starring Belle Bennett, with stills from that movie. I was only familiar with the 1937 "Stella Dallas" with the fabulous Barbara Stanwyck, so I was intrigued.

After I finished sweating at this sale, I started back home, but that certainly wasn't the end of my treasure hunt. My next stop in Star, MS was one of those antique malls that the owners label FLEA MARKET so they can lure in people like me who think they're going to get all these incredible bargains. We have alot of these down here, unfortunately. Some good stuff, though, like this Tipp City-ish spice rack with 8 spice jars and some of the original Frank Tea & Spice Co. labels on the backs.

I have no idea if this GE alarm clock works but the ambiance factor is huge.

Another stop further down the road netted me, among other things, a 60's postcard of the Carousel Bar at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans. All of the male customers are in suits and 3 of them have on black frame glasses. The women's hairstyles were of the, oh how shall I say, "carefully tended" variety. I have personally reveled in that bar several times and it really does go around like a carousel, albeit VERY slowly; otherwise, everyone would be throwing up or falling down. Oh ha, ha--like that doesn't happen anyway in New Orleans.

The next day, my friend Meredith and I drove up to Angie, LA for a couple more flea markets, one of which actually qualifies as a flea market! This Pyrex "Desert Dawn" loaf pan was a find. I like the splatter effect.

The West Bend pot was definitely not this shiny and clean when I bought it for $1, but with alot of elbow grease, sweat, and the amazing Magic Eraser, it's now beautiful. It contains an inner bowl with holes so pasta cooking has to be one function.

And to top off the day, I scored a FREE 18x24 PBN of Venice at my favorite antique store in Mandeville, LA. It needs some cleaning and the board the canvas is stuck to has warped, but this is all fixable. And FREE!!! A perfect ending to a happy sweaty journey.

Fun With Definition Stretching

The perfect place for cold cream and red lipstick!

Dinner at Eight for Eight--"Flamingo Pink" Pyrex and lots of milk glass

I get emails from a service that tells me about estate sales within 500 miles of me--had to give such a huge amount of miles since there aren't many estate sales around here. There was one listed for Lucedale, MS (1-1/2 hours from me) that said "Cottage Estate Sale". So I left the house at 6am, leaving two very unhappy dogs in the backyard, and eventually found the road for the estate sale. Then drove right by the address because there was NOBODY milling around outside, one car, and a dinky little house with an even dinkier shed/garage behind it. And a handmade sign that said "Yard Sale" in the front yard. Oh well, I drove all that way so I turned around and pulled into the driveway. Yes indeedy, this was the "Cottage Estate Sale". To say it was stretching the definition of estate sale, well, let me just say that it was no more an estate sale than Hurricane Katrina was a mild onshore breeze. HOWEVER . . . I threw all caution to the winds (ha ha) and bought WAAAAAY too much stuff, including a deco-style lady's vanity with separate round hanging mirror and matching piano bench-style stool (quite elegant, definitely vintage, and needs to be cleaned); a whole bunch of milk glass steins, tumblers, candy dish, etc.; several Pyrex mixing bowls, AND eight 5-piece place settings of Pyrex "Flamingo Pink" dinnerware with sugar, creamer, vegetable bowl and large round platter, PLUS two matching pie pans. Don't ask me how much I spent--these people had done their computer searching and knew exactly what everything was worth--the prices were still reasonable but I didn't walk away going, "Ah ha! Let me outta here before they realize I just took complete advantage of them!" The woman running the sale called me at home later to see if I wanted the rest of the dinnerware and told me that hardly anyone had come after I left, mostly just neighbors. Perhaps the other people who got the "Cottage Estate Sale" email knew what that really meant. That and the fact that the listing for the sale mentioned the large assortment of knives, axes, tools, etc. Oh, and the line "Cash Only--Not Responsible For Accidents". Huh?