I said a little prayer, as I left this morning at 6:30, to put something out there for me and help me to know it when I saw it. God does answer prayers. Especially when we thank him ahead of time.
Ms L had to spend some time with her daughter as she had a little procedure where she'd have to be sedated, so I called another friend who declined so early in the morning. This meant I forged ahead alone. And guess what? I was first and the ONLY one shopping for old stuff.
There had been an estate sale at this house a year or two ago. I got some great stuff then. The previous owners let most of the things that didn't sell go with the house. This included everything in the little, two story, apartment out back that the previous owner's mother lived in - and no one was allowed to go in there at the estate sale. The owner's mother would have been born around 1880. It's beginning to sound intriguing, isn't it? Before you get too excited for me, there was nothing older than 1960 in there and not so terribly much at that. Thank goodness. I couldn't have afforded it all if there was.
Here are pictures of today's loot - all for well under $100.00. Or maybe I shouldn't say that since most all of it will be for sale. But I worked HARD for it! It was hot in that little house and I made four trips up and down those narrow, wind-y stairs. The seller made a couple of trips, too. The work's not done yet, either. You'll notice lots of dust and the fabrics will need cleaning and ironing. Then there's all the pictures and descriptions to be done, plus rent to pay...... You can get out the violins now.
Barkcloth, barkcloth and barkcloth. That's the fabric you see. The picture is the 1903, graduating class of the Memphis Hospital Medical School. Black, tole trash can with pink flowers, tin, red and white, vinyl covered lunch box, picnic suitcase! with all the accouterments, folding screen with hunt seen paper, red, wood table, red plaid, soft, suitcase (filled with fabric scraps), old Hawaii box, decorative peroxide bottle, hankies, copper Art Deco ball vase, pretty tea tin, an enameled medical, round thing, silverware box, wooden cigar box.
Four old dresses, the white one on the end is tulle and lace, old white shoes, green felt and net hat and big, wool felt hair bow. The bow could be early 1900s. I have a picture of my great great aunt wearing one just like it around 1900.
Fabric scraps, patterns and old ribbon.
Two, big 1970s, eye glasses frames, new old stock. Green crocheted bag, a little aluminum cuspidor that says Niagra Falls and see that net thing on the hat stand? The hat stand came from Scott's flea market in Atlanta a few months ago, but the net is a sweet hair net with pink ribbons and embroidery at the top.
Starting at the top, there are boxes of old greeting cards and scrapbooking scraps before it was called "scrapbooking". The red and pink you see at the bottom left is hand made, clothespin dolls. The mass of white is a huge pile of linens. The apron in the front is so, so delicate, but in poor condition. The boxes on the right contain more paper scraps.
This is the one thing I might keep to put in my son's old room. The hat box has leather straps. Or maybe they're plastic to look like leather, but still. I've never seen one with a strap that buckles. Only boxes with strings.
It's hard to decide what to keep and what to sell. I think I'd like to keep everything I found today. How nice it would be to have a house big enough for everything I find that I love! Since I don't, I can only pass it on to others. Sigh.
Tomorrow I'll have to tell y'all about the curbside finds from Thursday.
