Some time last year, Ms L and I were talking to another dealer friend and some how came away from the conversation convinced we needed to look for frog giggers. I don't recall just why now. So, every estate sale I went to after that I looked for them. They really should be plentiful in Alabama, but oddly, they remained elusive until that one day last summer.
I arrived at the estate sale just before they started letting people in. The sale handler was talking to the crowd, explaining where to enter, where to pay, etc. He went on and on, all the while holding this frog gigger on a 10' - 12' bamboo stick. He joked that he would prod people with that. Do you know what these things look like? They're just evil. They give me an odd, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Here's a picture:
Those points are needle sharp.
Most people had numbers and when they reached 42, the rest of us got
to go. As I passed the handler I asked how much for what he had in his
hand. $2.00. I told him I wanted it. I shopped and shopped, making two
or three trips to pile things up behind the money table. Other people
were grumbling about prices or not finding anything. I just don't know
what to think of these people with no imagination. I was having a good
time!
Please bear with me, this is a long story.
My pile didn't hold anything earth shattering, but I did get a book case for the booth. The estate had shelves in the garage full of old Sears Catalogs, beginning in the late 70s. They were $2.00 a piece, so I decided on four Wish Books from 1978-1981. I didn't have them in my hands while standing in line 'cause they were too high for me to reach. A lady behind me had commented on all the old catalogs and "who would want them now?" I just grinned to myself. Old Sears Wish Books normally do quite well on eBay. When it was my turn to pay, I asked the packer to get the four catalogs for me, loudly directing him to precisely which ones. There was some mumbling behind me. I wondered if she was embarrassed that I might have overheard what she had said or incredulous that I wanted those old catalogs?
It was time to get it all loaded, but I was in the car! The book case
only fit if I let the back seats down and it stood on it's side. That
was fine, but it meant the frog gigger wouldn't fit without sticking
out somewhere. After nixing the idea of it sticking 6' out the sun
roof, the nice man who helped me load the book case helped me angle
the gigger from the driver's side back seat, across to the passenger
side front seat and out the window.
I took the back road home, but knew I had to get the book case and
gigger to the booth before my husband found out I had hauled them in
the car. My car has the most inconvenient trunk for hauling stuff I've
ever seen. He denies it, but I think he bought this car on purpose
hoping I'd stop buying so much stuff. Now he's put a lid on the truck! He
claims that now I can haul stuff and not worry about it getting wet.
I'm not buying it. I think he's hoping I won't buy anything that won't
easily fit in either of the vehicles. Or maybe I'd just loose my
desire to buy altogether. Ha!
The booth is 30 miles down the 4-lane from me. I was afraid with that
gigger sticking out I'd skewer a bird or a hitchhiker or Smiley, our
local fellow who walks the streets and country roads while carrying on
lively conversations with himself. We've been afraid someone will hit
him with the car, but I sure didn't want to be the person to skewer
him with a frog gigger! The trip was fairly uneventful, but I got some
strange looks. One truck driver stopped at a red light and kept
looking back at the spectacle and I noticed that if I passed a vehicle
on their left, they'd slow down even more. I think they were afraid to
get up next to me. LOL
The gigger finally made it to the booth and there it sat until I sold it to the friend who told us to look for them in the first place. It's been for sale in his booth ever since, but good riddance! I truly hated that thing and hope I never have to deal with another.
