This all began over a week ago. There was an ad in the local paper for an estate sale that was to take place 10-20. I didn't get out and see anyone who was talking about it, but apparently, it was the talk of the town. Lena had heard some talk of it and, since she lives less than half a mile from the sale site, she went over there and peeped in the windows.
She called me and said the sale looked wonderful. There were no drapes on the windows and you could see everything and everything looked fantastic! She was quite despondent that she was going to be out of town that day and wouldn't make it.
By Friday, my curiosity had got the better of me and I had to see for myself. She did not exaggerate. If anything, she held back. I was so very tempted to try the doors to see if they were locked. Might have if the neighbors couldn't look out their kitchen window and see everything that was going on. Too, I'd just read a book, Savannah Blues, where the antique dealer climbed in the open window of an upcoming estate sale and found a dead body. I didn't think I'd find a body, but figured I'd get caught somehow and didn't want to risk that. It was awfully tempting, though. Instead, I went back home and tried to get some sleep.
The sale was to begin at 8:00, but I planned to stake my spot in line by 6:30. I missed the 6:30 mark by about 15 minutes and ended up third in line. The sellers stuck to their guns and didn't open up until 8:00. This was the oddest sale I've ever been to. I've heard they might do it this way in other parts of the country, but it's the first one I've attended that was handled like this.
Only 10 were allowed in at a time. There was someone posted in every room and we were to tell them what we wanted, they'd make us a ticket and put our name on each item. We then took the ticket with us and repeated the process for each room. After we paid, we went back to each room and collected our loot. Now, we're talking about them marking each plate, each lamp, each toy, etc. And THEY WERE SLOOOWWWW!!! It drove me crazy! I could tell them what I wanted pretty fast, but it took them too long to write it all down. All the while, I was twitching, wanting to get to the next room. Also, all the while, we could see the line of people outside watching us with frustrated looks on their faces. I guess, all in all, it was a pretty good system for us first few. We didn't have to fight each other for the best stuff. We just had to choose the right rooms to hit first.
I ended up making three trips to the sale that day. The first time, then after lunch for half price, then at the end of the day for the real bargains. Here is some of the stuff from the first run. This is just the stuff I could get in the car. There was more in the truck. Oh, yeah. Ricky showed up at 8:00. He was one of the people having to wait in line while the lucky duck, first in line people shopped.
The color looks off on these pictures. Makes everything look kinda icky.
Y'all might have noticed my addiction to iron plant stands and ashtray stands.
You can't really tell, but sitting on top of the cigar box is a little, porcelain lady in a lace skirt with tiny, porcelain shoes sticking out. That's a doll trunk and a corduroy....um...lamb?
Victorian print in a pretty, gold frame, a beaded....thing....chatelaine? Maybe? A pewter or lead candlestick. It's heave as lead. That's probably what it is. Green, footed, Depression glass bowl and three, Italian nut dishes.
That hurricane lamp is 1970s ugly, but the two, old, hand painted shades were sold with it. They're all dirty. Haven't been washed, yet.
Scroll shelf.
Scrolly wall hanging thing and little shelf.
These were on the garbage pile. The game is an old, old Stock Exchange game with Bakelite game pieces and a leather dice shaker. The iron thing in front is a whatsit. I've not a clue what it is, but it was iron and you know I love iron, and it has this crackle patina>>>
Isn't that great?
I asked the seller where all the junk was. She said they threw away four of those rent-a-garbage can things full. Can you imagine the expression on my face? Of course, her reply was..... say it with me...... "You wouldn't have wanted any of that." How many times have we heard that one? I do know her and we've got to back tomorrow to pick up a large piece of furniture. I'm going to tell her if she ever does this again (this was her first) to call me before throwing anything away. I'm also thinking of trying to buy everything that's left at this sale. It was that good. The stuff pictured above really isn't a very good example.
Oh, the prices were all over the place. Well, that's not quite true. They were either too, too high or way cheap. We'd look at something that was marked quite high and wonder, "What were they thinking?" Then we'd see something for a dollar and think, "That's only a dollar? What were they thinking?!" I found out later, they had an antique dealer price the obvious pieces - and some not so obvious pieces, but some of the best pieces in the way of character and unusual-ness, was overlooked.
Oh, the prices were all over the place. Well, that's not quite true. They were either too, too high or way cheap. We'd look at something that was marked quite high and wonder, "What were they thinking?" Then we'd see something for a dollar and think, "That's only a dollar? What were they thinking?!" I found out later, they had an antique dealer price the obvious pieces - and some not so obvious pieces, but some of the best pieces in the way of character and unusual-ness, was overlooked.
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I've just discovered we can get RSS feeds through email! Now, maybe I'm the last to know about this, but it sure is a time saver. I'm using Feed Mailer. You just create an account (free) and add the blogs or sites RSS feed addresses and say how often you want it to check for updates. Since I'm at the computer a lot, I've chosen hourly. So once an hour, I get to see if any of you have updated your blog. It's so much easier to keep up with! Almost like answering email. Now, I've got to add a bunch more blogs. So far, I really like it.
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Opening the shop is getting closer and closer. I cleaned the nasty carpet today. It really just needs to be pulled up and thrown away, but that's out of the question at this point. I've even started telling people. It feels so strange. I'm not talking about a just a dream anymore, but a real happening.
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I'll have more pictures of the sale tomorrow.
