Cold Pre-Turkey

The weekend before Thanksgiving and the first real cold spell was upon us. It was not too bad when we woke up Saturday morning but the temperature was going to plummet all day. The high temperature on Sunday was supposed to be 34 degrees, about 16 degrees cooler than the normal temperature for this time of year. Heavier coats were assembled. Gloves, scarves and, of course, our list of potential stops were gathered. Off we went! 

Our first stop was an estate sale being run by relatives of the recently departed and seemed to point towards having some older items. The garage was the first thing we combed through and we found the bottom pole for an old outdoor patio umbrella. Well, there were two tops and one bottom. We already have two great old patio umbrellas (one is blue and the other is turquoise) but we only have one bottom pole. We asked if the pieces were sold separately and at $1, our first purchase was made. After looking through the house, we found a knee hugger elf, a couple of decks of cards, a hula girl Tiki mug (Orchids of Hawaii and made in Japan) and a record. It was a great start!

Our second stop was another estate sale run by relatives. 

It was an old house with several rooms and a great pink bathroom! The attic was off limits but the people were nice enough to show it to us. It was huge!!!! When the dust cleared (well, maybe not dust because the house was very clean), we found two beautiful vintage dresses for Monica, a Mr. peanut pin from the 1939 World's Fair and several old holiday cake picks. 

After a stop for breakfast, we arrived at stop #3, a MONSTER estate sale. This is the name of a Tag Sale Company that have seen listed but have yet to visit one of their sales. 

The house had a mounted pencil sharpener but not much else. The people running the sale were nice so we will not hesitate to look for them again. Unfortunately, there was not much to see here. We did pick up a couple of records to bring home. 

Our next stop was a church sale which is an annual event and we have gone several times before.

If there were going to be older items, they would be found in the basement. We were not the only ones having a look.

Monica was holding onto some our finds while continuing to look for some more.

The nuns in charge were happy that the sale was running smoothly. Yes, these nuns still wear the traditional garb. It's probably hard to get out of the habit. By the time we left, we had an old plastic Halloween pumpkin, a vintage cocktail shaker and a vintage tissue box.

Stop #5 was a bust. The sale was described as having "records" and "vintage items" and they did but it was an outdoor garage sale run by dealers who overpriced everything. We were at one of their sales last year and we had the exact same experience. We made note of the address and will exclude it from our list. We left with nothing. 

Stop #6 was also an outdoor sale (very brave considering the temperatures were dropping). Monica was happy that we had more sales to go and, while we only found a deck of Pan Am playing cards here, we were excited that it was still early enough to go to more sales! 

Stop #7 was another church sale and we knew there were white elephants. It said so right on the sign! Although church sales nowadays are hit or miss, we found a real good one this time. Several cool Christmas items, an old unopened roll of shelfing paper (with scalloped edge) and a Wienie Wheel! A Wienie Wheel! It is pictured a little later.

Our next planned stop was 3 minutes away but when we got there, there were no signs and no one was home. It was advertised as having "50 years of accumulation". I guess they reconsidered having the sale. On a good note, we saw another estate sale sign a few blocks away and followed the signs.

It was a older house in an older neighborhood. There were not too many rooms to hunt through but it was a great stop because we found a great vintage bustier apron with a starburst pattern for Monica for $2. We also took home a record and one cookbook.

We had one more stop to go on the way home. It was close to our house and was scheduled to end at 5 pm and we suspected it was the house of the owner of a Tag Sale Company. We were right. He is a nice guy but he prices his items way too high. On the bright side, he caves in to the pressure of selling very, very easily and Rob plays the game as well as anyone and he always sells what we want to Rob at the price Rob is willing to pay. We picked up a great vintage mini lamp and some Christmas cake topper picks. 

Here are some of the things we brought home today:

Some Christmas records. This is the second week in a row we found a Kate Smith Christmas record! Both are different!

Some more records

Lots of old holiday cake topper picks. A couple have sticks that have fallen off but we have them and we will re-glue them

Playing cards, a vintage starburst tissue holder issued by a bank (it has a mirror inside and the tissue package is dated 1965), a Mr Peanut wooden pin from the 1939 World's Fair and a cookbook from Knox.

A vintage dress

Another vintage dress. When this is worn, the polka dots flare out on the skirt portion.

A vintage bustier apron with a starburst pattern

Some Christmas items: a smaller Santa blow mold, a mini Santa head mug made in Japan, a pixie, a knee hugger elf, a Santa Gurley candle, a plastic reindeer and a package of Christmas seals from the 1940's 

A vintage plastic pumpkin, a vintage cocktail shaker and a hula girl tiki mug marked "Orchids of Hawaii. Made in Japan"

A Wienie Wheel in box, an unopened package of Winnie Kay shelf lining and a vintage mini lamp. The lampshade on the left is sitting low because it is missing a bulb. We just have to replace it. We tried the existing bulb in both lamps and everything works great!

It was a cold day but a great day and a good start to the weekend before Thanksgiving. We suspect that sales opportunities will be slim next weekend and, who knows, there may be no worthwhile sales at all! If that is the case, we will accept it. After all, Christmas is coming and we start decorating the day after Thanksgiving and we have a lot of decorating to do so...

...we must get busy, busy, busy!!!!

From our home to yours, we wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving!!!