Our Adventures Amongst The Ducks: Labor Day Weekend 2014

Labor Day had arrived. It was a three day weekend without having to exhaust a vacation day. There were no cars in the shop and no major constraints on our time. There would no be no family barbecues this weekend. With the start of school just around the corner, Monica's sister had lots to do to get ready. It would just be us this weekend.

We weren't sure exactly how we would spend every moment of the weekend but we did know it would start with saling. Traditionally, Labor Day weekend is not a great weekend for sales. We didn't expect to find too many but, after a week spent combing the ads, we did manage to put together a list of four potential sales. Only one of them showed any great promise. Nonetheless, we remained cautiously optimistic and, with a plan in mind, off we went!

We decided to make stop #1 a multi-family garage sale that was just three minutes away. It started at 9am and the one that we felt was best did not start until 10am. The garage sale was described as having "vintage items". When we arrived, we found two garage sales directly across the street from each other. We visited both. There were very few "vintage items" and there was nothing at all for us. On to stop #2.

Stop #2 was about thirty minutes away from us and the picture above (from their ad) was one of the primary reasons this was our main target. Lots of salt and pepper shakers and, clearly, they were old. We really wanted the Christmas set and the ghost set.

We arrived just as they opened and this is what we encountered...the dreaded line. It was not unexpected. With pictures like the one above (and many others), it was clearly of interest to people who liked older things and the tag line "overloaded" helped peak their interest. So many tag sale companies took the weekend off. It appeared to be the only sale of its kind.

We were getting closer. We were only on line for about thirty minutes. A few people were in and out of the house very quickly with nothing in their hands. Not everyone found something to their liking.

Once we got into the house, we soon encountered the mounted pencil sharpener...always a good sign! We really wanted to target the salt and pepper shakers and the Christmas items that we saw in other pictures. Upstairs? Basement? Main floor? We weren't sure so we asked one of the helpers where the salt and pepper shakers were. Upstairs. Upstairs, we went.

The two targeted salt and pepper shakers were gone but this was also the Christmas room. We had competition.We both saw a bunch of Mica houses that were undiscovered (someone else in the room had found five), We got the rest...fifteen of them. We spent over an hour in this house and found a few more Christmas items, some old postcards, a few salt and pepper shakers, a ceramic squirrel to mount on a tree and some other things. Although we didn't get the targeted salt and pepper shakers, it was a good stop!

There was another sale in the same town but it didn't start until 1pm. We decided to stop for lunch and make that sale our next stop. We pulled up to the house about thirty minutes early to find a sign on the house that said the sale was postponed for a day due to illness. We were glad we got there early. We saved time

Our next stop was at a garage sale described as having "50 years of accumulation". When we arrived, we were disappointed to find that it was a very small sale. We did manage to find a hat for Monica to "recreate", two decks of cards and one record.

It was a modest day but one that was fun nonetheless. We decided to go to the postponed sale on Sunday ("vintage" and "Christmas decorations" were in the ad). We arrived just as it opened and were the first ones there. We searched the two rooms in less than five minutes. There was nothing that was even remotely related to Christmas and the only vintage item appeared to be a stained tablecloth that would not have interested us even if it were not stained. It was disappointing, to say the least, not only because it had nothing but also because it took us thirty minutes to get there!

On the was back, we decided to stop at the flea market. We have not been here in a year. Most of the items for sale are acquired at the same places we go and are marked up well beyond the prices we customarily pay. Still, it is fun to go. The place holds a special place in our hearts. It is where we shared our first kiss many years ago

It was the afternoon on the day before Labor Day and there were fewer vendors than normal

Still, there were lots of vendors there and there was plenty to view. We ran into a number of people we know. Lots of the flea market vendors are helpers at the estate sale companies so they know us by name. We spent an hour here and we found four more Mica houes, two bottle brush Christmas trees and a 1950's catalogue of Christmas items.

Here is what we brought home with us this weekend:

Some records

Postcards and brochures. The Holiday Inn postcards in this picture are actually stacked about fifteen postcards high and are all different, They represent old Holiday Inns in Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. We plan on sending them all as goofs to people we know in the future (Rob's sister is our number one target)

Some more party lights

A necklace, a pin, a Woolworth pin from 1959 and a charm bracelet for Monica

A hat that Monica will use her creativity to alter

Some old buttons for Monica

A ceramic squirrel to mount on a tree, decks of eastern Airlines cards, a pineapple bowl made in Japan and an old shot glass

Salt and pepper shakers, all marked Japan. The two atop the box are missing their mates. The box is empty and does not contain the dogs on the box. We have the cats already. We now have to find these dogs!

Mica houses and two bottle brush trees. Almost all of the houses are marked Japan though one is marked Czechoslovakia, one is marked "Made in Taiwan - Republic of China" and two are marked "Occupied Japan"

Some more Christmas items

It was a three day weekend and there was lots of time together. We got to barbecue twice over the weekend. Rob barbecued steak one night and his Shish Ke-Robs another night.