Two Sales With Potential

We had to take a break from posting for a couple of weeks because we were very busy (though not too busy for saling) but we are back! We have a couple of weeks to catch up on but we expect to be up to date within a week! 

The second week of January had arrived and it was a long one. Since the middle of November, we had not worked a full five day workweek. A couple of well placed holidays and some well placed vacation days made sure of it. This week was the first full workweek for us and we felt it. Eventually, the weekend came and we were ready for some saling. Our list was pretty small. Some of the tag sale companies continued to extend their holiday break and the ones who didn't just didn't seem to be hosting the type of sales that appeared to us. We did find some with a little potential and those two sales would make up our entire list. 

One of the sales was listed as the "sale of the year". It was a tag sale company that has some pretty good sales but we weren't sure whether they meant thus far in 2016 or they were projecting the rest of the year to go downhill from here. There was nothing in the pictures that were were specifically interested in but we could tell it was an old house and we saw potential. The second sale was called a "large estate/moving sale" and, again, there was nothing that we would be targeting but it was clearly an old house with potential. Two sales with potential. That was our list. We were ready...off we went! 

We arrived at the first sale just after its opening. We found what we expected...a line. This sale seemed to be the standout sale of the day and we figured that it would draw a crowd. It did. After all, it was described as the "sale of the year". 

There was a dumpster in the driveway and, since we had plenty of time on our hands, we took turns taking a quick peak inside. Monica went first and she found an old crocheted flamingo. It would come home with us. 

 After a wait on line of one hour, we made it inside and headed for the basement. There was a great old bar downstairs and Rob found an old cocktail shaker there that would come home with us. The remainder of the basement would also provide for some great digging and dig we did! 

The main floor had plenty of rooms but we were not as successful up there. The best thing in any of the rooms was this great vintage light that was great except for one thing. It had a sign that said "sold" beside it. Of well! When we were done here, we left with a vintage cocktail shaker, an old fly swatter from Holiday Inn, a tiki mug, some records and some books. It may not have been the "sale of the year" but it was a worthwhile stop and we were glad we chose to withstand the line.

After a break for a late breakfast, we drove the twenty minutes to our second, and final, sale of the day. We knew even less about this sale than we did about the first one. We knew that it was an estate/moving sale. We knew that this was the second day of the sale. We knew that the house was old. That is all we knew. 

Our first search was the garage and then the large room above the garage. It was mostly empty but there were a few boxes to search and we found a couple of things up there. 

The basement was our next target. It was large but mostly empty. The floor was great as was this 1950's kitchen table. We have seen this a few times in red but we can't remember ever seeing this in green.

There was an apple design on the table top. 

There were matching chairs, too...with apples! 

The basement had this guy, too. He looks French. 

The main floor bathroom had gone through a few changes but much of it was as it was when the house was first built in the 1950's. Look at that sink! 

The counter top was boomerang! 

The floor wasn't too bad either! 

So, after almost an hour inside this house, we learned that the house was owned by a 94 year old woman who had recently passed away. She had no children and her niece, in Colorado, inherited the house and it had been sold. The people running the sale were eBay dealers but were not experienced at running tag sales. They were hired to sell as much as possible so that the house could be cleaned out for the new owners. 

It was the middle of the day on the second and final day of the sale. They were anxious to empty this house. We left with an old outdoor lounge chair, a Ballantine Beer peanut holder and lots of miscellaneous things...for almost no money at all! 

We still had time so we visited with Monica's dad for awhile and then made our way to an old friend's house who emailed us and asked if we could drop by because she had a few things to give to us. It was great seeing her and we were very thankful for the gifts. She had some vintage clothing and a vintage pocketbook for Monica, a vintage outdoor light set with plastic fruit for lamps and a couple of other things.

Here is what we brought home on Saturday:

Some records

Some books. The space books are from 1959. The Star Trek book is from 1967.

The crocheted flamingo that Monica found in the dumpster at the first sale

An old container of MSG. We found this to be funny. No one seems to have this in their kitchen anymore. It is from Hills Supermarket which is a defunct supermarket chain that Rob's family frequented when he was a kid. We will put this on the table at our next gathering to see what reactions we get!

An old cake decorating kit, an old toilet paper roll cover, a pair of old New Year's tiaras and an old "Blue Heaven" mug.

A great old outdoor lounge chair. It's turquoise.

An old pair of plastic glasses for Sharon (our mannequin), a old decorative starburst that was on a hamper (we are thinking of mounting it to our mailbox), a old lucite seahorse for the bathroom and an old fly swatter from Holiday Inn

Bar items...a Ballantine Beer peanut holder, a bar opener, a ceramic "drunk" lady, a glass ice bucket and a cocktail glass. The bar opner and drunk lady are marked Japan.

A tiki mug (Orchids of Hawaii) and a pair of ceramic planters (both marked Japan)

Christmas things

And, on our visit to our friend on Saturday afternoon, we got, among other things...

...an old set of party lights with plastic fruit and...

...a vintage pocketbook for Monica

It was a busy Saturday and we relaxed when we got home but spent Sunday doing all the things that need to be done around the house ahead of the workweek.

On our last post, we told the story of the house that put lots of old Christmas stuff out to the curb (which we managed to salvage). Well, we have been passing the house on the night before garbage pickup and we found something else for us this week...

...this set of eight Raffiaware cups from the 1950's! They were in amazing shape! The holder they are pictured in was something we already had. We will continue to monitor this house! 

It was a great weekend and a great start to the year. Although we did not win the record Powerball jackpot, we will continue to find our own treasures...always together!