Four Sales In A Rush

We're still a little behind on our posts but we're getting closer to be caught up. This post is for the weekend of April 23rd and April 24th.

Following last weekend's extended birthday weekend for Monica, the workweek seemed to drag and it seemed like it would never end. Eventually, of course, it did and we were ready to begin our new weekend. Our search, during the week, led us to four possible sales and they all had great potential. We haven't had a week with this much promise in a long time. It would be difficult to decide where to start especially since this would be a shortened salling day. Just a few blocks away from where we live, there was an open house between 12-2pm. We, typically, don't go to open houses but this was a house that was, clearly, built in the 1950's and we were really curious to see its inside. So, we had four sales that we really wanted to attend and three of them were, at least, thirty minutes away from our house. After scurrying to get to all four sales, we still had to get back in time to attend the open house. The earliest sale began at 9am and it was one of the furthest ones from home. We got an early start to the day and left early enough to get to that first sale as it opened. We were determined to accomplish everything on our list! 

Sale #1 was run by one of our favorite tag sale companies and was described as "three generations" and "entire contents". It took us a little longer to get here then we thought and the sale had started thirty minutes before our arrival.

We, immediately, found the basement where Rob searched the bar. He was holding our first find of the day...a vintage drunk Scotsman bar light. 

We, then, went outside to see what was in the garage and what was on the tables outside. Our host, Ron, was there to greet us.

We saw these pictures outside. The kids on the left may very well be from "Village Of The Damned". We did not take any of these home.

Our next trip was down to the other side of the basement which we entered through the Bilco doors. Dennis assured us that it was safe.

The basement was large and, while not a digger room, there was much to search. 

The attic, on the other hand, was definitely a digger but we were not the first ones here. There was evidence that Christmas stuff was once here but it was gone. We later found out, from Ron, that old glass ornaments and some Christmas lights were bought just as we arrived. We didn't feel too badly. We, rarely, buy any glass ornaments because we have more than we can use and we have a lot of Christmas lights already. 

The other side of the basement was a little more organized but still had lots to look through. Despite all of rooms, we made it through the house fairly quickly. That was our plan for all of the sales. We had a lot to accomplish in a short period of time. Oh, and when we left, it was not empty-handed. Aside from the drunk Scotsman bar light, we also left with a vintage barbecue apron and some records.

Sale #2 was run by another tag sale company we know but whose sales we have not attended in almost a year. Not all of their sales are at vintage homes and, when they are, they are usually too far away. This was only fifteen minutes from the first sale and was described as "mid-century throughout". It was worth a look!

 We chose to look in the garage first. There was nothing of interest to us but look at the cool, old, metal awning attached to the garage! 

There was another old basement bar (two houses in a row) and, as usual, Rob searched behind it. The basement was the best room in this house and it was where we found everything that came home with us from this sale. A vintage drunk Irishman bar light, an old ashtray, a Hawaii mug, some cocktail stirrers and a record were loaded into the car.

After a quick stop for breakfast, we went to our third sale which was in the same town as the second sale. We seem to go to this company's sales almost every week and we like them a lot. In the description of the sale, "vintage toys" and "vintage Christmas and holiday" were listed. We could see by the pictures in the ad that the vintage toys were not very old. They looked to be from the 1980's and 1990's. We hoped that the holiday decorations were older.

We made our way down to the basement where we encountered this mounted pencil sharpener. We hoped it was a good sign! 

The basement was packed with toys for any avid collector of The Simpsons, the three later Star Wars movies and several other categories of toys released in the 1990's or later. 

The kitchen had a lot of old elements that were, probably, original to the house though newer layers of paint had been applied. Those cabinets are made of wood and are in great condition. You just don't find cabinets like these too often!

The back room was where the Christmas and holiday was kept and almost all of it was fairly new. We did manage to find two small vintage Christmas blow molds so the trip was not a waste.

Our fourth and final sale was on the way home and we were making good time. This estate sale was described as "mid-century antiques" and was run by a tag sale company whose owner is a friend of ours. 

There was a pretty cluttered basement to search and we acted quickly to search through everything without losing any valuable time. 

The mounted pencil sharpener on the basement wall gave us hope that we would find something and we did. A vintage Costco metal three-tier serving cart and a few pamphlets left the sale with us.

We made it home in plenty of time to go to the open house. Aside from the real estate agent, we were the only ones there. The house had a very large basement, though unfinished, some nice sized rooms and an attic of unknown size. It also had some furniture, still inside the house, that was amazing. The dining room had an early 1960's dining room set with its companion china cabinet in amazing condition. It was the exact same set that Monica's parents had when she was a kid. We wish we could have taken pictures but it didn't seem like it would be welcomed at that time. 

While we didn't have any plans to buy this house, we were contacted, by email, by the realtor to see how we liked the house and to tell us that the furniture was for sale (we had gently inquired into this). We responded that we were not interested in the house, at this time, but would be interested in finding out what the owners were asking for the dining room set. We never heard back from the realtor.

On a day when we did our saling at a quicker speed than normal, here is what we found:

Some records

Pamphlets, drink books and cocktail stirrers

A vintage Costco three-tier serving cart. It is in great condition and we will decide what color to paint it in the future.

A vintage barbecue apron which has some pretty hefty stains. We hope to be able to get them out because this apron is, definitely, worth saving! 

Two vintage bar lights...a drunk Scotsman and a drunk Irishman. They came from different sales on the same day. The odds of this are astronomical!

A vintage ashtray and a Hawaiian mug which is marked Japan

A Christmas record and two small, old Christmas blow molds

Sunday was spent, as usual, catching up on chores and errands and, of course, spending more time together. This weekend may not have been packed with the excitement of Monica's birthday weekend, but it was time spent together and that, to us, will always be filled with excitement and smiles.