St. Patrick's Day Weekend

St Patrick's Day fell on a Friday this year and, as is our habit, we try to use a vacation day to take a three day weekend every month that doesn't have a work holiday. With St. Patrick's Day falling on a Friday, we thought it would be a good choice. Although it, technically, falls within the winter season, it is the gateway to springtime though it was clear that it wasn't spring yet. 

On Tuesday, we were under a blizzard warning with snowfall projections exceeding a foot of snow. As it turned out, the temperature wound up just a couple of degrees warmer than expected and our total snowfall was only 3 1/2 inches but the combination of snow, sleet and freezing rain make travel extremely treacherous and both of our jobs were closed for the day. It was an unexpected day off but our adventures were contained within the confines of our four walls. Traveling anywhere was not safe. Wednesday was a return to our normal routine but we had Friday off and our extended weekend finally arrived!

Fridays are the third most popular day for estate sales. We are told, by the owners of the tag sale companies, that they do very well on Fridays. We cannot attend them all that often but this week was different. There was one on our list and we had every intention on taking advantage of it.

Before getting to our Friday sale, we decided to make a stop at a thrift shop on the way. It is only open on Fridays and it had been awhile so we made a quick stop. Monica found a pair of jeans and Rob found a pair of sweatpants, each for $1.

Our Friday estate sale was run by a company who seems to prefer Friday estate sales so we don't see them as often as we would like. It was listed as "three floors and a garage filled with antique and vintage items". We would have to have a look.

The basement was amazing! Rob took this picture from behind the basement bar. Those seats are amazing! We wish we had a spare room for these. They would have come home with us! 

The ceiling tiles had a starburst pattern! 

This entertainment center was amazing, too! It had a television, radio and stereo! We know that the stereo worked because it was being played when we were down there.

As mentioned earlier, the basement also had a bar

The kitchen had a great set of wooden cabinets with great handles. We always fear that they will be ripped out when the new owners take possession of the house.

The house did have three floors and a garage and there were some old things but there wasn't all that much here for us. We did find some records and bought seven empty plastic bins which is something we need quite badly. Although we didn't bring home a lot, it was, definitely, a worthwhile trip if only for the opportunity to see the inside of this great house!

Saturday brought us a whole new list of saling opportunities. Five sales were plotted out and our intention was to visit them all. Our toughest challenge was that the one closet to us only began at 10am. We, reluctantly, chose that one to start but remained determined to see them all. Off we went! 

The first sale was a church rummage sale described as "Granny's Attic Rummage Sale". It was originally scheduled last week but, when we arrived, there was a sign announcing its postponement. We arrived just before 9:30am to find a small line outside but an amazing thing happened.

They opened the doors half an hour early and, at 9:31am, the line was gone and inside and, then, so were we. There were several tables there but not much of interest to us. We spent less than ten minutes here and left with just one item...a baseball. We were now ahead of schedule and had time to get some breakfast before going to the next stop which was thirty minutes away. We were grateful. Our stomachs were grateful.

Sale #2 was an estate sale that we believed would be a private sale run by the family. The ad listed "antiques" and "vintage" and there were a few items in the ad pictures that intrigued us. 

Some of old questions were answered within seconds of entering the house. Yes, it was a privately run sale and, yes, this was going to be a fun house. Look at those amazing cabinets and countertop! Depending on whether you believed the son or the daughter, the house was either built in 1952 or 1950. Clearly, these were the originals to the house.

This button was on one of the cabinets but fell off. The owners gave it to us. The company is still in business today.

A kitchen room divider/cupboard that is always an original to the house

The basement was amazing! The figures on the wall were painted by the owner. This house was owned by the same family from the date the house was built until the present. It will be sold shortly.

Look at the cool bench (turquoise with pink accent) and the cool rattan bar stools (pink with turquoise accent).

Another bench in the basement

And, of course, there had to be a basement bar! The "buttons" in the pin cushion design are pink. The daughter, to the left, gave us a great history of the house.

Another view of the bar stools

The downstairs bathroom was its original pink

This was one of the great refrigerators in the basement

Here is the other great refrigerator.

That second refrigerator is a Monitor brand

The inside of that second refrigerator 

There's that cool "Monitor" symbol again

Upstairs, there was a vintage desk.

This was the remains of another room downstairs with an original mint green sink. The owner was a dentist and the home doubled as a dentist office. This one appeared to have been used in his practice.

This "Tom Thumb" typewriter was in one of the pictures in the ad but we did not get it. We never even saw it. We think one of the earliest visitors to the house must have gotten it. We did not leave empty-handed though. We brought home a vintage ironing board, a wooden tiki, a vintage paper tablecloth, some books, some records and two card games. We also picked up a few things in the garage which had a sign that said that everything was free and, from there, we got an extension cord, a vintage kitchen drawer organizer and some vintage plastic plates.

Sale #3 was an indoor benefit yard sale at a lodge. There wasn't too much here but we did get a first edition Mad paperback from 1964...

...and we did pass this horse who would give you a ride for 50 cents. Maybe next time

Sale #4 was also a privately run sale which was described as an indoor/outdoor estate sale. There were no pictures in the ad but we felt that it had potential.

When we see a mounted pencil sharpener in the basement, we really feel that there is potential! It is always a good sign! 

This old bathroom probably started off as yellow and green and much of the original still remains. The floor had to be original.

The tub had to be original. The yellow sink was probably original, too, but has been encased in the vanity that is there now.

There were lots of old books but most of them were not in great shape

Once again...a basement bar. Monica was pretty happy!

Outside, near the garage, was this old barbecue. Whenever we see one of these, we look for Ricky, Lucy, Fred and Ethel. No sign of them today!

This was another fun sale and the family running the sale was very nice. We had plenty to bring home with us from here. We loaded the car with lots of cookbooks, a vintage Christmas cat apron, an Easter bonnet for Monica, a vintage Lazy Susan and some books.

Our final sale was run by an estate sale company that we like and often visit. Unfortunately, this "vintage time capsule home" was not our style. We left with one record and one Christmas thing.

After visiting Monica's dad, we went home to find a surprise in our mailbox. Well, we knew it was coming but not when. The day had arrived!

We are big fans of Hogan's Heroes. When we heard that Robert Clary (Corporal Louis LeBeau) had written an autobiography and sold autographed copies of his book, we had to write to him. After some email correspondence between us, we sent a check and the book arrived!

He even personalized the book for us! 

On Sundays, we typically stay home and take care of the chores and errands that must be done. We almost went chasing another opportunity when we saw the following ad in the free section of the local Craigslist.

We wrote to the poster, hoping that we would be first to contact them and be invited to come pick up the vintage greeting cards. Unfortunately, we were not the first one to write and we did not get them. We did find a lot of other great stuff this weekend. Here is what we brought home:

Some records

Some more records

Some 7-inch records

Some books

More books and pamphlets

Cookbooks

Some more cookbooks

A few more cookbooks

A Yul Brynner cookbook and a Liberace cookbook! 

My big book of Pretty Pussies. Published in 1965, we are sure that this is the last book with this title that could be purchased without showing adult identification! 

An old baseball. Based on the picture (Rob believes it to be Billy Williams in a Cubs uniform), it was sold between 1960 and 1973.

An Easter bonnet for Monica

A vintage Lazy Susan

A vintage Christmas cat apron for Monica

This plastic Christmas sleigh. We have lots of these but Rob liked the look of the reindeer and was afraid that it would be thrown out if we didn't take it home

Free stuff from a garage: vintage plastic plates, a vintage pink drawer organizer in its original package and an extension cord.

A vintage birthday tablecloth in its package, a wooden tiki and two card games from the 1960's

A vintage ironing board. The picture was taken at the sale where we bought it.

St. Patrick's Day came and went and it began a great weekend together.

Alas, no green beer for us but Monica did make corned beef and cabbage on Friday night. Monica did all the cooking. Rob's responsibility was to slice the corned beef, slice the Irish soda bread, wash the dishes and, of course, eat the food! 

Our St. Patrick's Day decorations will be put away soon but the house will still be festive! Easter is not too far away!