First of all, thanks to our latest followers, Eibhlin,Maka Jarra,and Daisy Ferrell,who have joined us in the past couple of weeks. Welcome!
I went to an estate sale today.
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| That's a whole set of Greek style trays at the bottom,with a vintage Redball Jets shoe box,)My favourite childhood shoes!), and a vintage Q-Tips box. |
Estate sales can be great because it's usually a lifetime's worth of stuff, and the stuff can be old too. But that's also the reason I find estate sales so sad. It's somebody's whole life, or even a couple of people's lives, going up for sale. It's awful to watch someone's precious possessions being ruthlessly dug through by a crowd. Things that meant so much to someone are just crap to be shoved out of the way while they look for something 'good'. I can't understand how the family of the deceased can watch as people paw through their loved ones things.
The sale we went to today was being run by the kids of a lady who had passed away. Her husband had died before her, so her children were clearing out her house and putting it up for sale. We dealt mostly with one son, and we were there for ages, so we got to know him a little. He was telling us how he didn't keep things from the past. He was past that point in his life. But his siblings had been going through his parent's things and saying,"Oh! I have to keep that! Mom and Dad loved that!" He had been encouraging them to let things go.
When we got there alot of the stuff still wasn't out, so it hadn't been gone through yet. He let Ken help get the tubs of Christmas ornaments out for me. I was trying not to spend a fortune, but it wasn't easy! The ornaments were mostly from the 60's, which is my childhood,with some things a bit older. I took about half the ornaments in one tub,but when the guy said $40 I whittled it down. He still said $30, so I whittled it down some more. When I was whittling down the last time one of the other siblings came by and spotted an ornament that meant a lot to her; a chubby cloth angel that she said frequently sat atop their Christmas tree. She asked, "Oh. Is this something that you're taking?" Well, no. Not if it means something to her. I can live without it, and she
should keep it.
After my whittling I got the ornaments and a 10" tall feathered angel, (I think it's by Holt Howard.), for $15.
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| I have some vintage ornaments that match her. They're a bit like the little ones in front of her, only with heads like hers. |
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| They look like those knee hugger hillbillies, but they have pointy ears. My favourite of these guys is the goofy looking guy with the blonde forelock. Love the cuckoo clock too! |
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| The ceramic Santa and Mrs. Claus are candle holders for very small candles. |
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| I love the 'children of the world' type doll ornaments the most out of all of the ones I got, except the feather angel.On the left are some nursery rhyme themed ornaments. In the middle are 4 raggedy Ann and Andy ones. |
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| The nursery rhyme ones include Little Boy Blue, Jill,the old woman who lived in a shoe,Old Mother Hubbard,Jack(who jumped over the candlestick),Little Miss Muffet,and even Old King Cole, way down on the right. |
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| Some vintage kid's books,including some first editions, and a cool tray with coffee sayings on it. |
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| The nesting baskets on the right are very delicate. They all have lids. Underneath everything is a damask table cloth and matching napkins. |
When we first walked up I thought I wasn't going to find anything! We ended up being there so long it was the only sale we got to! We left our house at 10:15 and it was at least 1:30 when we left the sale! From there it was lunch, because we were starving, and then to school to pick up Ivy. Ken was glad to get home because he hates parting with money! Hey Ken, there's still tomorrow!
My mother is almost 83, so we are having thoughts about going through her things. We already went through her basement, as she has flooding issues. Now my sister is after her to go through items on the bookshelves in her living room, which I think is a bit ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAmong the things on this bookshelf are some birthmonth angel figurines, with heads that look very similar to your feathered angel. I have one for my month, a July angel holding an Uncle Sam type hat. I also recognize those elves hugging their knees. I think the ones my mom had were sitting atop fake balls of mistletoe.
My mother found a bunch of Christmas ornaments that hung on her Christmas tree when she was a girl, and promptly gave them all to my middle sister. My youngest sister and I were hurt by that; I was very hurt. I think I'm going to hit up that sister when she puts her ornaments out this year, and take a few. Middle sister is also the only sister that doesn't have any children to pass the ornaments down to.
I agree with you. The only reason to go through the things on your mother's bookshelf is to save yourselves more trouble all at once when she's gone. Let her enjoy her things as long as she can.I know the figurines you're talking about. I love those. I have a lot of them. in fact I might have that July one you mentioned! That's a shame your mother didn't divide the ornaments amongst you and your sisters. If your sister has no one to leave them to, maybe she will leave them to your and your sister's children. Make sure they know the history of them and what they look like, because they'll probably be the ones to deal with it all when she's gone.
DeleteYes, one can't help thinking about the history of the things found at estate sales and thrift stores. At least if people are buying items, it hopefully means that the items mean something to them.
ReplyDeleteMy dear 92 year old neighbor is always giving us her old cherished trinkets. Now I understand that she is giving them to us because she wants to know who gets them.
I always hope their cherished things are going to people who will love them, even if they are being bought by dealers at that moment. Eventually maybe they will find their way to someone who appreciates them. It's sad though. Your neighbor must think a great deal of you.
DeleteAn older relative of mine, before she passed away, gave me a lot of Beanie Babies collected by her and her husband- it was a bit sad to watch her give away such priceless treasures, ya know? :'(
ReplyDeleteIt is sad. You know they have realized they don't have many years left. Think how it must be when you reach that point. Sad and frightening.
DeleteYes, I agree with you about the sadness of putting out someone's lifetime possesions. It's even worse at an auction to see people just roughly going through the boxes. I always try to be gentle when I look through them and if I sense that one of the family is bidding on something that I am, I back off and let them have it. Sometimes extended family members have to bid on things to get them. No, I am not a dealer, just a collector.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see someone else remembers Red Ball Jets! I always remember when I was in grade school going to the shoe store - usually in the big city, to get my summer sneakers a couple of days after school was done. It was almost always Red Ball Jets, the only decision was what color to choose.
Teresa F.
I do the same at auctions where family are trying to buy back their or their loved ones possessions. I was at an auction once where a lady was having to buy back the family photo albums! That's so sad. Unfortunately there are people ho will continue to bid against people in that situation.
DeleteWhen I was a little kid my favourite shoes were my Red ball Jets! I only ever had one pair, but I remember them very fondly. They were red with white rubber toe caps. I had to have that box. The man running the sale was so sweet about it. I told him why I wanted just the box, (It had a vintage electric back massager in it.), and he gave it to me...but he made me take the massager too!
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