Weekend Finds

 

 Desk organizer shaped like an Eames-bred antelope? Check. Framed photo of Pier Angeli? Check check. I wasn't even trying to go to estate sales weekend-before-last. After a lackluster series of runs that took me from one end of the county to the other, empty handed, I was convinced that until I heard of a really promising sale (something with a craigslist ad along the lines of "50 year accumulations! Whole house and basement full! No reasonable offers refused!", you fellow longhaul, for-real estate sale people know what I'm talking about), I was staying put! No "maybe when they say 'some antiques', they're just being modest!' fools' errands for this girl! Buu-u-u-ut.... When I saw a sale was going down in THIS former auto dealership, just down the road a piece from me, I decided, what the heck. PLUS it was practically across the street from one of my favorite thrift stores, so I had a built-in backup plan. PLUS it was the second weekend of a four-combined-estates sale, so there might be something, right? Or a lot of somethings. At half off!

 Like this nature illustration of a crab's natural dwelling environment! Two weekends ago, it would have been $7.50, but I got it for $3.75. I think it's a foldout from an old textbook. Could I be more pleased with the framing and the colors of the deep-sea scene?

 

 At left, I needed another McCoy-esque pitcher like I need another hole in my head, but at $3, there wasn't much I could do to keep myself from buying it. Plus it's a perfect match to the color of my kitchen table. The inside enamel has some "crazing" (my new favorite descriptive word ever, meaning the cracks in the glaze) and some discoloration, so I don't know if I would necessarily use it for beverages, but I might try and follow the instructions here for guidance as to how to clean it. At right, a mammoth pair of clip on earrings. I love any earrings that you have to take off to answer the phone. Clothes? We got your clothes right here: 

 Slightly-after WWII era Ike jacket? YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES! And owing to the diminuitive size of many 1940's men, it fits like a 1940's glove. The jacket was waiting for me in the back of a Kentucky antique mall, priced $20 for no reason I could earthly surmise (no moth holes, no discoloration, nothing missing...really in tip top shape). The dress at left is going in my hope chest (dresses I stash in "hopes" that it will some day fit me!), but the combination of beading, color, and extremely low price tag were irresistable. See you some day, sequins... Below, two Gus Mayer suits, late 1950's? I can't believe how much the one on the left looks like Banana Republic would do, oh, right now. I walked into this estate sale, and the saleslady immediately addressed me and my beehive with an excited "There's a whole closet full of vintage hats and clothes in the back!" I was retro-profiled!! While all the pieces were marked in the $20 apiece range, I managed to talk the woman down and got each of the suits for $15. Score, score...score.

 What do you call these kind of dishes? So fancy! Can't wait to load these up with tidbits at my next get-together. I also just realized the entire background of this photo is a shelf of horror and detective short stories. Busted. I swear there are books of great gravity and substance elsewhere in my house.

 "A horse is a horse of course of course and no one can talk to a horse, of course..."

 

 But if I could talk to a horse, I would tell these beauties, "Lookin' good!". The horses on the front are slightly 3-D, if you can't tell from this angle, and that alone was enough for me to swipe this number up on sight. One weird thing? I have a framed fabric print with the exact same pattern on it, including the 3-D horses. I wonder if someone salvaged the material from a print like that? Or if the material was available for you to do whatever with, and both items were home-made? Or if there was a line of matching purses-living room paintings in the 60's featuring 3-D horses? The possibilities are endless... Last but not least:

 All the costume jewelry in the world! You'd better believe you'll be seeing these in an outfit post soon. I think I like the blue, Asian-influenced earrings the best. Well, second best:

 This tiny Raccoon pin is a souvenir of the museum that predated Nashville's "Adventure Science Center" (formerly the way less Buzz Lightyear sounding "Cumberland Science Museum"). According to this "Nashville Memories From the 50's, 60's, and 70's" list, "If you signed up at school for the Children's Museum, you got a pin with the image of a raccoon on it." Well, looka there, though! That must be the membership pin to which they refer. Excellent! Bonus: check out this terrifying Polar Bear that used to be either at the Children's Museum or the old State Museum in the basement of the War Memorial Auditorium (any excuse to see a terrifying example of taxidermy is a good one, to me). It's on loan to the Oak Ridge children's museum. How about you kids? Did you find anything good this weekend? Do tell! Til next time.