Monday, March 12, 2012

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.

9 comments:

  1. Retro-profiled! - hee! You found some really amazing stuff out there! That horse purse is sooooooooo good especially. I found an enormous hutch which will put me out of the buying zone for quite some time.

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  2. WOWZA! Great haul! Yes, I am particularly taken with the horse bags, the mail sorter/organizer, the blue and gold earrings, and that amazing ocean print!!! I love pitchers too - I'm buying a plane ticket to TN!

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  3. uggh i decided not to go out in nashville this weekend because i didn't think any of the sales looked promising, boy was i wrong!
    are you going to the big donelson sale that starts thursday morning? i have really high hopes for it!!!
    i have a framed 3D horse picture just like that purse too! and a deer one that is really similar that I think is handmade, because someone added a LOT of glitter.

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  4. Great, great finds!! Love the Eisenhower jacket, what a steal.

    And that horse bag... I totally have an entire bedding set in that print. It was from Garnet Hill, several years ago. Those horses get around!

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  5. @Eartha: I look forward to hearing about the hutch over at Ranch Dressing! How I do love a good, china-bearing piece of furniture.

    @Mr. Tiny: We'll see you when you get here! And subsequently get into a Roz Russell screwball comedy scene like situation in which we've both picked up a sleeve of the same novelty knit sweater in a bargain bin. :)

    @Rae: I was out of town this weekend, so this from the weekend before last weekend, but even that was drought-city estate sale wise. What is going on? I have to work Thursday and Friday but I'll be around for whatever's left on Saturday, ha ha! Also... the glitter deer. Priceless.

    @Dakota: That bedding set must be A-W-E-S-O-M-E. This additional piece of 3D horse evidence makes me think it MUST have been some kind of by-the-bolt fabric in the 60's. Either way, I love it!

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  6. Nice haul! My favorite has to be the horse bag...that is just soooo cute!

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  7. That crab illustration is AMAZING! Good finds, babe! :D

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  8. Well, since you asked if we found anything good this past weekend..... I did. I found an 1847 Rogers silver plate service for 8 plus two serving and one sugar spoons, in its original box. Great condition. The pattern is First Love. I loved it at first sight when I saw an ad in a 1948 LIFE magazine. The ad also featured the Adoration pattern, which is my mom's. Oh, yes. It was $20.00. Like I needed it. I just wanted it, ever since I saw it. I have officially become a hoarder, err, collector of vintage silver plate. I also found a "1961 Advertising Advisory with 40 Case Studies". It features the entire description of various consumer ads for cereal, cigarettes, soap, cars, appliances, cleaning products, etc. Plus it dissects the various parts of the ad directed to our desires. So "Mad Men". Plus, it is the size of a real LIFE magazine so there is a lot of detail to see! It was a buck. Heaven. I must add this is only my second estate sale to attend too. I know, they all won't be good. Sorry for bragging. Just excited to share. Once again, my family looks at me and just grins and/or grimaces.

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  9. @ Suzy: Thanks! And I carry it with EVERYTHING. It just adds such a touch of fun to whatever I'm wearing.

    @Cammila: Right? Right?! :)

    @Vivian: Great scores, gee! I want both of those things. And $21 total? A bargain, too. You should scan the booklet for your blog, I bet it's a hoot!

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