Things I Used to Own

One of those fun little thrills of junking happens when you find something that you used to own.  I don't necessarily mean the exact item, although that has happened to several people I know, including me.  (I once found several comics with my name on them at a local flea market when I was a kid.)

Most commonly, this involves finding something just like one you used ot have or another copy of a thing you had.  Like this book:

When I was about 8 or 9, my tonsils were removed.  My grandparents got me this book as a get well gift.  I don't know whatever happened to my copy, but I think it probably was given away during one of the purges my mother did after my parents divorced.  We moved a few times after that, but every place we lived was a lot smaller than the house my parents had bought.  Some stuff had to go.

I found this copy at a book sale and just had to pick it up.  I was immediately struck by the illustrations.  Instead of the serene reverence of a lot of religious art, these figures all have an almost tangible sense of action and power.

Take these pics of some of the Minor Prophets from the Old Testament.  I can just imagine the guys in these drawings giving the dishonest and corrupt of their era seven different kinds of holy hell.

This is Jonah raging at Nineveh.  Is it any wonder the city repented?  He almost looks fanatical here!

Next we have Micah, who appears to be getting ready to go to a Star Trek convention.  Not sure what's up with the hand signs, but love the colors in this one.

I forget who this one is (I didn't take notes when I took the pics), but doesn't he look ferocious?  It's all quite different from the tranquil images of saints at prayer that I'm used to seeing.  I really like it.

Finally, for some contrast, we have Solomon, who was quite the snazzy dresser, it seems.

What kinds of things have you found that you used to own?-

An Afternoon on Sorrow Mountain

Donna calls her stash/overflow/backstock "Horror Monster." 

Mine is called "Sorrow Mountain."  It lives in a storage unit.

Sometimes, I call it the "Mount of Sorrows."

I also add adjectives:  "The Mount of Many Sorrows" or the "Mount of Constant Sorrow."  (Yes, as in this.)

The adjectives even get colorful from time to time:  "The Fucking Mount of Sorrows."

Why do I call it "Sorrow Mountain"?

Looking in with several items already pulled out.

 Well,

The items that were pulled out.

 You tell me.

I spent yesterday afternoon there going through about the first third of the unit, trying to bring a bit of order to the process.  I was also looking for three items that I really need for a display idea I have.  One was right up front, but the other two were right smack dab in the middle of everything.  Of course.

I also pulled, and forgot to photograph, a Mazda load and a half to take over to the booth.  I've got lots of space opening up, so I figured I might as well fill it.

I was able to get everything put back in an order that will allow me to access a few loads for the next couple of weeks.  I found a box of my booth dud books, three boxes of books that I was given that aren't my groove, a box of oddball records, and a box of VHS tapes (both left behind during the Dixie move out).  I set them all aside together.  They'll be heading to Half Price Books this weekend.  I won't get a lot for them, but they'll be gone!

I also put aside in one bunch a couple of boxes of comics that need to be bagged and priced and a few bags and baskets of items that need to go home for sorting and then to the booth.  They'll be this weekend's project.

Next to all these set asides, I set up a block of small furniture that is easy to grab and ready to go once I get a bit more free space at the booths.  Once I've got all those things cleared out, I'll have a good-sized footprint opened up that will allow me to start sorting through the back of the unit.  It was a good start, but only a start.

Oh lordy.  What hath I wrought?

This is the face of one who has traveled the Mount of Sorrows.

Button, Button. Who's got the Button? (Part 1)

I bought a gallon (!) freezer bag FULL of vintage buttons a while back at a thrift.  As I've come across button-worthy jars, I've been sorting them out.  I'm down to the metal ones now, which are actually over half the lot.  I plan on doing a post on some of the neat designs soon.

Today, I wanted to share just one button.  The only one of its kind in the whole bag.  I think you'l lsee why I wanted to share it.

Monday Rambles

Well, so much for my moratorium on yard sales.  I didn't violate it by much, I promise.  It was only three sales.  Seriously.  In my mind, it was only going to be a few things and an hour or two.  Then I was going home and back to bed.

Shortly after I made my declaration, I found out that a church in our neighborhood was having a sale.  Oh dear.  Church sale.  In the neighborhood.  In a church that always has good sales.  A church that is also rumored to be closing.  I felt like I had to go, just in case they do close and there are no more sales.  Oh well, it's only one.

I found an estate sale on Friday that advertised lots of vintage Fisher Price toys and older Star Wars toys.  I'm expanding my vintage toy selection and the sale was run by a company I like that usually has good prices.  I was the last customer in on Friday, but there were still lots of the FP toys left and the prices were pretty good.  The Star Wars stuff was out of reach, but that was okay.  Since it was the end of the last day, I got a little bit of a deal.

I also got something I've been wanting for a while.

 

Vintage Our Lady of Lourdes figurine with St Bernadette in the Grotto.  It's safely ensconced in my religious collection!

As I was leaving, the workers called out and said "Be sure to come back tomorrow for half price day."  Half price?  Shit!  That makes two.  There were a few toys that were just a hair too high for me at their original prices.  I'd be sticking my head back in to see what was left for half price day.

Finally, I saw a listing for a sale that was going to be just down the street from the church sale.  Well, I was going to be passing it anyway.  That made three.

I figured three was pretty true to the spirit of a moratorium.  It would only take a couple of hours.  I'd only pick up a few things and that would be that.  I wasn't counting on lots of well-priced larger items.  Take a look.

I got two of these crafting cubby/organizer things and a small black bookcase at the church sale.  Cannot have too much display and storage.  The cubbies will be good for small toys and such.

Chippy pink cabinet with orange interior.  I need to brush it out a little.  It looks like it's been out in the barn for thirty years.  My favorite part is that sticker on the right hand door.

 This brings back memories!  When I was a small town Kentucky boy, Burger Queen was the only "fast food" place in our little town.  They changed their name to Druthers in the 80's, but went out of business ages ago.  When I moved to Louisville, their corporate HQ was not very far from where I lived.  I was kind of tickled to find this.  My father used to say that my mother would make him drive a half hour away so they could get BQ after they were married.  This was before my little town got one.  My mother always claimed she did not remember doing this. I do remember eating with each of my parents at both the one in our town and the one a half hour away.

Coolest find of the day.  This portable ironing board with storage baskets!  When you're through with that pesky ironing, just fold the sides down and roll it back into a corner!

There's chippy and then there's almost scary.  This chair kind of delicately treads the line between the two.  It's not child-sized.  Take a closer look.  The bottom of the legs have worn away!  I can see this one on a front porch, holding a large fern!

I like to use plant stands like this to hold small toys or bottles or other junk for display.  They're great for small books too.

I did buy some smalls, but those will have to wait until later.  We had to do a smalls drop off at the house so that I could fit some of the stuff in the van.  As for the tragically decapitated lady from yesterday, I'm going to try and save her.  The accident was totally my fault.  I should have laid the lamp down.  I had room for that, but I got lazy.  It's such a gaudily cool piece too.

This week is going to be totally insane!  Except for Tuesday, I'll be spending all day every day at the Peddlers Mall.  I'm completely redoing everything!  The manager finally decided which vendors get the new spots she opened up across from me in front of the store.

She was going to do a drawing, but she decided that she wanted to go with known quantities and good vendors, for those spots, which makes good retail sense.  They're the first things people will see as they come in the store.  There's going to be a certain standard look for these spaces too.  Walls and shelving will be a little more regulated than in other booths.  She wants vendors who will work with that.  Think you know anyone who meets all that criteria?

Well, I do!  And I got one of those coveted spots.  So it's all getting upended!  I'm moving all my books, comics, reading materials, ephemera, modern games, jigsaw puzzles, music and movie media, and nerd toys into the new spot.  

The end of the row spot will become furniture, home decor, art, vintage, primitive, rustic, classic, and vintage toys and games.  The spaces on the aisle will house the religious items, modern toys and stuffed animals, housewares, appliances and kitchenware, barware, glasses and dishes, and all that oddball stuff I like to pick up.

While I'm not really wild about the rent expense for the new spot, I do need to make this move.  My biggest sources of customer mess are books and comics, so getting them their own spot will make for easier maintenance.  The space gained by moving them out will allow me to move a bunch of my stash out and into the booths.  And I'm reshuffling all my shelving to new spots, so everything will look different.  I'll get some pics up as soon as it's all done.

I think that this is the step that will eventually move me up to the level I want.  It's just going to take a lot of work to get there.  Which is why this is an all week work thing.  I have to allow time for my breaks when I need them.  Keith is afraid that I'm pushing it a bit too much.  Honestly, I probably am, but I don't want this to take forever.  If things sit half-done for too long, then sales are going to suffer, so I want to get it wrapped up quickly.

My new spot will not be available for move in until Wednesday, which complicates things a bit.  There is some work that needs to be done for the new spaces that will not be finished before the first.  I picked up some nice industrial sized shelves from a vendor who is leaving, and they need to be out of her old spot before Wednesday, since that spot is already rented again.  I'm going to try and park them in another empty booth, but if I can't then I'll cram them in my space for a day.

Tuesday is treatments day (and also scan results day), which also means I'll be moving pretty slow the rest of the week. If I can just get the bulk of it done by Friday, I'll rest over the weekend.

And from here on out, for reals, honest to goodness, NO MORE YARD SALES until further notice.  I anticipate spending most of next week moving a lot of the stash over to fill in holes created by the new booth scheme.  After that, I'm going to start planning for my own yard sale at the end of the month.  I'm going on a cleaning/decluttering tear in the kitchen, the backyard shed, and the back porch with one mission:  toss, sell, donate.  Some will end up in the booth, but there's a lot of things I want to go quickly, so a yard sale is the better route, I think.

Come August, I'll reassess the moratorium.  If I can greatly bring the stash level down, I'll start thinking about laying in a winter stash.

Someone please remind me that I've said all of this in a public forum.  Thank you. 

PS Go send Lorraine some love.  She needs it!

Not Sweating the Small Things

Like the old saying goes, I'm not sweating the small things.  Not when they're this awesome, at least.  Take a look:

That cake carrier has a few dings in it, but that (to me) just adds character.  Sometimes, I think it's nice to be reminded that these items were meant to be used in daily life.  Little dents are a reminder of that history.

 This little lady bug is not what she seems.

She's a vintage stapler!  The ladybug is made from wood.  Cool.

Gingham-lined basket.  Shara scream in 5...4...3...2....1.....   That Kentucky history book is an older edition of the one I used in the 8th grade.  It's written by a dude who taught at my alma mater back in the day.

These dudes were my favorite find of the day.  The lady running the sale where I got them remarked that everything that was selling belonged to her grandson.  Do you see the skeleton in the stocks?  Awesome.

A dude on a horse with a sword and a centaur.   Even without the itty bitty dragon, that's way cool.

And this guy has (count 'em) four arms!  Can't beat that, I say.

That's how I roll:  lady bug staplers to four-armed dudes in one post.  That's what happens when you don't sweat the small stuff.

On the inside

One of the things that several of you all noted from this week's Mazda shot was "something plaid."  The astute among you will also note that there was nothing plaid in Monday's overly long ramble.  It was something that I held back for a separate post.

Here it is.

I know.  It's just a metal plaid picnic basket.  Nothing special about it really.  Lots of bloggers find them.  The top on this one is a little rough to boot.  Why does this one get its own post?

Those pink plates make me think of someone.

Because of the remnants of the last picnic it went on that I found inside!  Everything is there is vintage.  The date on the newspaper is 1975.  The whole idea is just so sweet that it needed to be shared.  Sometimes you need to be reminded that these items that you're buying to make a little money on once had a life of their own.

Sweet.

What's in Mazda?

Lotsa goodness this week.  There are more and more options with every Saturday, it seems.

 We actually had to make a stop by the house to drop off a few boxes of smalls, so we could keep going.  I'm doing things a little differently this week.  Stories and select items will be in tomorrow's post.  A couple of items will get their own posts.  The rest of the stuff will be scattered throughout upcoming blogs.

Ain't No Truth Like Vintage Truth...

I think that says it all, no?

From one of those vintage decorative plates that grandma used to have in her kitchen.  Well, your grandma maybe.  My grandmother would never display something so racy!

Now this....

Is one sweet, sweet St Joseph!

Don't you think? 

Identity Crisis!

Who am I?

What am I?

Am I a turtle?

Or a candle holder?

Marine life?

Or knick knack?

I just don't know any more!

Please help.

Seriously.  How did this damn thing get on my back?

Why, yes.

Yes, it does!  Passion also lives in a mobile home, apparently. Never knew that part.  I did know about the lips, though.  Best not to say much more.

That's one of a pair of wine bottles I found with labels based on old trashy pulp covers,

I bet the Cycle Buff Beauties could kick Passion's ass, red lips or not.  In fact, it probably already happened on some cheesy cable movie!

Well.....?

So, you're probably wondering if I got my dilemma worked out or not.

See for yourself:

Unloading at the booth

Yeah, I think I did pretty good.

That's not all of it, either.  This doesn't include the furniture/large items.

It wasn't easy.  Another perennial favorite church sale popped up to compound the quandary.  I swear, I think they do this stuff to me on purpose. 

There will be more photos.  And stories, of course.  There are always stories!

For now, though, it's off to bed.  I'm beat!  Gotta a lot of work ahead of me at the booth tomorrow. 

Look for the lowdown on Monday and Tuesday.

Good night!

BEST THING EVER!!!

I found this baby the other day while I was working my booth.  Another vendor had it for sale and it was cheap!

I tried several times in several places, but could not get away from the glare on the glass.  This was my best shot.  Damn overhead fluorescent lights.

I thought the entire picture, dogs lining up to use the local tree, was too funny, but the real delight is in the details.

 This little guy just can't hold it, much to the chagrin of the guy in front.

The caption, which is handwritten in pencil, roughly translates from the French as "Wait your turn!"  Thank you three semesters of college French with Mlle. Watkins and Mme. Andre and that really cute dude who was the husband of the German prof who was head of the Foreign Language department.

This copyright info helped with the identification.  Charmarande is a small village in the burbs of Paris.  O'Klein is the artist.  He was a French cartoonist known for his humorous prints of dogs.  Apparently urination was one of his themes, according to Wikipedia.  A Google image search for his work brings up tons of fun little cartoons, including mine.  He was quite prolific, it seems.

Blurry signature, which doesn't look like O'Klein to me, but whatever.

The head of the line.  I love the satisfied look on the face of the little guy who's finished his business!

I look like this when I have to wait too long in the line for the bathroom!

Pity the poor guy at the end.  He's got some different business to conduct.

So, now I have a dilemma.  Keep or resell?  I have to admit that I'm really captivated with this guy's work and would kind of like to have some more of it.  I need another collection like I need more work to do, but I really like this!  A quick Amazon search did not pull up any kind of a book about O'Klein or collection of his art.  That would have solved the problem easily.

I think I'm going to have to keep this one while I figure it out.  For now, it's hanging in my storeroom at the Peddlers Mall.

What would you do?

Linking up with:  Thrifty Things Friday and Thriftasaurus!

Recent (Mostly Weekend) Finds

So before the night of undeserved automotive destruction, we had a pretty good day of hitting the sales.  Two estate sales and a church sale (the first for the year) yielded a whole passel of finds.

This isn't all of them, but it is pretty representative.  There are a couple of items that I'm saving for posts of their own.

Painted high chair.   I took some flack from Keith for this one, but I think someone will see some potential in it and buy it for another re-do.  It's got potential as a plant stand or as doll furniture.  I snag old high chairs from restaurants when I can find them and sell them as doll high chairs.  I've flipped a couple that way.

Besides, I can't resist the dinosaurs, man.  The dinosaurs.

Proving that it's not too early to think about the holidays, I got this pair of small trees with lights.

I like to sell this size tree and couldn't find any last year.  They don't take up a lot of room and I can work quite a few into a display without it seeming overcrowded.  They've been priced and stored away.

I need another big old stack of books like I need to gain fifty more pounds, but the church was selling them eight for a dollar!  Most of them are vintage, plus there are several Bibles and hymnals in the stack.  I sell lots of Bibles and hymnals.  That small stack in front is a batch of vintage religious booklets on various topics.  The cover graphics are awesome, so look forward to seeing Your Vintage Religious Booklet of the Day  in a few weeks, once I get them all scanned. (That reminds me that I have a few--very few--vintage Valentines that I'll be scanning for next week.)

Among the hymnals was this one, which is the one the churches I grew up in used.  It replaced the old Broadman Hymnal, which had a green cover.  Lots of churches did what mine did and moved the Broadmans to the basement to use on Fellowship Night and put the new ones in the sanctuary.

I also found this great DVD in with the books.  I already have my own copy, so this one is in the booth already.  I highly recommend it.  It features Claymation style animated versions of several James Weldon Johnson poems.  If you are not familiar with his work, you should look it up.  It's quite moving.  I used to recite The Creation as part of my high school speech and drama team.  Some of the narration is by James Earl Jones, so you know it's good. 

Vintage Fuller Brush man letter opener.  You can almost make out the Fuller logo in the bottom photo.  I thought this was pretty cool.  Looking it up on eBay, I discovered that these come in a variety of colors, some of which sell decently.  This, of course, is not one of them.  I know Shara will want to add one of these to her list, because they did make a pink one.

 

More hymnals.  This time from an estate sale.

Vintage can for letters.  It was probably part of a desk/office set.  Everyone has seen trash cans that matched this look.  Remember writing letters?  If it's a pre-internet item, then it has to be vintage!

Assorted smalls.  I love old trophies and awards and these bowling trophies are too cute.  That clipboard in the back is really cool.  The little cup in the middle is a magnetic bobby pin holder.  I know this because there is a sticker inside that says so.

These lovely icons were a real find for me.

Doesn't everyone need a gavel or two?

I used to love this show.  Robert Urich was probably one of my first secret teen celebrity crushes.  What a man.  I cannot believe this baby has never been opened.  There was no way I was leaving this one behind!

Hadley pottery.  I love the markings inside the measuring cup.

Never pass up Mickey Mouse.

 

 There's really only one thing to say about this one.  

And, finally, a carved walking stick.  I got another one as well, but it's going to be part of another post.  All in all, it wasn't a bad day, up until the you-know-what happened.

Linked up with:  Thrifty Things Friday!