Adam’s grandma passed away last week, so we spent the Friday and Saturday in Buffalo for her funeral. I’ve only been there a handful of times, and it’s an… interesting place. On our way from the funeral to the luncheon, I spotted this sign and made a mental note that we should hit the place up on our way back home.
The place is called Miss Josie’s and obviously, they specialize in 1970s gear. I learned recently that this is because Buffalo, NY hosts the “World’s Biggest Disco Party” each year. I’m not sure that’s much to boast about but… I guess they should be proud of what they have!
Apparently this store is normally a regular vintage resale shop but before the disco fest (November 30th this year), they specialize in disco gear.
Had enough? Wait… there’s more.
They also had a ton of vintage jewelry, but a lot of it wasn’t my style.
Though, if you look close, there’s a vintage Jorgen Jensen necklace on that table (bottom row, five necklaces from the right). It was too beat up for me to buy it, but I was happy to see it!
I asked the owner (I think) where he gets all of his stuff and he said that “it walks in the door.” Hmmm… there must be a lot of disco fanatics in Buffalo. I guess if they host a giant party each year, people probably sell a lot of it back after they’ve worn it once.
In the end, I did find one treasure. A vintage Pendleton coat that’s in super good shape! All the gay men at the store were raving about how good it looked on me so I had to buy it. In fact, when one guy told me it looked fabulous, I said, “I know.” I didn’t realize how b*tchy that sounded until a few minutes later!
I also got this cute set of vintage transfers, and a yummy bag of chips in Canada.
-Sarah
P.S. from me: I forgot to post a picture of this crazy record player we saw in the window!
On Saturday night, Zach and I ventured out with Timmy and my sister, Lindsay. Our plan was to attend our favorite honey hole–the Plymouth auction. When we showed up though, things looked less than appealing:
It was pretty much all militaria, which none of us collect or know anything about. Plus, military collectibles always sell for high prices, whether they are really worth it or not.
There were also the usual garbage-y items, like this hilarious dinner tray:
There were a few cool items at the auction, but none worth sticking around for. I’ll share them here though:
This soap box derby trophy from the 1950s was so cool and would look neat in our house. We don’t have much room though, and I have no real attachment to soap box derbies.
I bet this Captain Kangaroo tent would be an easy resell on ebay. I figured it would sell for a high price though at the auction because it is so darn cute.
Have you ever seen a Teddy bear with sleepy eyes? I haven’t!
It was in rough shape though, which makes sense because I think it was crazy old.
So we left the auction before it even started and decided to get dinner instead. My sister ordered this meat and potato sandwich that was bigger than Everett’s head:
While at dinner, my dad remembered that there was another auction this night in Redford, only a few miles away. It was being held at a comic book shop, but the auction apparently had other items too. We raced over there.
I was shocked at how empty the place was! And how amazing the items looked! There was a mix of old Detroit Tigers items, comics, pin-up girl memorabilia, Confederate money, and photographs.
What was nice was that the store itself was still open, so you could shop all of their merchandise while watching the auction. Zach ended up buying a bunch of records.
Timmy ended up buying a whole boatload of Detroit Tigers items. Everything was selling for less than $20, so this auction was true heaven. Total, my dad spent less than $100 and had a whole armful of items to show for it.
Here he is watching the auction and wearing a camouflage shirt. I don’t know when my dad started wearing camouflage, but it is certainly a recent development. He’s not a hunter, but maybe this is a new Fall fashion trend?
Anyway, here are some things Timmy bought:
My sister by far got the best item of the night. It was this little animal book with a bunch of fold out pieces inside. It is seriously adorable.
I didn’t end up buying anything, even though they did have this giant cardboard cutout of me there:
I’m looking good, I know.
-Erin
Last night, I hit up the secret auction with my folks. When we got there, the guy who gives out numbers greeted us by name which made me feel like I belonged to a secret society. It was great. But what wasn’t great was the merch at this auction. As discovered on previous trips to this auction, it’s a mixed bag. It had been a while since I was able to go, so I was excited at the prospects, but pickins ended up being slim.
There were lots of toy trains and cars, which, you will be shocked to hear, are not my cup of tea.
There were some cool things but none of them were cool enough to wait around for hours to buy. For example, this photograph:
This duckpin bowling set was pretty cool.
They appear to sell on eBay, so if you ever spot one for cheap, snatch it up!
I also spotted another rare Cabbage Patch Kid—but it was on the last table and I did not have the patience to wait for it. Also, it was an elf. You can’t see its ears in this pic but trust me.
Here are some extremely desirable goods that I passed on.
(Guest appearance by Cindy—checking out comics, a sweet velvet painting and Stanley Cup Dr. sign.)
Wat?
In the end, I came away with two things. First up is this new car for Erin
Now that she’s a mom, I thought this would give her the extra room she needs to transport Everett around.
The other thing I bought was this crocodile skull.
Chomp chomp.
It was a world record for me—least amount of money spent at auction ever. $10.
-Sarah
Update from Erin: I can’t tell if Sarah is joking about buying that car and crocodile! I hope so! That car looks jank!
Also, I read “Stanley Cup Dr.” as “Stanley Cup Doctor” which was confusing to me and ultimately hilarious.
Ok and final thoughts: Despite not being able to “see the ears” I think the elf shoes on that cabbage patch doll are a dead giveaway.
So upon my return to sales with Sarah, I mentioned I found a really amazing treasure. I spotted it at the home owned by a former antiques dealer from Germany. When I first saw this, I thought it was an old metal mold.
And then I realized that it was a tiny replica of an iron maiden! So creepy! But also so cool! I love antique metal items and miniatures, so this was right up my alley. I was concerned though that it was a little too gruesome to have in our house. I consulted Zach on this:
He was obviously on board. I paid $22, which turns out is a great deal! Look at this other one that sold on ebay:
I don’t plan on selling mine, but it is good to know that if one day I do, it’ll be filed under our “Money Makers” category.
Do you have a “Fave Find?” Perhaps your own miniature torture device? Tell us about it on our Facebook page!
-Erin
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Truth.
I broke Erin out of Baby Jail on Friday while Granny Sandy watched lil’ E. We were both thrilled to see each other–while I love that baby, it’s just not as fun to estate sale without Erin there to harass me the whole time.
We started out afternoon off right–by eating some garbage at Daly’s. Be sure to click that link if you want to see the jankiest website ever created. When it was time to get moving, we kept it close, just in case there was a baby emergency, and stopped by three sales in Livonia. The first was pretty grubby.
I stumbled upon this award winning title but decided to pass.
Basically, everything was yucky.
I did find one treasure–a 1943 Esquire Vargas pin-up calendar, that’s complete and in good shape. I spent $40 which seems like a good investment.
While in the basement, I started hearing some commotion above me on the main floor. The old lady running the sale had a really loud smoker’s voice. She yelled downstairs like a lunatic, “RALPH! HAVE YOU SEEN THE CALENDAR?????!!!!” as if some crazy ninja had come through the house and stolen it. I meekly let Ralph know that I had the calendar in my hand and planned on buying it. Ay yi yi.
Next up on our agenda was a sale that was at the home of an antiques dealer, who seemed to specialize in linens. Neither of us collect fancy linens but it seemed worth stopping at.
That’s the linen room, and there I am, lookin’ like a big dummy (but sporting my cute buffalo plaid coat from last winter.) Shockingly, I have sunglasses on my head. I swear, one day I’m going to just do a post of all of the pictures of me on this blog with sunglasses on my head. It could be pouring rain and I think the picture would still have me with sunglasses on my head.
Right away, I spotted these adorable Holt Howard Santa mugs inside a china cabinet. I bought them, so here they are.
Are they not the most adorable? Anyway, as I was carefully removing these from the cabinet, I somehow knocked a tiny port wine glass off the shelf and it shattered all over the floor. It’s amazing how much attention you can attract by breaking glass inside a stranger’s house. (Note: I immediately offered to pay for the broken glass but the woman running the sale was very nice and told me not to worry about it.)
The sale contained a mix of modern and antique goods…with some general garbage mixed in.
Those were some awesome masks–but the set was marked $25 and it was too steep. They were made on really heavy boards, but still…too risky.
I found a few other items at this sale but that was mainly when I went back the next day to pick up something that I’ll feature another day as a Fave Find. When we went back, I realized I hadn’t gone into the garage at this house and out there, I found a handful of very cute little dudes to put in my mini holder.
The cutest is that teeny tiny kewpie.
I also bought these cool Duralex mugs (set of 6) to resell. One of them had some very prehistoric dead bugs inside.
Anyway, while I was trying to check out, the woman from the estate sale company kept talking to me about how I had a “great eye” and kept talking my ear off about it. I just thanked her and nodded politely because I got the impression she thought I had never been to an estate sale.
The last sale ended up being the most fruitful, and it was a total accident! When we first got there, we had to walk down this super long driveway to get to the house, because it was in the middle of some woods. Here’s the first thing that caught my eye. I wanted Erin to buy it because she wears pins a lot, but she didn’t.
The house backed up to a gorgeous wooded area with a little stream running through it.
That picture doesn’t even really do it justice. It was so beautiful.
I made my way upstairs and found a room of old children’s books, toys, etc. I noticed a box of old films right away and asked how much they were. The guy there said $5 for the whole box. I was super excited but didn’t want to lose my cool. I then noticed this packet of stuff that was marked $15. Inside, I noticed these old brochures about the Detroit Free Press, but then I saw that there was a record inside.
WHOAAAAAA! You can listen to both of these things here.
Anyway, while I was looking around, the guy in that room asked me what sorts of things I normally look for, and I told him paper, photographs, books, etc. He said, “Slides?” and I about leaped with excitement. I told him yes and he said he was going to check to see if there were any left. I expected him to bring down a little box of slides but when I turned to look for him, I saw him coming down the stairs with an enormous stack of carousels.
I felt a little overwhelmed because, as he was walking, I could hear another guy asking him how much he was charging for the slides. The estate sale guy was pretty good at reinforcing that he was bringing them for me to look at, but the other guy was just relentless. As soon as he put the slides down, the guy zoomed over to me and was literally ON TOP OF ME, breathing down my neck. I don’t do well with people invading my personal space to that degree–especially when they seem to be interested in stealing my amazing merch–so I was not very friendly. He proceeded to grill me about what I was going to do with them, where I sell them, and how he could find my listings! WTF?! I asked if he wanted the slides and he said that he didn’t–he just knew the guy who lived at the house. It came out that he was just a neighbor, and in the end, all I could picture was a peeping tom, staring in this poor old man’s windows.
In the end, I was successful in buying ALL of the slides.
And the man charged me ONE DOLLAR per carousel. Yeaahhhh!
The only other thing I purchased at this sale worth mentioning was this awesome photograph of a girl and her great dane.
I can’t reiterate how fun it was to get out with my homegirl. I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder! And for all you baby crazed folks, here’s a current picture of Everett, chilling in his Mamaroo.
-Sarah
Update from Erin: I really did feel like I was breaking out of Baby Jail. I felt like I was a wanted felon on the run and at any moment I would be picked up and escorted back to my house. This was seriously like the third time I had been out in public during the last month. It was amazing.
I didn’t buy anything at the first sale because it was indeed yucky. At the second sale, it was the best ever when Sarah broke that wine glass. I heard a huge crash in the kitchen area and immediately exclaimed, “Rut Row!” (You know, like the Scooby Doo version of “Uh oh!”) I then thought to myself, “Oh man, Sarah is right in the middle of that melee.” Then I realized that Sarah WAS the melee. So good. You could tell she was mortified.
I did buy an amazing treasure at this second sale, but I will detail it in a “fave find” entry. At the third sale, guess who was there to greet me:
Can you believe it?! Those same g*ddamn snowmen came out to welcome me back to sale-ing!
This last sale was seriously fun. The house was like a weird dollhouse with a million tiny rooms. There were also multiple levels of the house all separated by tiny half staircases. And some rooms were too small to even stand up in.
I ended up buying two old, framed photographs. I am going to display these at Easter. They bring me such joy.
I also found one of those old Detroit Zoo scrapbooks as shown in this entry. I paid $1 for it and my sister said I could resell it easily. It is in perfect shape.
All in all a great day!
So it happened! I went to a sale! It was actually Halloween and I had a doctor’s appointment. Since Zach was watching the baby, I figured I could sneak in a quick trip to a nearby sale.
The sale was advertised as a “Moving Hoarder Sale.” I LOVE hoarder sales. Some people don’t because they can be creepy and grody. Unless they are ultra heartbreaking, I generally want my hoarder sale to have at least a little bit of sadness. I want to walk in the house and be consumed by piles of stuff. I want to imagine said piles of stuff to be silently weeping to themselves, longing to be loved and cherished. And then I want to buy a bunch of this stuff and put it in the backseat of my car and say on the drive home, “Don’t worry stuff. I will love you.” Because that is the problem with hoarders, they don’t usually love their stuff enough. They think they do, but they don’t. It’s very philosophical.
So anyway, I roll up to this sale and there is a huge dumpster outside, which is a good sign. But then I walk in, and the sale is…well, pretty damn clean! Such a bummer. I think estate sale companies are using the word “hoarder” in their listings to lure people in. The most hoarder-y part of the house was the basement and it pretty much just looked exactly like my basement, or any other basement really.
The rest of the sale was really normal. Like things you see at every sale.
Creepy doll that looks like Sarah? Check.
Country cottage style craft show purchases? Check.
Super happy smiling bull knick knack? Check.
Retro-ass game of skill and strategy that also has a ridiculous name? Check.
Actually, let me zoom in on this one for you:
That man looks like he is competing in the Hunger Games. So intense. Also, the box said that this game was like having an amusement park in your living room. To which I say, UM NO.
There was a cool taxidermy ram here, but it was $175. He looks like a very pleasant ram.
I did end up buying some vintage Pyrex items. I got a set of Pyrex Shenandoah bowls and a set of 3 other orange small casserole type dishes.
The orange bowls aren’t pictured here, but I paid $12 for the whole lot. I wasn’t sure if this is a good deal. I know a lot of people collect vintage Pyrex, but I have never looked into its value. Any Pyrex collectors out there want to give some tips???
Spoiler alert: Luckily, this isn’t the only sale I’ve been to since Everett’s birth. Sarah and I managed to get out and sale on Friday. Look for that update soon. We had a blast and found great stuff!!
-Erin
No caption necessary.
-Sarah
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