I briefly mentioned that I picked up this old paper “Humanoscope” at a recent sale. I bought it for $1 and hoped to turn it over for around $5 or so. I apparently underestimated the desirability of whatever-the-hell a humanoscope is.
I started my ebay listing for this item at $2.99 and it ended up selling for $37. THIRTY-SEVEN DOLLARS for a 4-page paper booklet. I was astounded.
But here is where things get interesting…
Riddle me this Batman. There are a few other Humanoscopes for sale on ebay. All the same as mine. And they are listed as “Buy It Now” for like $11. AND NO ONE IS BUYING THEM. Why was mine bid up to $37 when people could just go buy one of these from the other auctions? It makes NO SENSE.
Although, I’m not complaining.
-Erin
I’ve been saving these two priceless pics for a rainy day, so you’re in luck!
It was difficult, but we managed to leave a sale without these two gems. We spotted both at the sale a few weeks ago where we fought for a few moments over a dirty miniature, and also where I saw replicas of Erin’s future children:
I know some would agree with this sentiment, but I’m definitely not one of them. In fact, my back door is always locked. Also, two dollars seems fairly steep.
But this find is definitely even better:
Look, I realize that this is the Mouse King from the Nutcracker (fun fact: Erin didn’t know this), but I don’t remember ever hearing a version of the tale where all the other mice crawl up his outfit. Am I wrong?
Also, which is crazier–the Mouse King or Erin’s expression?
-Sarah
Update from Erin: That Mouse King doesn’t just have mice crawling up his outfit. Look closely, that rodent doll has all those little mice heads attached to his neck! Like he has multiple mice heads on his body. So gross. The original price tag on that atrocity was $40 which is seriously so sad.
As for my expression, who knows.
Anyway, here is a hard to resist treasure that I am adding to the list. It is from one of the barn sales last Friday.
Box of old coconuts. Anyone?
So a few weeks ago, I provided some long overdue eBay updates. They weren’t that exciting. I have more exciting news this week on the smut front. I sold all of the weird porn that I found at that one sale a few weeks ago. It didn’t sell for mass quantities of money, but at least someone bought it! One of the purchasers was Organ himself! What a guy! Because the pictures are far too racy for this decent audience, I will summarize:
Two vintage issues of Hustler: $4.99
Eight issues of weird “Family Secrets” and “Sexy Letters” type digests: $10.50
Five issues of Playboy, including one with Vanna White: $7.99
Six vintage issues of Playboy: $9.99
So in summary, I didn’t make a lot on any of this crap, but I’m glad it all sold. The one suggestion I do have, though, is to NOT look at the Facebook profile of a person who buys your ultra smutty (“Family Secrets”) porn. I will not out this person, because that’s just not right. However, I will post some of the (as I like to call them) Facebook Gifs that he’s plastered all over his wall. These are the ones that are safe for our more sensitive DTT readers:
And one of the more ultra-benign, non-sexy ones…
Needless to say, I feel horrified that this person has my return address.
So all in all, a bit of a letdown, but I’m hoping that these vintage playboy puzzles end up bringing in the dough. Considering the fact that people have already started bidding each other up on them, I think it will happen. I’ve already made most of my money back on them. Here’s what seems to be the most popular, and my favorite–Britt Frederickson–she looks a lot like Lindsay Lohan!
-Sarah
Update: The puzzles that sold brought in the cash, but two of them didn’t sell at all. I relisted them and we’ll see what happens. Here are the stats:
Britt: $24.50
Cynthia Myers: $22.19
Gwen Wong: $14.99
I still made my money back but I’m hoping that the two that didn’t sell end up doing so.
So all in all, none of this stuff ended up being a great investment, but it’s all a learning experience: For example, I now know that if I ever find one of the 500 piece puzzles, I should grab it–they’re worth some cash.
Update #2: The final two puzzles sold for $15 each so my total profit was $41. Not bad!
This is a surprise post for Sarah. After our sales last week, I stayed at Sarah’s house and watched her dogs while she went to Canada for a Sloan concert. Here are her beagles eating some bones:
The cute one’s name is Betsy and I don’t remember what the second one’s name is. Anyway, while I was there, I decided to pretend I was at an estate sale. (Sarah’s house is decorated pretty much completely with estate sale finds.) Here are some photos of treasures that I would buy should this have been a real estate sale and not my friend’s empty house:
First up is this little hedgehog. He is made of some sort of real animal fur. He is also the cutest thing ever. I thought about stealing him, but I am generally a super good person and decided against it.
This is some sort of amazing old printing press thing. You arrange the letters on it, ink, and then print away. It is so cool looking. I am obviously really jealous of this piece.
This old box is just my style. Rustic and primitive, I can just picture this guy hanging out on my fireplace instead of Sarah’s.
Last up are these things I will call “roundies.” I’m not sure what they are or what they do, but they are round and they are cute. They appear to be Japanese. Whatever they are, I want them.
-Erin
Update from Sarah: I just found this in our post queue and it made me LOL. I would like to straighten out some factual inaccuracies, though.
First, Erin made us pay her $10/hr. to watch our dogs, which is still a good rate, but she made it sound like she was being charitable. Second, she loves pretending like she hates my 13-year-old beagle, Max just because he ate her Panera off our coffee table four years ago. Who is dumb enough to leave Panera out in front of a hungry beagle? Third, our home is NOT decorated of mostly estate sale finds, because Adam would never allow it. And also, some things would be sort of gross to have used. For example, someone’s old couch would be gross. You never know who bumped uglies on there.
Erin found some great things to “purchase” from my home–some of my favorites, actually, and Adam’s too (except for the hedgehog). The hedgehog was actually purchased at a Cash and Cari sale last summer (you were with me, Erin.) The printing press tray & blocks are something Adam found at my favorite sale. I think we found that wooden box there as well. The “roundies” are these wood carvings that Adam brought me back from Japan. So not old at all or from an estate sale, but still adorable.
In summary, good selections–I approve!
Anonymous asked: what precautions are needed to dig a treasuere?
Hm. This is a good question. I am going to assume that you mean “dig” in the more literal sense, instead of the “Oh I totally ‘dig’ this thing I just found” kind of way…
That said, Sarah and I always carry hand sanitizer. That is precaution numero uno. Otherwise, we aren’t particularly careful about where and in what we hunt. Sarah has walked out of sales a few times because the house clearly smelled like or had visible traces of animal urine or feces. I have had asthma attacks from really dusty houses, although this is pretty rare.
We have also left houses because of serious mold problems in basements and attics. The best “precaution” really is just caution in general. No treasure is worth inhaling black mold or smelling like cat pee for the rest of the day. That said, we have left many sales covered in general dirt/dust and with unexplainably sticky hands.
I’ll also add here that a good precaution when purchasing things is to never assume that because someone else sold the same thing on ebay for a high amount, means that you will. Sarah and I have both been burned pretty bad by looking at completed listings on ebay and thinking we can get similar prices for items we’ve found. Ebay auctions are insanely affected by all sorts of things: the season, other listed similar items, the number of bidders, etc. Ebay success can be pretty random, so don’t pay a huge price for an item unless you are TOTALLY SURE it is worth that price.
Thanks for your question! Keep 'em coming!
-Erin
Update from Sarah: I think this is clearly an example of someone f*cking with us, but I love that Erin answered this question seriously. Also, what is a treasuere?
On Friday, we decided to go to some sales that were out on the west side of town, rather than out where Erin lives. There were a ton of sales out by her, but they all looked bad, and there were two out in the boonies that looked good. Erin also discovered an ad for a barn sale in the town where I live, so we figured we’d hit that up too. The ad for the barn sale made it sound cute and interesting. I should have known that it was going to be a letdown, considering the fact that the person who listed the sale used quotation marks instead of apostrophes when necessary:
“Picker"s delight Barn Sale!…Cleaning out our barns built in 1877. Antiques, collectibles, shabby chic and oddities. WWI cavalry items; saddle pad, Sam Browne Belt, canteen cover. Old skis and sled. A brass and iron bed. Other items: Victorian walnut platform rocker, spool bed, caned chairs, Childs/doll items; rattan stroller, pine doll bed, wicker doll high chair, child"s rocking chair. Vintage Limoges, Aynsley, china. Vintage linens, clothes, aprons, hot pads, table cloths, dish towels and doilies. Old buttons, sewing items, crochet hooks, knitting needles. Lots of old advertising ephemera; cookbooks, recipes, cards, booklets, instruction manuals, flyers and maps. Several kid"s marble games. Large assortment of jewelry, vintage and newer. Antique Persian copperware. Garden accessories, shabby chic chairs, plant stands. Old bottles, and books. New messenger bags, computer laptop bags, golf shoe bags, insulated lunch bags. Old photos, and postcards early 1900"s. Hanging leaded glass lamp. Set of 4 Mission Oak tavern chairs. Old chalkware Kewpie doll bank. Set of china for 12. Oil lamps. Architectural Antiques; 4” Round spoked window, newel posts, railings, doors, doorknobs, hinges, hooks, faucet handles, mirrors, light fixtures, lots of barn wood, barn stuff, Fisher Price wood toys. 1889 framed Odd Fellow Lodge document. 2 brass chandliers, one large and one smaller. Men"s hats. 1930"s vanity w tall mirror. Porcelain topped table. Vintage wood kitchen cupboard, oak dresser w mirror, Art Deco cupboard, oak washstand. Homemade cookies, brownies, and banana bread, gourmet coffee and lots more treasures. Old expanding drying racks, throw rugs. Old picture frames. Steel wagon wheels, kid"s school desk, roll top desk top, gun rack, carpenter"s tool chests, misc. housewares. Plants. and more..
I was sold when she told me there would be cookies and brownies there. Since it was really close to my house and the other sales were an hour away, we hit the barn sale up first. This is what the outside of the barn looked like–a bunch of antiques and non-antiques all over the lawn:
Right away, Erin said, “I already love this sale.” I did for a second, too, when I saw this adorable racoon:
But a few minutes later we were both in agreement that it sucked. Bottom line is that the ad did not lie. However, it was like they had ONE of each of those items. Which does NOT fit the description of a “picker’s delight”… I was trying to rush Erin out of there, but she kept gazing at the rafters in the barn, saying, “I just really love that wood. Don’t you wish you had a barn?” Uh… ok. Anyway, guess I know what I’ll be getting Erin for her birthday–some rotten wood.
I bought an antique bottle carrier and some other odds and ends and Erin bought some old handout about tornados that she forgot in my car. I also bought some baked goods. The woman who made them told me the cookies were really good and she lied. The brownies were good but they were basically bite sized, for $.50. Come on now.
Disappointed, we left for the second sale of the day in Mason, MI, which is basically in the middle of nowhere. The ad for the sale sounded great, and the pictures looked good too. It was a house and barn sale. Anyway, when we pulled up, we saw a bunch of insane things, including this:
If it’s hard to make that out, it’s a little craft tent, full of large white piggy banks with people’s names painted on them. What the hell? Erin immediately started going ballistic, yelling, “I thought this was an estate sale! Is this a craft sale?!” I’ll admit I was worried too. Anyway, there were some scary peeps outside the barn that was next to the craft tent, so we went inside the house first. There were a few tables of vintage ephemera, which is my jam, but not an overwhelming amount. There were a few piles of vintage cards that they’d had priced at $1 each. Whatever, I bought some. I’m not proud.
When I was looking through the stuff on the table, I heard some people say things like, “oh just wait until you go upstairs!” so I was really excited to find out what treasures awaited us up there. Turns out this person was just OBSESSED with scrapbooking and there was a sh*tload of scrapbooking supplies up there. The one thing I noticed right away was that everything was in big batches and had signs that said “CHOICE” above the price. As in, “Your choice of gross scrapbooking paper for $.50."
We got out of the house and went around the corner into the basement, that you had to enter from outside. It was terrifying. Here is a picture of Erin, climbing down into the depths of hell:
There was nothing but junk in the basement–totally not worth the scary descent. Finally, it was time to check out the barn. When we were walking in, Erin said, "This must be where all the treasures are.” She was definitely right:
I can’t decide what I wanted more–a mini washboard or a Lowe’s paint stick.
We were ultra disappointed, but then a man with black stubs for teeth told me that we could get into the top level of the barn by going around to the back. We did just that, and found this:
Yes, that’s right. A whole bunch more junk. While we were walking around up there, Erin spotted some boxes full of USPS Priority Mail boxes and went crazy like she hit the jackpot. I seriously got excited until I realized that she was that enthused about boxes. Anyway, this person must have done a lot of shipping because there were TONS of boxes. Granted, it was a good find–these were the boxes that they never have at the actual post office. They’re smaller sized ones. Anyway, the boxes were in great shape, so we started carrying around these huge armloads of shipping boxes.
They got pretty heavy and difficult to carry so I set mine down for a minute. When I went to pick them back up, I noticed that the outside box had a bunch of animal droppings on it. I got really grossed out and went back to the pile of boxes to try to find some that did not have turds on them. I thought we were safe and then Erin noticed that her boxes also had turds on them. Finally, we had a bunch of boxes that seemed poo-free, and started walking out of the barn. Now, I had thought that these droppings were from mice. But when we were leaving, two guys working the sale asked us if we found everything ok. I said yes, except I could have done without the mouse poo. One of these hillbillies said, “Those are bat droppins!” I looked at Erin and said, “I think bat droppings are poisonous!” We freaked out a little and then asked the checkout lady about it and she said they were safe. Whaaaa?
We got back to the car and put all our poopy boxes inside and decided to get some kettle corn with our poo hands. Yeah, I forgot to mention that they also had a kettle corn stand there. Here’s a picture of me looking less excited than I actually was to get kettle corn:
Once we obtained the corn, we had a dilemma on our hands (NO PUN INTENDED)… How were we going to eat this delicious treat when we had potentially poisonous poo particles on our hands? We tried to squeeze out the remnants of our two small bottles of purell and decided that was good enough. Then, Erin started reading stuff on the Internet about guano, and we got REALLY freaked out. It wasn’t until a little later that Erin read that the excrement has to actually be in large quantities and “moist” in order for it to have the poisonous fungus or whatever on it. But we spent a good two hours worrying. At one point, Erin’s eye kept itching and she kept saying she had “guano eye”.
Since it was still pretty early in the day, we decided to drive to Okemos for a sale that looked sort of interesting. The guy who lived there obviously served in World War II, so there was a bunch of cool ephemera and clothing from WWII. It was a good way to end the day, because we both found some decent treasures. As mentioned on Friday, I found what will hopefully be the first of many bulge photos, and Erin scored some treasures that I’m sure she’ll write about below.
I found an old Tuco puzzle that looks like it could sell for a little bit of money. Adam helped me out by putting it together last night and today so I could be sure all the pieces were there. I tried to do some of it this afternoon and failed miserably–the pieces do not interlock, so it’s so hard to put it together!
I also took a risk and purchased a decent sized group of personal photos from the war for $25. I have to do a little research before I list them, so I’m not sure yet if they’re valuable or not. I also got two menus from 1944, and some vintage pamphlets about Iceland that Erin found but for some reason did not want. Turns out they may be worth some cash. Here are the menus:
I also found this really cool, mid-air picture of a kid at a swimming pool.
-Sarah
Update from Erin: Let me first say, that I was “gazing at the rafters in the barn” of the first sale for a very IMPORTANT reason. I wasn’t really obsessed with the wood, I was just pretending. Here’s the deal: It is super awkward to take pictures at these sales we go to. People seem very suspicious when we are snapping pics all over the place. My whole “I-just-love-barns-so-much” act was a well thought-out charade to explain why I was taking photos. I must be a really great actress because I clearly fooled Sarah.
The second sale was such a bummer, except for the kettle corn. The ad for the sale went on and on about antiques. Let me explain something: mass produced mini washboards that look all old-timey do NOT qualify as antiques. Sure, they are made to “look” antique, but they are cheap and have Made in China stickers on them. Anyway, I was happy with our shipping boxes. Here they are in the trunk:
I also got a TON of Sharpie markers, which I use all the time. And, for the record, my “guano eye” turned out to be my allergies, and it’s all back to normal now. Oh and also, I kept saying “guana” instead of “guano” which Sarah found hilarious. I then said something about Guana being a country, and that I was confusing it with bat poop. All of that I think is a lie, as I am probably just thinking of the country Ghana.
The last sale was good. I got some Cole Hann men’s boots and some vintage French Shriner dress shoes, each for $3. I am hoping to resell them. I also got a vintage Gucci watch that was in a ziploc with other watches all being sold for $10. I am hoping that it ends up being a Money Maker.
I also picked up this old print, which I thought was some sort of secret society-type art. Zach thinks it is religious art. The jury is still out on this one, but I think it is so cool, no matter the meaning.
I also got this adorable oven mitt that Sarah was horrified by. I think it is probably the cutest oven mitt ever made.
Sarah thinks she may have found our first “bulge” photo. Boys wrestling? We’ll see how alluring it turns out to be.
In this installment of “Hard to Resist” (HTR), we’ve got some items I encountered while out antiquing in Marshall, MI last weekend.
First up are these two wizard pins. Truth is, these actually were kind of hard for me to resist. They were so amazing and hilarious that I considered buying one to wear on my jacket. They were priced at $25 though, which was way too pricey for a joke.
Next up is…well, I don’t really know what this is…
I suppose it’s exactly what it says it is–a “tube to blow fire.” Alright…
The last item that I just had to pass on purchasing is this little Mexican buddy. He sure is adorable, but the extremely premature mustache was kind of off-putting.
Cute outfit though.
-Erin
So a few weeks ago, I made reference to the fact that I found a copy of an Uncle Shelby (Shel Silverstein) book, Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros, that looked like it might be worth some dough. Refresher:
I grabbed the book in the basement of the sale on a shelf with some cookbooks. As you probably noticed from the pictures of that basement “motherload,” there was a lot of stuff down there, and not all of it was nice or in good shape. Refresher #2:
Behind a staircase (where I was standing while taking the above photo), I spotted a shelf of books. I have a pretty good spidey sense for valuable children’s books, so I noticed the Silverstein book among the 1970s cookbooks right away.
I listed it on eBay that night. There were two watchers all week, but no bids. Because I’m greedy, I tried changing the price around a few times (adding a “Buy it Now” option, reducing the starting price, etc.), but nothing seemed to kick those watchers into gear. The other thing I forgot to mention was that, because I listed the book that Friday evening, it ENDED the following Friday evening at 11:54 p.m. That’s the best possible time for an eBay auction to end, right?
Anyway, nobody bid and I went to bed that night feeling pretty sad, realizing that I had been duped about the value of this book. But about 20 minutes after falling asleep I was startled awake by the lovely noise that your iPhone makes when someone has bid on your item on eBay, and cheered gleefully when I realized that someone had come in and sniped that sucker at the last minute! It sold for $152. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
This morning, while I was discussing blog content with Erin, this happened:
I then blew her mind by showing her this:
Many laughs were had by all.
-Sarah
Immediate disclaimer: Erin thinks some of our posts are getting too sexy, but I’m fine with that.
So, once again, I’ve found myself learning about something sexy that I didn’t intend to learn about. Today I started researching how much a vintage boy’s suit might go for on eBay, since this cute outfit has been laying around my house for a few weeks:
When you look for completed listings on eBay for “vintage boys suit,” you find a lot of different kinds of items. You find vintage sailor suits, vintage ceramic figurines of children in bunny suits, and then I started noticing something weird. REALLY weird. I was seeing a lot of vintage photographs of boys and young men in bathing suits. And these photographs were selling for a lot of money. This one was the first I noticed that sold for a crapload of money. It seems totally benign. A dad, holding the shoulders of his son.
But still, I felt creeped out, so I immediately called Erin and told her to take a look. We both thought the same thing–creepy pervs all over the land were scooping up these vintage photographs of boys in bathing suits. But then Erin asked a good question… why? Why do they need to own the photograph if that’s the purpose? Anyway, it gets better. Or worse, depending on how you’re viewing this.
We started noticing that some of these pictures had the word “bulge” in the title, and then others also had “gay interest” in the titles. So I told Erin that maybe gay men like to use these cool, period pieces to decorate their homes. She seemed skeptical, but I still think that could be it. Maybe that’s wishful thinking. Anyway, if you happen to stumble across a vintage photograph of young men in bathing suits, or any outfit really, where you can see a “bulge,” you might want to consider selling it on eBay, because you could make hundreds of dollars.
Erin and I talked about how ethical it is or isn’t to sell these items. I’m really not sure how I feel about this. I guess because I don’t really know for sure what the reason is behind the popularity of these items, I’m making a lot of assumptions that are leading me to feel creeped out. But there’s definitely a fine line–there are plenty of pictures up there of little boys in bathing suits that sell for $30-$50, and I honestly can’t think of a GOOD reason for someone to want these pictures, unless they just happen to be collectors of vintage photographs, or have an interest in vintage swimwear. I’m sort of doubtful that that’s the reason, but anything’s possible.
But in terms of the “bulge” photos of sailors or other seemingly LEGAL young men in swimwear, I’m cool with people buying those, and I’d be cool with selling them. I love vintage photographs. Why wouldn’t someone who likes well-endowed hot old timey dudes want these pics?
Anyway, yes, I know it seems like I am obsessed with all things pervy, but really, I just fall into these situations.
Also, if someone would like a vintage boy’s suit, size 4, created out of zodiac-themed fabric, look no further.
-Sarah
Update from Erin: When Sarah first called me about this, I wasn’t really following what she was saying. I heard her mention “Zodiac” so I got really excited that she or someone had figured out who the Zodiac killer was. That was pretty wishful thinking on my part, as she was really just rambling on about that Zodiac patterned children’s suit she had bought.
Anyway, this whole “bulge” photo thing is quite the mystery. The insanely high prices being paid for these photographs makes me think we are missing the full story here. Would a perv really spend so much money on these pics when they can probably get free images from their evil co-conspirators in the internet underworld?
I guess gay collectors–we’ll call them gaylectors–might be a reasonable hypothesis for this phenomenon. So for the record, let me say that the bathing suit pics of well-endowed GROWN men are pretty cool. Like Sarah, I would totally buy them and sell them (especially because it could make us rich).
That leaves the pics of little boys (like seriously young boys) in bathing suits being sold and advertised as “bulge” or “topless” VERY SUSPECT. I really cannot think of any good explanation for this. But maybe I can email Nancy Grace and she will bust it wide open.