Rude.
-Erin
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On Friday, Sarah had an important work meeting (apparently more important than treasure hunting), so I headed out alone. There was a sale in Oak Park that looked AMAZING. From the online photos, I could tell that the house was packed. Everything looked kind of “tribal,” which either meant that the sale was of an extensive world traveler or of someone who shopped at Pier One.
This guy above was $40. I should have bought him. He kind of looked like one of those apple face dolls we’ve unfortunately come across in the past, except he was way cute and not that gross.
How cool is that giant sun? Seriously, it was amazing. I have no room for it in my house, otherwise I would have bought it for sure.
Here’s that tiny dude from the Twin Peaks Black Lodge, except he is wearing his day clothes:
Garmonbozia, AMIRITE?
This sale was lots of fun because, as I mentioned, it was packed. It was also stressful though because there were so many people and very little space to move around. I was also on a mission to buy stuff to resell, so I was constantly trying to look stuff up on ebay on my phone. This was problematic because I kept stopping and kept ending up in the way. I knew there were valuable items here, I just needed to figure out the best ones to buy.
At one point in the sale, I said to one of the men working, “Wow, this person sure was a world traveler!" To that, the man replied that in fact the owner was not. He had simply bought all of these things at estate sales. This made me kind of sad at first, but then I realized that our own home gives off the same impression. We have items from all over the world, and barely travel. All of the things in our house make me so happy and make me feel cool and cultured, so who cares really if we don’t travel much!
What did make me sad though was the basement of this sale! It was like that Grey Gardens house we visited all over again!
Yikes.
Ok, so I bought 4 things at this sale. The best two purchases were framed Carol Jablonsky prints. These regularly sell on ebay for over $100. I paid $15 each. They already have bids and so far I have more than doubled my money. Very cool! These are so cute so I am glad I was able to list them for people who collect her art.
I got my dad this Tigers pennant for $1! I don’t know why so cheap but I was thrilled.
Ok so my last purchase was maybe a bad one. I bought this old wooden horse with some sort of inlayed shell or bone. It was only $20 and I liked enough that if it didn’t sell on ebay, I would keep it. The thing looks really collectible to me.
When I did some research though, I started to think that this is a tourist piece and similar objects like it are mass produced in India. Whomp whomp. If anyone has info, let me know. They sell for all sorts of amounts on ebay, from as low as $15 to as high as $300, so I have no clue what the deal is with this thing!
-Erin
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huronchai asked: Hey! I was on the Detroit Zoo tag and saw that your sister is the penguin keeper. I was wondering if you could tell me what degree(s) she had to get that job? :)
My sister is the best, isn’t she? I am continually amazed that she gets to take care of penguins everyday. That said, it is apparently a really tough job. Those big penguins can be really mean, and she is all bruised up from where they hit her with their flippers. She once told me that they bite her, hold on, and then beat her with their dumb little flipper arms.
Apparently you just need a bachelors degree in Zoology or Biology, plus animal care experience. Lindsay personally has a B.S. in Zoology with specialization in Zoo and Aquarium Science from Michigan State University. She also has a Masters in Zoo and Aquarium Management with a Business Skills certification. It’s called a Pro M.S. degree because she took extra business classes.
If you haven’t read about my sister’s amazing vintage Detroit Zoo collection, you can here.
-Erin
Time to update y'all about is the rest of my trip to South Carolina! I told you about how the flea market was a bust, so when we left, my mom looked up where we could find an actual antique shop nearby. She found one and we drove to it, but it ended up taking us to a grocery store parking lot when we followed the directions. This grocery store happened to be by a Goodwill, so of course I made my mom and Ann stop in to see if I could find a Big Hug Mug. I know. We’re obsessed. I didn’t find a mug, but I did find a brand new copy of NOS4A2, which is a badass book if you haven’t read it yet.
Finally, we discovered that the antique store had changed locations, and were on our way. As soon as we pulled up, we were pumped. There was stuff all over outside, and the place looked pretty big!
However, upon looking at the first few items, we knew this place was going to be mad overpriced.
I know Dr. Pepper is mad good, but that’s a little too much for a pop crate.
Oh well–we had to make lemonade. Even if stuff was overpriced, there was a lot to look at. It was a booth style antique store, so there were some cool rooms/areas, including this Pyrex room.
By the way, if you’re into Pyrex (and other cool treasure seekers), be sure to check out the Pyrex Thrifter Sisters’ blog!
Ok, back to the store. There was a lot to look at and sift through…
I wonder if that boy knows he’s now world famous.
I really liked this old cabinet.
I enjoyed that this Christmas postcard had a very Halloween-y font–the icicles really make it… Christmassy and not at all creepy.
There was one thing I almost bought:
My oldest niece had an imaginary friend when she was little, and his name was Tiko. A year later when her younger sister was of imaginary-friend-having age, she started talking about HER imaginary friend. And his name was My Tiko. I sent this to my brother and it gave him a good laugh.
You’ll be shocked to hear that my mom didn’t buy a single thing. I did buy one super teeny tiny beagle mini that I found, but that was it.
The highlight of the day/night occurred when we went to my aunt’s new enormous house and met her two dogs. Here’s me with the super cute friendly one. OMG, he’s the cutest muppet.
Now, here is a video of his brother. Before I got down there, my mom kept referring to him as “Cujo” and now I understand why.
Stay tuned for a few more SC updates!
-Sarah
Should I have bought this? Sh*t, I think I should have bought this.
-Erin
I’m about to shock you all and say that last week Sarah bought NOTHING when we went sale-ing. This is unprecedented. So for that reason, I’ll be handling this entry.
The sale we visited looked great online. It was in Ypsilanti and promised all sorts of fabulous vintage treasures, including old Beistle Halloween decorations that I wanted badly. Someone else wanted them badly too, because they were gone when we got there. There were some interesting pieces left but the prices all seemed really high.
Sarah’s hand looks kind of crazy in the pic. She will probably yell at me for not cropping it out.
Sarah wanted to buy this wood tree shelf thing above, but in some sort of crazy miracle, I was able to talk her out of it (Adam, you’re welcome). It reminds me of this country cottage store that my mom used to shop at in the 80s. You’d buy like miniature honey pots with fake honey coming out of them there. It was pretty much the worst.
I immediately grabbed this bag of old plastic baseball men for Timmy. I texted him and he said he really wanted them, despite the steep $15 price. I got the guy to sell me these for $10, which seems more fair.
Timmy is going to use these to make molds and subsequently more tiny baseball men for his baseball artwork. Someday when I retire, maybe I too can spend my time making baseball artwork.
At some point in the sale, I found this wacky Coors hat and told Sarah to take my photo in it. She obliged:
Sarah then asked if I thought the hat was COLLECTIBLE. She looked at the inside tag and repeated herself, saying, “Is this a collectible brand?”
This was my reaction:
Excuse my no makeup. Anyway, what can I say. Sarah was obviously desperate. But no, that Coors hat is NOT collectible.
So here are the other things I bought:
These old stockings are from the 40s or 50s. I paid $1 each and hope they will sell on ebay come next Christmas. One of the stocking belongs to BIZ:
I can only assume his (or her) website is BIZ.biz.
I also bought some stamps, which never turn out to be valuable, but these were cool and cheap:
I also bought this WWII Army container with camouflage paint inside. It was $1, but I am hoping it sells for more on ebay. I can’t find any previous listings for an item like this, but it is so cool! I have a hard time believing that no one would want it.
I probably should have put some of that on before I took the photos above. That white color seems to match my paleness well.
-Erin
Now that we’ve all hopefully recovered from learning that I cannot identify a buffalo or bison, it is time for me to share another of my prized antique pet pics. This time around, it’s a print that I purchased while out with my friend Sarah at the Chelsea Antiques Mall. Anyone happen to know anything about these dogs? Are they greyhounds or whippets? And how cool is that little lady?
-Sarah
Wow, we’ve been Extreme Slackers lately. No, in all seriousness, things have been super hectic and busy so while we’ve got some things to write about, the time has just been escaping us.
More posts will be forthcoming, but in the meantime, we wanted to give you guys a Big Hug Mug update. First, and most importantly, Adam’s Big Hug Mug sale did not disappoint:
Also on the Big Hug Mug front, Erin and I have not found another since the discovery. How this is possible, I am not sure.
However, I just did a quick search to see if these babies are still hot commodities and they are. And another interesting thing I discovered is that some a-holes are actually making money selling fakes.
I guess this one sold to someone who is color blind.
Here’s another fake with a questionable color:
That one sold for $36. What the heck?!
There are few things that annoy me more than FAKE THINGS. Ugh.
The legit ones consistently sell for much more, so all you hunters should still keep your eyes peeled!
-Sarah