Dig This Treasure!

Last night I drove to Howell for an auction.  Now, I wouldn’t normally recommend spending your Wednesday night driving to Howell, MI but I went for two reasons.  First, I was cooped up working all day yesterday and started going a bit stir crazy.  Second, Zach has either the Plague or Black Lung, so I wanted to decrease my chances of catching it.

Oh wait, and three, I wanted to buy these awesome old paper mache Halloween decorations:

That cat one alone sells on ebay for $60-$80.  The pumpkin varies anywhere from $30-$70 or so.  My plan was to buy them for keeps…we’ll get to that later though.

The online listing for this auction said “Boston Peddler Auction” but when I showed up, the sign outside said “HAMMER TIME AUCTIONS.”  I laughed really hard at that.  

The place was kind of a ghost town.  And it seemed like most people were there for the snacks.  In the back of the room they were selling various Little Debbies and that sort of fare.  $1 per box!  What a steal!  People were walking out with boxes and boxes full of this stuff.

Besides selling probably-expired-moonpies, this place was weird for many reasons.  Here is a sample of the decor:

Let me be honest and say that I don’t get the joke here at all.  Is this a sexual innuendo or an ode to cannibalism?  

Also weird were some of the items for sale.  I wish this picture was more clear, but that there is a burlap sack for use in bagging terrorists.  It has a silkscreened image of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and the phrase “Terrorist Body Bag.”  

I almost bid on this.  Look at how nicely it is framed.  Let me point out though, that you could NEVER fit two bodies in that little bag.  I don’t speak from experience, but I do speak from common sense.

Ok so on to the auction.  I’ll spoil it now and say that I didn’t win either of those paper mache Halloween things.  It’s like people at this auction were made of money.  Either that, or they were just super competitive and insisted on winning any item they bid on.  Both of these items sold for over $50.  My logic is that I could buy some on ebay for around that price, and in better condition.  Still though, I was bummed.

I did buy some old pressed tin cap guns for $3, and this spooky old Halloween costume.

What’s weird about this costume is that it looks very similar to someone I know.  I don’t want to name names, but I will say that it rhymes with “Barah.”

Perhaps my best buy was this Mickey Mouse pull toy from 1939.  It is in rough shape, but I only paid $10 for it.  Ones in good condition sell for $150 on ebay, so hopefully I can at least make my money back.

I don’t anticipate heading back to Hammer Time Auctions anytime soon, but I will for sure remember it fondly.  Well, kind of fondly.

-Erin