Dig This Treasure!

Well I really have the sale-ing fever lately, I’ll tell you what. 

Erin and I hit up a crap-ton of garage sales on Thursday (as you may have already seen on our Instagram (follow us!)), and that just made me hungry for more. 

I found a sale in Brighton, which is about 40 minutes away from me. It looked to be jam-packed with holiday decor and other treats, and the person appeared to have good taste. I tried to get Erin to come with me, but she had to do some family activities instead. So I ventured out there alone. 

When I arrived, I had a good feeling about things. 

Punnnnkiiiiinnnnns!!!!! 

But then I saw the price tags. 

Some things weren’t THAT bad but… most of them were. It was a real bummer because there was some really cute stuff! They also had swaggy teens stationed in the rooms to prevent you from shoplifting their overpriced wares, which is a real vibe killer at a sale. It always makes me feel like if I spend too long looking around or sorting through things, they’re gonna get suspicious.

Anyway, here are some more pics of the cute things there:   

But again, look at these prices:  

Am I missing something? Should a ziplock bag of tiny vintage trees really be priced that high? As far as I could tell, the trees were not made of solid gold. 

Despite the pricing disappointment, there was some cool stuff to look through. The homeowner was super into Scottie dogs. 

I really loved that table. Anyone have a spare $600? 

That is an ENORMOUS roll of wrapping paper. I really wanted it but it legit weighed like 50 lbs. I could not carry it out along with the other things I wanted, I didn’t have Erin with me to bully into helping (not that she’d be much help because let’s face it–she’s pretty weak), and I was starting to sweat because it was hot and humid inside the house. So it got left behind. 

As usual, there were some “things that make you go hmmm” (Erin wasn’t even a fetus when that song came out, I’ll bet) inside the house, so here ya go: 

(I thought that thing in his hand was a gun but now I think it’s… a horn? WTF is it?) 

(That is Matchbox car sized and yes, it says twelve dollars.) 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I did find a few goodies, though: 

Let me give you the rundown: Vera Bradley laptop case, star wars lunchbox ornament, camper ornament (my son is obsessed with all types of vehicles–he’s gonna love this next xmas), a new hand-made vintage tree skirt, embroidered santa ornament, cool book that has a bunch of envelopes inside with things like puzzles and other books, etc., Spaghettios bowl, and a Halloween beanie baby bat. I also got this cool cast iron sheep. 

It wasn’t priced so the swaggy teen at the register charged me a dollar. It was probably originally priced like $20. Score! 

-Sarah 

It was pretty dreary on Sunday, but Zach suggested we go to the Flat Rock Speedway, where they were having a flea market.  I’m glad we did because it turned out to be lots of fun!

I just looked at the large version of this photo on my computer and there is a giant Confederate flag dead center.  UGH.  I will assume it was a person selling only authentic Civil War memorabilia.  (It wasn’t.)

Man, what I wouldn’t give to drive one of those buses around the track.  They were all smashed up and looked like they had several different rounds of fire damage.  I’d still totally drive one though. And crash it.

Here are my boys.  Aren’t they cute?  I gave Everett a tootsie roll pop to keep him busy.  He sat in silence and ate it for about 2 hours.  Shoutout to tootsie roll pops.

Look! It’s another one of those ICP dolls!  On what planet was someone like, “we should totally paint the doll like this.”  It’s awful.  No one will buy that doll.

There were a ton of these jail mugshots in a ziplock bag.  I wanted all of them.  They were so amazing.  Most of the crimes were gambling and larceny related.  The guy selling these though wanted $4 EACH.  No way.  I wanted the whole bag for $10.  No deal.

I also liked this old “flicker” watch.  It was similar to a hologram.  The baseball player would swing his bat when you turned your wrist.  The guy selling it said it was from the 50s but it looks more 60s or 70s to me.  He wanted $95 for it.  That was out of my range but still very cool to try it on.

Speaking of holograms, how do you say “hologram?”  Zach says HOE-LOW-GRAM to which I promptly called him an idiot.  I say HA-LAH-GRAM.

Here is a hotdog I ate.  It was good as hell.

I only bought three things but they were all great.  This whole flea market had treasures I had not seen before, and everything was priced pretty reasonably.

I got these Gurley Halloween candles still in the box.  They are on eBay now, but I fantasized about keeping them.  They are seriously the cutest. I paid $10.

I also got this Halloween blow mold. It is also cute.  It was $5.

My largest purchase was this gigantic lot of old Sesame Street toys from the 80s and 90s.  Sarah will 100% murder me for not giving these to her.  I paid $15 and put them on eBay Buy It Now for $50.  They sold instantly, which is a blessing and a curse.  It is nice to make a profit, but the fact that they sold instantly makes me think I should have listed them for higher.

Zach bought an old railroad poster that was framed.  It was really neat until he realized it was just a photocopy of an old railroad poster.  The aging on the edges and the slight tears were not real when you looked close, just a copy!  He returned it after we raised a stink.

Zach also bought an amazing old watch here, but only after we went home first.  It was pricey, marked $395.  I could tell it was weighing on Zach’s mind and that he loved it so much.  When we got home, he texted with a watch friend in New York, who valued it around $1200.  A similar one on eBay recently sold for $980.  Zach raced back to buy the watch.

He ended up getting it for $300 which is a great deal.  This watch is a chronograph, which is way more collectible than your average vintage watch.  The brand is Vulcain and it is from the 60s. The dial style is called a “surfboard.”  I think he will probably wear it awhile and then eventually sell it.

That’s all from Flat Rock! 

-Erin

A few weeks ago, there was an estate sale in my neighborhood.  It wasn’t on estatesales.net but luckily a friend of mine spotted it and told me.  I am glad she did because the home was that of a former antiques dealer.  Everything in the house was high quality, and even better, there was tons of it. 

As you can see, it was a lot of paper stuff.  I had Everett with me so it was pretty much impossible to look through any of this.  I decided to come back the next day with Sarah.  Before I left though, I struck up a conversation with the women running the sale.  They seemed really nice and kept repeating that they were willing to make good deals.  Nearly everything in the house still had price tags on it from the woman’s antique booth.  The ladies running the sale were her daughters and said they would NOT be charging what the stickers said.  Ok great, I LOVE DEALS.

So Sarah and I come back the next day and it seemed like Sarah was in hogs’ heaven.  One back room of this house was completely filled with old postcards. 

The day before, one of the women running the sale said that a giant box of postcards would be about $60, which she then explained was about a penny a piece per card.  I told Sarah that if she bought a bunch of cards, she would certainly get a good deal.

I found two postcards for myself and let Sarah have the rest.  These Santas usually sell pretty well on ebay.

In the garage there was a ton more paper.  All of it was old brochures, programs, ticket stubs–all your basic ephemera.  I started digging.

I found a plastic sleeve full of old railroad stuff and grabbed it on a whim.  I haven’t sold any train stuff on ebay before, but it seems like something a lot of people are geeky about.

It was really hot outside so I peaced out and went to meet back up with Sarah.  I could tell she was losing steam.  The house had no air and the amount of stuff to look through was getting burdensome.

Not to mention that something else was becoming very clear–these women were totally lying about their “deals."  There would be NO DEALS.  Something had happened since the previous day that made these ladies less than thrilled about parting with their mom’s stuff.  Fair enough.  It’s tough to do.  That said, from our perspective, this was very annoying. 

Sarah’s loss of joy over this sale was pretty clear:

That’s her "Let’s GTFO of here face.”

Postcards were now “individually priced” and some were $12 each.  TWELVE DOLLARS.  EACH.  Sarah had a stack of postcards about 3 inches deep and they wanted to charge her $75.  $75, which they explained, was actually a VERY good deal.  No.

After going back and forth for awhile on prices, I was able to get a small pile of stuff for $17.  It included that train stuff and Santa postcards above, as well as the following:

Don’t old Halloween decorations sell?  These guys are in okay shape and pretty cool looking.

And this horrible card:

No seriously, WTF.  This card isn’t even that old!  JFC.

The best score I got (which should make me not complain so much about the prices at this sale) was an old railroad schedule from the 1890s.  It sold for $100 on ebay last week, which was a huge shock.  It was hovering around $20 and then shot up in the last minute.  So awesome.

Poor Sarah only got some overpriced postcards, although she didn’t end up paying $75.  I think she paid like $25.  Hopefully one of them is made of gold!

Oh and P.S. I went back to this sale for a third time with Zach.  I thought maybe on the last day these women would have a change of heart and really price to sell.  (They didn’t.)  I found this Indian doll that I had a sneaking suspicion was an Armand Marseille.  I had seen a really similar doll at another estate sale in mint condition that was AM and was priced $200.  This one was far from mint but I got it for a mere $5.  It sold on ebay for $36!

Cute huh? If it’s hair hadn’t fallen off, I would have kept it!  Anyway, keep an eye out for these because they are Armand Marseille but are not marked! 

Ok and here is totally-over-it Sarah again.  Just because.

-Erin

I’ve always been a huge complainer about vintage reproductions.  There are few things more frustrating at an estate sale than a seller trying to convince you something is truly antique, even though it has Philips head screws and the freshest paint you’ve ever seen.  And don’t get me started on the phenomenon of “primitives” that have overtaken every antique mall.  

Anyway, I learned recently that there is a time and place for reproductions.  Especially when it will save you some cash and give you a huge boost in your holiday decorating.  

Case in point: A few weeks ago, Zach and I received the latest Vermont Country Store catalog.  This catalog is pretty much the best because you can order Christmas onesie pajamas and things like this:

You can also order great vintage reproductions.  Zach called (yes, you still have to CALL to order) and bought us the following two things:

A Halloween light up blow mold and some Gurley style candles.  

Now here is why I approve of these repros:

Every time I find an old Halloween blow mold at an estate sale or antique store, the cords look like 26 different cats chewed on them.  Or the lights inside are burnt out.  Or they are priced around $40.  I have never found a true vintage blow mold worth buying (except for a Santa face that ended up having a short in the cord).  This Vermont Country Store version cost $16 and will last for years.

Speaking of lasting for years, true vintage Gurley candles do not.  When I come across them at sales they are dented, smushed, half-burnt, or have lint stuck all over them.  They can also be crazy expensive.  Seriously, like SO CRAZY EXPENSIVE considering these are candles!

The ones we purchased from Vermont Country store are nice and clean and cost $20.  Still a little pricey, but worth the splurge for a good vintage look.

I might even buy these Thanksgiving ones next:

All of this thinking about repros made me realize that one of my most coveted antique items might best be purchased new.  Remember how obsessed I am with those old paper mache Halloween pumpkins?  Seriously, these things have evaded me for years now.  First, they are so hard to find (at least for me).  And they are obnoxiously pricey:

Plus, most of these pumpkins are in bad shape considering what they are made of.  And almost all of them are missing their paper inserts that give them spooky eyes and mouths.

Perhaps one day I will find one in good shape and at a good price, but in the meantime, why not buy a reproduction version?  There are plenty of good ones out there.

Only $22 and this will look adorable on my mantle for Halloween.  And if my cats chew on it I will be less sad.  

So maybe repros aren’t all bad.  They certainly have their place.  So tell us, do you buy reproductions or do you find them oh-so-offensive?

-Erin

Update: OK, heads up.  You don’t have to order over the phone.  Sarah was sure to inform me:

Yesterday, Sarah and I took a break from setting up our garage sale (which FYI is TOMORROW in Livonia, in Old Rosedale Gardens). We headed out to Troy for what looked to be an insane hoarder sale. We’ll be doing a longer entry on this sale next week, but for the time being, all you need to know is that the whole sale pretty much looked like this:

[Editor’s Note: I just noticed that brown bear face-planted in the foreground of this photo, and am now dying laughing.]

Anyway, at this sale, I noticed these things, which I called “art capes”:

These are like little plastic apron shirts that I remember wearing in kindergarten while painting. Or at least I remember something similar to these…

Anyway, I said to Sarah, “Did you see those adorable art capes?” I thought Sarah was going to explode or punch me or maybe start seizing from disbelief. She yelled out, “ERIN!”, which sounds like “AIRRRRR-INNNNNNNN.” You know, like a really calm and collected person speaks, except not.

Sarah went on to explain that these are actually Halloween costumes from the 80s. I didn’t believe it. Sarah is 7 years older than me, so she DOES know more about the 80s, and yet still, I am still skeptical.

If these are costumes, they’re lame. And I feel bad for any kid who had to be these instead of a ballerina pig like I was.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: Can anyone else back me up here? These were costumes, right? ALSO, Erin said absolutely nothing to me about wearing something similar in kindergarten, so I think she’s trying to cover her ass.

After my solo auction excursion, I convinced Sarah to go to another auction with me the following the day.  I had auction fever for sure.

This auction was in Romulus, so Sarah met me there.  I had arrived first and scoped out the goods, and was pretty excited about most of the stuff there.  Everything was high quality.  I saw a bunch of old greeting cards that I figured Sarah would like, and a bunch of old chocolate molds for me.

There was also a separate doll auction going on in another room that I figured Sarah might like.  Boy did she ever.  I think she stayed in that doll room nearly the whole night.  Every time I came to check on her, she was drowning further and further in a sea of dolls she had purchased.

That furry beast on the top of the heap looks like this up close:

Sarah paid money for that, in case you are all wondering.  It came in a lot with a bunch of other animals, but this kitty was by far the best.

I bought many things at this auction but nothing that I really really wanted.  Most of the stuff I bought was super cheap, and I decided to just take a risk on reselling it.  This sale had some old paper mache Halloween decorations I wanted REALLY BAD, but like last time, they sold for a crazy high price.  I was so disappointed.  A lot of two pumpkins sold to this guy for $220 and I wanted to walk up to him and tell him that 1. they aren’t even worth that! and 2. my Halloween was now ruined.

There he is all smug with his pumpkins.  I should say MY pumpkins.  My stolen pumpkins.  Also, someone is going to step on those as they are so carelessly placed on the floor.  If I had those pumpkins, I would have gone to the doll auction and bid on a $400 antique doll cradle to carry my pumpkins in.  That’s how much I love those pumpkins.

Whew, anyway…speaking of the doll auction, I did buy some dolls.  I got a lot of 3 for $10 and a Madame Alexander baby doll for $10.  The latter turned out to be my best score, as I sold it for $56.

I also bought an old print of a natural history museum to hang in our house.  I used to work at a museum like this in Ann Arbor and got to teach kids about dinosaurs.  This print reminded me of that and was just too darn cool not to buy.

I definitely overpaid for this ($40) but I love it so much that I will accept that hard truth. At some point, a dude came over to me and said, “You know that’s the Louvre in France, it’s a famous museum.”  I politely thanked him for the knowledge, but will say now that that is a bold faced lie.  No dinosaurs up in the Louvre y'all.  The print also says Hunterian Museum, which wikipedia says is in Scotland.

I’ll let Sarah talk about how much she loves auctions now, but before I do, here is my favorite part of the night.  Near the end of the auction, the auctioneers do a sort of speed round in which they break off into little clusters around different tables and sell the stuff on each one at a very rapid pace.  Sarah was bidding on a bunch of cards and valentines during one of these rounds, and as soon as she started to, this older woman behind her let out a yelp similar to that of a trapped animal.  A sort of singular moan/howl of true sadness.  

I think this lady thought she was going to be the only person interested in these items, so when Sarah bid, she was obviously distraught.  Every time the bid went up, she would repeat the same moany “NOOOOO.”  I felt bad for her in a way, because I had been sad about my pumpkins…but at the same time, the whole thing was absurd and hilarious.  Listen people, auctions are like the end of “Old Yeller”…heartbreaking but necessary.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: I won a SH*TLOAD of dolls at this auction, and it was SO FUN! HOWEVER, Erin failed to mention that at least four dolls in that doll pileup were hers.

I think Erin is an auction addict now, but I understand why. It’s like going to an estate sale but more exciting in some ways, because you don’t really know how much you might end up paying for something you want. There’s more mystery involved. Also the whole thing was mysterious for me because Erin invited me about 5 minutes after I got out of work, so I had no idea what would be there, and I definitely did not know that all those dolls would be there! The only real downside about auctions in general seems to be the sadness that happens when you don’t win something you really want–like the pumpkins.

The only complaint I have is that the food was not good. Erin had tempted me before by telling me that the auction she normally goes to with Zach in Plymouth has a huge food bar with french fries (I don’t know about you but that’s enough to entice me), but at this auction, I had a hot dog that was so bad that I threw it away after one bite. An occurrence that is unprecedented in the history of my life. 

Before I talk about what I won, let me say that half the fun of going to this thing was the people watching and also seeing some of the insane things in that doll room. Erin said the stuff was all high quality but I mean, you saw that stuffed cat. And here’s another doll we didn’t win: 

I don’t know if the previous owner was trying to make a statement (The Bluest Eye?…) or was just blind, but that is one crazy looking doll that I would not describe as “high quality." 

Unlike Erin, I ended up winning everything I wanted, and that stuff fell into two categories: dolls and stuffed animals, and ephemera. I haven’t even really sorted through the valentines and postcards that I won, but so far the dolls are doing well: 

I think I paid $30 total for those three dolls (plus some), so I’ve definitely made a profit. There are many more where those came from. Here are two terrifying ones that I have on eBay right now: 

When I saw that paraplegic doll it made me feel weird and sad inside. I ended up getting her because she came with that first doll (the antique Horsman doll) and when they brought her over to me I felt so genuinely creeped out. Erin wanted me to just throw her out but I feel like maybe some doll collector will give her a new pair of legs. Or who knows? Maybe you’ll see her zoomin’ around some day like Oscar Pistorius! 

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