Dig This Treasure!

A few weeks ago, I saw a listing for a sale in Ann Arbor that started on a Saturday. Adam and I hit it up BEFORE breakfast, which is pretty unheard of, but I needed to get there early. It looked like it was a retired professor’s home, and there were TONS of books. As mentioned in the past, I love me a sale with a lot of books. (Remember that store in Montague?!) I’ve also been known to make a killing on books that people don’t realize are valuable. 

We arrived and man, were there books. 

Nearly every single room I entered looked like this one. It was so overwhelming and so awesome. The non-awesome thing was the pricing on these books. I was pretty disappointed by this because we have been to other sales run by this company, and their pricing was really reasonable. At this sale, hardcovers were $4 each, no matter what. Softcovers were $3. Oversized books were $6. Little paperbacks were $2. I’m sorry but if you have THAT MANY books in a house, you’re gonna want to make those prices a little lower. I grabbed a bunch of books but put a lot of them back once I saw the pricing list and the quantity throughout the rest of the house. 

Adam quickly moved through the house and I could tell he wanted to cry because he knew it would be a long visit. It was also hot as hell in the house because there was no AC and it was during a heat wave. 

There were a lot of vintage Heritage Press copies of classics, which can sell for a decent amount of money on eBay, especially if you get them for cheap (meaning, not $4 each). I ended up with just two–a copy of Pride and Prejudice, and a copy of The Moon and Sixpence. 

The Austen book sold right away–for $28. Woo! The Maugham didn’t sell, and I’m sort of surprised because it’s got some beautiful illustrations. Oh well. 

Even the basement was filled with books on every available surface.

The other cool thing that I saw in the main room (first picture) were these old wood carvings/molds that were hung on the wall. There were a few very large ones and then a bunch of small ones. The small ones were all marked $20 a piece, which seemed reasonable. I was interested because I know that primitive butter molds can be very valuable. If you ever seen something like this, and it’s cheap, BUY IT.

These things can sell for A LOT of money. 

I asked the people running the sale what they knew about the carvings. The company is a couple and their daughter who is a little younger than me, and the daughter immediately said, “I think they’re printing press blocks.” Adam and I just looked at each other because they clearly were not blocks used to print a design onto a flat surface–the pattern was cut into the wood–not sticking out from the wood. I tried explaining this to Erin in the car the other day and she lost her mind. YES, in both cases the design is carved INTO the wood. But the actual design of a stamp/press block sticks OUT from the rest of the wood, and in a mold, the design goes down INTO the wood. In other words, you put a stamp ON something to see the design, and with a mold, you put things INTO it, in order to get the design. This is simple to me, but Erin’s brain did not get it for about 20 minutes. 

Anyway, the dad interrupted and said, “No, I think they’re just decorative carvings from somewhere in Europe. I know they bought the whole lot at auction at Schmidt’s.” This made me more intrigued, because Schmidt’s is a fairly high-end auction house down the street from me. I ended up taking a risk and bought two of the molds, so we’ll see if they’re worth anything. 

The first says “PIG” in chalk on the back, and the second says “CHICKENS.” You have to use your imagination to see either of these animals in the wood. They’re up on eBay now, so we’ll see what happens! 

-Sarah 

Wow, we’re really behind. Well, last Friday we went out for the second day in a row because I’m lucky enough to get a winter break. We started out by going to a sale in Dearborn that was put on by one of our favorite companies. They seem to like us and give us deals, which is awesome. I saw some old paper in some of the pictures of this sale, so I knew we had to hit it. 

Here’s an action shot of me trying to find more. 

I didn’t find any. 

We did end up with some treasures, and it was one of the first sales we’ve been to in a while where there was actually junk to look through. I’ve realized that I get annoyed when things are super organized. It takes some of the fun out of the hunt! We found a pretty interesting board game, but we did not buy it. 

Here is one other awesome thing I didn’t buy: 

I am not sure what a foot charger does, but it sounds life-changing. 

In that same closet, I found a really amazing bag, full of bingo-related items. 

You will not be shocked to discover that I bought this bag. It was too weird not to. 

The next sale we wanted to go to was all the way in Rochester Hills, which is a hike from Dearborn. This sale was full of really amazing stuff–especially pottery. They had a ton of Bybee pottery but all of the pieces I liked were damaged.

Erin took some nice pictures of the inside of this condo. 

It was so nice and warm and cozy in this house. We wanted to take a little snooze on the couch across from this fireplace. 

I was obsessed with this half cupboard but I have nowhere to put it. It reminds me of many of the more primitive pieces of furniture my parents had in our house when I was growing up. 

The basement of this house was home to quite a few treasures, including this awesome old wooden toy truck. 

I bought a few other things at this sale, but this was by far my favorite. 

After we left this sale, we found two others nearby. The first was so overpriced that we only stayed long enough to take a photo of this $35 typewriter. It was ridiculous.

I also showed Erin this tall, narrow case, and asked Erin if she thought it would look cool hanging on a wall horizontally. She then informed me that it was a gun case. Shows you how much I know about guns! 

The last sale of the day was a bust, but it did provide some laughs. When I looked at this next picture just now, it made me LOL again. 

We found those dudes separated and Erin reunited them. They were pleased. 

I have about as good eye contact going on as that dummy does. 

I did find one treasure at this sale–an old Dirty Dancing mug for my mom. My mom LOVED that movie so I could not resist buying it for her. When I went to check out, the woman at the table shrieked and said, “I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!! WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS?!” I told her I found it in the cupboard with all of the other mugs. Another woman working at this sale asked me, “Well don’t you feel bad now for buying it?” Uhm. What? I said, “No!" 

After this adventure, we ate at an old REAL diner in downtown Rochester, and on the way home, hilarity ensued. I am going to let her tell this story, because I am certain that she will embellish it. 

-Sarah

Update from Erin:  At the first sale, I bought some glass insulators, which I am saving for a separate blog post.  So hold on to your butts for that one.  I did see a cool set of this dishware though, but didn’t buy it:

Anyone know about this stuff?  They wanted $75 for the set, which seemed steep, but maybe it’s collectible and I had no idea.

Like Sarah mentioned, this sale was run by a woman we really like, and who gives us great deals.  On this day, the woman’s brother happened to be at the sale, and she introduced him to us.  I proceeded to ask this man, "What do you do?”  My intention was to figure out if he was in the same business–running estate sales and whatnot.  Sarah started laughing hysterically and exclaimed, “YOU CAN’T ASK PEOPLE WHAT THEY DO!!” It was like that time in Mean Girls when Gretchen said, “Oh my God Karen, you can’t just ask people why they’re white.”

Anyway, I’m not entirely sure why you can’t ask people what they do, but I know from now on not to do that.   (For the record, the guy was a hospice nurse, not like, a drug dealer or something.)

The next sale was the best.  It restored my hope in estate sales.  We’ve been in such a rut lately!  This sale, as mentioned, was a cozy little primitive cabin–except that it was a condo.

I got an excellent deal here on a Bordallo Pinheiro set of Christmas dishes.  Last Christmas, I bought a large platter and bowl from this set, and now I have lots more of it!  I got all of this below for $20! 

I also found this great stuffed Santa for $13.  His beard is rabbit fur.

Sarah mentioned that the last two sales were garbage.  Besides selling a $35 typewriter, one of the sales was selling a Harry Potter card game for $20!!  A card game, like UNO…for $20.  Unbelievable.  

Ok, so on the way home, my phone died.  Sarah needed me to look up directions, so she gave me her phone to use.  When I looked at the screen, an iTunes playlist was pulled up, and the title of it was “erin.”

I said, calmly, “Um, did you name an iTunes playlist after me?”  It felt like I had just caught a stalker peeking in my window late at night.  Sarah was SO busted.  We died laughing for like 10 minutes, after which Sarah explained that a year or so ago she was going to make me a mix CD, but never got around to it.

Sure, likely story.  I should note that one of the songs on the playlist was “My Humps”  because I am apparently mega Fergalicious to Sarah. 

My dad happened to be in the area today, so we decided to visit some estate sales before going out for lunch.  The first sale was in Plymouth and it was run by those hoodlums from way back.  Seeing this was the first sign that the sale would be bad.  The other bad signs were the bras classily displayed on a bedpost for sale in one of the rooms…

…and this scary mannequin head:

It kind of looks like Sarah before she shaved her goatee.  

We hightailed it out of this sale pronto, and while looking up where to go next, I found a listing for “The Barn Antiques” in Northville.   I had never been to this place, let alone heard of it.  Turns out, IT WAS SO COOL.

Here’s Timmy walking in:

The items were mostly primitive/rustic style and many were refurbished.  The prices were high, but we had a great time looking.  They even had a coffee station with different coffee flavors and all the fixins.

I, of course, managed to find the only thing in the place NOT for sale.  These two locker baskets would have been perfect for my bookshelf (a la biscuit box style).  

These baskets though, along with a few other items, were available for rental only (weddings mostly).  Let me say, that it is a GREAT idea for antique stores to rent items out for events.  So smart. 

I also fell in love with these metal carts:

That first cart would be great in my basement, in ebay world (the place I store all my ebay items I’m selling).  It would also be cool in Sarah’s house to hold books because it looks like a library cart.  

Unfortunately we didn’t buy anything today, but I definitely look forward to visiting here again.  Next up, we headed over to Knightsbridge Antique Mall, just a mile or so down the road.  This is one of Timmy’s favorite places.  I like it too, but it can also be overpriced.

Here is my favorite booth because it looks like an old-timey mercantile:

In one of those cases was this little guy, who stole my heart.  He was only $45 but I didn’t buy him today.

He is so frowny!

I also saw this amazing dairy box, but it was $65.  They seem to be a lot cheaper on ebay, so I will try to buy one there.

I think it would be cute on top of my fridge.  We have an old wooden egg crate up there now, so this would be a nice addition.

Here are some other neat items I saw:

These are old cast iron string holders.  If I ever get around to my dream of transforming the kitchen into an old-timey general store, these will be one of my first purchases.

I’m in the market for a new rug for our dining room, and this one caught my eye.

I’m not into Coke stuff, but this was a cute little soda fountain thing.

Again, we didn’t buy anything!  So we stopped at one last place, a new antique shop in Livonia called Yesterday’s Antiques.  And guess what we found?!?!

A yearbook from Eastern Michigan University…

…with Timmy in it!!!

He’s the one with the mustache that looks like Charles Manson.  We laughed so hard about this.  What are the odds!?  It’s not like there were tons of yearbooks here, just this one!

I left empty handed again, but Tim bought a program from the opening day of Comerica Park.  It was still a great day of window shopping though, and maybe I’ll go back soon to buy some of the things I saw.

-Erin

On Sunday morning, I woke up to the sound of Erin texting me about an auction in Tecumseh that afternoon. Tecumseh is about 25 miles west of where I live, so I was thrilled at the prospect of Erin coming to my side of town. Also, the pictures of looked pretty awesome.

When we arrived, the woman who owned the “gallery” where the auction was taking place mentioned that some of the items pictured online might no longer be available. I thought Erin was going to throttle her. After we got our numbers, we walked away and Erin growled, “Is it wrong that I’m really annoyed right now?!?!” I don’t know what she saw online that she thought might be unavailable, but damn girl, calm yourself. 

We walked around and checked everything out. The nice thing about this auction was that they gave everyone a list of items and then went through it in order. This was cool because there were no surprises. You knew when you could go get a snack or go to the bathroom. I didn’t do either of these things but I liked that it was an option. 

We took our seats and got ready for the auction to start. Here was our view:

As you can see, it was not a packed house, which made it even better.

Now, I’ll be honest. When we did our rounds, neither of us saw a whole lot of anything that we HAD to have. But once the bidding began, we quickly realized that the crowd was not willing to pay much for anything there, and there were quite a few valuable items.

One of the first things on the list that I hadn’t noticed displayed was a box of pieces of Bybee Pottery. I know about this pottery because my parents used to collect it. I’ve actually been inside the Bybee store, possibly on more than one occasion. I’ve probably blocked it out of my memory because, as a child, it wasn’t very entertaining to spend hours at a pottery store in Kentucky on a family vacation. Anyway, as an adult I’m thankful for these experiences, because they give me the knowledge I need to make dolla dolla bills, y'all. So yes, Bybee pottery can be valuable, and the people running this auction sort of knew that, but sort of didn’t really. The had the big lot listed as “BB Pottery,” I think because the bottom of Bybee stuff is marked “BB” and they probably found some of those listings on eBay. Anyway, bottom line is–I won a whole moving box of the stuff for $5. I haven’t decided if I’m keeping it or selling it.

The entire auction was very entertaining for a number of reasons. First, Erin and I both had a secret crush (came out on the ride home) on the auctioneer. Second, there were these two women in the front who were serious know-it-alls. They kept chiming in, telling the auctioneer how old things were or what they were used for. It was unreal. But it was also super hilarious.  Everyone would be silent waiting for the auctioneer’s description of an item and then you would just hear this brute woman yell, “THAT’S OVER A HUNDRED YEARS OLD. YES THAT’S VERY NICE.  VERY RARE.” and on and on. Third, it was entertaining because clearly people were SHOCKED that we were willing to pay more than $5 for things that we either wanted or wanted to sell. And finally, the printed list of items gave Erin an opportunity to entertain me with drawings. At one point they were auctioning off a lamp and the auctioneer noticed there was a dead spider on it. The worst know-it-all woman proceeded to jump up and yell, “Don’t touch that, it’s a black widow!” Erin and I could not stop laughing. Here is her illustrated response:

In the end, we came out with so much stuff that Erin’s little Jetta was packed to the gills. I have no idea why or how neither of us captured this photographically, but I assure you that the quantity was insane. I even sent this text to Adam after I got home:

I took some risks on the stuff that I got, but the coolest thing by far was this old Monroe adding machine that still has its original cord and works!

I spent five dollars on it and it varies but they do seem to sell for quite a bit of cash on eBay. We’ll see! 

While we were checking out, Erin said that three different women came up to her and said something along the lines of, “SOOOO…eBay, huh?” in a disapproving manner. Clearly these people were 1) used to being able to come to this place and not pay very much for things they wanted and 2) not happy with some youngins comin’ in and sweepin’ up. So the regulars there were not happy about our presence… but you know what? Too bad, y'all!

-Sarah

Update from Erin: OK, yes I was annoyed when we got there.  You can’t be all like HEY PPL WE ARE HAVING AN AUCTION HERE ARE PICS OF ALL THE STUFF WE ARE GOING TO SELL, and then when people drive over an hour to get there, tell them that you already presold a bunch of stuff.  That is like Auction Etiquette 101.  So rude.

But then I started looking around and things looked pretty cool.  I wanted nearly all of the furniture in the place.

I did buy one piece of furniture actually.  This old, primitive trunk was the perfect size for the end of our bed.  We had another trunk there, but it was too big, so sometimes I crashed into it when walking around in the dark.  Plus, this trunk is just so darn cool looking.

I also bid on some junk I didn’t really need, like some vintage frosted glass sundae cups and a bunch of Barry Goldwater campaign memorabilia.  (George was wearing the hat from this lot on Tuesday.)  Everything was so cheap though, I just figured what the heck.

At one point, I tried to buy a Wendy’s frostie off the guy in front of me.  His friend brought him one, and when I saw, I offered him $10 for it.  He was more than willing to take the deal, but I felt kind of bad about it, so I revoked the offer.

The money I saved on the Frostie bought me some pink Depression plates (on ebay now!) and a silver tea set by Sheffield.  Some Sheffield sets sell for hundreds of dollars!  I was excited when I bought this, but it only ended up selling for $32 (I paid $20 for it).

What I did love about this tea set was that it was BLACK when I bought it.  Just totally covered with tarnish.  I planted myself in front of the tv and used silver polish to clean the hell out of it.  It took a few hours, but I was amazed at how shiny the set really was. I found the process of polishing silver really gratifying, so I hope I get to do it again soon.

Alright, so the last thing to mention was the check out process.  Sarah mentioned this, but I’ll reiterate that at least 4 or 5 people walked up to me and said things like, “eBay, huh?”  or “Sooo…eBay?”  or “Must be an eBayer!”  I don’t know when eBay became such a dirty word, but I felt like I had to respond to these people in a hushed tone.  I told a few of them that we keep most of the things we buy (kind of true), but you could tell they were skeptical and disapproving.  

Next time we go to this auction, we will both be wearing scarlet letters.  Sarah in general already wears like 6 scarlet letters, so her letter for being an eBayer might have to be mini sized.  I’ll be wearing mine like Alvin & the Chipmunks.

Just in case you were worried, Erin and I are once again officially BFFs and made up after our Jerry Springer style argument in her driveway last week. We started our adventure in Warren at a sale run by the same woman who ran the sale from last week that I speculated was actually held at her house. Erin had some mad love for that lady when leaving the sale last week but the tables turned this time around. Erin has a habit of fluctuating between feelings of love and hate toward the people who run these sales, while I’m usually more ambivalent (except for my favorite guy ever–the guy who tried to hook us up hard at the Best Sale Ever.)

Anyway, this sale was the worst but we did find some funny things. This is the best of the bunch: 

If you’re struggling to determine what those are, they’re two handmade refrigerator magnets. The one on the left is a pig that says (in little alphabet noodles glued on), “Porky are you eating again?” The one on the right is a cow that says, “Holy cow are you eating again?” I had to buy the cow. 

Basically, everything at this sale was either made by Avon or found at the dollar store. I’m not into either of these things, so I was sad. 

Here are some items that I passed on: 

I can’t even remember what I bought at this sale, besides a little pile of letters that I thought were affair letters, judging by the first few lines of one of them. I haven’t read them in their entirety but Erin read some of them aloud to me in the car and it turns out they’re really depressing letters from a sister to her brother about having cancer. That’s what I get for being nosy! Also insane: I had a tiny stack of cards and the lady told me it was $5. I am talking like, three cards. In this stack was an old brochure about Cedar Point that I wanted to buy for a friend’s kids. She told me, “that brochure alone is worth $3!” Really, lady? ON WHAT PLANET? You should be thanking me for getting rid of the crap that nobody wants! I told her to forget the brochure and I’d give her $2 and she told me she had to recalculate the cost because she was giving me a “bundle deal”… WTF?!

Next stop was a sale in Mt. Clemens. This sale contained a ton of antique furniture, but most of it was in really bad condition. I got a box of really old wrapping paper that was in great shape, and a vintage little girl’s pea coat. Erin got a box that had visible bird poop in it. I wanted this thing until I saw the made in China sticker. I ONLY BUY AMERICAN.

Just kidding. I just didn’t realize it was a reproduction at first. I still don’t know what it was supposed to be, but it reminded me of a card catalog (but real card catalogs have labels on the drawers.) 

The next sale we hit up seemed promising but ended up not being that great either. But it was really weird and time-warp-y and there were the most lawn ornaments I’ve seen in a while. It was also worth going to because the house was arranged really weirdly (it seemed like over half of it was a screened-in porch) and there were lots of funny things to see: 

Again, what is UP with these depressing statues? We see them basically at every sale now. 

Classy lady, classy car. 

Spuds MacKenzie. 

Private parts statue. 

…and… a ladyman with very large penis under her skirt. 

I found a few good things at this sale. First, a real deal garden gnome. I have a handful of lawn ornaments and he will be a good addition. I also got a couple of cute things to sell. Here is one of them: 

Yes, that is a kitten wearing a yellow beret and blue glasses. 

It’s past my bedtime, so I’ll let Erin update you on the Grey Gardens Man sale. 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: I was disappointed with the seller lady at the first sale because she was being outrageous with her pricing.  Last week she gave me all sorts of deals, even when I didn’t ask for them.  Yet this time, she tried charging me $1 each for a stack of old dirty Christmas magnets.  The magnets were handmade out of felt and had some sequins glued on them.  They were cute obviously, but as a general rule, ANY magnet in the world should be 25 cents.  $1 each?  You’re out of your mind.

The second sale was great.  Sarah thought the furniture was all gross, but she was wrong.  It was like the movie Aladdin, you had to be willing to see the diamond in the rough here.  I bought an old cabinet for my new porcelain pieces.  

After some windex and Lysol, it looks amazing:

As for the “box with visible bird poop” that Sarah mentioned, this was actually an old DRAWER, that I planned to turn into a shelf.  It wasn’t really covered in bird poop, it had drops of old paint on it.  It did however have some mouse poop on it.

All you gotta do is hose that shit off, sand it, and stain it…WHICH I DID.

Look! Room for more porcelain!

At this sale I also got an old Minnie Mouse wind-up watch from the 60s.  It is apparently collectible, and most people start it on ebay at over $100.  I have it up now and it’s doing great.  I paid $10.

The next sale was awful, despite having a million cute sheep lawn ornaments.  

They were selling things like this:

Watch, that doll is probably like CRAZY VALUABLE.  

Ok, this entry is getting so long.  You all need to email us if these jumbo posts are annoying, and we can try condensing…

The last house was in Detroit and was a crazy mansion.  Rooms up on rooms up on rooms.  

Things started out promising, but the further you went in the house, everything got weird and abandoned.

Look at those walls and the ceiling.  They needed me to get up in there and hang some bird poop shelves and fill them with porcelain.

Oh wait, looks like someone already was moved in:

OK, one more Grey Gardens-esque pic…

I bought an old, giant Mae West poster at this sale for $3.  That’s it I think.  I didn’t buy this poster which some perv had drawn all over:

-Erin

Pretty much every Sunday Zach and I go out to breakfast at a place called Thomas’, mostly because I am addicted to their pancakes.  Last week, after breakfast, we decided to stop at a random estate sale nearby.  It was advertised as being 50% off everything, so it was definitely worth a look.

The house was completely full of random treasures, without any real rhyme or reason.  These people collected a little bit of everything, which was great!  

I know Sarah will look at the above photo and ask why I didn’t buy her that little German ornament guy in the middle.  She collects these, but I forget their names.  I didn’t buy this one because he was broken.

Most of the items in the house were unfamiliar to me, and I didn’t have the best reception on my phone to look things up.  Because of the discount pricing though, I took a chance on a few items.  The first was this old puppet, made by Hazelle’s.  I found out later he was called Teto the Clown.

I also found this cool punched tin box.  I don’t know how old it is, but regardless, it’s interesting and pretty.  I decided to try selling it, but knew I was happy to keep it if it got no bids.

I think maybe it’s a mailbox or something!  It mounts to the wall.  And for the record, it did get bids on ebay, so so much for keeping it.  Teto the Clown sold too.

Zach had the best find by far.  A piece of Native American pottery by artist Sally Garcia.  Neither of us knew of her when he found this piece, but after doing some research, it turns out she is rather well-known.  She is credited “as the first pioneer of hand etchings on ceramic pottery.”  Her large pieces sell for hundreds and even thousands of dollars.  The piece Zach bought is pretty tiny, and had its original price sticker on it marked $84.  He ended up paying $15 for it.

We both love this piece so much and will probably keep it forever. Definitely a fave find, so kudos to Zach for eyeing it!

-Erin

Update from Sarah: I’ve never met another person so addicted to mediocre pancakes. Why didn’t you buy those HO cars?