good day!

Last night I had a last second change in direction. I was planning on going to an estate sale that was advertised for 7am close to my house (within 2 miles) but last night I saw an ad on craig’s list. It hadn’t been on for to long and it had the phone number in it. So of course I had “questions” and quickly gave them a call. It sounded really good. Almost to good. Normally when they sound good it turns out to be a pile of junk. And when you get the answer of “no its all junk” it turns out to be great. It was a little further away but I had a hunch. So I set out before light and was there about daybreak (that’s 5:25 to everyone who was still sleeping then). And boy did my hunch pay off. They opened up a little after 6:30 and it was a complete free for all. Fortunately only 4 of us were there. But nothing was set up at all…they just threw open the doors and let us rummage around through the house and packed 2 car garage! I got a lot of my stuff there…good prices. I was there for well over an hour and left very happy and also very dirty…tons of dust on the garage items…my white shirt turned almost black! It was getting on to 8 when I left there and I just headed around to garage sales for the rest and was able to hunt up a few more nice items. Most of the items from the estate sale I paid for and took out to my truck in small groups…things like the coins I got you can’t leave laying around.

The weather was warm. It was in the upper 60’s when I left but its about 90 now. It was sure nice to find a good only family run sale with cheap prices. Sorry for the smaller pictures of my finds today (blog)…I forgot to post them before I resized them…so…sorry…I quit today around 11:30. I just got tired, hot, and wasn’t seeing much…

Here is the run down

Picture #1

Penn Senator 10/0 Reel $40 It comes in its box…and for those wondering…40 is a steal! It should sell for 150++ easily!
Umco Green 100U tackle box $5 Its empty…or it will be when i empty the old weights out of it. No bad no lures to go with it. But it another item that will sell good! The green Umco boxes are your friend!

Picture #2

Old lantern $1 From the estate sale…flea market junk…
2 vintage horse riding whips/crops $1ea Again from the estate sale.
Advertising thermometer for Directional drilling in Alaska $1 got it from the estate sale…keeper…you know its a good Alaska thermometer when it goes to neg. 80 F
Native American style spear $3 from estate sale…its look like a 60/60’s tourist trade store item…beads deer hide…
2 small Stanley planes $1 flea market stuff
brass Plomb bob $1 see above
Set of brass keys $1 from the estate sale. It looks like Jailor keys…kinda cool…
Heisey ice bucket $1 Nice piece of pink flamingo Heisey…its not in the glass picture because it tried to hide out with the tools…don’t you hate it when the Heisey run off?

Picture #3

Very dirty but really cool Hamms Neon sign $5 From the estate sale. This will be a good seller!! As you can see it works and it vintage!  I really have high hopes for this sign!

Picture #4

Coins! $50 Complete mint sets 1966-2006 both mints with state quarters….its from the postal commemorative society…I got them from the estate sale. They paid $36 per page/year! Now to those of you playing at home…yes the face vale on those coins is well over 100…so I could break up the sets and make money. When I asked and was quoted $50 I responded per book? And they said no! I felt like I was pulling off one of those trades you try on kids…you know I’ll give you this bright shiny penny for that old wrinkley $1 bill! Talk about an are they insane?? I asked if they had any more coins…and was told :::warning coin collectors stop reading here…you will cry…don’t say I didn’t warn::: “He collected a lot of coins but the rest of them we took down to the coinstar machine at Ralph’s and cashed in yesterday” So I think that says it all…

picture #5

Old painting that was in the garage $2 From the estate sale. Its signed on the back “1911 Painted by Emma B Olson $25″ It looks interesting and comes complete with cobwebs and vintage spider bodies still attached!  Maybe its worth a lot and I can retire and move to Fiji with Earlybird!

Picture #6

Murano glass decanter set $2 Nice set…with sticker still attached…good vintage Murano…
Decanters/cruets $1 for them all…from a garage sale with some nice glass…good prices too…
Fenton Bell $1 It sure is nice to see some Fenton again…
Fenton hobnail toothpick 25cents
Pressed glass perfume 25cents these always sell good!
Blenko Decanter $2 Nice amberina piece…good find there
Blue moon and stars covered candy $5 That thing is huge…never seen one that size…I hope the flea market buyers like it!
3 of the Bendel “love Bug” hugging pepper shakers $1 The small one lost his mate…oh well the large ones should sell good!
Fenton handpainted bird $1
Dalmatian dog shaker 25cents I can’t remember why I got this…
purple stretch glass candy dish $1 Its very dirty…but should clean up nice
Westmoreland ruffled milk glass candy compote $1 I know it looks like Fenton in the picture…but its the Westmoreland paneled grape…complete with the “WG” mark on the bottom.

That’s it for today. I think I did pretty good…what do you think??

finds for today

Same old same old. By now you guys/gals just about write the first few lines for me. I was up and out by 5:30. To my first estate sale before 6. They opened at about 6:40 and had very little to show for my efforts until I got to the last shelf in the garage and bingo…set of gauges. From there I went back into the house and started to dig through the box marked 25 cents each. They had about 200 pieces of silverplate flatware. But mixed in was 9 pieces of sterling. I left there a few minutes before 7am and started on the garage sale hunt. I saw a fair amount of sales. Not as many as last week. But I think I found better items then last week also!

Weather was great again. overcast and upper 60’s in the morning and its sunny and 81 outside right now. I quit around 12noon today. I tried to bring my camera up to more sales this week. Unfortunately I didn’t see any really overpriced items to take a picture of! But I did see something odd….can someone tell me what the creature is in the last picture? It looks like what happens if you were to cross a roster and a porcupine. Also if you look closely in one of the picture you can see the Fostoria stems I got sitting out just waiting for me!

I got some really good deals today. We all know I find some good prices. But today was just wow…that’s all you want? Really?? The only problem was no Fenton…3 of the last 4 weeks…no Fenton. What’s happening to me??

Here is the rundown on that I got today.

Picture #1

Milk glass cake stand w/ brandy well $3 I’m not sure of the pattern or the maker on this one (I know what’s the world coming to?). Its a heavy thick quality piece. My first thought was Kemple…but after I got home and unpacked it for the picture I’m having doubts.
Fostoria American Wine and Champagne stems $2 That is 2 for all of them…not per set. Not a bad collection of Fostoria…and you can’t beat the price. Even though American has been hit hard in the “glass crash” it still sells…
Calif. pottery apple dish $1 I think its for nuts…its a nice flea market item
Imperial hobnail creamer and sugar $1 Imperial didn’t make much hobnail…to bad the price doesn’t reflect the scarcity!

Picture #2

Conn Vintage? Guitar in case $5 Its in nice shape…not something I normally buy…but its in excellent condition…for that price you’d have to be insane not to grab it!
Box of Christmas $1 Got some nice ones in there!
tray 50cents I got the pitcher and tumblers already…now I have the tray!

Picture #3

2 boxes full of vintage cards 1.50 I only have one box shown in the picture. Some cool 50’s and 60’s ones in there. For all different occasions! I asked how much and was told $1 a box or 1.50 for both…also included was a stack of vintage wrapping paper. Probably someplace around 3-400 cards total! I have a small sample shown in the picture so you can get an idea.

Picture #4

Harry potter books 50cents each I’ve never been a fan…but maybe I’ll try reading them…or just toss them up on line.
Sterling silver spoons/fork 25cents each Not a bad find…I’ll pay that price for sterling all day long.
Vintage set of airplane gauges $5 I’m very happy with this find. I think its the exact same style altitude gauge I sold back in Feb for over 100….add in the Waltham clock (working!) and the compass…and it makes my morning!

Now I’m going swimming!

Another warm summer day here in southern California. Its right about 90 out now (feels much worse). I was up and out of the house early again and at my first sale by 6am. I went around to a few estate sales first thing. I was able to find a few interesting things at those…including a confederate flag (money a few weeks ago…now a flag…did I move to Georgia?…its humid enough today). After the estate sales first thing I wondeed from garage sale to yard sale to moving sale until around 11 when I quit. Some people were starting to pack up…and I was tired…some days there just isn’t enough caffeine.

Lots more sales out this week. Check the pictures to see proof of that (also another foot picture…but as a bonus I threw in a blurry index finger!)! I saw one sale who was very overpriced today. I got to say one thing for the professional estate sale sellers…they might overprice things but at least their not stupid about it (well for the most part their not!). But I saw a watt mixing bowl today that had a nice chip out of it plus a crack priced at $40. Right next to a made in Hong Kong knock off railroad lantern for $175. All it tells me is I need to bring my camera up to all the sales just for cases like this!

You’ll see in my pictures for the last few weeks that I’ve been trying to branch out a bit more and buy different stuff. Hence the quilt books and the radio.  So far its been working okay….plus its not like I pay much for anything. But see what a few week with no Fenton will do to me?

Picture #1

Group of lefton angels $1 Nice flea market items…these seem to be a strong seller.
2 tier eapg? tidbit $1 It looked interesting…and for a buck…why not? I’m not sure its that old however(Probably 50/60’s).
carnival glass creamer and sugar $2 Nice flea market set…
Etched footed creamer 25cents Fostoria, Cambridge, one of those…I need to look up the pattern…
Little Bo peep wall plaque 50cents Unmarked…but looks cool. To bad she really did lose her sheep!
Fenton (finally!) perfume $1 it counts as Fenton…but it still doesn’t sell for very much. But I was just happy enough to find some!
Spode Christmas tree cup and saucer $2 I’m really stocking up on this…I’m going to have tons come Christmas!
Imperial milk glass bud vase 25cents Marked imperial (I over G) not a bad flea market item.

Picture #2

Modern magazine holder $1 They thought it was a trash can when I got it at the yardsale…But even I know better then that…I think…right?
The 2 empire Santa’s imprisoned in the magazine holder $1 From the same sale as the modern…it made a nice fit. It will all make for some nice flea market stuff!
box of stamps $5 Bunch of them in there…not a bad little set…
4 quilters folders $5 Flea market? Ebay? I’m not sure yet…

Picture #3

Hawkeye picnic basket $5 With its original service pieces…looks never used. Its big so I’m not sure about ebay…should make for a good flea market item?

Picture #4

sansui receiver setup $15 It has a 700 receiver, a 770r tape deck, and a L50 turntable. All with manuals its excellent condition. I need to find some speakers to test it. But it looked cool to me. Plus the price was right!
HO scale train bridge FREE with purchase of the stereo
MAC tools feeler gauge $1 Nice little set…
Ice tongs these were found in my car from last week…I swore That ice bucket came with tongs…But I couldn’t find them in the box when I got home…I guess they fell on the floor before I wrapped the bucket and today they finally rolled out! I guess that’s one good thing about the cyclist I almost ran over because he didn’t feel like stopping at the red light!

Picture #5

3rd flag of the confederacy $10 Estate sale find…I thought it was interesting…seller said his dad was from Missouri. But had no idea where it came from or that it was even in the house before today. Its silk…appears to have some age. And whoever made it can’t stitch a straight line to save their life! Interesting piece…

Late late late!

Sorry for the late post. I’ve been busy busy this weekend. Plus the sales were pretty slow for me overall. But I didn’t expect a whole lot this weekend. It was a holiday weekend after all. Plus I didn’t see any ads in the paper for estate sales (that I wanted to go to). So you add all that up and it equals a slow weekend. But such is the nature of the beast I guess.

The weather was warm…you know its bad when you get in the truck at 6am and turn it on…the air comes on and you reach to turn it off. Then stop yourself and figure that’s not a bad idea having the air on! I spent the day going from yardsale to yardsale for not to much. I need to find another good old family run estate sale where I fill my truck. Its been a few long months. Plus its been 2 long weeks with no Fenton! But who knows what next saturday will bring! Lets at least hope it brings some Fenton!

Here is what this Saturday brought…

Picture #1

Cambridge Caprice Ice bucket $2 Nice ice bucket good price…popular pattern = easy $20
40’s hocking ball style tomato juice pitcher $1 Nice pitcher…should be an easy sale!
Match book collection $3 It won’t make you rich…but its worth picking up when you see them cheap!

Picture #2

AC Plugs $20 for them all signed by the maker. From the early 90’s…they ended up mass producing them (still are) later. But these are the original early ones. Nice swim baits…I might sell a few on ebay but most of them I will keep.

Picture #3

Atari 5200 $5 With games and console…not a bad set for $5
Milk Glass compote 50cents They told me to make an offer…so I did!
2 60’s? ash trays $1 These are interesting…vintage drug company advertising ashtrays for the drug triavil…made of glass. you know its vintage when you see an advertising ashtray from a pharmaceutical company!

Another one bites the dust….

At least the this is going to be a pain to ship thoughts are done with. I was washing my punch bowl I got last week and smacked it on the faucet and now it has a nice chip. Now I like to think it was just an accident. But maybe my subconscious stepped in and took care of it for me? This ups my total to I believe 4 on the list of items I have broke while washing. I’ve dropped boxes at antique shows and broke a few pieces that way…or unwrapped at the flea to find something broken once or twice. I’ve probably lost 3-400 retail on breakage over the year. And that’s not a bad total all things considered. I deal in a lot of glass…

I could sell it as-is…but its heavy (about 8lbs) and I don’t think the shipping would make it worth while. So I’ll just take the cups and ladle out and hope someone on ebay needs a few replacement cups and maybe someone broke their plastic ladle over the years? Its not like I have much to lose anyway…I only paid $1 for the whole set. Plus I didn’t have to go and sweep it up the floor after. That’s always insult to injury!