I paid $24 for this haul from two estate sales last weekend. I went with Chris and the kids to one of the sales, which is always interesting. They just bounce from room to room, searching for toys and yelling embarrassing comments about the house, the items for sale, the smell..pretty much anything that would cause a mother to hide in a closet for a few minutes.
I don't think this enamel pot was supposed to be for sale. It was sitting on the garage floor, filled with seashells, and I asked the homeowner if she would sell it. I'm glad she said yes. It is BIG. Like boil-an-adolescent-capybara big.
I bought six of these Cannon dishtowels trimmed with orange and blue stripes for two dollars. After doing some research when I got home, I learned that these towels were giveaways with Silver Dust Laundry and Dish Detergent in 1940. They originally came with a little pamphlet called "Ideas for making useful articles with Silver Dust Dish Towels", which included projects for making aprons and baby dresses out of dishtowels.
The aqua 1962 Paymaster checkwriter still works! It looks nice on my desk, but really don't have much use for it. I only bought it because I like the color. Not a good enough reason, according to my husband.At the same sale, I found a pair of these little books filled with sample Letters circa 1886. There is one filled with business-related letters (Dick's Commercial Letter Writer and Book of Business Forms), and one with personal letters (Dick's Common Sense Letters).
Here's one from the Commercial book. This guy is totally pissed off that he didn't get paid for his fruit:
In celebration of Thanksgiving, here's one that sounds like it is straight out of a Jane Austen novel. "Thanksgiving Acceptance by a Bachelor":
And with Thanksgiving comes Christmas. I scored this box of vintage ornaments for one dollar. The one with the pink painted skier is my favorite, even though I hate to ski.
This 1955 Knickerbocker Baby Santa doll was fifty cents. They are selling on eBay for around $30. That's where this one is headed.
The whole baby Santa thing freaks me out. He has a white beard for Christ's sake. HE'S A BABY WITH A BEARD!
Do you think he has white pubic hair under his jolly red suit?
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I hope all of you in the US enjoy your Thanksgiving break. My holiday started on a high note this morning when the woman in front of me at the Starbucks drive-thru PAID FOR MY ORDER! When the Starbucks worker told me that it was paid for, I said "Who was she?" He was all like, "I don't know - I thought she knew you." And I was all like, "No - I don't know her, but definitely I noticed her fancy BMW". He said, "She just told me to tell you 'Happy Thanksgiving!'"
The funny thing is that she probably thought she was only buying one drink, but I had ordered one drink for me, one for Chris and a pumpkin scone. Total: $10.55. She was probably regretting her random act of kindness when she realized that she was feeding a whole family.
Are you out there Starbucks Lady? Can you hear me? I am thankful for you this Thanksgiving!! And I promise to pay it forward, just like Haley Joel Osment!

