freshvintage

Barn Sale Bounty

A few weeks ago, I went to the moving sale of a woman who used to have frequent antique sales on her property near Media, PA. As soon as I walked into her barn, I couldn't stop smiling. If I had a bigger SUV, I would have bought it all. Everything was just my style, and the prices just couldn't be beat. I am just sorry that she is leaving the business, or else I would continue to buy from her!

These were the first two things I fell in love with (and the only large pieces that would fit in my car) -  a waist-high wooden cubby shelf thingy and a tall flower display cart.

Can't you picture it on a street corner overflowing with colorful flowers? (I assume it was made for flowers or plants. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know.)

It has wooden wheels and six shelves, each smaller than the next. It is sitting on my front porch right now, but I plan to sell it at our next sale (which is yet to be determined).

I might add a beadboard back to the shabby aqua cubbies.

This sale didn't stop at the barn. Her garage and the first floor of her home were filled with the kind of vintage goodness that you typically read about on my blog. But cheaper and better than any yard sale I've ever been to.

This pink & white bedspread was three bucks. I found the piece of fabric at the bottom of a box of aprons that I bought. The colors are a little reminiscent of Cath Kidston, no?

I have enough antique lace and vintage trim to circle the globe twice.

Here's a box of colorful vintage embroidered trim. Three bucks.

... and a box of 130 assorted rhinestone buttons. Five bucks.

...and a box of 26 vintage aprons. Three bucks.

There were a few Christmas aprons in the mix:

And a few embroidered ones:

I couldn't resist buying a box of vintage baby clothes for two dollars. I am like a meth addict. I need to be on Celebrity Junk Rehab with Dr. Drew, where I talk about my tragic yard-sale-filled childhood and why I hoard  antiques in an effort to guarantee love and affection from my mother because she had five kids in five years and it is the only way to get her attention.

Or something like that. Anyway, here are some totally cute baby dresses and knitted sweaters:

All told, I paid about one hundred dollars for everything in this post, the bulk of which obviously went towards the big pieces.

BUT - finding all of this fabulous vintage stuff wasn't even the best part of the sale. I know....what the hell could possibly have been better than finding all of this cool stuff?

Well, when one of the lovely girls who was working there noticed that I was buying so much stuff, she asked me what I was going to do with it. I told her that I am a dealer, and I also write about my junk on my blog. I handed her my card.

She looked at it and said, "I think I've read your blog. Didn't you write about...". And then she pointed to her nether region. I knew immediately that she was referring to our most beloved family heirloom: my grandfather-in-law's Peter Heater. 

"Yes! That's me!"

I am officially famous now, and I have a crocheted cock sock to thank for it.

Jam, Eggs, Majorettes and Hillbillies

I am so far behind in sharing my finds. I've been rolling around in the $260 of virtual paypal money that I scored from those Batman Legos on eBay. It was less than my original estimate, but you will not hear me complaining. Instead of buying Finn a new set of (cheaper) Legos or a Nintendo DS game, we agreed that a subscription to the Lego Brickmasters club would be an excellent idea. For $39.99 plus shipping, he gets a new "exclusive" Lego set every two months for a year. Now we are all happy! (And a little richer.)

Anyway, here are some finds from a few weeks ago. My big bargain that day was the 4 antique yellow egg baskets that I practically stole for two dollars.

The little blue book is a reader called Terry and Billy. It has the sweetest illustrations in it - particularly of the furniture. I mean, c'mon...kids are cute, but black painted chairs and matching twin beds are waaaay cuter.

Here is one of a birthday party in the dining room:

And one of the children's bedroom:

This wooden shelf was a store display for M. Polaner Jellies & Preserves, which was just a small-ish family business before it was bought out by a big company in the 80s. What a cool way to show off a little collection.

I found another one of these orange McCoy pitchers. I already have the same exact one on a shelf in my kitchen (you can see it in one of the photos in this post). And this is my favorite: a jadite scalloped flower pot by Fire King.

It is filled with mini ornaments, with some shapes that I've never seen before.

Everything in the first photo is sitting atop this chippy white bench, which is now occupying my front porch.

If you have a wonderful mother-in-law like I do, then you would be used to receiving random packages of vintage goodies in the mail. Like a big envelope filled with vintage dress forms from the 1940s & 1950s. Including a majorette pattern.

I know...adorable!

 

I found this 1890 ironstone platter at a very scary garage sale for a buck. Picture the 175-year-old stone house from Marley & Me filled with hillbillies selling an inordinate amount of bedside commodes. Do you have that image in your head? Good. Now add a pit bull.

When I walked into the garage, I repeatedly looked behind me to make sure that no one was sneaking up with a sharpened hedge clipper.

P.S. The house used in Marley & Me is ten minutes from the scary yard sale house.

 

Click with the Crowd

Summer was a dud for me when it came to junking, but things are slowly starting to turn around.

I found these two pairs of vintage sunglasses at a yard sale in Brigantine, NJ (the beach town where my dad lives). I was shocked to find them. I never find cool vintage stuff at yard sales in Brigantine. They are  usually rife with pink and gray seashell-themed artwork from the eighties.

I never thought I'd find a fire company souvenir glass so appealing. The fact that I paid a quarter didn't hurt. It is a Hazel Atlas milk glass tumbler with an image of roses. It is from a local fire company in Media, PA.

Here's an aqua Whitman's tin with a quilted pattern. And a little rust, but I don't mind - Whitman's was a Philadelphia candy company that's been around since 1842 (before it was bought by Russell Stover).

This is a little handmade booklet about the size of an autograph book. "Memory Verses" is handwritten on the cover. The creator cut out verses and pasted them onto each page of the book. Many of the pictures feature children, which is why it caught my eye.

I bought two other advertising booklets at the same yard sale: Click with the Crowd and As One Girl to Another, both from the 1940s.

Any guess as to the topic covered in As One Girl to Another? 

If you guessed Aunt Flo, you are absolutely right! It is essentially one big ad for Kotex. My mom always referred to every brand of pad as Kotex, no matter what it said on the box.

When each of my three sisters and I first "got the pip", my mom read the Period. book with us. I remember being so afraid of her ginormous flapping sanitary napkins and accompanying elastic belt with the clips. I think she used that belt much longer than she needed to. Long after the invention of the sticky maxi-pad.

I'm sure she will contest that fact in the comments below, but don't believe her. She lies.

The other booklet, Click with the Crowd, sponsored by Mum deodorant, offers oh-so-helpful tips on making friends. Mostly by not stinking. And making sure your girdle is washed.

I scanned this invaluable six-page document into PDF format for you. Please - if you care about your daughters at all - share it with them as they return to school and endeavor to make new friends. It contains vital information, like "Use a deodorant between your toes and on sanitary napkins" [pg. 3] and "It's a good habit to shampoo your hair once every ten days" [pg. 2].

You can thank me later!

Fill It Up for Five Bucks

A few weeks ago, I visited a antiques sale inside a huge warehouse. On the first day of the sale, I bought the enormous 1906 Webster's Dictionary and a breadbox with a glass knob. I spotted a few other things I liked, but they were priced a little higher than I was willing to pay. 

I returned the next day and discovered that I could fill a big shopping bag with anything that would fit in it for five bucks. They were really trying to get rid of everything.

Guess what? Both of these fans fit into one bag! Or at least the nice woman running the sale said that we could pretend they did. We didn't actually try it. They were priced at $10 each the previous day (which is still a good deal). Everything else in this post fit into another bag. All told, I spent $15 for the breadbox and dictionary on the first day of the sale, and another $10 for two bags of stuff on the second day.

The back of the dictionary has a reference to all of the illustrations found throughout the book.

This long metal container once stored old maps or artwork. I threw this into my $5 bag.

The old photo and Amish bonnet went into my $5 bag as well.

These 8x10 band leader photos from Washington, D.C. went in there, too:

As did the postcard packs from San Francisco:

And the stack of Wee Wisdom and Jack & Jill magazines from the 1940's:

Some of my purchases have already been put to good use. The breadbox can now be found on my kitchen counter. It looks like someone sanded all of the paint off of it, so it is nice and shiny now. I love the way it blends in with our stainless steel appliances.

No, I'm not using it to hide wine. Just bread.

And the Amish bonnet is the newest addition to the dress-up box in the kid's play room.

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To my American readers, I hope you have an enjoyable Fourth of July weekend!  My mom has an extra-special Famous Friday post to celebrate the holiday.

Video Vintage Finds: Dress Patterns & A Pink Beer Cooler!

You have a choice this week: my vintage finds on video...

freshvintage: vintage finds 23 Jan 2009 from colleen allison on Vimeo.

Or my vintage finds in photos:

Nearly everything is from the same Villanova estate sale that Dona from Antekin wrote about on her blog a few days ago. I didn't get there until Saturday, when everything was 50% off.

The sewing patterns were for sale individually, but I got a great deal when I offered to take all 100+ of them for $15. (Actually, I only thought there were about 40 of them when I offered to take them all). I should make at least $100 when I sell these on eBay as one big lot.

Little girl patterns...

 

Maternity patterns...

The quilt was a thrift store find on the way home from the estate sale. I like the pattern and colors, even though the fabric is pretty worn in some spots. If you enlarge the photo, you can see the plaid blanket that was used instead of batting:

Here's an aqua & white checkered apron, pink plastic child hangers, Dolly Goes Round the World book, and brown pom-pom fringe...

The 1962 pink Coleman ice chest was the first thing I picked up at the estate sale. I arrived at the sale on the third day and the house was packed with people. When I saw the cooler, I asked the same questions I always ask myself: Why hasn't anyone bought this totally awesome pink cooler for five bucks? What the hell is wrong with it? Is it so hideously ugly that no one else even looked twice at it? Does it smell like dead bodies inside?

I found it in the garage with a big kerosene heater sitting on top of it. Maybe no one else noticed it. Maybe it is just my dumb luck.

I never thought I could say "I love you" to an ice chest. But I am saying it: I love you, pink ice chest. And I love the inner tray that your previous owner didn't lose or break. I love that I am having a Tupperware* party on Friday night with all of my neighborhood girlfriends, and you will keep all of our beer and white wine bottles nice and chilly.

 

*And when I say Tupperware party, I really mean a different type of home party that I can't really discuss on this blog for fear of getting five hundred more hate mails. We'll just leave it at that. Use your imagination.

Speaking of hate mail, check out my other blog, freshblogtips.com, where I have just revealed the subject of my email. It wasn't the Baby Jesus after all!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

It was one of those jackpot weekends. I haven't had too many lately, but it came just in time for the Antiques at Kimberton show next weekend. Everything pictured will be for sale at the show. I really want to keep it all for myself, but we are going to Portland, OR and Yakima, WA in a few weeks to visit my in-laws and I need to earn some vacation money. I'm hoping that some of those super-duper Pacific Northwest wineries will be open during the Thanksgiving break (that's why I need all that spending money). Aside from antiquing, wine-tasting is one of my favorite hobbies. Did you notice that I refer to my love of wine as a "hobby" rather than an "addiction". Wine-hobbyist sounds so much better than alcoholic.

 

Isn't this hand-painted tole tray beautiful? The woman who sold it to me told me that it was painted by her mother's friend, who was from Nutley, NJ. You know who grew up there, right?

 

At the same yard sale where I bought the green chippy server/hall table and tole tray, I also bought a box of old paper stuff. I didn't have a chance to look through all of it while I was at the sale - but I saw some cool old photos and postcards on the top of the pile, and that was all I needed to see. I found this in the box as well: a tiny water-color painting on cardboard...

 

Postcards from all over Europe: Monte Carlo, The Netherlands, Milan, Pompeii, Venice, Paris...

 

Sunday School Bible cards:

 

This is my favorite find from the box: a large photo of a school play or pageant:

 

I found this silver frame at the bottom of the box.

 

And here's a close-up of the server. It might be a little too rustic for some people (my father-in-law), but I love it.

 

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Thanks to Vicki from Turkey Feathers for asking me to "share the love" and write six things that I am loving right now. Vicki makes such beautiful things. Her blog was one of a few that inspired me to start my own. She just published her own book called Blanket Statement: One thrifted wool blanket repurposed into 40+ projects. It's like the crafty version of the loaves and fishes story.

So, on to my current favorite things:

1. Trueblood on HBO. I never thought I'd ever have a reason to type these words, but here I go: that  vampire named Bill is so hot. Also - the first episode of Summer Heights High aired last night. Absolutely hysterical. Reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Waiting for Guffman.

2. Playing Word Challenge on Facebook. My mom also plays, but she has the unfair advantage of playing Boggle while she sits on the toilet everyday for the past 20 years of her life. Therefore, it is humanly impossible to beat her at any word game ever. But I will keep trying.

3. Rachel "Shabby Chic" Ashwell's new-ish blog. It is obvious that she puts a lot of time into each post that she writes. I especially enjoyed the post about her visits to England and Texas.

4. Everything in the Papier Valise boutique.

5. Wine Library TV with Gary Vaynerchuk. His site has over 500 videos of him doing the most passionate wine-tastings known to man. For a quick taste of his style, watch the national appearances on the right side of his blog, or this video.

6. The costumes that Chris and I wore to our neighbor's Halloween party:

Piano Lessons, Ironstone & Moblogging

Look who it is...St. Cecilia! The patron saint of little children who were forced to take piano lessons for six years despite the fact that they sorely lacked talent and were deathly afraid of their teacher! Gotta love her!

I don't know what my parents were thinking when they made all five of us take piano lessons for years. To this day, none of us have a musical bone in our body (one exception: Erin can sing). I have our damn family piano in my house right now, and I still don't play. I think of it more as a torture device than a musical instrument. And Maeve must think of it as a big coloring book, since she "colored in" the white keys with red crayon last year (thank God for Magic Erasers).

I found this framed print of the dear saint at a Delaware yard sale. I assumed that the homeowners were dealers because of all of the antiques they were selling. After we started chatting, I learned that everything for sale once belonged to their long-gone relatives. This print hung in the home of her great-aunt, who was born in the late 1800's. I wonder if she was forced to take piano lessons, too. And if she wrote in her little notebook that she practiced 30 minutes every day, even though it was obvious that she never even touched the piano all week. And I wonder if her teacher would say, "why do you lie to me and say that you practiced when I can see that you haven't even looked at the music?" And then the little girl would start to cry and the teacher would give her back her money, and send her home in shame.

Sorry - I got off track. Let's get back to that yard sale. This huge ironstone platter belonged to the homeowner's great-grandmother (around 1850). My sister, Erin, just started collecting ironstone dishes and platters, so I can't get away with keeping this one for myself. That would be mean of me. Which would be apropos as Erin has, on several occasions, referred to me as Collmean. My nickname for her is O.S.  - Overly Sensitive. It isn't the most creative nickname, but I sure do get a reaction out of her when I say those two letters.

This platter is for you, O.S.!

Hugs & kisses,
Collmean

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Now, on to someone who I would not classify as overly sensitive: my blogging friend, Sue from Vintage Rescue Squad. She is trekking up to PA from DC for the Renninger's Antiques Extravaganza this weekend. This will be our second meeting - our first was when my sisters and I sold our vintage finds at Renninger's in Kutztown in September 2007.

I'll meet her on Sunday in Adamstown for some junk-hunting, political trash-talking, and maybe even some moblogging. Yes, I said moblogging. As in mobile blogging. As in taking pictures with my phone and sending them directly to my blog.

So, come back here on Sunday morning for some grainy photos and fat-fingered texts from Shupp's Grove and Renninger's in Adamstown. Not to be missed!  And if the moblogging doesn't work out, Sue and I will certainly be blogging about it the old-fashioned way.

Will anyone else be in Adamstown on Sunday? Let me know and we can arrange a meet-up. 

P.S. Go read the story of St. Cecilia. That shit is crazy.

Craigslist Bait & Switch

Before I share some vintage finds, I'd like to thank my personal shoe buyer, Jenny, from Yard Sale Bloodbath for leaving this comment on my last post:

OK, this is blowing my mind. I was doing my usual thing, going through yard sale listings on Craigslist for Seattle and look at this:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/gms/733884541.html

I KNOW THOSE DRESSES! (Because I was thinking that I should comment that it's a shame no drag queens came to your sale, or they would have been gone in a flash ...)

Apparently this person thought they were so compelling that they decided to use your photo in their ad. If I make it over there tomorrow I will attempt to find out what the heck they were thinking! Too strange!!

They actually used three photos from my blog. Think of all of the disappointed people who will walk away empty-handed. They only went to the yard sale for the sequins dresses, pin-the-tail on the donkey game and an old adding machine.

If anyone is near Ballard today, go to the yard sale and bust their balls, please.

Now, on to the twenty bucks worth of stuff that I bought at Goodeals and one yard sale on the way to my mom's yard sale last Saturday...

Set of 8 Pyrex mugs with creamer and lidded sugar bowl. This is the Summer Impressions pattern in Honeydew (aka lime green).  That's a Marx tin dollhouse in the background.

A little framed print, rectangular metal floral frog, small gray planter and a cardboard sign that says "Abide in Me". Anyone know anything about this sign?

I also found two sewing cabinet drawers and a BIG box of Shiny Brite ornaments. Here's a just a few of them:

 

Another fan. Are you sick of them yet? 

By the way, Erin and I will be shopping at Renninger's in Adamstown tomorrow (Sunday, Jun 29). Is anyone else planning to go?  Send me an email, and maybe we can get together. We're thinking about selling there in September, so we are going to scope it out.

Yard Sale Cotillion

My mom had a yard sale on Saturday. Read about the sale she had a few years ago, if you want to know how she rolls.

These pageant dresses hanging from tree branches are the "Open for Business" flags to let everyone know that the sale has started. My mom has been trying to get rid of them for years.

She was selling four-daughters-worth of prom, sorority, cotillion and semi-formal dresses. Every one more hideous than the next. Velvet, iridescent, tulle, plaid, lace. You name it - we had it. We even found my sister Megan's dress that still had a faint vomit stain down the front. Poor girl must have had a stomach virus that night. Or maybe it was too much Zima in her hairspray bottle.

These two are my sister Erin's pageant/prom dresses. I am proud to say that she was Miss Brigantine second runner-up in 1990. She clinched it with her performance of Honey Bun from South Pacific. I can't even begin to tell you how pissed off she is going to be that I just wrote the last two sentences. (Don't tell her that I found an audio tape of her singing Honey Bun strewn among piles of Sheena Easton and Boy George cassettes at the yard sale. I'm in the process of converting it to MP3 to share with everyone.)

(Don't worry - these ended up going home with Erin. She'll pass them down to her oh-so-lucky daughter.)

Erin may be known for belting out showtunes, but my mom is known for her fake plants. And trees. My sister told me that this sea of silky plants was twice this size before I arrived. We were all so proud of her when she decided to sell them. It is such a big step for a fake plant addict.

Our kids don't mess around when it comes to selling lemonade. That damn tip jar had ten bucks in it by the end of the day.

Remember my brother-in-law, Doug (Erin's husband)? He has a history of dressing up at my mom's yard sales. Saturday was no exception. 

I don't remember this type of clothing ever being in style, but my mom and sister wore it proudly in the 80's. And now Doug continues the tradition...

 

My mom was selling these empty wine carafes for fifty cents. She became irate when I told her that I was throwing them away. "Put them on the FREE blanket. Someone might want them." I need some backup here, readers. Do people really save these? I swear - I won't judge you if you do save them (well, maybe a little). I just need a second opinion.

Chris' Last Clothing Gift Ever

I had my very own yard sale today, along with a few other families in our neighborhood. I forgot what a pain in the ass it is to get organized. And then deal with the hagglers who make a big pile of stuff and then ask to pay half price. At 8am. I had to say more than once "Nope, sorry. Someone else will come along in the next few hours and buy it at full price". With a big passive-aggressive grin on my face.

I didn't put any of my vintage stuff out, because I wanted to focus on getting rid of toys, kids clothes and home decor stuff.

Chris dug through our closet and found a huge pile of clothes that he no longer wears. Fifty cents each. I was happy that he was getting rid of them, until I noticed a woman holding a pair of his Banana Republic pants.  After she bought them, I asked him why the hell he was selling those pants, when they were only a couple of years old and they weren't cheap (although we probably bought them at the BR Outlet).  "They are missing a button."

Then I spotted a really nice Gap sweater that I had given him for Christmas a few years ago:

I love this sweater. He wore it once (as implicitly obligated), but today declared it "too metrosexual".  He probably should have told me that when I bought it for him, so I could have returned it and used the money to buy something for myself.

The sweater didn't sell - even at fifty cents. So maybe he was right.