The REAL ultimate yard sale

Last weekend I went to what was purported to be "The Ultimate Yard Sale."  It turned out to be a  bit of what some people refer to as a "cluster f*ck."

This weekend, Mr. Northstarvintage and I went to what was truly The Ultimate Yard Sale.   The yard sale that  dreams are made of.  The yard sale that Mr. NSV and I will be talking about at the nursing home.  It was one of the fabled "old lady who never threw out anything" yard sales.  And her nieces, who were holding the sale, just wanted to get rid of it all, so most things were about 25 cents.  Plus, we pretty much had the sale to ourselves, and they let us dig through the boxes as they brought them out.

When I die and go to heaven (knock on wood) it will be like this yard sale (or the perfect motorcycle ride).

We filled the car, and could have filled it again, had we not just had a yard sale.  I had to leave so much cool stuff behind.  But here are a few things

10 place settings of Red Wing pottery in a very cool mid-century modern pattern.  And about 30 matching 60's glasses.  I've been trying to find the name of the pattern, but no luck.  This is our new dinnerware.

Closeup of the dinnerware.

1950's L'il Abner bank, elf head with removable cap/lid, needlenose pliers, pair of tall ceramic Christmas cats, labeled "Fran" and "Lou" on the back (that made me sad), Don Ho cocktail glass (for our collection), red/white enamel measuring pourer, metal/chrome cannister for straws (?)

This was about half of what we found.  It was a very good day

Ultimate Yard Sale

It was supposed to be the "Ultimate Yard Sale" but perhaps they advertised it too well.  It was packed.  Too packed to see anything without fighting throngs of  attendees.  At one point I was surrounded on every side by people, and the only escape involved climbing over a box of books.

I found two things.  A box of approximately 300 circa 1990 masks including one of the  Super  Mario Brothers and these two Dick Tracy villians

Yeesh.

My second find is probably my new favorite thing - this insane poster sized woodprint "stamp."

 

The details are amazing:

I like to think this is Geddy Lee:

So I guess it was worth it.

Craphound

I am genetically suited for this job. My mother was a SERIOUS shopper. My father is an antiques dealer. They were both partial to keeping things. I prefer getting rid of things (and making money from them if at all possible!).

So this week we here at NSV Corporate Headquarters are getting ready for a yard sale (our third!). I have just spent a hot, dusty, head bumping hour in the attic, trying to pull out stuff to sell. Unfortunately, most of it is unsaleable, because it's all family "heirlooms." Approximately 15 boxes of family heirlooms.

Some of the things I've unearthed:

• All my baby teeth
• The high school graduation diploma of a relative (no idea who) from 1920.
• The receipt for my grandmother's clothing purchases when she was visiting Paris in the 20's
  
• Every card given to my mom after I was born.
• The George Washington costume that my mother made for me in 5th grade
• Approximately 300 Christmas ornaments
• My mother's suitcase
• The pamphlet from my 6th grade graduation

I am touched by my parents' devotion to saving every tiny relic of my existence and family history, clutter makes me anxious. Still, all I can do is put my baby teeth and Christmas ornaments back in the box, to hand down to some other hapless craphound.

I love him.

Hand made wooden Kewpie plant holder? ash tray? peanut dish?

From a yard sale in Western Maine.

The look on his face cracks me up - as if someone just pinched his little bottom.

What I've been doing

We had our bi-annual yard sale here at NorthStar Vintage Corporate Headquarters this week. It was a lot of work - every time I do this I question the wisdom of holding a "cocktail preview" for friends the night before. It does not enhance the experience of waking up and dealing with "early birds."

Still, clearing out is a great feeling, and just being outside makes me happy.

HERE are some pics of the setup. We still have that damn mixing board.

And now back to our regularly scheduled posting and listing.