A Real Estate Sale

recent Estate Sale acquisitions

I consider the attendance at an Estate Sale, a real, true Estate Sale an honor.  It's a moving thing, in a very good way, to go into these homes and find, in this total stranger's house,  a shared love of similar things you then can't live without.  And you make that thing live on.  This is the way I see it.

I also happen to pick up some seemingly strange, most definitely tiny, things.  So, it's pretty focused, pretty intense.  I'm searching through each and every box, rarely passing over anything with just a glance. 

Something that doesn't happen often, but can really throw you off your game, whether it be at an Estate Sale or a Flea Market, is a family that decides it's okay to bring their kids and let them loose.  Ugh.  This is NOT okay.  I'm in the process of digging through 60 to 80 year old stuff here, kid, pushing away cobwebs and brushing off mold in some cases,  and I don't need to hear your high pitched voice screeching "IIIIMM BOOOORED!" And then picking up objects unknown to your simple eye and shouting out "WHAT THE HECK IS THIS DAAAAD?!"  You know what that is, kid?  That's something your generation will never understand, something your generation has deemed unimportant, unnecessary!  But that, kid, is a label maker and a really sweet one at that!  And that is a hole punch, and that is an encyclopedia, and that is a wood lathe, you might not wanna mess with that... on the other hand, where's your dad again?

It's not just a sale for me.  I'm more than interested in knowing who lived there before and will do some reconnaissance of my own before I start asking questions.  Often, a seller doesn't know the history of the home or the specific item, but I was lucky this time:  A nurse who works in the neighborhood was there and gave me the whole story of the family.  B. lived to 92 years old and passed away about two months ago.  She and her husband had two kids, a boy and a girl, and had lived in that house for ages.  The nurse had nothing but good things to say about the family and that always feels good.  I left the Estate Sale that day and headed to another, on a roll with good stuff and positive vibes...