text: Shopping in the Wild | Second Hand Roses
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  Posted on December 27, 2019	by kathy & deb
  So we promised you a little post on the crazy things we purchased at the Wyoming estate sale a couple of weeks ago. We didn’t take photos of the house, but believe me, it was stuffed to the gills. Some of it was pretty cool, and some of it was just plain crazy. I felt bad that I didn’t get to see the genuine bear skin rug (complete with teeth and claws!), but we did see the real ship’s wheel, and a whole bunch of other loony things. We each bought a few items, and I was naughtier than usual with hubby’s blessing, as you will see.
  First up the budget buster:
  We have been collecting Maxfield Parrish prints for ages, and sadly prices have come way down, but it means hubby and I have been snatching up quite a few we didn’t have. This was still over $100, but for a large size “Dinky Bird” (Max’s title, not mine) it was a good deal. Probably going to try and find an older more authentic-looking frame, as I have nothing to do in my spare time but redo prints. (I also have some Colorado swamp land for you all!)
  This was a weird one:
  I have to apologize for that scary clown mask peeking out from behind the boxed costume. It followed me home with the rest of it. The costume is in remarkable shape for a throwaway item. These are pretty collectible. Imagine my surprise, after thinking that the clown mask was what went with it, to find this hiding inside the box:
  A genuine Droopy dog costume. The mask is a full head cover with eye cutouts. It’s in great condition just like the box. I love Halloween stuff, but don’t collect costumes, so it will be Etsy fodder, but lots of fun. That’s the thing about estate sales. Sometimes in the heat of the moment, you just take a chance, and get rewarded with something better than average, and sometimes you miss the giant chip in the side of something. It all goes along for the ride.
  This fabric just screamed out to made into something:
  I don’t know what I will use it for, though. Of course, I have boxes and boxes of fabric that want to be made into “something”. Oh well, one of these days. Couldn’t resist the pinup magazine. It has lots of pictures of stars from the ’50s and hubby is a sucker for this type of thing. Instant Christmas present. If you are friends with Deb and me, you had better expect second hand items for every birthday, Christmas and just about any occasion in between!
  I also snagged a couple of cute little paper pamphlet style cook books, an adorable cat print, and fun little compact that’s a souvenir of Washington D.C.
  Could you have resisted that cute little cherub in the corner of the Reliable Recipe book? If so, you are a better person than I, and up close the expression on one of those cat’s faces in the print has to be seen to be believed. A couple of books and one more print, that needs work, rounded out my purchases. I wanted to go back the last day to hit it up for half price, but Deb didn’t feel well, so we saved each other from ourselves!
  Deb here and yes, I saved us from ourselves by not feeling up to an hour-long car ride plus shopping. It would have been interesting to see what was left. We were in the basement and saw three jukeboxes, two that were Wurlitzers! This sale had it all, and then some.
  Well, the first thing I picked up turned out to come with a story:
  This was the coolest chrome Art Deco percolator and sugar bowl. I asked with some trepidation how much they wanted for it. The answer of $10 should have raised a few questions, but I was too excited then. I had just lifted the top off and glanced inside to make sure the basket was there, and it was. When I got home, I took the lid off, and then slapped it right back on! Whomever had used the coffee pot previously hadn’t cleaned out the basket and there was some really smelly and gross mold all over. No problem, I thought, I can bleach it and everything will be okay. I went outside to take the basket out and throw the contents in my compost. That’s when I noticed that they hadn’t emptied the leftover coffee out, either. That was a whole ’nother level of gross!
  That coffee went into the compost, also. Then I bleached the inside, and at least things smelled better. I noticed a lot of nastiness in the depression that the pump stem went into. I was trying to scrape stuff out of there, and it occurred to me that maybe the previous owners didn’t EVER clean the coffee pot that well. I tried boiling water, a wire brush, and was thinking about using my Dremel tool with a wire brush. Plus, after messing around trying to clean out that depression, the stem wouldn’t go back in; I must have loosened stuff up. I left the pot on my counter still thinking about what to do, and finally gave it to a friend who absolutely adored it, and was willing to try and get enameled coffee out of that depression. The spigot isn’t working either, and I am afraid to even contemplate what was blocking it. Oh well, my friend is thrilled and I spent $10 on her Christmas present.
  My B.H. was looking for something to carry soap for his workout bag:
  This fun old Niagara Falls souvenir looked perfect. It was astonishingly dirty, which didn’t surprise me at all! Before I started scrubbing it, I looked inside and found a folded piece of paper which turned out to be kind of interesting:
  This is the strangest list of old phone numbers that I have ever found. First, it’s written in fountain pen, and the printing almost looks like a computer font. Then, just look at the entries: FBI, Military Police, Sheriff, Chey. Police, US Secret Service. Why did the maker/owner feel like he had to sign the list instead of printing his name? I wonder what this guy did for a living that he needed these phone numbers in his Niagara Falls tin.
  This was an absolutely wonderful old alarm clock:
  It’s a General Electric clock, and it’s encased in a heavy wooden block. I loved the patina, and it works perfectly. What am I going to do with it? My 40 year old alarm clock appears to be giving up the ghost, so I might have found its replacement.
  I pulled this kid’s hankie out of a bag of doll clothing:
  Bumble meets Jo-Joy’s friends is the title. I’m hoping that the elephant is Bumble, but that sure looks like Santa and some elves, along with a clown (shudder) and circus animals. Oh dear, I looked up “Jo Joy Bumble” and there’s a comic book, Jo-Joy meets Bumble the Elephant Who Couldn’t Remember from 1947. Yikes, the clown in-a-box is Jo-Joy the boy. Well, I’m forgetting all that and imagining that Jo-Joy is one of the elves.
  I bought a couple of pictures. The first one shouldn’t surprise anyone who knows me; I have so many dog things:
  They actually had two versions of this print! I decided on the more expensive option that had the better print and frame. It needs to be taken out, cleaned up, mounted, and reframed, if that is a word. I’ll just throw it on the stack of pictures that are patiently waiting their turn. ( Maybe we could get together and do stacks of prints for a “fun” girls night! )
  The second print looks like a book illustration:
  It’s just so sweet, that I was willing to bring it home and clean it up. I don’t recognize what story it came from, but I have decided it will end up hanging in one of the really tiny open spots left on my walls.
  I’m sure no one is really surprised by any of our treasures. We love going to estate sales because you just never know what you’re going to find!
  This entry was posted in Friday Finds, True Confessions and tagged Cats, Clowns, Cook books, Dogs, Estate Sale, Holidays, Linens, Pictures, prints, Tiny hats. Bookmark the permalink.
  6 Responses to Shopping in the Wild
  Kathy, on the coffeepot—pour a generous amount of baking soda in the pot and then an equal amount of white vinegar—this will bubble and swoosh–when it stops stir and it should swoosh a bit more, you can scrub or push this mixture through the nozzle also—. Multiple applications may be needed, just dump out dry and try again—super for removing burnt anything on anything —-especially burnt popcorn! Plus it should take care of any residual odors. also try plugging it in and just running the hot water through afterwards!
  Love all the prints…!
  Thanks so much for the advice on how to remove that goop. I’ve cleaned lots of old things, this was the worst by far. It was so thick and hard from all the heat and years. I’ll pass this on to my friend that has the coffee pot now.
  I think the ‘phone number list’ is ham radio frequencies.
  You could certainly be right. We were thinking of an internal phone tree; this could be a radio situation, which I’m not familiar with.
  I’m a little late catching up on reading your blog. I love the print of the winter scene in the blue frame and I was curious about it’s origins. I did some searching and found that it is from a famous Swedish picturebook called Elsa Beskow’s Olles Skidfärd (“Ollie’s Ski Trip”) from 1907. Now I think I’ll head over to Amazon to see if I can find an English translation with all of those beautiful pictures. Thanks for keeping all of your readers entertained!
  Dennis–Thank you for identifying the picture for me! That is pretty obscure and I’m not sure I would have been able to find it; it’s much older than I thought. Thank you also for the wonderful compliment; our readers are the reason we are still writing every week! Hugs, Deb
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