The Smell Test....No Really!

There comes a point in preparing to list every item when it’s necessary to determine the value. This is not always an easy chore. The first things to consider are; age, condition, usability, popularity and market availability.  Sounds simple right? Let’s consider the case of:

The Vintage Dominoes.

In the beginning, the Major staked us with a few items he had picked up from various sources. For those that aren’t acquainted with him, the Major is one of those people who makes friends wherever he goes. Needless to say one of his friends is a gentleman who runs an auction house and the Major goes to the auctions weekly.  Among the treasures he gifted to us was a set of dominoes in a leather case. We thought these would be easy…

First, the Middle One tried to find them or a set very close them, online. Often this is a good place to start. If someone else has already done most of the legwork, we use the information as a starting place to do our own verification.  She couldn’t find them. Not. One. Set.  Ok, the name of the company printed on the inside of the leather case. No. Joy.

Hmmmmm….

Coming at the problem from another angle ~ what are they made of? The more information you can list in your search, the more likely you are to find them.  I thought this would be an easy approach. Nope.  I suggested bakelite but the Middle One wasn’t sure. The next thing I know she hands me a domino and says…”rub this with your finger then smell it” 

 

Why?

Seriously would you have done this?  She said that if it gets warm from friction it would smell like formaldehyde. When queried if it did, the Middle One informed me she does not know what formaldehyde smells like.  Ok, next “did we have any 409?”  Sorry 409, Mimi is a Mr Clean kind of girl.  How about rubbing alcohol? Yes, that we have, and the result was positive. But, the Middle One is hard to convince. So on to ~ simichrome ~ seriously, she didn’t expect this one, but I have been around a while.  Picking up the phone I called the Major and verified we should have some in the garage.  

After sixty minutes, (yes, one full hour), and a couple of trips up and down the stairs, and a search under the cabinets, and a couple of Qtips, and both of us working on internet searches, we concluded with reasonable certainty that they are bakelite.  Still, there was no exact match online, even with this piece of information. Now, the Middle One is a bit of a perfectionist and we are both inherently rule followers. The Ladies are not going to post an item without doing as much work as we can and be as sure as possible. This sometimes backfires and we spend hours trying to research and value some incredible little treasure. Still, we’ve set a standard.

In the end, given that they are, with reasonable certainty, bakelite, we can date to mid 1950's or earlier. The condition is very good. A set like this is still definitely usable. While there are quite a few sets online, not all are full sets, not all are in the condition these are and not all have such a nice case. So, she took an average of all that we found online that were close, reduced it a small percentage, haggled with herself for a good 10 minutes more and finally settled on a value.  

All of this for item that needed very little actual cleaning. 

One that we thought would be ‘an easy listing’. 

Who are we kidding?

Testing for Bakelite

1. Friction Test - rub an area of the item with your thumb until it begins to warm up, then smell it. (yes, that's what I said) if it smells like formaldehyde it's most likely bakelite
2. 409 Test - Wet a Qtip or cotton ball with 409, gently rub it on an obscure area of the item, if the Qtip shows a color from pale yellow to nicotine yellow, its bakelite
3. Rubbing Alcohol - Basically the same as the 409 test, but not quite as reliable - test with another method
4. Simichrome Test - Simichrome is a polish used to clean metal and chrome. Put a dab on a small piece of soft cloth and rub a bit on an obscure area of the item, it should turn yellow if the piece is bakelite
** these methods do not necessarily apply if the piece has been lacquered or is  black bakelite

Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful.... So sign up early!

Do you have any idea how cold 43F is, at 8:40am, on a Thursday morning, outside, with the wind blowing??

 It’s very cold. 

It’s “why are we standing out here?” cold. 

It’s “do we really want go to an estate sale….ever again?” cold.

 Now remember, the ladies are in Texas ~ South Central Texas at that.

The sale was scheduled for 9:00, and if we had paid any attention, we might have made it in the door near that time. But it was time for the ladies to learn another lesson. 

There really should be an easier way.

Let’s discuss sign up lists.  Many estate sales have them, especially on the first day. If you aren’t sure, here’s what to do: get your lazy self out of your warm car, walk up to the porch and check.  Alternately, you can send your partner. (Work with what you have, I pled age and family position. After all, I am the mother). This simple act would have saved us a lot of discomfort.  But NO ~ We had to learn by signing up at 12 minutes til, and waiting until 9:35 to get in the door. Oh, if you are wondering, the Middle One secured us numbers 41 & 42, each person has to have their own number. People were taken in three to five at a time. And by the way, they police that door. In fact, at this sale they closed it … in the face of the next person in line.  

A few sales have sign up lists online.  That’s quite nice, but if you put your name on the list, a word of advice. Be there when the doors open. Not being present does not entitle you to stroll up to the porch 40 minutes after opening, nod to those you know, and nonchalantly enter ahead of the patiently waiting crowd. That buyer found the door closed, and when the next group was allowed in, he was informed he should sign in... at the bottom of the list.  

The Ladies can learn from the mistakes of others, too!

As to the reason for sign up lists ~ the first day of the sale can be extremely busy. The dealers, especially, are trying to beat each other to the very best items.  Not the things you bargain for, the treasures that are more rare, more valuable, more sellable. Frequently the estate sale management companies have a limited number of attendants. It's their job to assist either in each room or on each floor... sometimes both. Controlling the initial flow in the door keeps them from being overwhelmed. And no, in general you do not want them to bring more people.  'Estate' is a funny word. In this case it does not refer to a large manor-like property, but more often to a small house filled to the brim with nick-nacks and the bric-a-brac of someone's daily life.  There's not enough space for all the shoppers and a hoard of attendants. The fewer attendants = more shoppers = less time standing in the cold (or heat, as the case may be)  Everyone involved should practice patience...let me repeat that;

Everyone involved should practice patience!

We also learned how to dress for the weather. Granted, we should have known this ahead of time. I did raise the girls better.  My cute unstructured cardigan over a long sleeve v-neck shirt was quite stylish, however, it was not warm. Not even with one of my beloved pashmina's around my neck (more on those another time).  The Middle One was much closer to the right idea, but could also have used another layer. 

But at least, when we ventured out at 8:40 on Saturday morning to hit the last day of that sale, and it was only 40F and raining, we were prepared. Not only that, we were successful at the sale. If nothing else, the ladies are teachable!

The Tale of The $2,000 Piano: When Estate Sales Go Terribly Wrong

What we didn’t know ~ but probably should have ~ is that estate sale listings are something like real estate listings.  We all know that ‘adorable fixer upper’ really means is ‘not horrible from the front, but the ceiling is falling down, its painted violent purple on the inside, and raccoons have nested in the kitchen’.  So ‘too many items for us to be able to tag it all’ and ‘you pick the item and we will give you a price’ should have clued us in.  It didn’t.  We’re still new to this and still wearing slightly rosy glasses, though they are fading slightly.

Because it was listed in an upscale area where many people have vacation homes we decided to take a chance.  Good Grief.  OK, when we pulled up there were clues ~ piles of … junk scattered around the side yard, the questionable stability of the front porch and the absolute filth of the front door. 

We sat in the car and discussed whether or not to go in. The Middle One is brave, very brave. She suggested we just give it a chance “you never know”.  Uh huh.  

So in we went

Once in door, I couldn’t move. Just stood there rooted to the spot fighting the urge to turn and run. The Middle One was in about the same state, she looked at me and whispered 'I'm sorry'. I would say we took a deep breath, but we didn’t. We did however stand up straighter, fold our arms and move forward.  To our left was the kitchen ~ I use that term loosely ~ then a staircase going up one floor. Being unsure of the structural integrity of the building, we elected not to venture up.  So we chose to turn right, down a dimly lit, slightly questionable hallway and into a bedroom.  We knew that because on one side of the room was a bed that looked as if someone, who had had a very restless night, just got out of it. Stacked around the outside walls were some piles of stuff, junk really. 

But there, in one corner, sat a huge, ornate, beautiful piano.  That’s right a quality antique piece, with a $2000 price tag. Astounding Had we been in the market for a piano, this would have been a beautiful find. I’m sure there was some haggle room. Where did the piano come from? What was the story of this stunning instrument? We know there had to be a story.

We left the room, (there was a smell) and ventured back down the hall and out the backdoor and straight into more adventure.  More piles on the ground, smelling faintly of decomposition – which we prayed was garbage. A couple of outbuildings for tools long gone to rust.  A white storage box, half opened, filled with old Christmas ornaments and months, if not years worth of rain water, oxidized to a rusty brown color.  I exclaimed ‘oh no’, the Middle One looked inside and proclaimed ‘that’s a box of Christmas tragedy’.

Now lest you think we were the only shoppers, no no. There were probably 30 people there. And people were going through those piles, despite their smell. And people were going through the outbuildings. We don't have enough experience to know what they were finding. We're not sure we want that much experience. 

By now we were done, we skirted the piles of smelly junk, picked our way across the rough yard, got back in the Jeep and after a moment of silence, just laughed at ourselves. Then teared up a little wondering about the story and the piano.

The lessons of the $2000 piano?

1.   Read between the lines on the sale listings

2.   Don’t pin your hopes on a sale because of an area, neighborhood or zip code
3.  Never assume you know a story, there are a million untold stories out there

4.   You never know where you’ll find a $2000 piano

Networking: How to Make a First Impression

Some days are destined to be adventures ~ 

Remember I promised a more humorous tale?

The notice was for a sale featuring military memorabilia, the pictures showed hundreds of items and we had determined to be there before it opened on the first day. Yeah, we missed that. But we were there before opening on the second day, and waited in the car, but then we noticed that people were already going in and out with purchases. 

Not off to the best start...

While searching through rooms for possible finds overlooked by the previous day’s buyers, I heard the Middle One call my name, “I need you over here” she said. “You’ve got to see this” she said.  Uh-huh. There’s a door, marked ‘Keep Closed at All Times’,  ‘Adults Only’, and ‘XXX”.  Ummmmm…. OK.  “We need to check this out for Dad” she said.

Now, let me explain... 

The Major has his own Etsy shop, ( VintageMensMagazines), where one can purchase vintage men’s magazines in one's husband’s (or boyfriend’s, or son’s or whatever’s), birth year and month. This is a real thing. Trust me, I checked it out. A common set for people to collect includes the top magazines from their birth month and year. You know; Time, Newsweek, Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, Redbook, Playboy etc. The Major stocks mostly 'mens magazines' - vintage only.  

Got it?

Anyway, Back to the sale...

The two of us spend the next 30 minutes closeted in the small, though very clean, bathroom, surrounded by dozens of stacks of ‘vintage men’s magazines’, searching for the earliest and in best condition. Imagine me repeating ‘I can’t believe we are doing this” while she is the phone with the Major confirming what he needs – for the shop.  We did peek inside the shower, only to find a small pile of VHS tape that we chose NOT to explore. We are ladies and do have some limits. Did I mention the A/C was off in the house?And it was stuffy, and that room was small? Ugh. After settling on about 25 magazines, we exited the claustrophobic little room and found ourselves face to face with a total stranger. He looked at us, looked at the closed door with its signs, looked at us, saw what we had in our hands … and burst out laughing.  We smiled, held our heads high, headed to check out then loaded our purchase into a box with a lid and headed for the next sale.

Imagine our surprise when we hear, while standing in the sewing room of the next home, “Hey you were at the last sale! You’re the girls who bought the Playboys, what are you going to do with them?”. Good heavens. Oh my word!  Did I mention he had a loud voice that carried and that every little old lady in the house stopped, turned and stared?  I stopped stock still, blushed furiously, and wished for a way to disappear into the wall. But not the Middle One!

Now, let me brag on the Middle One. She did not miss a beat. She stepped up, shook his hand and proceeded to make our very first networking contact. She laughed and explained why we bought them and he seemed impressed. She told him we were new, just starting, he provided some words of encouragement and some quick advice.  They exchanged information, agreed to keep an eye out for each other and she passed his info along to the Major for further networking.  Wow! So impressed with this young lady!

So, Saturday’s adventure taught us several lessons: 

1. Double check your info as to date and time

2. Don’t be afraid to purchase what they’re selling, head held high

3. Networking is essential & you never know what will help someone remember you
4. You should always have at least 10 business cards on your person

 5. Working with another shop owner doubles your chances of finding the perfect treasures

Who knows what we will learn next time!

So We Are Going To Resell Dead People's Stuff?

The top four reasons for holding an estate sale are; downsizing, debt, divorce and death. While all four can be sad occasions, we have found our hearts especially touched when the estate sale is due to death.

Now, let’s not be maudlin, we are practical women who understand the need to liquidate assets, cover debt and distribute to heirs.  But, we are also Southern women raised with a sense of grace and a reverence for those who have passed from this world. Seriously, when we hear of the passing of a friend or relative, we are seized by an overwhelming urge to throw together a casserole, bake a dessert and head out for a visit. Also….the Middle One has had a thing about ‘dead people’s stuff’ since she was small.  (She would refuse to sit in antique chairs, or sleep in antique beds)

The sales that touch us most are the homes of elderly couples. Entering the front door is like a Sunday afternoon visit to Great Aunt Ruby’s house.  Each room furnished with outdated but impeccable furniture, lovingly maintained, treasures carefully displayed. The kitchens are often small and crowded with fragile glassware. The dining room displays the requisite table (now covered in her best china and sparkling crystal – all for sale) and 6 chairs, the crowded sideboard and empty china cabinet.  The bedroom closets are the hiding place of vintage purses or hats. The dressers divulge a few delicate lady’s scarves and pairs of dainty gloves, a dozen laundered and ironed men’s handkerchiefs and several pairs of classic cufflinks.  I’ll comment to the Middle One “look how well she kept her china closet”, she will comment to me about how “he must have loved fishing”, or one of us will notice his carefully folded flag and share a moment of silence.

Then there are the small items that give you an insight into the life and relationship of the home’s previous occupants. Yesterday we walked into a guest bedroom and found, sitting on the bed a candy tin.  The Keepsake Assortment, Russell Stovers Candies… such a classic.  Inside a small piece of paper reading “Valentine’s Day 1998, From: Lloyd” was taped.

 Mutual Soul Deep Sigh

In the next room the Middle One discovered a small book, a Mass book she was told. The inside cover bore the inscription “Remember me in your prayers, dear, Yours Always, Viola – 2/14/57”

Another Mutual Soul Deep Sigh

A friendly conversation with the estate sale attendants revealed that this couple was in their 90's. Congratulations Lloyd and Viola, clearly you had many many years together!

Now, we really enjoy attending these sales and searching out the treasures we stock in our shop. We love finding these once beloved items and (you can always tell by how/where something was kept how much the meant) and passing them on to new owners who will enjoy them.  

Saturday we watched this very young man cautiously examine a dining room table and chairs, he asked an attendant about the price, we butted in to be sure he knew there were two leaves for the table leaning against the wall, (we’re nice like that), and then he said he would buy it and pointed to a very young woman, his wife, standing in the line to pay. Together another sigh and the Middle One leaned closer and acknowledged that it was ‘the perfect dining table for a young couple’.

Yes, yes, we can be quite sentimental. But trust me, we have some truly funny moments, some astounding moments, and some moments that just make us shake our head and wonder at the audacity of the public. We’ll share more on those events another time. For now, don’t judge, and pass the Kleenex….