Hello everyone. Today I am going to tell you about all of the fantastic items I found at last week’s estate sale. In Wednesday’s post I described the social distancing measures that the estate sale company took to keep everyone safe and I showed highlights of what I was not able to purchase. Let me now show some of the great items that I purchased.

As I mentioned in my last post, I wasn’t able to attend the sale until the second day due to social distancing rules that were put in place by the estate sale company. They had an online signup sheet for attending the sale and they only let seven people in every 45 minutes. The first day’s time slots filled up quickly and I was glad to finally get a spot on the second day. Unfortunately, most of the items that I was interested had already sold. That’s okay though because I was still able to fill my minivan up with lots of treasures.

This home had belonged to a long time employee of Southern Railway. I was interested in the sale because my grandfather was a conductor for Southern and worked for them for 50 years. You can take a look at my last post to see some of what I didn’t get. Here are the Southern items that I did purchase.

I got two of these Southern headrest covers. I think they look pretty cool. They sell for about $10 to $2o on ebay but I plan on giving them to my brother since he collects Southern memorabilia.

I also got this cute little notepad.

I bought two of these Southern Railway Ladies Club Cookbooks. They are full of recipes from the wives of the Southern employees. Lots of casseroles, appetizers, and Jello desserts, plus many more. I enjoy these types of cookbooks. Tried and true recipes are the best. I gave one of these to my Mom for Mother’s Day. I think she will enjoy looking through it.

I’m not sure if you can read this page. It says, “I have the most marvelous recipe for Hungarian Goulash…every time I mention it to my husband, he takes me out to dinner.” LOL!

I couldn’t resist this bag of vintage sewing notions, mainly because of the space needle book of needles. It also had a cool wooden needle holder.

Check out this huge collection of Wade Whimsies figurines. I bought 57 of them. I will sell some of them but I plan on keeping enough to fill up a small display shelf. I have admired these type of figurines for years but this was my first time buying some of them. I am now on the lookout for the perfect display case for about 20 to 30 of them.

This Fitz and Floyd squirrel caught my eye and came home with me. I am probably going to sell it. They sell for about twenty dollars on etsy. I may enjoy it for a while and then sell it.

This dish is part of a set of seven Moonstone Opalescent Hobnail dinner plates/platters. They are clear in the center and bluish white on the rims. These are very collectible and I expect to sell them for $40 to $50 each.

I bought four of these bowls. They are made by Shenango China. They are in excellent condition and are a mix of Blue Willow and something else. The center pattern is definitely Blue Willow but the border is not a traditional Blue Willow pattern. They are very pretty and are in excellent condition. They could be used as salad bowls or as small serving bowls. I will be selling them.

If reasonably priced, I always try to purchase educational collector books. They are fun to look through and give me ideas of things to keep an eye out for at estate sales and yard sales. Also they provide a great point of reference for beginning the research process. These four books were written by the late William Heacock, a well known glass historian, who specialized in colored glass of the Victorian era. I have several shelves full of reference books such as these on a variety of antique and vintage collectibles.

I bought several bags of vintage (and a few slightly newer) Christmas decoration. There were several pieces by Napco , some by Department 56, and quite a few that I have not identified yet.

Now for my two favorite purchase.

First is this typeset tray full of collectibles. I saw this in the original listing and I was excited to see that it was still there when we got to the sale. When I first asked the estate sale company about the price, he said the miniatures were one to two dollars each. I started picking out the ones that I wanted to buy. I selected about a dozen of them and then moved on to another room. My friend Anne, who was at the sale with me, asked how much for the whole thing and he said forty dollars. Sold! There were more than one hundred miniatures on these shelves. We quickly transferred the miniatures to a cardboard box and added them (and the typeset tray where they were displayed) to our stack.

I have been slowly going through this collection and have found pieces from all over the world. I am giving some to Anne, selling a good many, and keeping about half of them. It has been a lot of fun going through and researching these miniatures. I actually found a brass weight from the 1850s.

My very favorite item from the sale is this huge tole tray. It measures 26 inches wide and is absolutely beautiful. It was another piece that I was surprised to find still there on the second day. The flowers on it are so pretty, colorful, and the painting is in excellent condition with only a few minor scratches. I have been collecting tole trays for years and now all I have to do is decide where I am going to display this beauty. It is a lot larger than any of the other trays that I own so I will probably have to find a place to display it on its own.

That’s it for this sale. I have to say it was a huge success, especially after such a long dry spell. I am heading out tomorrow to check out a sidewalk sale at a local church thrift shop. The thrift stores are just now opening around here so I am hoping to find some great deals.