Postively fascinating
When we die, all that we leave behind is stuff. Stuff and memories. And we Americans leave behind a lot of stuff. What is interesting is that our stuff tells so much about who we are (or were). I found this out when I went to a Golden Key Estate Sale last weekend. It was an amazing experience.
I had never been to an Estate Sale, and don't ever go to garage sales, but we drove past a house near our own that had Estate Sale signs up and so I just thought I would check it out for a few minutes. I ended up spending over an hour there, and it was the most interesting thing I did all weekend. You basically get an intimate and (relatively) unedited view of someones trivial daily habits and belongings, but you don't even know that person.
This person lived in a small house about five blocks from me. It seemed like there was only one female inhabitant of the house, since there weren't any men's clothes. But probably there had been a man at one point, since there were books that seemed like man books. I wonder if the husband had died many years previously and so there was not much of his stuff left.
Clearly the woman was a crafter, there were balls and balls of yarn, years of Vogue Patterns International, and other craft related items. I bought about 8 paris of knitting needles, mostly double pointed sets, for only $1 each! I got this sewing basket for only $4 and it is in perfect condition (real wood!) and amazingly, it matches my living room chairs, so it fits in perfectly.
Clearly the woman was older, and thrifty. This part reminded me of my grandmother, someone who never wasted anything. There were yarn ball ends, everything looked well used, and the woman had not updated her baking ware in about 25 years, judging by the old aluminum bake ware. I bought a bunch of cute cookie cutters (who does not need a pig-shaped cookie cutter?) that were also $1 each. I found some real nice pottery, including a jardiniere of the type I always see in antique stores for $30, but which I bought here for $12. I also got a cute little pottery jug which is just perfect for flowers.
The people at the Estate sale were interesting too, ranging from the older men looking for cheap tools, to the women for whom this is clearly a hobby/obsession and who looks really impatient to get in and get the "good stuff" to the teenagers who seemed to think they were being wacky and cool by going to look at old people stuff. I saw someone buy a box of paper clips for 60 cents.
The house was tiny, only 974 sq foot on the first floor, with a finished attic of 306 sq foot. I wonder how it is going to sell.
Were there kids? Absolutely no evidence of kids, except two huge boxes of 45s in the garage, that dated from my era, with Joan Jett and Genesis. So that made me think there was at least one kid. What happened to them? Did they already remove the things they wanted from the house?
I can't really explain why I was so fascinated by this experience, partly it was in seeing someone else's daily life on parade, partly it was watching the people hovering and grabbing and posturing for position to find bargains, partly it was knowing that this might be me and my stuff someday. Who will buy all my knitting supplies? If I don't have kids, what will I do with all my family photos?
I had never been to an Estate Sale, and don't ever go to garage sales, but we drove past a house near our own that had Estate Sale signs up and so I just thought I would check it out for a few minutes. I ended up spending over an hour there, and it was the most interesting thing I did all weekend. You basically get an intimate and (relatively) unedited view of someones trivial daily habits and belongings, but you don't even know that person.
This person lived in a small house about five blocks from me. It seemed like there was only one female inhabitant of the house, since there weren't any men's clothes. But probably there had been a man at one point, since there were books that seemed like man books. I wonder if the husband had died many years previously and so there was not much of his stuff left.
Clearly the woman was a crafter, there were balls and balls of yarn, years of Vogue Patterns International, and other craft related items. I bought about 8 paris of knitting needles, mostly double pointed sets, for only $1 each! I got this sewing basket for only $4 and it is in perfect condition (real wood!) and amazingly, it matches my living room chairs, so it fits in perfectly.
Clearly the woman was older, and thrifty. This part reminded me of my grandmother, someone who never wasted anything. There were yarn ball ends, everything looked well used, and the woman had not updated her baking ware in about 25 years, judging by the old aluminum bake ware. I bought a bunch of cute cookie cutters (who does not need a pig-shaped cookie cutter?) that were also $1 each. I found some real nice pottery, including a jardiniere of the type I always see in antique stores for $30, but which I bought here for $12. I also got a cute little pottery jug which is just perfect for flowers.
The people at the Estate sale were interesting too, ranging from the older men looking for cheap tools, to the women for whom this is clearly a hobby/obsession and who looks really impatient to get in and get the "good stuff" to the teenagers who seemed to think they were being wacky and cool by going to look at old people stuff. I saw someone buy a box of paper clips for 60 cents.The house was tiny, only 974 sq foot on the first floor, with a finished attic of 306 sq foot. I wonder how it is going to sell.
Were there kids? Absolutely no evidence of kids, except two huge boxes of 45s in the garage, that dated from my era, with Joan Jett and Genesis. So that made me think there was at least one kid. What happened to them? Did they already remove the things they wanted from the house?
I can't really explain why I was so fascinated by this experience, partly it was in seeing someone else's daily life on parade, partly it was watching the people hovering and grabbing and posturing for position to find bargains, partly it was knowing that this might be me and my stuff someday. Who will buy all my knitting supplies? If I don't have kids, what will I do with all my family photos?
posted by Shelly at 9:24 AM
1 Comments:
I absolutely LOVE going to estate sales. It's interesting to see the houses, the stuff, and yes, wonder about the owners. You can usually find a real deal or two, but I've gone to a number oof them where nothing at all attracted me. You really wonder then - as in, these people have such crap. Is it that kids/relatives have already taken the good stuff?
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