Estate Sale Friday (and Saturday)

So it's Estate Sale Friday again, and we hit a big one this week. I had intended to video the whole experience but alas, I got so excited when it finally started I forgot to video the actual sale.
It was full of board games, signs, creepy dolls, some glassware, metal gears and wheels, sacks, boxes and much, much more. There was so much stuff in the house that the estate seller moved a massive amount of goods to a nearby family life center the size of a gym, and it was packed too. Here's a video of the line waiting to go in to the first sale. Remember, don't judge a book by it's cover when you see the house.

As always I prepared for the sale by following my guidelines I wrote about in a previous blog post,, Junkin 101,  I studied the photos online, decided what I was interested in, I chose which sale site to start with and got to the sale early. We received numbers 19 and 20. We bought just a few things as the prices were very high. A large box of vintage valentines were $100, metal wheels were $10 and up, and tulip Fire King bowl set was $150. These prices left no profit to be made on resale. We did buy an old wooded stirring paddle and a industrial spool. Then we headed to the Part 2 of this sale at the family life center nearby.

I was overwhelmed at the amount of items at this location. How it ever fit in that little house is beyond me! At this location I scored three boxes of vintage Christmas ornaments, two boxes of vintage Christmas lights, a wooden hat block, and several other items.

Vintage Ornaments, Lights and Elves

The lights even work!

On Saturday my hubby (he's such a keeper) returned to the sale. I did not return with him as my granddaughter spent the night with us and 6:30 was too early for her after a double movie night. Remember, Saturdays are half price days. Without me slowing him down, hubby was able to get number 8. Maybe he will get those tulip salt and pepper shakers for half price. 

A Different Kind of Sale

This week I participated in a different kind of sale. I set up a booth as a vendor at a Comic Com. A Comic Com is a gathering where vendors set up to sell Science Fiction type of wares and the participants often come dressed as characters from those stories. My son and his family have participated in these many times but this one was a first for me.

Chris and family...he made their costumes.

It all began when my granddaughter started making magnets to sell at my antique and collectable booth. Very quickly she decided she wanted to make super hero magnets to sell at out first local comic com intended to raise money for the Communities in Schools program. So yesterday we set up our booth and watched the fun begin. Here's our simple set up.

Wonder Grandma and the Commander Lily

We had a great time selling her magnets, and she turned out to be quite a good salesman. Who knew?

There were some amazing vendors at this comic com. The vendor beside me was a local artist who apparently works many of these shows. His work was beautiful. Here's just a sample of the many products that were available. If you are a craftsperson or an artist this might be an area to consider.

Letter? Letter? What to do with these letters?

Signs are all the rage now and I have quite a few in my booths. I also sell Scrabble tiles and tile holders, and they are great smalls to sell. Today we hit an estate sale in a nearby town. I had noticed on the photos they posted before the sale that this home had sign making materials and what looked like boxes of letters ( read my post on Junkin 101). Sure enough I found 3 boxes of letters at the sale, and I bought them all.

A huge milk crate full of black plastic letters.

A box of large orange letters 

Rest of the black letters on plastic and under them were red letters.

Now my dilemma is what to do with them. So naturally I went to everyone's favorite resource in this business....Pinterest. Here's a link to some projects I found.  https://www.pinterest.com/search/my_pins/?q=plastic%20sign%20letters
If you don't use it you should. First I found several links to Etsy. With those links I saw that some folks screw them to old white washed boards, hand them with clips on twine to make a banner and even create trays like in Scrabble to hold the letters. I love all these ideas and can't wait to try some them. Of course hubby will need to come up the the letter trays, but honestly he can do anything.

We also bought these old lead and glass flower frogs. I love these and use them around the computer as pencil holders and scissor holders.

Floral frogs make great desk accessories. 

We also purchased this small table. I'm going to paint it. Not sure what color yet. Suggestions are appreciated. I also found one bubble light and a roll of copper wire. We also stopped by a flea market and I bought some old Christmas post cards and some old gas station maps. All in all it was a fun morning and as usual I bought things I love. I'll blog about those letters when I do something with them.

Old Table

Update: Here is the first sign I made from my letters. I sprayed the red ones orange and mounted to a barn board. I love it. 

I hung this style on clips and sting. 

Is It Vintage or Antique?

What's the difference between vintage and antique? 
Are these vintage or antique? 

Folk Art Barn in Goodson Vintage Treasures
at Just Around the Corner in Lincolnton, NC. 

Thumb oil cans in Goodson Vintage Treasures 
at Just Around the Corner in Lincolnton, NC. 

I've been asked this question many times, and it's something I've thought about a great deal. Since my business name is Goodson Vintage Treasures and my soon to be functional Etsy shop will be Vintage by Goodson ( long story but my original business name to is too long for Etsy).  Is "vintage" just old and "antique" just really old? 

At the shop where I have my booths, they define antique as 50+ years old and vintage as 25-50 years. I think that's a good place to start. 

The terms are really relative to where you live also. In the eastern  half of the United States you tend to find things that are much older than the western half. But in England they laugh at 50 years being an antique since they have buildings and items centuries old. In that perspective I think an object would need to be at least 100 years old.

The value of an item also determines whether something is merely old or an antique. A beautiful 100 year old, oak dresser or vanity is definitely an antique. But if it is beat up or has been ruined by water it may be completely worthless.

Antique Dresser in a Booth at Just Around the Corner in Lincolnton, NC.

Of course, your age also affects how you perceive the age of an object. When I seen items that I received as a wedding gift 46 years ago labeled as an "antique" I get a funny feeling. Like I'm getting really old feeling. The adding machine is just like one my mom used when I was growing up, and my husband and I received a piece of this glass new when we were married.

Fron a booth 
at Just Around the Corner in Lincolnton, N

Fron a booth 
at Just Around the Corner in Lincolnton, NC. 

Toys are an area that reflect this. I view toys of my mom's era, 1930s, as antique. I'm not sure at age 90 she appreciates that though. My son, age 45, views toys of my era, 1950's, as antique. But I often see Star Wars toys in antique stores like he had as a child. 

I'm calling this tin top vintage. 

So as a rule of thumb I'm going with my store owners definition of "antique" and "vintage". Even though sometimes it hurts a bit. Remember, just buy what you love whether it's vintage or antique. Oh and by the way I think the first two photos are both vintage.