Amazing Memorial Day Weekend for Vacation Yards Sales

What a Fantastic Memorial Day Weekend.  My Partner Cindy and I were going to Butte, Montana for Vacation. My Grandma and Grandpa Frazier, Dad and other family live there. I was born there, but grew up in Billings, Montana.  We had planned on doing a little thrift shopping, on Saturday. We did not have much money, but Butte is full of incredible Antiques and Vintage Quirky Kaboodles.
Saturday we got up kinda late. The drive had been very long 13 Hours; also the altitude was kicking our Ass. We live at Sea Level in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We were going to the Original Mile High City of Butte, Montana. Altitude sickness is almost a guarantee.  After Grandma had fixed us breakfast, and we ate we scanned the paper for a few yard sales. Sadly we missed out on a Estate Mansion Sale of a collection of 50 years of goods. That is probably a good thing, because we did not have a lot of money, to blow on things.

We found a few in the newspaper to look at. We got in the truck, and set the Navigator.  The first one we stopped at, had a few things we bought. The first is a WWII Canvas Cot. I have a lot of memories tied to a cot like this, from spending time at my grandparents as a kid. My cousin Chip and I, use to build forts out of my Grandpa's and sleep on them at night; our grandma would pretend, she was a bear and scare us. Such a great memory I have of time with them. 41 years later, and I am still coming back to see them at least every 2 years. The second thing we bought was a 1980 Eagles Live Vinyl LP with concert poster still in it. It is going to be a great addition to my collection my dad passed on to me. We also found a few odds and ends trinkets.  We checked out and headed to our next one.

We ended up driving past 2, all they had were clothes out. The third we showed up to was a little strange. There was a sign out for a garage sale, but no one was around, except a kid pulling her brother in a wagon.  I walked up to the gate of the place, and the girl came running over. I asked her if the yard sale was still going on. She was like, "Yea, follow me."  She took me through the gate, and around the side of the trailer. There were boxes and boxes full of stuff. She said it was all for sale.  It did not feel right. I asked her where her mom was. "I don't live here. I am just watching it. They said they would be back in 10 minutes, but that was an hour ago."  I politely thanked her, and got out of there. What a nutty little kid. I feel I am lucky someone did not shot me.

On to the next one we went.  This was more of the same. Park and seek the sale out. At least there were people at this one, when we came around the side of the house, through the backyard gate. Now this was are kind of sale. All vintage and antique Items. They were also priced as antiques. The First thing I spotted when I came in the back yard, was a Vintage Metal Outers Tackle Box. I looked it over; there were no dents, and there was some very old hooks inside. They were separated by four compartments. There was not very much wear on it at all. All in all I would say Excellent condition. I looked at the price; no way would I pay $14 Dollars for it. It was well worth it, but I thought I could spend my money on something better.  Looking around at more stuff, I realized there was not much I Cindy and I could afford, or justify spending a large amount of money on. There were Guns, Gun Cases, Cowboy Hats, Antique Wood Fishing Poles, knives, odds and ends of different things; then there was a case, with special things in it. He saw my eyes light up at something I spotted under the glass.

There was what seemed to be a Bullet Like object that stood I would say 6 to 7 inches tall. It was a leather cylinder with a metal bullet tip. It had a tag; all I could see was 19th century on it.  I asked him what it was exactly. He opened the case and showed it to me more closely. He informed me it was a 19th Century 4th of July Toy. He slowly removed the Tip from the cylinder, and displayed a tied up Red, White and Blue Flag. I could not see what it looks like, because it is closed, and most likely should never be opened. I just took his word for it.  I looked at the price, and sadly cried inside. No way was I spending $45 on one object. I thanked him and frowned.

He smiled and said told us everything half off. I asked him if he would take $20 for the Toy. He said $25. I explained, if he gave it to me for $20, I would have more money to buy something else I really wanted. I knew just what that something was. I had seen that Tackle Box Earlier I wanted. I asked Cindy if she saw anything she wanted. The only thing she wanted to know about, was a round bronze ball. I walked over to pick it up, and couldn't believe how heavy it was. I asked him what it was. He showed me the Makers Mark that says Gill and the 12 pound mark on it. He thought it was a antique shot-put, but could also have been a CannonBall. I asked him how much for that and the tackle box. He asked for $15; I told him all I had was $30 for all three items. He said since it was close to being done for the day, he would make that deal with me. SCORE!!!!!


I say I made a real real great deal at his sale.  I found the Tackle Box on eBay, in really bad condition, Dented and no dividers inside. The auctioneer was asking $30 for it. I did not find a Bronze Gill Shot-Put, but a regular vintage Gill Shot-Put for $105.  We will resell the tackle box right away I think. I have really grown an attachment to the cannonball/ shot-put. I think it is a Cannonball, because all of the dents in it; I mean they would seriously have to be shot-putting asphalt, or it was made without a completely round mold. Now the 19th Century 4th of July Toy is my Investment. I can find No Information on this object at all. I am going to have to go spend a day at the Book Bin, scouring books of 19th Century Antiques. If anyone reading this has a clue about what I have, please leave a comment.

In My next entery, I will let you know what Quirky Kaboodles at the Flea Market on I-90 we found,
on our way back to Oregon. Stay Tuned for my next Update.


#MemorialDay #Weekend #auctions #yardsales #garagesales #estatesales #fishingbox #fishing #fishingpole #shotput #cannon #cannonball #antiques #antiqueroadshow #vintage #toy #forthofjuly #kaboodles

Don't Be Foolish And Walk Away From That Deal

One of the funniest things I saw at the "World's Largest Garage Sale" was Someone Walking Away From A Deal, on a vintage 1970's Boy Scout Hat. 

I aquired a 1970's Boy Scout Hat, in some free stuff, on the curb after someone's yard sale. When I found it, little money signs went off in my mind. I could eBay or Craigslist it. If I craigslist it, I might trade for some WWII merchandise. 

Why did this not sell? All I could figure, is they had to much on it at the sale. Then why would they put it out for? I mean really, who would throw a Vintage Boy Scout Hat out for FREE? All I knew was, I scored a Treasure.

Finally after 2 years of holding on to it, the day came I could sell it. The reason I had it so long, it was lost in the many many Kaboodles I have.  At the sale, i put it up eye level, so it would be noticed right away or a hourish. Well my plan worked; with in 2 hours, I had a older gentleman, on my hook.  He picked it up; he looked it over; then he tried it on. It seems the price fell off it, so he asked how much. I just wanted a sale, I told him $3, when I think there was $7 on it. He looked at it a few more times, then put it back. He told me he might be back later for it. A foolish mistake in the end. 

I would say maybe an hour after he left, another man in his 50's came along. He did the same as the man had before. He told me he had one like it in the scouts, and it brought great memories back. He pulled out his wallet and asked how much. Well as I have learned, do not act excited over things. Most the time the price is jacked up, or you can't barter them. Instead of charging him a dollar or so more, I just left the price at $3. He had a big smile and thanked me. As he turned to leave with his prize in hand, the first guy that had been eyeing it walked up. He saw the guy with it and frowned in disbelief. 

He looked at the guy as he walked away; then he looked at me with a slight grin. His words were that of a man, who had lost out on a deal. He said, "I am the Foolish one for walking away. This has happened to me in the past, and it seems I did not learn my lesson then. This loss taught me a valuable lesson today; Never Walk Away".  I also learned from him, to also never walk away, and thin what you want, will be there in the End.

Making A Serious Living Out of Selling our Quirky Kaboodles @ "The World's Largest Garage Sale"

I want to share this blog post with you, of a more recent event that Cindy and I took part in.  It was a small dream come true, and will give you a bit more info on my collective life. 

I have not had a lot of time for any Social Media these days. My life has been Consumed with Extreme Spring Cleaning, with one Major Goal in Mind; that goal was reached on the last Saturday, in March this year. Our collection of Quirky Kaboodles collected from the far reaches of the house, and sold in one Huge SALE!!! Every year in Eugene, there is a Rummage Swap Sale held at the Convention Center, with 30-50 vendors; this year we bought a booth.  It was $60 for 10x10 booth. They call Event “The World’s Largest Garage Sale”.

Well I think we could make a serious living, if we were to take this on Full Time.  I took the past month, to go through the house and garage. I collected everything we wanted to sell, that we had collected over 11 years together. Don't let me fool you, our house still looks like an eclectic hodgepodge museum of our many collections. We spent  a few hours packing almost everything in the truck; looked like we were going to make a second trip. After we arrived at the convention center, we set our table and shelves up. we then started staging our things, to sell the next day. 


Saturday we arrived at 7:30 AM, the function started at 9am. We finished setting up, what we had to bring in the second load today. They decoded to open up at 8:30 and we were busy almost right away.  This sold and that sold; before we knew it almost a 1/3 of our Kaboodles were gone by 12:30. During the next 3 hours we sold at least half our inventory.  At 4 we started packing up to go home. After we did all that, it was time to count the money. To our astonishment, we raked in $425 dollars. To top it all off, I only bought one item; a Pink Floyd The Wall Vinyl LP.  I cannot wait for next year. We will be collecting all year, especially during "Hippie Christmas" time.

 SO MUCH FUN!!! THANK YOU Cindy For all your help and hard work.

Wolf Mates By Artist Shane Slayer

Here is Cindy's and my first piece of art together. Ever since then, I have acquired a Large collection of Art. This is a original Signed Drawing By Shane Slayer called Wolf Mates. Shane Slayer is a very well known artist in the Oregon Area, and especially Eugene, Oregon. He did a few study classes at U of O. After he discharged from the military, and started drawing.  His work is self taught artistry, with a few techniques he picked up in his classes. He started selling his work at the Saturday Market in Eugene in the 70's. Since then he has traveled, but came back to his roots in Oregon. You can find him in the Market on Saturdays. Just ask around or at information booth, and they will point you in his direction.






I am also posting the other drawing of his I have. It is a print.

The Sparkle of the Reflective Oregon Raindrop

It was a cool summer August Morning.  The community had been gearing up for the annual neighborhood yard/ garage sale. Cindy and I had been waiting in anticipation all week, for the Saturday to arrive. We were going to have a blast getting Bargains and Treasure's today. We did not have any one thing we were just looking for or needed. Just a day out enjoying one another's company, and making memories.  Just spending the whole day with her, was going to be the best.

We were not that long into our relationship, and I had recently moved in. She worked all week, so this was the first whole day together we would have  with each other, since the weekend before. I guess I was wrong on not looking for anything special. We were looking for that special something that screamed a wonderful kinda love, to make our's. The perfume bottle was cute, we had recently purchased, but did not give that real loving feeling we have between us.

We headed out the door at 9:30, ready to get early morning deals. We visited a couple yard sales, and did not really find anything of interest. We rolled into the fourth one, and hit the jackpot. There was many eccentric items there and some great Native American Jewelry.  As I browsed, I came across a long thin white box. It looked like at one time it had a bracelet in it.  I opened it up; inside was a sparkly bluish purple glass Oregon Raindrop. I was Awestruck with delight at my find. There was also a silver wrapped crystal in the box. There was a 25 cent price tag on it. SCORE!!! We visited a few more places that day, but I really don't remember much after my treasure find. I had never seen a Oregon Teardrop before, and was dazzled by it's beauty.

When we arrived home, I sprinted inside with my find.  I found my fishing pole, and took some line off it, to hang the Teardrop.   I put it in the Living Room window, to catch the morning sun. It does not create rainbows, but it does glow a era decent Blue/ Purple color



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