An occasionally updated chronicle of estate sales in the city and suburbs of Chicago.

"It's such a guilty pleasure..." Lynne Stiefel, Pioneer Press

Friday, May 21, 2010

Chicago In Order

Ordinarily I only post selected photos from estate sales -- generally those that lend themselves to the story or a snark I can think of without too much effort. But today I'll go through the photos from this Chicago sale in order and see what happens. Won't that be fun?

I'm sure I was taking a picture of something else and what's-his-name suddenly got in my way. Happens all the time.

The kitchen in this house was positively huge. (Not shown.)

Single file only, please. We only have one spray bottle of the Murphy Oil Soap for sale. First come, first served!

I took this photo because I recently got rid of a tub just like it. And good riddance to bad bathroom fixtures, I say!

Big-eyed child pictures. What is it about them that's so compelling? So demanding of my attention? What draws my gaze and causes my heart to swell with sympathy for the unnamed sadness that consumes them?

Beats the hell out of me.

It took several years, but eventually the chair and the sofa just agreed to disagree.

Finding one of these is always upsetting. Finding two makes me clench up all over.

Lovely magazine rack, and the random printed material hanging on to it for dear life is included in the price!

I'm old enough to remember this fad, and vaguely recall my mom and aunt making these in our kitchen. You bought the wooden "stem" (or found one in the woods and had your husband clean the bark off it with an ax, and maybe sand it down and seal it) then mixed the acrylic chemicals and colors together and poured them into molds. After they hardened you wired it all together. My mom and aunt actually made hanging lamps with theirs, and for years afterward a lighted bunch of translucent amber grapes hung over our television set.

It would have gone great with this painting.

Only the drapes and the picture remained. The green plaid sofa had managed to drive everything else away.

This one stumps me. It's kind of lovely in a lavender way. The little patches of light thrown off by the lamp add to the effect, and the plant on the chest of drawers provides just the right amount of contrasting color. If I ever publish an estate sale stories book or get my own show on Bravo -- and I have my plans, as soon as Shit My Dad Says, Shit My Kids Ruined and Awkward Family Photos stop hogging the spotlight -- this one will go in it.

Because people were pestering them, constantly, desperate to get their hands on this.

That's all. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend and keep sharing the links!

3 comments :

  1. You didn't pick up those big eyed paintings for me!!!???

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the couch and sofa agreeing to disagree.

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  3. Mary, if you're really in the market, I'll have some for you soon.

    Accumulata: Thanks -- I think that photo/caption was today's winner. And I owe you some thanks -- more formal than this -- for your link back to us!

    ReplyDelete

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