Holiday or "Buttons and Bows" 11 1/2" sandwich platter in pink, circa 1947-1949 I woke up at 6am, unbelievably after last night. I was laying there, really knowing I needed more rest, but at the same time knowing if I was going to Clinton today, I had to shift it. So I plodded from the bed and started going through my routine.
I packed up the car, and got out my gallon insulated drink jug/cooler with spout - possibly one of the most useful things I have ever purchased for days out - and headed out. Since I didn't have any tea made, I stopped at Bojangles. $2 for 64oz of tea is a pretty good deal. Of course, filling the cooler, I spilled it all down my shirt, so then I had to go back home and change.
Then I made it to Miss Kat's and it was off to Clinton.
When I came in, Helen was upstairs, so I made much over her. Helen and I have a lot in common. We're both bluntly outspoken, which is at times charming and at times abrasive. It tends to drive as many people away as it entertains. We both worry things over like a dog with a bone. We both have scrappy personalities we show the world, and we both lack the energy to keep that scrap up all the time, and retreat and hide from the world when we can't do it. We're both lonely. We were both in a good mood Saturday and looking forward to the auction, so we were having a fine ole time.
When we got down there, it was a fairly good-sized auction. It looked like the guy had been a collector, and they were just clearing some stuff out in preparation to the wife going into the nursing home. She was out on the deck in her wheelchair as we got there.
There was a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Aire in two-tone aqua and white for sale. At one time, it had been a fierce car, but it was needing a bit of love at this point, although it still had the original upholstery that was in really good shape. I thought that's why so many people were there, because this place was kind of out in the boonies, but I was wrong. It turns out that this guy had spent years collecting arrowheads locally, and he had TONS of them. Some were apparently very valuable. There were a lot of people there to buy them. There was also a "Turtle totem stone", which was kind of like a fetish, and which is apparently very rare. They guy that auctioned it off was from a museum in Columbia, and he said they didn't have one in their collection. He had an absentee bid for $500 to open for it, which I guess was from the museum, but I think someone else bought it for slightly more. I took a good look at it, because if there are $500 rocks laying around, you can bet yours truly wouldn't mind finding a couple. That part was interesting, but watching lot after lot of arrowheads sell when you had no interest in them did get old. I spent my time wishing they would put the little redneck auction helper boy on the block, cause I sure would have bid him up!
I did get some nice pieces though. I got a Buttons and Bows platter for $15. I think that was all the money on it, but I have a special affection for the pattern, since my Granny Brown has a piece of it we have always used for Thanksgiving, and seeing it always makes me think of her. I was a bit worried because it was grimy, but it was the grime of dis-use, not the grime of obscurity sometimes used by flea market people to sell inferior glass. When I soaked all the crap off of it, it was in pretty much perfect condition, and looked as if it had been rarely used.
I also got a Fire King baking dish for $12.50 that was pretty cool. I'm going to have to do some more research on it, I can't find one like it on line. Apparently one size is vastly more valuable than another. After my online research though, I know there are about a billion of the loaf pans left. I found LOTS of them. I can't even find a decent picture of the one I bought today.
I looked at this cool pottery jug to use as an umbrella stand, but decided not to get it. It was in pretty bad shape, and I think I can find something I like better. Plus I wasn't sure it would fit where I wanted it to go.
Miss Kat bought a little ruby and diamond ring, and then was afraid she had paid too much for it. The stones are very small, but I told her if she really likes it, that's all that matters. dana of course bought old bottles. She did get some nice ones today. She bought a flat of blue Ball jars for $5, and there were some valuable ones in there. She told me on the way back that the shine runners used to break that jars marked "13" for fear of bad luck, so they are rare. There was one in the box she bought. She also got a bunch of old medicine bottles that I thought were neat, and some old Coke syrup bottles for pretty cheap, and I know that stuff is worth money.
Helen bought an old pottery churn for $20, which I just couldn't believe, until I saw it up close. It is pretty pitted and chipped up. But still a really cool thing, and has a lot of character for a play-purty, which is all she bought it for.
It got HOT though, and by the time we left, we were ready to get back in the air. Also, we had to wait a long time to check out because they were doing the auction tags manually, rather than on computer.
Still, it was a lot of fun, I got some great stuff, and really enjoyed spending time with Miss Kat, dana, and Helen. What a great day.
***
When I got home, I just collapsed and took a nap, and then read after I woke up until bed time. I guess the heat had really taken it out of me. I was just bushed. I got up eventually to go eat tons of "Chinese" food at the buffet near the house. Just as I finished eating, Russ called to invite me out to dinner with them. Apparently they flew in late Friday night. I thought they didn't get in until tonight. I hated to miss them, but I was tired, and he was jet-lagged, so we agreed just to catch up later this week.
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