Retail Therapy

As usual, my days have been pretty packed lately, but I found myself with a few minutes to kill during my dad's physical therapy session and decided to head on down to the Humane Society and the Green Shag Market.

You might recognize the booths pictured below as those of fellow bloggers Mr. Modtomic and Hannah (of Secondhand).

Mr. Mod's is well-stocked and arranged as usual.  I'm especially enamored with the Selig chair and the Brazilian fiber art wall hanging.

 

You could walk in here and come out with a whole living room set up ready to go.

Hannah's got tons of cool stuff available, including this giant Witco Polynesian dancer. 

I don't usually leave the antique malls with anything in-hand, but Hannah had a sale going on and I couldn't resist bringing a little something home.  Stay tuned to see what I snagged.

A Visitor

I knew from the get-go that a full load of CISCO Networking classes was a tall order for someone with a full-time job, but this whole ordeal has me stressed to the max.  12 homework assignments, 280 pages of reading and 2 tests to study for over the holiday weekend?  That's bananas!

I did have a certain visitor stop by to keep me company though the first couple weeks though.

The flock grows

Man, was it a good weekend on for Craigslisting in St. Louis or what?  MCM goodies kept popping up everywhere.  With a full van, I didn't get in on much of the action, but I did still manage to make out quite well.

The big score of the weekend:  another Artisan House by Curtis Jeré Birds in Flight wall hanging.

Company

This week I was joined by two guests, both of which you will likely recognize.

The first, Mr. Modtomic's kitty, is staying over while his mom and dad roadtrip.   The poor guy hasn't yet adjusted to his new surroundings, and this is just about all I've seen of him.

Weekend Update

What a weekend!

Remember that "promising estate sale" that I mentioned in my last post?  Well, Mr. Modtomic, his girlfriend, and I devised a plan, split up the potential spoils, and showed up super early so that we could stake our claim.  We were all alone in line, so we were feeling pretty smug.  Then after half an hour of waiting a fellow early-morning-riser came up and ripped a number off the pad on the front doorstep.  Numbers?!  There weren't supposed to be any numbers!

To our dismay, the estate sale company, Steve & Sheri, changed the rules at the last minute and put out numbers the night before.  Of course, all the dealers had already taken their spot at the top and we were 7, 8, and 9.  Dang!  I'd printed the sheet in the late afternoon and the change wasn't on there, so it must have happened in the evening.  Who does that?

After that fiasco, we decided to head on over to Denny's and drown our sorrows in savory breakfast meats, starches, and maple syrup.   However, I remembered that I'd also printed off the info for a "retro flea market" that we'd wanted to see but didn't think we'd have a chance to get to due to the conflicting estate sale.  Might as well check it out, right?

I'm glad we did, because that place was a treasure trove of MCM deals.  It actually wasn't really what I'd call a flea market.  It was more a mid-century modern cast-offs sale, where most things were a little dinged up, but there were plenty of goodies to be had at very reasonable prices.  

The owners of Rocket Century, who put on the sale, were even kind enough to take Mr. Mod and I in and show us around their shop.  It's always fun to meet people who share the same interests and wow!  They've got quite a collection - everything from Adrian Pearsall coffee tables to Cold War propaganda posters can be had there.  It's a veritable repository of mid-century modern collectables.

After Mr. Mod and I split, I headed back to the first sale, just to see if I could make a go of it.  As expected, it didn't turn out well.  Not only had the estate sale manager changed the rules at the last second, but one of the dealers had taken the first few numbers for himself in order to delay everyone else getting in behind him.  I even overheard the manager and him whispering off to the side about where the items of interest were and how they were priced.  What a crock!  I know that dealers are repeat customers, but everyone should have to play by the same rules.  If you can't stick to them, why even have them in the first place?

So I missed out on my set of Lane Acclaim step end tables and a coffee table, which was a big disappointment.  I've already got a set, but they are covered in water marks from the previous owner and the finish is completely shot.  Here was my chance to get some in what was described as "perfect condition", but a scandalous estate sale company and dealers blew it.  Can you tell that I'm bitter about the experience?  BECAUSE I AM.

Well, after that I decided to take my friend Jon, who needed some furniture for a new place of his own, along for a second go round at Rocket Century and ended up adding a few more items to my load (more on them later).  Unfortunately, I left behind the gorgeous Jens Risom Sofa (which looked almost exactly like the one pictured below) that I'd been eyeing up the whole time.  That thing was HOT, but it it looked like a cat/dog/some kind of vermin got ahold of it and it needed reupholstering.  Hopefully some kind soul will take it in and give it the love and attention that it deserves.

source: Flickr - teawithamouse

With the van already bursting at the seams, Jon and I headed up to the Ron Paul rally at Lindenwood University, but on the way I stopped and for one last pick: these two Danish lounge chairs (first is mine, second is his).

Anyone have any idea who the manufacturer is?  These things are pretty ubiquitous, so I haven't really put much time into learning how to identify them.  The only one I know is Baumritter, but those are usually tagged, right?

So we've gone through the whole range of emotions here today.  There was excitement, disbelief, disappointment, and joy.  In the end, I'd spent some time with good friends, made a couple new ones, and brought home a huge haul to boot.  Can't ask for anything more than that!

Estate sale madness

Over the years, I've been dragged along to a fair few estate sales, but always came away thinking that they were over-priced and full of junk.  Turns out, it takes a fair amount of dedication, persistence, and sleep deprivation to get the good stuff.

The kind gentleman who sold me the Danish sofa introduced me to estatesales.net and my mind was blown.  All of these years, I'd been relying on Craigslist or Ebay and this site was chock full of mid-century goodness.

I'd spotted the goods.  I'd printed out directions.  I'd arrived early.  I'd brought provisions.  Everything, however, did not go as planned.  It seemed like every week, the piece that I'd waited for was snatched up by a mysterious goateed man.  Coincidentally, or so I thought, the same pieces were appearing on my favorite blog, Mr. Modtomic.  Once this happened a few times, I put two and two together and realized that this WAS Mr. Modtomic!  Talk about salt in the wound.  I'd lose out on all of these great pieces and then have to read about what a great score they were the very next day.

Then came what I thought was my day.  I'd scoped out a Broyhill Brasilia bedroom set on estatesales.net and woken up at the crack of dawn (actually, way before it), but once again I was soundly beaten and left to stare longingly at the now tagless pieces.  If any of you have ever seen Brasilia, you'd know how heartbreaking such an encounter can be.

After that disheartening experience, I thought that I was done with estate sales.  However, on the way home from dropping the girlfriend off at the airport early one morning, I made a last minute decision to stop by a sale where I'd spotted a couple Lane Acclaim coffee tables (another of my favorites).

And there in line, right in front of me, stood Mr. Modtomic.  He'd done it again!  I decided to wait it out anyway, as I was 6th in line and might still be able to grab a few things, but it looked like slim pickings if what could be seen through the windows was anything to go by.

When the doors opened, I watched as the others made a mad dash for the dining room and bedroom.  They were after the Kipp Stewart dining set and the tension pole lamp.  This was my chance!  I quickly made my way to the basement, as I'd seen concrete in the photos, and snatched the tags.

It was a small victory, but victory nonetheless.

Afterwards, I even got a chance to speak with Mr. Modtomic, who seemed like a genuinely nice guy.  He congratulated me on my find and we talked for a while about mid-century design and exchanged emails.  Since then I've tried to forward tips on any pieces that I know he's been looking for or that might interest him in his way.  Maybe there is room in this town for the both of us after all.

Click the link above to check out his blog.