It was a bonanza weekend of estate sales! Surprising with winter on its way and Thanksgiving around the corner. I went to three sales. One was a total bust, one was an interesting house despite a serious lack of anything vintage, and one was a goldmine of vintage kitchen items and furniture.
The house itself was about 100 years old and tiny. It had an enclosed front porch and the bathroom off the kitchen had a pink toilet. (I want to live in a world where a pink toilet is an option, don't you?!?) I loved all the hidden storage nooks and layers of shelf paper in the kitchen cabinets. So sweet- like someone really thought of the function of the house and took care of it. The owners had put hooks in the backsplash so all of the cooking utensils were easily accessible and didn't get damaged being shoved into drawers. There is something to be said about a kitchen being functional and not just pretty.
The owner of the estate sale company said the home had been sold to a developer who is going to tear it down and build new. I know the home would cost a lot to get it up to modern standards but I can't help thinking about the family who lived there. (Apparently the home had been in one family's possession for 100 years!) When the home was built the whole area was different. Most of the homes on the street weren't built until the '50s and the current park behind the house was farmland. I can just imagine children cutting thru the farm on their dash home from school and coming into the kitchen thru the back door. Everything has to change though. The poor back door was in such bad shape someone had nailed pieces of wood to cover the wear.
I found lots of goodies! The two glass measuring cups caught my attention because they were in such great condition but were clearly an older style. The smaller is marked to 3/4 a cup but fill it to the top and it's a full cup. I suppose we're spoiled by having that extra room in our measuring cups. Ha ha. Perhaps it was for dry measurements because there isn't a pouring lip. The larger is marked "Fire King" and "made in the USA", which I love to see. It's a 2 quart and is taller than the short and squatty 2 quart Pyrex I got for my wedding so it fits in my cabinet better. (I'm good at justifying my purchase, aren't I?) I also got an enamel pitcher/measuring cup. It measures in ounces and grams. I thought a gram was a measurement of weight so this is a bit confusing. I'll have to do some research. There are metal marks on the inside like it was used for making pancake batter or whisking eggs.
I also bought some
tiny loaf pans for the
tiny loaves of bread I'm going to make for my
not so tiny children. Although two of them have toddler sized appetites so I guess they're a need, not a want. ;)
See the egg slicer on the right? That thing must be 60 years old and it's in better condition than the one I bought two years ago to replace the one I bought 18 months prior. I promise my kids haven't used the new egg slicers to do anything out of the ordinary, like paint rocks. Those cheap things just broke with normal use. I think the new vintage find may last until my grandchildren's weddings. Seriously. I also bought this thing to cut french fries from potatoes. I usually use a knife but the french fry cutter was only $1 and I wanted to give it a try.
So what's with the Bisquick cookbook? No I don't use Bisqucik but found a recipe on line for homemade Bisquick mix and thought I why not. If I were a '40s/'50s housewife I'd probably love Bisquick. The ingredients were much more wholesome back then. I read somewhere it was just flour, salt, and baking soda. Now it has too many chemicals I can't pronounce. Of course if I were a housewife of that time I wouldn't have to worry about food killing me, unless it had spoiled. Anyway, the red circus bowl was just so cute. I've seen them on Ebay for a pretty penny but this one isn't marked so I don't really know what it's worth. I'm not planning to sell it anyway.
This may be the last estate sale hurrah for the season. Honestly I thought it was already over. The sales are excellent in the summer and early fall and that's usually it around here. I got so lucky!
Have a great week!
Sarah
