Mr. Sharpie's Appearance

I hope that the first yard sales of the season aren’t an indication of sales to come. About three weeks ago, it was a sunny Saturday morning and the smell of spring had finally made its’ way into northwest Jersey. I mapped out my route the night before and was all ready to enjoy the first yard- saling of the year.

Mr. Marker makes his mark

Waking up a few hours early, I went to the gym first and then stopped at the first sale of the day – an estate sale. The house was an older home with an amazing vintage kitchen – double porcelain sink with the built-in drain, cupboards in assorted sizes running from floor to ceiling, and amazing woodwork throughout the house. What was not so amazing were the prices and the price labeling system. A few stickers, maybe an affixed price tag here or there, but mostly… prepare to cringe… prices written in black marker directly on the item. Not written on a sticker, not written on a piece of paper, but written directly on the item. Regardless of the material, be it glass, brass, chalkware – yes, vintage chalkware!, fabric, or porcelain, the marker spared nothing. Magic erasers work wonders, but I wasn’t too sure that Mr. Arm&Hammer could save some of these pieces from the wrath of the sharpie.

The house was filled with ornate furniture and lots of saints. Religious statues filled the fireplace mantle, dining room table, and were decorating the upstairs bedrooms. I haven’t had luck with reselling religious chalkware, so I passed both on the high prices and determining whether or not Mr. Marker would come off. I had mainly come to look at the vintage Christmas decorations, which I found in the basement.

It was like Christmas 1962 had thrown up in the basement and I loved it! Boxes of electrified red Christmas bells, plastic gaudy garland, Shiny Brites, and window candles with the red and yellow tipped light bulbs. Prices were high, both for reselling and for personal want. And again, perfectly good pristine Shiny Brite boxes were ruined by Mr. Sharpie’s appearance… and we know there isn’t a way to remove permanent marker from cardboard.

I left the sale spending $2 on a trio of vintage Christmas candles, complete with the flame bulbs. My plans were to include them with other vintage Christmas items to resell, but decided that, like with most vintage Christmas I come across, they would be keepers.

I hoped that the first yard sales of the season would be more promising, but I was left wanting more. For this coming weekend, I already have two sales lined up. One is an estate sale that is promising a house filled with vintage kitsch, so of course I'm going. The other is a yard sale which looks like it might be the kind of sale that one dreams off... vintage Pyrex, retro holiday decorations, and what I hope will be my first purchase of Gurley candles to add to my vintage decor. 

Expect some pictures from my purchases this weekend and look for future posts this week to include my unexpected find of vintage knee hugger elves and a surprise Santa & his lady friend!