Saturday December 4, 2004

After last week’s Thanksgiving lull I find several very well stocked sales. These must be the sales that people needed to have but never got around to them before the holidays.

McLendon Ave.- Candler Park

Arrayed among a blanket of bight yellow gingko leaves is a great collection of unwanted stuff. On a dresser in the front yard I find three framed prints of departed icons, MLK, RFK and Andy Kaufman dressed as Elvis. Nestled in the gingko leaves are a lawn mower and a hedge trimmer. Next to these implements are a large framed poster of Steve McQueen from the movie Bullitt and an Ansel Adams poster. Giving reference to the sellers past I find two black lights, a 70’s cut leather blazer, a table lamp that makes moiré patterns and a book of Rush sheet music. Toys that are on sale include an electric Nolan Ryan strike zone game and a pair of laser tag pistols still in the box. On a table I find an old issue of Modern Bride, some silk flowers, a Palm III, an old cell phone for .50 cents and sewing patterns for biblical costumes. Some books include several titles on literary theory, two works on Jung, “ Writing with a purpose” and “The selected writings of Samuel Johnson”
I buy nothing, but later return to buy to buy a large etching of a cross-eyed woman because I need the frame and the glass for one of my roadside memorial photographs.

N. Highland Ave. Virginia Highlands

I found this sale by following the well made and displayed yellow signs to the front of an apartment building next to the CVS drug store. Under a tree are several tennis rackets, a artificial Christmas tree, a Hello Kitty backpack, a child’s bike, ski boots, an unopened package of chalk in the shape of butterflies, an faux red lemon, a commemorative tile from the boxing event of 1984 Olympics and an unopened box of electronic Hulk hands. There are two autographed framed photos one of the crew of the Starship Voyager, the other of Don Adams and Barbara Feldon from Get Smart. There were many boxes of books and books on tape for sale. The audio books include- “Asking for Trouble” The Best of Romance” and “The herpes virus”. Among the books are ‘Modern Pagans”, “A guide to rare animals of the world”, “Inside Mayberry- a handbook to the Andy Griffin Show”, “Understanding Abnormal Behavior” and “Simplify your life” Some of the suggestions of the last book are “sell the damn boat” and “learn to laugh”.
I buy nothing.

Morningside Dr. Morningside

This is a very organized looking sale but there is not a lot here. A six-foot Christmas nutcracker looms on the front stoop, acting as a silent sentry guarding the collected clutter. On one table is a lot of old and undistinguished Christmas decorations, on another table is a unopened meat tenderizing tool that looks like something that was used at Abu Ghraib. Also found in the yard are a pair of churches, some tiles with the name of spices on them, and a small empty frame that celebrates the millennium (one of the greatest nonevents of our time). There is a book entitled “The little book of Christmas joy” some of the hints for joy are “never give your credit card number out on a phone call you did not initiate” and “allow extra time to navigate the Christmas traffic”. There is also a pie rack, a wine rack and a treadmill.
I buy nothing.

Reeder Dr.-Morningside, Estate Sale

Approaching the house I encounter a gun cabinet in the middle of the walkway. It’s priced at $250. Inside I find this to be a true estate sale. By the time I arrive a lot has been picked through but there is still much that addresses the lives of the former occupants. In the living room I find and consider buying two albums of postcards one of cars from auto shows the other of trains. But they are priced at $40 each and I’m short on cash at the moment. When I wander into the dinning room I notice that here is the same small millennium frame I saw at the last sale, this one like the other has no photo in it. It seems that the turn of the millennium was such a nonevent that people did not even bother to have their picture taken when it happened. Perhaps this was the fault of those calendar geeks that kept insisting that the 1/1/2000 was not the real start of the millennium that people needed to wait till 1/1/2001.
In the kitchen I am happy to find second hand food. On the counter are a few canned vegetables including two cans of beets. On the floor is a plastic container with several food items including two cartons of matzo. While I was there a man was negotiating the price of the box with the matzo perhaps they will still be fresh in time for Pesach. There is a room off the kitchen but it is not another kitchen so this house was not Kashrut. All I find in the back is the laundry, a large upright freezer and a crepe maker still in the box. On the kitchen wall is a plaque stating “she who indulges bulges”. On the counter are a number of glasses. There are two souvenir tumblers from Dodge City and several glasses with the Busch beer logo and the phrase “toe tappin’ goodness” which is a statement I have never associated with any beer especially Busch.
In one of the bedrooms I am delighted to discover some old mail. The letter written in 1946 states “…next time you decide to become pregnant don’t force Buster to take a shower every night.” Near the letters is a wedding album with the original negatives still in it. On the bed is a collection of men’s caps most of which have Braves logos on them.
In the other bedroom I find a glossy 8 by 10 of a scantily clad seductress holding a bottle of Tequiza. Across the picture is written the cryptic comment, “To Jason, Coors gives worse nightmare beer”
In one closet was a collection of old Opera Lps including recordings by Eleanor Steber. In the same closet was a mass of old photo albums, sadly more than I had time to fully peruse. I glanced through one with the label “ Storm of the Century”. The storm was the snowfall in Atlanta in 1992.
I purchased a small 3.5 by 2 inch picture of Cristobal in the Canal Zone from the 1930’s for 25 cents.