2/16/2007

N. Superior Ave. - Decatur "Estate Sale"

Since I had the day off I checked out this sale inside a 50’s ranch style home between Emory and the Medlock neighborhood. Following my usual pattern I headed directly to the basement ignoring the well arranged materials displayed by the professional estate sellers in the front rooms. The basement was large and almost labyrinth like but it lacked the intense disheveled clutter that I so often hope for. In the largest room on this level I found a pool table converted to a ping-pong table laden with silver plated serving dishes, a variety of other dinnerware and small ceramics. Among the ceramics I found the figure of a sly looking Mandarin near a smiling snowman. Also on the table was a miniature Statue of Liberty encased in a Lucite obelisk and a commemorative ashtray created by telephone workers to honor the Bi-centennial.

Near the pool table was a table with pieces of a model railway and a box of sheet music containing a version of the Tarantella. The music offered an explanation of how the dance relieved the pain of spider bites. On the floor nearby were some stadium cushions, a box of old easy listening Lps, some old newspapers with headlines of an Apollo moon mission and a set of wicker doll furniture. The basement was extensive but there was not a lot of interesting clutter here. In one room I discovered a collection of fuzzy golf club covers and in another a workbench holding some power tools and two small Corinthian columns. Below the workbench was a box containing some photographs of a tropical vacation and a woman in a red dress holding wads of tissue.

Work bench with tools and columns.













After perusing the basement I ascended the stairway and explored the bedrooms on the upper level. In one I found the usual pile of clothes, linens, blankets and other fabric items sprawled in a now disorderly manner across a queen size bed. In the closets hung an assortment of women’s clothing including a garish embroidered vest with bar relief elephants on the pockets. In one bedroom I found a bulletin board put up in years past by some teenager. The board still hosted a glossy photo of Farrah Fawcett amid sports and fraternity logos and the faded flower from a boutonniere. Another bedroom contained a table laden with naked Barbie size dolls and clear plastic bags containing doll clothing and accessories. In the same room I found Halloween decor in the form of a three-foot scarecrow, a box of dominoes and various other games.
Faded memories of youth and Farrah.


















Pile of naked dolls.


















Box of Dominoes.
















The kitchen contained a bland assortment of cooking utensils plates and glassware. A few mugs proclaimed such things as “I heart Grandma” and “All I want for Christmas is a hole in one”. A large living room held more games, a small selection of books that included “Investment Policies of Life Insurance Companies”, “Management Problems in Corporate Acquisitions”, “Our Visit to Israel” and “The Ten Commandments of Letter Writing that Gets Results”. There was also a cookbook produced by telecom employees. On notable figurine found in the living room was a blown glass likeness of a stern but colorful rabbit standing on its hind legs.
I bought nothing.