Made it to poky last night, up early, and dove in to the boxes.
Overview:
Digging through Virginia's past is somewhere between the excitement of Christmas morning, and the dread of a viewing.
Grandpa and I drug box after box of belongings out of the basement, into his backyard, and the hottest afternoon of Pocatello this year. We had two tarps and a old wash bin. Piece by piece, we scrubbed, washed, and talked about each item, It took a good five hours to get through the first five boxes, and we have at least twelve left to go.
Virginia was not as alienating as I had been lead to believe. Despite my grandfather's stories, the photos Virginia had of him as a child prove how doting a mother she was. She was odd, I'm sure, but she wasn't a bad person.
Bob (grandpa) told me some illuminating stories of his past. A lot of stories. Very illuminating. It was a fun afternoon.
We finished the day with some patrone. Seemed fitting.
Finds:
Big finds of the day were a complete set (perhaps dual set) of Kayson Golden Rhapsody china, two etched mirrors from the late twenties, and some Grey Model Granite Ware enameled biscuit pans, and quite a few pieces of classic pyrex fridge ware (in the poppy, chocolate, and avocado flavors).
We also found a box full of nineteen forties kitchen utensils, which, if I've done my research right, will probably bring some interest. And some weird single pieces of super fancy china... Yeah we'll see about that.
Troubles:
Most of what we are finding that is worth the work is either heavy, or breakable, or both. Not really sure how to combat this in favor of the customer. I've been scanning through other vintage based Etsy-ers, looking for tips-tricks-ideas. Looks like it's price low with a high shipping cost... Any ideas?
Hopes:
Tomorrow we'll hopefully get into the clothing, which may or may not have money hidden in the lining (seriously Virginia was 19 in the roaring twenties, living through the depression made her saving strategies a little odd).
Pictures coming soon, and new postings to the shop. I remind anyone reading this, if you see something that you are interested in and I haven't listed it : email me - convo me- contact me and we'll make a deal.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The First Day
I'm Heading down to Pocatello today to start the scrounge.
The set-up:
If I remember correctly, which I'm probably not, in the summer ninety-four my great grandma Shoemate decided to go into a care facility. So to help out, my family spent a week or so at her house boxing and cleaning. All the boxes were then shipped via horse-trailer to her son's, my grandfather's, basement. There they have sat.
Jump to 2010.
My husband Brandon and I have recently decided to buy a home. We thought we were good to go. But no, we hadn't realized the enormity down payments really are. So we're stuck, halfway through a bid, realizing we don't have enough money to move forward. Instead of giving up we asked around for advice. We got a lot. Though the most interesting advice came from my mother, who suggested I ask my grandfather to allow me to clean out and sell the items in his basement to help save. Grandpa agreed.
So, I created an etsy account, uploaded some of my antique collection to get the feel of it, and now feel slightly ready for the plunge. We'll see. Pricing is weird. Any advice?
The purpose of this Blog:
I feel that I need to document my findings. I am not sure why, maybe it's because these boxes have sat unopened for nearly fifteen years, or maybe it's because I didn't really know who my great grandmother was as a woman.* I feel like an archaeologist discovering some ancient tomb, or perhaps more like a cartographer sailing the coast of an island only known in old fishermen's tales.
It's less cheesy than that though. I'm interested academically in the lives women lead in the early Idaho badlands. How they did what they did, what roles they played in the household. Maybe this sift through my family history will give me some insight that the historical society hasn't.
I'll upload photos of my findings daily, descriptions, insights, what have you. If you see something you like, a link to my etsy site is on the sidebar.
Look-out spiders and spirits, I'm burrowing in.
*What I do know about my great grandmother: her name was Virginia; she was born in 1901; she lived on the Salmon River; she wanted to be the next Annie Oakley; she had multiple husbands; she over-fed her pets; she was great at catching grass hoppers; oh, and she had a really cool car.
The set-up:
If I remember correctly, which I'm probably not, in the summer ninety-four my great grandma Shoemate decided to go into a care facility. So to help out, my family spent a week or so at her house boxing and cleaning. All the boxes were then shipped via horse-trailer to her son's, my grandfather's, basement. There they have sat.
Jump to 2010.
My husband Brandon and I have recently decided to buy a home. We thought we were good to go. But no, we hadn't realized the enormity down payments really are. So we're stuck, halfway through a bid, realizing we don't have enough money to move forward. Instead of giving up we asked around for advice. We got a lot. Though the most interesting advice came from my mother, who suggested I ask my grandfather to allow me to clean out and sell the items in his basement to help save. Grandpa agreed.
So, I created an etsy account, uploaded some of my antique collection to get the feel of it, and now feel slightly ready for the plunge. We'll see. Pricing is weird. Any advice?
The purpose of this Blog:
I feel that I need to document my findings. I am not sure why, maybe it's because these boxes have sat unopened for nearly fifteen years, or maybe it's because I didn't really know who my great grandmother was as a woman.* I feel like an archaeologist discovering some ancient tomb, or perhaps more like a cartographer sailing the coast of an island only known in old fishermen's tales.
It's less cheesy than that though. I'm interested academically in the lives women lead in the early Idaho badlands. How they did what they did, what roles they played in the household. Maybe this sift through my family history will give me some insight that the historical society hasn't.
I'll upload photos of my findings daily, descriptions, insights, what have you. If you see something you like, a link to my etsy site is on the sidebar.
Look-out spiders and spirits, I'm burrowing in.
*What I do know about my great grandmother: her name was Virginia; she was born in 1901; she lived on the Salmon River; she wanted to be the next Annie Oakley; she had multiple husbands; she over-fed her pets; she was great at catching grass hoppers; oh, and she had a really cool car.
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