Thrifting in Miami

It rains the next day so I head off to the local thrift and antique stores that I always visit when I’m in town.

The crabby old guy who owns Dietel's Antiques just had open-heart surgery a few weeks ago but there he is back in the saddle with his shirt unbuttoned low enough to show off his stitches. Unfortunately, his disposition is now worse than ever. After one too many nasty comments from him about how much I am willing to pay for some mid-century glassware – which he refers to as “cheap crap” - I walk out vowing never to return. I leave my pending purchase of glassware (all of which has been languishing in his store for at least a year) sitting on the counter. I’m sad about leaving these treasurers with someone who doesn’t appreciate them, especially three beautiful antique cut glass saltshakers with sterling tops and some Ritz Blue glass by Hazel Atlas including three Sailboat items, but they will have to wait for someone else to rescue them from this horrid little man. Every time I drive by his store for the rest of the trip I stick out my tongue *pffft!!* Silly, but it makes me feel better and it amuses my passengers :-)

I visit a vintage clothing store across the street and OMG what a blast from the past! When I was young, I loved to go dancing at the local clubs – this was during the Disco era and my favorite outfit consisted of an aurora borealis iridescent white sequin tube top with wide leg pink bell-bottom pants and shiny white patent leather platform sandals with 4-inch heels. I could have purchased an identical ensemble right then and there, but I restrained myself, lol!

On the Road Again - Destination Miami

We have an uneventful drive to Florida stopping at a couple of very disappointing “flea markets” full of cheap imported new junk in semi-permanent locations. Not my idea of a flea market!

It has been raining off and on all the way to Florida but that makes for pretty rainbows and beautiful sunsets. In Florida it can rain while the sun is shining – I always thought that was soo cool! Finally, when we hit Miami it’s nice and sunny and Iggy loves it. Nothing like a nice nap in the sun, ahhh… this is how a little dogs life should be!

When we arrive at my mom’s house in South Miami I discover that there is *gasp* no internet! Sometimes I can pick up an open signal but not this time. No flea markets, no internet… this is turning out to be more of a vacation that I had planned, lol! It’s wicked hot in Miami and Meg and I camp out in the Florida room next to the AC instead of in my old bedroom.

First thing in the morning we head over to Miami Beach, specifically South Beach, one of the nicest beaches in the country. In addition to miles of shoreline with beautiful soft white sand, South Beach is known for the Art Deco architecture and it’s everywhere – even the McDonalds is in a deco building! We spend 5 hours in the sun and surf and despite the liberal use of sunscreen – ouch! We are a couple of typical sun burnt tourists – how embarrassing for a native Floridian.

Before the Crack of Dawn - Our Road Trip Begins

It’s still dark as my daughter Megan, her little Chihauhau, Iggy Pup, and I begin our road trip traveling first to NYC and then down to Miami Fla. My trusty car is packed with two 1950’s chairs and a large box of frames for my daughter Jess along with our sleeping bags, a tent, the dog’s food, bed and blanket, our pillows and blankets, clothes and 2 duffle bags of shoes. And yes, we do need that many shoes! The Ohio countryside is beautiful in the dewy morning light and soon we’re in Pennsylvania. A few hours later and we’re still in Pennsylvania, a few more hours and yep, you guessed it. It’s the most boring part of the 9-hour drive and the temptation to speed (or as I like to call it “make good time”) is irresistible. Finally, there’s Jersey City, which I am always happy to see – if not smell - and we’re very close to NY (not to mention no longer in Pennsylvania).



After an unplanned detour due to a missed turn, there is one final obstacle...

the dreaded Holland Tunnel. I hate driving through tunnels especially this one. It goes under a river and I spend the whole time looking for wet spots. What if there’s a leak? A small leak could cause structural damage and the whole thing could collapse and we could drown or be eaten by sharks! I know, I know, too many disaster movies.

We emerge from the deep and head for the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn and Jessica’s apartment weaving our way through the streets of Manhattan. I love driving in New York City! How weird is that? I think that’s because only good, or at least confident, drivers dare to drive there. Meg says I always drive like a maniac so I fit right in. Hmmm...should I be insulted or flattered?

The Heisey Glass Show

After the museum, we went to the “39th Annual Premiere Glass Show & Sale with 40 prominent elegant glass dealers from across America” as per the Heisey Museum site at http://heiseymuseum.org/hca/convention where a large number of dealers were selling... you guessed it - Heisey! We saw Karen again at the show where she was equally charming and informative. What a sweetheart! There were some people I recognized from the flea market earlier in the day and I was able to spend a little more time talking to them at the show. One of my favorite dealers is Kim Carlisle, so nice and very knowledgeable. He had an impressive collection of Heisey glass for sale including some of the really HUGE candy jars. One of them actually sold while I was standing there and judging for what it sold for and how delighted the buyer was, they must be quite rare! In addition, Kim can work magic on "sick" glass as his ad on Kovels (just scroll down to Kim Carlisle) says "Cloudy glass cleaned: the inside of vases, decanters, cologne bottles, saltshakers, cruets, etc., cleaned." At the show he had a before and after example and it was quite amazing! Karen and James (I wrote about them previously) heartily endorse his work. Kim also shared some "tricks of the trade" with me, I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you... ;) Just kidding, of course I'm going to tell you! Here's one anyway - only buy matched sugar and creamer sets. Heisey colors vary in shade and intensity and glass from different batches can be noticeably different when they are side by side. If you buy a sugar for example thinking that you will find a creamer later, it is nearly impossible to find an exact match. Here's another tip -Heisey glass isn't always marked on the bottom, sometimes the mark is on the side. On the syrups, the diamond H is on the handle. Of course, some Heisey isn't marked at all. None of the mold blown pieces are marked including the very collectible favor vases that can fetch up to $800 depending on the color, so it's definitely worth learning about these little beauties! Another fabulous thing about the show was that there were many of the same pieces that we had just seen at the museum. Right there in front of me. Where I could TOUCH them! Which I did, very carefully, usually just giving them an affectionate pat or two. With the more valuable and or rare pieces I just kept my hands behind my back. I wish I had more photos to share but I was so enraptured with the glass I completely forgot to take some shots of the most fabulous items such as a set of matching Hawthorne (I think)candelabras, 6 cups each if I remember correctly, and a massive tangerine punch set on a rotating pedestal - again, if I remember correctly. Next time I will be sure to use my camera instead of just carrying it around, obviously I can't count on my memory, lol! It was a wonderful adventure in Heiseyland and I'm looking forward to going again next year and maybe going to the select auction in October. I'll keep you updated!

The Heisey Museum

After the flea market, Alan and I went to the Heisey museum where I had a much greater appreciation for what I was looking at because of what Karen had taught me. I also think that it helped all of the new information sink in. Seeing everything with the labels in the museum let me check my new knowledge and I have to say I did pretty well naming the pieces before reading the labels – I felt like quite the Heisey expert, lol! My new favorite pattern is Saturn in Zircon, especially the handled pieces. I loved the U shaped candleholders and the three piece all glass cocktail shakers were pretty fantastic also, even the strainer is glass.

If you are ever near Newark you should certainly make an effort to visit the Heisey Museum for an impressive collection of glass in all of the different colors and patterns. So beautiful!

Learning about the colors was wonderful – I just don’t think you can really learn the colors from a book, seeing them in person is so much better and Karen of course gave me tons of information about them and also the new colors issued by Imperial. Then all of that information was reinforced at the museum and the show. Hawthorne is a lovely purple and Alexandrite is a very unusual color which is described as lavender but will look blue under a florescent light and pink in daylight, it seemed to me that the color changed depending on the angle. I noticed a broken Marigold creamer in one case which I thought was very odd ( and somewhat careless of the museum) but it was an example of how the Heisey Marigold may degrade. Due to an unstable formula it can crack, turn opaque or even shatter! To see a description of all the colors click here http://www.heiseymuseum.com/colors.html

The museum also has a history of the company including samples of molds and photos of the glass making process. The creation of Heisey pieces was quite complex with each item passing through a number of skilled hands before it was finished. An outstanding example of the skills of the cutters is a case of glass with cuttings by Emil and Willibald Krall, expert glass cutters and former engravers to the household of the Emperor of Austria before joining Heisey in 1933. The intricate details of their wheel cut pieces are absolutely amazing.

For more information including company history, Heisey colors and Heisey etchings, please visit the museum website at http://www.heiseymuseum.org/index.html

Next – The Glass Show

My Life as a Washer Woman

I have to apologize to my dear readers for the long delay in finishing this story. I finally figured out that I was delaying writing this blog because I didn’t want to revisit the tedious process of getting the clothes clean. How silly is that? It’s not like I have to spend another 3 days with my hands in the sink. And yes, it did take the better part of 3 days! After some initial experimenting with different products and procedures, I finally came up with a method that worked for me. First I used Woolite gently squishing the suds through the fabric, then rinse, then a soak in Woolite and Oxyclean, squish, rinse, repeat, soak, squish, rinse, repeat … until the water was almost clear. An additional overnight soak in Oxyclean removed an amazing amount of brown stains and a few more cycles of soak, squish, rinse, repeat removed the rest on most of the garments. A very quick rinse in a weak bleach solution made the whites bright and removed any stubborn stains. I certainly don’t recommend this method because it was all trial and error and I was probably lucky not to ruin anything. This may not seem like it should take that long but multiply it by 15 garments all having to be washed individually and you can see how I ended up spending 3 days on this project even with all available sinks and buckets in use. I have to admit that I became somewhat obsessive about getting these clothes clean. (Note to self: next time check on the market value of items before spending 3 days working on something)

It became my mission to restore these clothes as close as possible to the condition they were in when they were packed away and an odd thing happened as I washed and rewashed each garment. As the dirt and stains faded a picture of the woman who wore these clothes began to appear in my mind. I wondered about the life she had led and why these particular garments had been saved. I thought about the little things I knew about this person. She was a tiny thing with a waist measuring only 21”. She was a skilled seamstress, most of her clothes were hand sewn with tiny stitches and embellished with tucks and lace. She had a fur shawl and muff that she may have made with furs given to her by her husband or sons as there were many hunting and trapping items at the auction. Judging from her kitchen items, she liked the color pink. She had at least two sons and one daughter. There is a store bought black blouse that appears to be a maternity shirt. Like most women, she had gained some weight over the years although she still had a tiny waist by today’s standards. I wondered had she lost someone when she was pregnant? And why had she saved a child’s pinafore? I felt that there was some tragedy involved. I have saved some of my girls’ baby clothes but back in those times, I think that everything was passed down or put to use in some way. In my mind, I saw her growing from a young bride into a hardworking wife and mother. I wondered about the chores that she did while wearing the two checkered skirts. I pictured her in the kitchen using some of the items I had seen at the auction or working in the gardens that once surrounded the house. I visualize her hands washing the same clothes that are in my sink and hanging them outside to line dry in the sun.

In some strange way, washing those clothes made me feel a connection to this woman from the past and an appreciation of how hard she must have had to work every day.

Unpacking, cleaning and sneezing and sneezing and sneezing

Before I start on the unpacking let me add another reason I need a truck and maybe a trailer also. Remember those fabulous metal tulip chairs a couple of posts ago? They sold for forty dollars. Each you ask? No, for all four!
When I get home, I can’t wait to unpack and show my DH all my new goodies and I have to say that initially he was less than enthusiastic. In fact, on some items he shared the sentiments of the townspeople at the auction! He doesn’t see the value in an old home projector or a pull up home movie screen, and he didn’t share my excitement about the grimy TV trays either, lol! He helps me unpack and I ask him to put everything in the garage because of the mold and mildew. I get an odd look when he sees the ancient suitcases that are falling apart until I show him the clothes inside. He thinks those are interesting.

There are about 15 pieces of clothing dating back to the early 1900’s including a pair of bloomers, an apron with handmade lace and a little girl’s pinafore. Everything is so cool but badly stained and what’s that smell! At first I *sniffle* think that the black blouse has black and white marbled buttons, *atchoo* but when I put my glasses on I realize that its mold covering the jet-black glass buttons. Ick! At this point I figure I have three *atchoo* options with these garments - I can throw them away now because they are so *sneezesneezesneeze* moldy, throw them away later because I’ve ruined them or maybe I can salvage them. Deciding that the black pieces and furs are too delicate to wash but too moldy to leave as is I spray them with an antibacterial cleaner. A bold and likely foolish move but it didn’t seem to hurt the clothes and it did kill the mold. I certainly don’t recommend it and I’m sure that the textile people are cringing. Promising myself to be gentle with the rest of the clothes and not to obsess over them I head inside. After washing my face and hands and finishing a sneezing fit, I go online to find some helpful websites and I find out I can wash the cottons so I start bringing them inside one by one and pretty soon, every available sink, tub and large bowl is full of whites or more accurately used-to-be-whites soaking in Woolite. I won’t even tell you what the water from the first soak was like – no that’s a lie I will tell you - it was disgusting, a dark blackish brown. And that was just one garment that had soaked for about five minutes! I think to myself “This piece is sure not going to get any cleaner in that water”. I change the water and go to check on the others and so it begins…

Next – My Life as a Washer Woman

Surprise in a Suitcase

Once the auction started things moved very quickly. I had never been to such a fast auction! If there were something you wanted, you had better not take a breath before bidding or SOLD! and on to the next box. I missed out on a couple of things but then I got the rhythm and snagged some near mint pink Boonton, pink Manhattan, and a pink casserole dish among some other things, some of which were also pink. Are you sensing a theme here? I think that the boys might have been living with their mother or at least in her prior home.

One of the things I bought was a group of suitcases. I like old suitcases for decoupage projects

and there were three or four in the group that were just my style. The auctioneer actually skipped right by them and I had to ask to bid. Apparently, no one else was interested because I got all of them for $2.

When the auctioneer moves on to the tools I start to load some things into my car. I pick out the suitcases I want and offer the rest to anyone who wants them, but even free no one is the least bit interested. I take another look myself and decided to check the interior of 2 ancient cases that are falling apart on the outside but would be ok for decoupage if the insides are intact. When I cautiously crack open the first one I see an obviously Victorian bodice on top of a bunch of other clothes. OMG, I had almost given it away, or worse, left it there to be thrown out! When I open the second case… Furs! Not good furs, definitely not stored well, but still furs. I check the rest of the suitcases hoping for … Money! But, no such luck.

The lesson I need to learn is to always, always, look inside of everything before tossing it or giving it away.

There’s still more auction left with who-knows-what treasures waiting to be found so off I go to look at what's coming up.

Next -
Why I Need a Truck

The Brothers Grim

I went to an auction yesterday way the heck out in rural Ohio. A very pretty drive from Columbus, once you exit the expressway it’s nothing but farms, fields, and churches at first, then a little while later there’s woods and smaller farms and the occasional pasture with horses or cows. I saw an Amish family with a horse drawn plow and a little further down a man on a tractor. The Amish way sure seems a lot more earth friendly, there’s not all that dirt being kicked up and blown away like there is with a tractor. Of course, it’s a lot harder and more time consuming. Every once in a while I would drive through a little town where it didn’t look like much had changed in the last 30 or 40 years, including the speed limit, and you better pay attention because I think tickets may be a major revenue source. And no, I wasn’t stopped for speeding; I was good - at least going through the little towns. ;)

After an hour and a half, I finally arrived at the auction where they were selling the estate of two elderly brothers who had lived together for a long time according to the townspeople at the auction and died within a week of each other. There were box lots laid out in the front yard with lots of goodies, old dishes and linens and suitcases and other miscellaneous items that one accumulates over a lifetime. On one side of the house were tools and lawn furniture including those cool metal chairs and on the other side antique furniture, including a huge old oak headboard and footboard attached with a wood frame, so gorgeous!

Inside the house was just sad. The house had a lot of potential and although small, I’m sure it was quite lovely in its day. Big windows with large oak frames, beautiful 6 panel oak doors, a front parlor, a front porch, a side porch, and a back porch, all enclosed and a big country kitchen with a washroom or mudroom off to the side. Upstairs there was a big open room on one side and two bedrooms on the other. At least, that’s the way I imagine that it was. The house had fallen into a sad state of disrepair and was dirty, full of mold and mildew, with a leaking roof, rotting structure and generally just falling down around the brothers’ ears. The relatives were tearing it down and all of the fixtures, windows, doors, moldings and whatever else could be sold were up for auction. Another woman and I were wondering why the relatives would have let the brothers live in such circumstances, it’s not as if they lived out of town. I heard two of them joking around with each other at the auction and I had to bite my tongue not to say, “How could you be so uncaring!”

That’s the 'good for me' but sad thing about many estate auctions. On the one hand as a buyer, I want there to be beautiful things being sold but on the other hand, I don’t understand why no one who knew the person wants to keep those things. It seems that many people don’t value the things, or in some cases the people, of the past.

Coming up next – Surprise in a Suitcase