Monday, May 16, 2016

Trailer Trad Collecting: My First Idaho Estate Sale

My first Idaho estate sale wasn't anything dramatic. I didn't get hardly anything and really wasn't in the mood to aquire much. But it was a good one, but in a classic, Idaho way. The house was a cute Arts and Crafts bungalow that would require a lot of updating on the inside but was awesome on the outside (should have taken a picture). 

Anyway, what I always like in estate sales are those little bits of time capsule that can really teleport you back into a different time. Often, these are the basements of cottages that, once-upon-a-time, were planned as extra bedrooms, or 'rumpus rooms' for entertaining that often gathered dust over time. These are where the momentos of old triumphs and travels were displayed for guests or perhaps for oneself in quiet reminiscing of days long gone.

The gentleman who decorated this home was stationed in Asia during the Vietnam War and kept much of what he bought or picked up there. He even had pairs of Japanese sandals carefully laid out in a row in one room. His extra rooms were basically untouched since 1968. Can you imagine a Butch Cassidy poster hung on a door, perfectly preserved, for 50 years?
 
 
Out of place among the cool Mid Century stuff was this amazing unopened can of tennis balls. I would date these from the 1930's, at latest and are the nicest that I have seen. These were probably found in the crawl space or between the walls of the old cottage, waiting to be rescued by ME!

6 comments:

Francesco said...

Vi sfido a una partita di tennis su erba per due casse di birra Monte Rainier !

Trailer Trad said...

Francesco,

Francesco Rinaldi? Of Pasta sauce fame? Dude, I actually studied Italian in college but I seriously don't remember ANY of it. I'm thinking you mentioned tennis and Rainier Beer. Both are solid in my book.

Look, I'm a little short on pasta sauce, and well yours sucks, but could you send me some money so I can afford to have a case of Harris Teeter Traders Arrabiata sauce shipped to me from North Carolina? That would be awesome. Maybe I can have some Senora Dixie EXTRA HOT salsa shipped at the same time.

I'm starving.

-tt

Francesco said...

Ah - alta posta in gioco tennis su erba , allora! OK - giocheremo per due casse di birra Monte Rainier , un caso di Harris Teeter Arrabiata salsa e un caso di Senora Dixie Extra Hot Sauce ! Preparatevi per la resa dei conti!

Hank said...

Prego!

Trailer Trad said...

Francesco,

If this is some kind of bet regarding tennis, Let me warn you. I am rocking some righteous Uniqlo gear and killing my two-handed backhand (both the topspin and flat) in addition to my open-stance topspin forehand. I think I'm channeling Novak!

You've been warned.

-tt

Francesco said...

Eccellente. Diamo inizio ai giochi poi il signor Trailer Trad!