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!