Modern Vintage: Finds From Two Portland Pickers: Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall... Who Is The Prettiest Of Them All?

...this 4-Foot, 50-pound, hand-carved, solid hardwood, magnificent mirror is of course!

These pictures do not even do this mirror justice, it is a must see in person!

On my way to one of the estate sales, I stumbled upon this mirror at a small yard sale. I literally saw it thrown over in the bushes, off by itself, and thought that for sure it was already sold to someone, who was coming back to get it later. I made a comment that I was jealous of whoever purchased that mirror. Ironically, the man said that people were interested all day, but everyone thought that $30 was a bit steep......A BIT STEEP, WHAT?!

I am going to give you a quick lesson in mirrors if you ever...EVER find a mirror of this magnitude for $30, buy it. The 4-foot glass mirror itself is about $50, by itself! A frame of this quality is easily going to run you around $300. Then add in the fact that this is from the late 1800s early 1900s, 4-feet tall, solid-hardwood, and hand-carved, you are looking at a $500 mirror, easy. This was a NO BRAINER!!!! I snatched it up in a heart beat, and that is why this was the find of the week!!! You could say that I am in love with this beauty and I am thankful to all those interested people who thought $30 was to steep. Your loss was definitely my gain!

Ms. Sommerfield's Estate...

Ok...getting back on track, now that I have loaded up my trunk with a stunning mirror and beaming from ear-to-ear about my find, it was time to get to the first estate sale, Ms. Sommerfield's estate! Rarely do you go to estate sales, and actually have people there that knew the person who once lived there. Families usually outsource estate selling companies to do all the pricing & liquidations. It can feel very impersonal as you are rifling through some random persons treasures. This pick was different. The women who were running it were all Ms. Sommerfield's close friends, and they were delighted to tell me a few tid-bits about this sweet woman.

Ms. Sommerfield was 85 when she passed. The home that was hosting the estate sale, was her parents, and she had lived in this home her. entire. life... They said that when she was born, her parents brought her back to the very house that she had eventually grown old in, and that I was now standing in. I closed my eyes and imaged that it was 1926, the front door that I was sitting next to had opened with her parents walking in carrying their new infant, Ms. Sommerfield. The thought gave me chills. They also told me that she was a a secretary at Duniway Elementary School, when she was in her 20s. She then later went on to be a teacher there and loved that school with a passion.

These bits of information made this pick all the better. As I was walking though the house things started to make sense, the puzzle pieces of her life were beginning to come together. In the kitchen, I came across two little Vintage Farmhouse Salt and Pepper Shakers, that I thought had the sweetest little charm to them. They are nothing fancy, they are dinged, but they are perfect in my eyes.

Being imbedded in a school environment for years, she had collected many old books. Now if you know me, you would know I have a thing for old books. There is something so exhilarating about opening a very very old book, hearing the cracking of the ancient pages being turned, the tickle in your nose from the musty smell and dust - just to see the date of when this relic was published. Kind of weird, I know. As I was flipping through the pages, I found great little surprises shoved between pages of all the books. Little notes, homework assignment, writing lessons, recipes, things that were important to her and had been there from her days as a student.

I also found the Duniway '85 pendent in there, which after hearing their stories about this woman, I had to have. They other unearthed treasure was the 1942 Collection of 40 - 16x20 Rand McNally maps! I had just been talking about getting some 1940s maps to hang, so it was ironic that I would stumble upon something that was more than exactly what I was searching for! The 1940s Eskimo fan (not working, but still looks cool) and 1930s Flower Chamberstick were also great finds! Ms. Sommerfield can rest assured that her once treasures are now going to be in my precious collection, kept safe.

Since this estate pick, became so personal I decided to only sell the Salt & Pepper Shakers, Duniway '85 Pendent, and Ceramic Flower Chamberstick in my Etsy shop! Here is the link to find them: sweet pea and poppy's - eclectic*reclaimed*treasures, you can also click on the link under the photos of the items that have been listed for sale in my shop.

Vintage Farmhouse Salt & Pepper Shakers***12 Vintage Books***1940s Eskimo Fan

Duniway School '85 Pendent***1930-40s Ceramic Flower Chamberstick

1942 Collection of 40 Large Rand McNally Maps of the World!

The Hoarder's Estate...

I hate to say it, but more-often-than-not an estate sale you go to is like walking onto the set of the show Hoarders, but on a softer scale. People get old, and accumulate a lot of stuff in their days... a lot of stuff. Again, more-often-than-not, it is a lot of junk. That brings me to the next estate I visited.

There are times, when houses have been kept in pristine, and there are times when I feel like if I touch something I am going to catch SARS... literally. Well, this house was the latter of the two. I was disgusted to say the least. This old man was such a hoarder that one house was not enough, even two was not enough, he had three houses next to each other... three houses! I would say that you have a real problem when you need three houses on the same block, just to store your junk!

Luckily for me, I scored big! Using a long ruler I found, in a pile of 100 other long rulers, I poked and prodded all of the boxes seeing what I could find, but keeping my distance in the event I came across something I did not want to find. I first found this Vintage Wire Locker Bin Basket, and started to fill it with things that I came across and thought were safe to touch.

The ice cream scoop was among the first of the items I found, and I instantly fell in love with the simplicity of the design. I have always loved the look of a collection of old baseballs, so when I saw these four, it was a no brainer. When I got home and saw that some had old faded signatures, it was an added bonus! Then came the 1910 Battery Ammeter! I had no idea what the heck a battery ammeter was, but after doing some research, I think it is pretty cool. Turns out that these ammeters were attached to a chain and carried the same way a pocket watch would be carried. The purpose of the compact ammeters were for testing a company's telegraph machines, that were often located at railroad express offices. Therefore, they needed to be compact, light, and easy to travel with.

The 1920s Kennedy Cantilever Red Toolbox & 1950s Library Chair, were like pulling teeth with the woman who was selling the junk. I had to have them, but I wouldn't take them for over $10 each. After much going back and forth, she finally let me have them. The toolbox was a little birthday present to my husband who has been searching for the perfect vintage toolbox for his rapidly growing handyman collection. Needless to say, he was in love when he saw it! The chair is going to fit perfectly in my office where there is a little nook perfect for the chair!

Finally, the last item from this pick are the pair of old Bank Safety Deposit Boxes. The woman had said that when her family moved here from New York a long time ago, her father had gotten these from a very old bank in New York that was shutting its doors. She wasn't sure how old they were, but knew that had to be from the early 1900s. Her father had used them for many years in his garage shop to store odd ends and bits.