Treasure Hunting Coast to Coast

Uh,oh. The Junk Store Cowgirl is asking for help, and I'm clueless...
One of my favorite blogs, written by another free-lance writer and mother-of-all-jobs , (including junking whenever possible) comes out of the northeast.
Linda found an absolutely gorgeous pitcher and can't figure out if it's majolica or the real McCoy .
I'm looking through my books, but if you know the origin of this pretty piece, let me know. A pitcher just like hers appears on page 22 of this month's Country Sampler Magazine .
She paid $5 for her prize at a neighborhood garage sale. Not bad.
Hey, I'm first in line if she ever wants to double her money!

Dumpster Diving 101

If you were wondering about the proper protocol for dumpster diving, it's here . I've never tried it, but they say there are treasures to be found if you can hold your breath long enough.

Minnesota Model A sewing machine

Question: I read with great interest your column in the Spokesman-Review. I have recently aquired my mother-in-laws sewing machine. It is a Minnesota Model A. I am at a loss as to how to get parts, thread the thing and the bobbin has me totally lost. It is a silver cylinder shaped item and i wonder how to re thread the bobbin.

Do you have any ideas for me? I also have my mom's mom Mason Rotary and I learned to sew on it as did all of our kids. Any info. you might have would be greatly appreciated, even if you have a source where i might send for instructions. -- Sharon Wood

Answer: You are very fortunate to have both family heirlooms.
According to the Scripophily website,the Minnesota Model A sewing machine was manufactured by Davis Sewing machines and sold through Sears and Roebuck. Davis Sewing machines were sold exclusively by Sears and Roebuck through 1910, when the catalog bagan to carry machines made by other companies.

A quick Google search turned up Relics Sewing Machine Manuals in Michigan. They offer the manual for your machine.
You might check this article on how to determine the value of an antique sewing machine published by the International Sewing Machine Collectors Society.

Good luck!

Stealing isn't chic. It's shabby.

This story in today's Spokesman-Review calls attention to a very real problem. Stripping the fixtures, or even the furniture, from what appears to be an abandoned house is stealing. Plain and simple.
The article points to the Shabby Chic craze as the cause, but this has been going on a long time. I remember talking to people as long ago as the 1970s who were upset because family homesteads had been ransacked.
When religious artifacts were so popular in the late 1980s and early 90s, cemeteries were looted. Statuary, wrought iron fencing, crosses and urns were stolen and sold at flea markets and auctions across the country. New Orleans, with it's ornate architectural style, was particularly hard hit.
Now that primitives are so popular again, the farms and sheds in rural areas are the targets.

Garage sales for couch potatoes

If getting dressed and leaving the house is just too much trouble, you can get your garage sale fix online.

More Trash to Treasure

I've been dragging things (read: junk) around to pretty up the patio for summer and I brought out the old door I dug out of a shed in February .
Eventually, I would like to make a table out of it - when I find an interesting set of legs -but right now it just serves as background.

Sleeping outdoors

I did a story on outdoor rooms a couple of weeks ago and it made me want one for myself. Then when I ran into another little folding cot at a flea market on Saturday (just like the one I paid $10 for at a sale on Peone Prairie in April) and it was only $5, I was inspired.

The little cot was already painted a soft lilac color, so I put it on my patio and brought a mattress out of the camper. I draped a mosquito netting canopy over the bed and dressed it with a gold cotton spread and a few pillows covered in vintage fabric. Nothing fancy, but it was an instant outdoor room.

The children have been taking turns sleeping out on the cot since I set it up. I spent some time on it the first night, but I have to admit I slept with one eye open. I live in a neighborhood north of Spokane and in the five years we've been here we have had moose, deer, a young cougar and a black bear in our back yard.

I kept waking up listening for "company."

Vintage costume jewelry

Question: Hi - I hope you can help me with this. I inherited a bunch of jewlery, including earings, which were obtained as souvenirs abroad around the years 1920 or 1930. Can you recommend a book which might inform me as to their worth? I also have several brooches. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Marion

Answer: Hi Marion, I would suggest "Costume Jewelry: The complete visual reference and price guide," by Judith Miller. The book is published by DK Collector's Guides and sells for (list) $29.95. Miller is very thorough and all of her price guides are helpful. Good luck!

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

Today's Treasure Hunting is about picking up bargain lamps at garage sales, thrift stores and the flea market. The photo shows a lamp that cost just $2.50 at a thrift store.
I have a hard time passing up interesting lamps. (Actually, I rarely pass them up. I have a box full of great finds.)
In fact, just yesterday, I scored another small alabaster lamp at B.J.'s on 3rd Avenue for $7. Now that's a deal. I need to get busy rewiring.
There are so many interesting old lamps out there, in an endless variety of shapes and sizes. And they cost a fraction of what you would pay for a new lamp in the department store.
Here are a few of my favorite finds waiting to be cleaned up and rewired:

1903 Singer sewing machine

I stopped by a neighborhood sale down by the Little Spokane River this morning and brought home a treasure that was high on my wish list.
This 1903 Singer treadle sewing machine is a real find. The golden oak case is in excellent condition. It just needs a little polishing. All of the drawers and decorative trims are intact and I even got the original instruction booklet!
My great-grandmother had a sewing machine like this and it was sold with my mother's estate. I just didn't have anywhere to keep it so I had to let it go. I can't go back in time and get that machine, but I can keep this one around and think about my great-grandmother each time I look at it.
She was a tiny, but tough, little woman who lived to be 102. She was widowed in her 30s and raised 7 kids on her own, and survived two house fires that destroyed everything she owned. In a lot of ways she was my hero.

Idaho: The Gem (and Junk) State

After reading this story in the paper today, and this in Dave Olivera's blog, I think Idaho needs to change it's nickname from "Gem State" to "The Gem and Really Good Junk State."

Going, going, and almost gone

Last weekend was the second auction to settle the estate of Spokane collector, Dan Eagle. Eagle was a long-time advertising rep for the paper (he retired years ago) and he had a good eye for what would be rare or collectible.

I dropped by the sale for a couple of hours both days and picked up a few more vintage magazines and a couple of books. I have a hard time passing up old ephemera, but luckily these weren't as "stinky" as the last lot I bought.
Among the more unusual items sold this weekend were boxes of glass eyes from a turn-of- the-last century optometrist.

There were more Spokane Fire Dept. helmets and nozzles, and still more railroad lanterns and locks. A very early printing press, as well as several books on printing and type were also sold.

More travel posters and even the brass plaque from the downtown Sears and Roebuck store were on the block. Another lot of old irons, including toy irons that sold for as much a $100 each.

I bought another Guernsey sign because it had the name of the dairy on it. The first sign I bought didn't. (I can't help it, I have a thing for old signs.)
I had to take a little ribbing about the fact that the sign featured a cow and a bull, but I guess it means people are reading the blog and that's a good thing right?

The auction was important because so many of the things Eagle picked up would have been lost if he hadn't. A lot of history, and quite a few dollars, changed hands over the weekend. I think there is one more auction coming up and that ought to be the last.

(Click below to see more photos from the event.)

How to run an estate sale

Dear Cheryl-Anne: My husband and I are moving and significantly downsizing (youngest daughter just graduated from high school). Going from 4400 square feet (filled with “stuff” we have accumulated over the years) to 1500 square feet feels overwhelming!! I found your response to “Garage sale or estate sale?” on the Internet and was pleased to see that you are from Spokane, since this is where we currently live. Do you know of reputable estate sale dealers in Spokane that you could recommend to us? -- Sarah Gray

Answer: I recently did a Treasure Hunting column on the merits of having an estate sale. You can find a link to the column here.
I know from experience that moving and downsizing can be overwhelming. And it's hard to be objective with our own "treasures." An estate sale can free us from that angst. Now, if someone would discover a way to eliminate the other headaches that go along with a move ...
I can't personally recommend an estate sale agent in Spokane because I haven't dealt with anyone here, but I have friends who used Aunt Bea's and were very satisfied with the outcome. There are other dealers listed in the phone book, but I would suggest getting recommendations from friends who have been in your position. And check those references. Good luck!

More on the Table

Dear Cheryl-Anne:
Unbelievable! I saw the picture in the Review and just had to e-mail you. I have the matching sideboard/buffet! I picked it up at a garage sale a couple of years ago out here in the valley. I am going to sell it soon. It won't be $6.95, but it will be considerably less than in an antique store! -- June Hart
P.S. And this one is already smoke-free.

Answer: Thanks, June. Unfortunately, I've already got a sideboard and no room to store another one. But for $6.99 I'd be willing to think about it...

Dear Cheryl-Anne:
I have a table very similar to the one shown in the paper (handed down from my great aunt). I also have a matching side board. I saw this exact table at Custers Antique Sale a few years back and they were asking $1,500 for the table alone. So $6.95 was a GREAT bargain. Where is the thrift store you visit?

Answer: My table isn't in $1,500 condition, but I felt pretty confident that I was on to a good thing. I'm planning to publish a list of my favorite Treasure Hunting haunts in the column soon, but it's important to remember that a good deal can pop up anywhere.

Get that smoke out

In Friday's
Treasure Hunting column, I wrote about the serendipity of thrift store shopping. My example was the 45" round oak dining room table I bought for $6.99. For once I was in the right place at the right time.
I asked readers to help me find the best way to get the smell of cigarette smoke out of the table, and I got some very interesting tips:

Oxidize those molecules
Enjoyed your article. The best way to remove the odor of cigarette smoke from belongings, especially porous items such as wood is with ozone. Check with any reputable fire damage restoration specialist. They most likely will have a ozone chamber and generator. The piece is placed in the chamber, ozone generator is turned on, which converts oxygen, 02 to ozone, 03. After a few hours, the generator is turned off, the 03 converts back to 02 and in doing so oxidizes the smoke molecule causing the odor. -- Mark Holum

Oxyfresh It
My daughter called me all excited when she read about your smoky table in The Spokesman-Review.
We have used our Oxyfresh Products for every challenging task that you can think of. My daughter is now 37 and we have challenged these products since she was about 18 or 19. We would love to share Oxyfresh with you. It is not a strong chemical-It is basically air. Most of our Oxyfresh products contain “Oxygene” which is our trademark for Stabilized Chlorene Dioxide which is pure oxygen. Works great and I would love to share it with you. -- Linda Weimann

A Parade of Perennial Plates

I was trolling the web for garden junk inspiration and I found this .
You know it's a real luxury to be able to set a nice garden for 15 and not get dishpan hands.
This site had everything, including the kitchen sink.

He's Full of Hot Air

How fun! I was just explaining to my youngest daughter how the heavy old iron I have in the laundry room was heated on the stove so it could be used to press the wrinkles out of cotton dresses and shirts. She wanted to know what it was and what it would have been used for.(Actually, she probably doesn't have a clue as to how any iron works. She's never seen one in action.)
Then today I read this on "A Family Runs Through It."
Confidentially, I have a brother-in-law who has been ironing his shirts this way for years.

No more wheeze, please

I have, on occasion, gotten sick of junking around, but I've never had any junk make me sick. Until now.
I bought this old green camp desk and a few days later I put it in my office. Within hours I was sick. I had some kind of allergic reaction to either the paint used on the inside of the box, or to whatever had been stored in it. There is a strong chemical odor inside the box. The funny thing is that I didn't notice it when I bought it.
I have mild asthma, but that box triggered a bad case of "I can't breathe."
I've got it sitting outdoors to "gas out" for a few days and hopefully, I'll get to bring it inside again. If not, I guess it will have to stay outside.

Antiquing for Dummies

If you are one of those people who likes to do things by the book, you might like Antiquing for Dummies.
The guide offers tips on spotting fakes, repairing antiques, and how to decorate with your finds. There's also a chapter on "The care, feeding, and deleting of antiques."

Dad makes a good call

I spent the day walking around downtown Spokane, and playing on the carousel at Riverfront Park , with my daughter's third-grade class. We watched the Lewis and Clark movie at the IMAX theater, and then drove up to Manito Park to play with the ducks. Why is it that I feel as though I've been hit by a truck, and she's outside playing on the swingset? Youth is wasted on the young.
Anyway... One of the other chaperones was a stay-at-home dad who loves to go to garage sales. He looks for interesting things to sell on eBay. His best find was a football autographed by Peyton Manning .He found the ball at a neighborhood sale for $3 and sold it for $300!
I guess a little knowledge isn't always a dangerous thing.