Why I Oughta...

Earlier this week, I posted about the sweet vintage Fighting Illini sweater and Austrian Moose creamer that I picked up at an Elmhurst Estate Sale and I mentioned that there was another item I bought that morning. Well...here it is. Scroll back up there and count the stars. That's right.  There's just 48. Growing up, my Dad always flew a 48 star flag for some reason.  I think he just thought it was cool.  And...largely because of that, I think it is cool, too. This is the first one that I've come across in all my years of garage sale/estate sale-ing.  Turns out....they're probably not *that* rare.  The 48 star flag flew for 47 years (From 1912 to 1959) and up until then, was the longest 'serving' flag in our country's history . I have it proudly displayed at Equation Boy/Man's house for now, but once our new old farmhouse is built (gasp!  Yeah!  There is some news, there!!!  I'll post the details at some point), it'll go great on

Yesterday, I posted about this sweet, vintage Fighting Illini sweater that I scored at a swanky Estate Sale in Elmhurst , and today comes another item that came out of that very same sale:  this moose creamer. I spotted this moose and did the same thing that I did with the sweater:  texted a photo to Nat and asked her if we should pick it up for her Mom - who is into the wilderness and other mountain-related-what-have-yous.  Just like the sweater, Nat said 'yes' to this one. I gleefully brought it home and we gave it to Nat's mom the following weekend.   Only to discover that she already has one of these!  Well...not *exactly* one of these, but something pretty similar.  So, now she has a pair. Check the thing out below:  the cream (or perhaps gravy?!?!?!)  comes pouring right out of the moose's mouth: One different between the one I bought and the one already on hand:  this one is stamped "Austria", so it has some international provenance - which

A few weeks back, there was a pretty awesome Estate Sale at a house in Elmhurst on Cottage Hill (the swankiest street in town, maybe????) and after taking my number and waiting to get in (yes, they had you take a number and limited the number of shoppers in the loaded house), I came out with a few items including this sweater that I just *had* to take a selfie of that morning. I snapped this pic and texted it to Nat with a 'What do you think?' and instead of her usual 'pass' on the garage sale junk I come across, she said 'of course!  Buy it!'  So...this sweet, kinda tight beauty came home with me and I can't wait to break it out on a college football Saturday this fall when I support Lovie Smith and the boys in orange fight against their Big Ten brethren. Last month, I posted 3 other Estate Sale sweaters , so I'm starting to wonder to myself is *this* becoming a thing now for me?

I found these sweaters at an Estate Sale in Elmhurst and thought really hard about buying them.  No real reason, other than I was drawn to them.  Kinda strange, right?  Just look at that one above.  The 1966 across the chest?  That's just rad, isn't it?  And look how trim/slim it is??!? And these below?  The orange one is awesome because of the orange.  Then add the chevrons on the arm, the pins on the letter in the middle?  The v-neck?? And this cardigan?  From the Glee Club?  Pretty awesome. Alas, they didn't come home with me but I'm hoping that they went home with somebody.  And that they didn't end up in the garbage dump.

I picked up this "Neutron Irradiated Dime" from the Museum of Atomic Energy at an Estate Sale here in Elmhurst earlier this Spring.  My dad collected some coins over the years - and gave away proof sets for special occasions.  I found this story about these irradiated dimes and there were more than million of them, so they're not terribly rare. But, that doesn't matter much to me.  I liked the looks of it and it just screams 'atomic age' from the looks of it, doesn't it?  I've stuck it into my stashbox for now and figure that's a fine place to keep it for the next few decades. Turns out, this is from Oak Ridge, Tennessee.   At least, I *think* it is, even though the name of the museum is different on the coin I have.   More about the place : The American Museum of Science & Energy is today’s No. 1 Oak Ridge, TN tourist destination. But from 1941 to 1949 Oak Ridge was a town that did not exist. It was one of the top secret facilities

Found this at an Estate Sale in Elmhurst along with some 70's era Shell Oil/NFL themed drink glasses and couldn't pass it up.  It is still full and how about those graphics on the front of this can?!?! If I'm being honest, this can isn't quite a perfect fit with our other vintage Christmas stuff (mostly Santa figures), but it will look cute in our china cabinet along with the other vintage holiday/Christmas stuff, won't it?  And, it was just $0.25. And, you guys know that I have a soft spot for things that I feel like I am rescuing. Meaning...rescuing them from the dumpster.  If *I* didn't buy this old can of spray-on snow, I'm thinking nobody would.  And it would have disappeared.  Maybe one of my kids will have an affinity for it as they grow up - and they'll value and be attracted to some old things like Nat and I are today.  Or...maybe it will end up in a dumpster eventually anyway. No matter.  It has at least a (temporary??) new lease on li

Yesterday, I posted a few vintage Purdue and Notre Dame football covers from the 1960's , and today comes another photo from the very same estate sale.  This stuff is just pretty amazing to me.  It is all associated with the 1967 Rose Bowl game that Purdue played against USC.  There's two different kind of bumper stickers.  The "Pasadena-a-do-do" ones are pretty rad if you ask me.  Then there's the various/different Rose Bowl pins.  And...that thing on the right says "Purdue University Rose Bowl 1966-7". It is from Conlin-Dodds Travel Service in the Memorial Union Building in West Lafayette, Indiana.  Says it is the 'Official Student Tour'. I didn't get my hands on it (it was kind of in this display case), so no idea what was in there, but guessing it was a full set of docs that included things like bus tickets, game tickets, hotel arrangements, etc. I didn't buy this stuff, but I'm sure hoping *someone* did.  This deserves a

In the same pile as the Student Power Magazine that I posted yesterday, there were also a bunch of football programs all from Purdue University.  Above is one against Notre Dame that features Neil Armstrong - a Purdue Alum.  This estate was chock'ed full of Purdue sports stuff. Below, is another Purdue vs. Notre Dame program from September 30, 1967 that features the returning 1966 National Champion Fighting Irish with South Bend being highlighted in the 'middle' of the 'D' and West Lafayette in the 'middle' of the 'P'.  Cute.  As you can see scrawled by hand is what appears to be the score:  Purdue 28.  ND 21. Also were a few other interesting ones:  This one directly below is from the 1967 Rose Bowl Game featuring Purdue vs. USC. And this was the only one featuring the Illini.  That's Bob Griese, too!  Which is pretty neat.  This Illini vs. Purdue program is the earliest from October 29, 1966. With us being in total disarray hous

Amongst a bunch of other Big Ten-related memorabilia (more on those later), I came across this Student Power magazine form November of 1967.  You can see the cover photo is of a protest and this is a "FREE Magazine for Students in the Big Ten Universities Exclusively".  This was in a pile of football programs from Purdue University. If you open the front cover, you find this interesting box full of enrollment data.  Look at Northwestern.  They dropped 3K students from 1966 to 1967?  That seems crazy. Alas, I didn't come home with this artifact, but I'm hoping that someone else picked it up and it didn't end up in the dumpster.

I stopped at a few estate sales on Saturday and at one of them, I had to call Nat to bring her out to check out all the milk glass.  These five pieces were just a small fraction of what they had, and while we came away with a few new pieces, none of them are pictured here.  I tried to get Nat to take this two piece butter dish that has the hobnail pattern on it.  But...she passed.  Of the pieces she did pick out, most of them were of pretty unique form factors.  Most, we had not found before.

I picked up this valet from an estate sale a few weeks back for $5 with big dreams of both reupholstering the base and updating it with at least one 'built-in' charging cord for my mobile device.  This one has those sleek, tapered legs that come with most mid-century modern furniture and that delightful little seat to sit on when you're putting your shoes on.  Once we get our house situation figured out, I figure this will find a home in my office or closet and it will once again find a home and a user who can extend it's life for a while.

 Among other items, I picked up this wooden step stool/bench/seat at an Estate Sale over the weekend.  On it, it reads:  "To brush my teeth or watch tv, this little stool was made for me".  It folds over on itself and is pretty small. I was so proud to bring it home thinking that it would be perfect for the girls.  It *could* replace the cheap IKEA ones that we currently use in the bathroom and kitchen. I bring it in to show off to Nat thinking that she was going to love it.  And guess what?  She said..."nope".  Not for us.   Sad Trombone . So, knowing that my dad is always looking for things to do, I gave it to him and told him to sell it on eBay or Craigslist.  I paid just a few bucks for it, so who knows???  Maybe we'll make a profit!

I came across this jacket in the basement of an estate sale in Elmhurst over the weekend.  They wanted just $2 for it, but I couldn't pull the trigger.  Had never heard of St. Lawrence University.  A quick Google search tells you it is in upstate New York .  The house had a lot of artistic items in the Estate Sale - including paintings.  The jacket made a long trip both from New York, but also from way back in 1956.  Hopefully, someone else found it and it found a nice home and not in the bottom of a dumpster.

Yesterday, we swung by an Estate Sale near the old hospital in our neighborhood.  After walking around the first floor and nosing around the basement and garage, we didn't find much that we liked.  As we were walking out, I spotted this Boston wall-mounted pencil sharpener.  I asked the homeowner if it was for sale and after considering it, she said it was. After locating a screw driver and giving her a buck, I pryed this thing off the wall and took it home. It really reminds me of my dad.  Growing up, we had one of these things mounted on the wall in his work room in the basement.  Doing math homework always required pencils and we didn't have the luxury of having mechanical pencils back in 1988.  So, everytime I needed a sharp point, down I went to the basement to sharpen up. At some point, when the Babe and the Bird head to school, they'll be using pencils.  Instead of a fancy electric sharpener, they're going to have to do what I did:  go downstairs and grin