Estate Sale Finds: How to Be a Super Secretary

This week's estate sale find is a little booklet that I found stashed with a pretty old typewriter. There isn't a date on the pamphlet, but it was produced by the typewriter company Remington Rand, and is full of all the bad advice you'd expect from a piece written for women in slightly more sexist times (aka the 50's).

The pamphlet takes on a very Seventeen "do's and don'ts" tone, and I've picked out some of my favorite tips to share:

My biggest takeaway is that the author really didn't think secretaries should wear bobby socks.

Estate Finds - Mod Tote

Sometimes the estates that I visit are orderly and clean ... but the ones I have the most fun in are those that make you dig a little bit. Don't get me wrong - I love walking into a house and seeing everything hanging perfectly in the closet, but there is something satisfying about having to work to find buried treasure as well. I went to this storage unit clean-out last week, donned a head lamp and sturdy shoes, and dove into this:

There were all sorts of gems to be found in there. One of my favorites that I brought home to my personal collection was this mod tote bag.

Complete with a matching small purse and "hidden" zippered compartment underneath for your secret feminine accessories.

So basically I have the cutest tampon holder around.

Vintage Destination - The Longest Yard Sale

One of my favorite annual traditions is the Longest Yard Sale in the World. Someone in Tennessee devised this genius idea to encourage more tourism to the area, and got everyone along little Route 127 to hold garage sales and antique fairs on the first weekend in August. Now the route stretches from Alabama to Michigan, and is full of everything from novice sellers just cleaning out their attics to big barn sales to fields full of antique dealers.

For four days straight, I rummaged and haggled and poured over old treasures, and came back with several suitcases full and even more photos:

One of my favorite old finds of the trip was a viewmaster projector. Mine came pristine and perfect in its box, with a handwritten note by the previous owner:

I'm feeling the same way about many of the treasures I brought home. I'll probably be writing the same thing on many of them.

Estate Sale Finds - Rice

I was prepping a vintage wedding dress for a shoot and was amused to find a single grain of rice in between the mesh lace and the bodice of the dress - probably stuck there since the 50s when someone first threw rice at a happy couple running down some church steps.

Estate Sale Finds - Vintage Credit Card / Charge Card

How fun are these old vintage charge cards I found at an estate sale the other day? They are slightly smaller than the credit cards we're used to now, and there is no magnetic strip across the back (embossers were used to imprint the raised information on the plastic cards onto a duplicate sales slip instead). They seem a little more stylin' than our current credit cards for some reason.

Check out some of the other pretty vintage credit/charge cards pictured at the Department Store Museum.

Estate Sale Finds: Darn-it Box

I thought this "darn-it" box was a cute idea. I'm always mending holes and buttons and such while watching TV, and having a handy little box of portable essentials to aid the process is clever.

Estate Sale Finds: Fad of the Month Club

I was digging around the garage of an estate sale, and stumbled upon an entire box full of mailers from a club I think I would have liked to be a part of - the Fad of the Month Club, published by the National Handcraft Society. Members of the Club received a new DIY craft every month, delivered straight to their door. It looks like the stylish wrapping and cute labels on the package were in better taste than the slightly tacky crafts inside (like the weird styrofoam lamb?) but I can totally get behind the idea of a new crafty project surprise being mailed to you monhtly:

Sadly, this member of the Fad of the Month Club seemed to be a little more excited about the idea of doing crafts than actually making them - most of her kits seemed barely touched.

Estate Sale Finds: Darning Egg

I recently stumbled across this milk glass beauty.  Darning eggs were used to keep the round shape of socks while they were being mended.  I love how things used to be built to last!  Bonus was the darning kit and tin that came with it (from Seattle!).  Local vintage is always a plus.

 You can find darning eggs on ebay or etsy earn more about them here.

Estate Sale Finds: Gucci Rabbit Head Stirrup Cup

A little Animal Head themed vintage find from my estate sale this week ... AND a rabbit, just in time for Easter.

This little metal stirrup cup has a smart little rabbit head atop, which when turned over uses his nose and ears as a base. My cup is stamped "Gucci" which seems pretty fancy:



I had to do a little research to find out the story of this cup. As it turns out, stirrup cups are traditionally offered to riders before a classic English hunt, and are often filled with port or sherry as part of a special toast to begin the festivities.

A google image search shows they also come with fox heads, deer heads, and more. All I know is that there are a million little upside down animal head cups that I think I need to start collecting.

Estate Sale Finds: Marimekko Jumpsuit

Okay, this find isn't technically from an estate sale, but an eBay auction I'd had my eye on.

I do love me some Marimekko, and I'd spied this sort of odd looking jumpsuit in a striking black and white graphic pattern (Ryppypeppu, apparently). It had strange ruched elbows and butt and some stains, but it was interesting enough that I stuck it in my "watch" list.




On the day the auction was ending, I checked back and it was already at $46. I decided that was already more than I wanted to pay for a sort of novelty item, and didn't give it another thought until I saw what the final auction price was.



Apparently $46 would have been a very, very good price for this little number. Who would have known?

Estate Sale Finds: Midcentury Crochet-er

I always think its funny when the same person that has something rad like this light fixture in their house, also is the kind of person that crochets new necklines onto lavender Macgregor sweatshirts:

Estate Sale Finds: Sewing Stuff

Estate sales of "sewers" are always fun because it often helps me feel better about the stash of unfinished projects that I also have sitting by my machine. I'm always glad that I'm not the only one being inspired by fabrics and notions and then not having time to actually make them into something. I think it is that there is so much potential in an un-cut pattern and pretty fabrics and trims - I have almost as much fun just imagining the finished products that can come from raw materials as I do trying to sew them together.


The real gems of this sale were two pieces of really amazing vintage Marimekko fabric from the early 70s. I love Marimekko, and I'm almost too afraid to actually cut this stuff up and use it. The pressure to make something great is kind of paralyzing:



Any projects you're excited about? Sewing triumphs?

Estate Sale Finds: Wiglets

Big hair is big these days, and I'm seeing more and more "sock buns" and other tricks to give people even more body than hairspray might be able to. I stumbled on a few fabulous finds at an estate sale to remind me that DIY home hairpieces and wigs were pretty commonplace at one point, and I wonder if there may be a resurgence some time.

"Add a Bang" for all the turban wearers out there:


100% Human Hair "Wiglet" for a little extra lift on top:



I bought the wiglet thinking that I might brush it out and experiment a little with it (sorry add-a-bang), but I' haven't been brave enough to wear it out and about yet.

What do you think? Would you ever sport some hair that wasn't yours?

Estate Sale Finds: Foldaway Paper Fan

I'm always a fan of old packaging, and got a kick out of the command printed on the box that this lovely paper fan came in:



Keep cool and be gay!

I know that gay had a different connotation back in the day, but I still think it is a funny admonition from a fan - the keeping cool part I can understand, but the command to go forth and be happy with nothing more than a small fan suggests powerful things from this little paper treasure.