Friday, August 19, 2011

Today's estate sale and thrift shop pickups - steel cabinets, typewriter, glass caddy

I haven't gotten a real vacation this summer, but I've  at least been able to take some Fridays off.  Today I did a little yard work and purchased some parts for the Shasta camper, then I found a nearby estate sale and decided to go check it out.

Here in the DC area there are a lot of estates of retired military officers.  You see a ton of the same old stuff, and usually not a lot of mid century goodies.  But I did manage to pick up a few things at this sale of stuff from an Army general:


Folding metal tray tables, sturdy steel legs with a kewl metal stand - $5



The tray tops look pretty messed up, but for this price I think I can clean these up and use the for camping or in the yards when we need some extra tables.


This typewriter was in a very damp garage, the case had rust on it but when I got it opened, the typewriter looked good.


The keys work well, but I haven't rolled paper into it yet to see if the ribbon is any good. It's a Triumph Tippa, "Made in Western Germany".








I like the low, sleek look to this. Not bad for another $5.  What do you think "I dream-lo-tech," did I do good?

I was ready to leave the sale but decided to take one more look in a shed I had glanced into earlier.  This time no one was in there, and I spotted these five Youngstown Steel kitchen cabinets.


Not a complete set, but only $5 each, so I grabbed them.



I have a bunch of steel kitchen cabinets I got for nothing, one or two at a time in the early 2000s around our old neighborhood whenever someone had put one or two out on the street with the trash.  I'll have to get into the attic and try to find a label on those cabinets, they're pretty much all the same but a little different than these Youngstown cabinets.  If I ever get my dream garage built, I'll probably restore the cabinets and use them in the garage.

SWMBO and I had to refill a couple of prescriptions, so we did that next, then we hit a couple of thrift stores on the way home.  I found some record albums at the shop where I got the wooden danish cat a couple weeks ago, and as I was walking up to the cash register I spotted this drink caddy.




This is the coolest shape I've seen in one of these caddys. Pretty sweet for just $4.

I'm going to try and go back to the estate sale on half price day Sunday - there's an aqua 1950s Kroehler sofa in the garage that looked pretty good but was covered with stuff and unpriced.  One of the estate sale staff  quoted me $95.  The frieze fabric has metal thread in the pattern and looked good, but the cushions really need new foam.  We'll see if I can save it, stay tuned.

Oh, one last thing.  The house looks like it will probably be "renovated."  I hate that you never seem to be able to buy anything attached to the house, even though it will very likely be trashed.


The front entry has a vintage screen door with a monogram letter D centered in the screen grill.  I asked, but it's "not for sale."  Argh.

5 comments:

  1. yes lo tech will love the typewriter! I have a couple/few I keep meaning to photograph...

    Nice finds!

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  2. OMG!!! Metal Cabinets for $5 each!?! Awesome!!! You found some really cool stuff on your shopping trip. Please let us know if you get that Kroehler, it sounds divine!

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  3. Good haul! I would love to see those cabinets restored. I really like the screen door grate too, too bad it wasn't for sale.

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  4. I'm going to locate a new ribbon for the typewriter - I love how compact it is
    The metal cabinets are definitely cool - my others are in the vast Uncle Atom attic, patiently waiting to see the light of day

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