Memory boxes, photo albums, scrapbooks, these are words that the dawn of the Internet rendered obsolete. Memory boxes will eventually become hard-drives, and photo albums have already become Flicker, Picasa, or Pintrest, and scrapbooks are becoming blogs. Once upon a time you could hold these items in your hand and sort or flip through them leisurely. I don’t see memory boxes or photo albums too often when I dig, but I have found scrapbooks. How does something steeped in the recollections of an individual end up for sale? That is a question that often has no answer. Sometimes there is no one …
…I’ve never been. For those of you that regularly read my column and follow my blog, I know that may seem hard to believe. For those of you that don’t know about the Brimfield Antique show, let me explain. The Brimfield Antique show is possibly the largest flea market of its kind. Started in 1959 by a local auctioneer, it is now a collection of antique and collectable shows with over 5,000 dealers (yes, I said “5,000”). They come to sell their wares in this tiny Massachusetts town of 1,000, which swells to 30,000 during the week of the sale. You could say it’s “Brim-ing,” but I really don’t …
This week’s top sale came from the “Tag Sale Generator” I provide as a link on my blog. Truthfully, this widget it isn’t always reliable because sometimes Craig’s list just isn’t. Good or bad, I recommend using a combination of sources to find the best sales. What attracted me to this Saturday sale was a simple phrase on the ad: “Old Books Cheap!” To get to the promised sale of old books, I first had to see my daughter through her Saturday activities so daddy could have a turn as well. This sale was located in a picturesque section on the Southbury/Newtown border along River Road. Lake Zoar …
One of the things I enjoy about urban archeology is that I can dig anywhere. It’s a hobby that doesn’t require a lot of accessories to get started; just two — (1) transportation and (2) a weekend. I recently returned from a vacation to Florida, which presented an interesting challenge: Would I be able to find a “dig” in Florida? Would my family let me? With a firm grasp on the two accessories listed above and an ounce of tolerance provided by my accommodating wife, I began looking online to see what digs were out there. Fortunately, I found a similar website to the one I use here in …
There is a "method to the madness" or a few ground rules that the avid tag sale-er should follow. Because it often appears as a silent battle between buyers and sellers I have a few tips for both buyers and sellers. Buyers tip #1 — Map it. You may be the spur of the moment type, but unless you are familiar with a wide area I recommend using a map or GPS to plan your route. It will save on gas and you will spend less time looking for that mystery side street. Sellers tip #1 — Whether you post your sale here on Patch, on Craig's List, or in newsprint consider your audience. Scanning quickly for…
A couple of weeks ago I was down to my last day of digging — Sunday. I hadn’t found anything all weekend. In a minor state of desperation I decided to visit an old standby: the Elephant’s Trunk in New Milford. Readers of my blog or my series of Patch articles will recognize my infrequent visits there. Not exactly a Mecca for my kind of search, but a faithful and karmic standby that has been around for a long time. When I go out on the weekends, I am not just searching for something old, antique, nostalgic. Those things are pretty easy to find. I am looking for something much more elusive — a …
The post card is an interesting phenomenon; once a common form of correspondence, it may someday be referred to as the painfully slow predecessor of Twitter. A few words scribbled quickly in a box of limited space, open for anyone to read, but making sense only to the recipient. Post cards can be very collectable, but I never knew why until I started blogging about them. Realization — They are visually addictive. As a novelty of communication and a form of advertising, around since the 19th century, there are still millions of post cards out there. They were printed on thick paper stock to …
Connecticut is a great place to call home, much of the state is still undeveloped and many area towns have small, medium, and large parks to explore and enjoy. One of my favorites is Lovers Leap Park in New Milford. Recently restored in the past five years, it has much to offer casual hiker or explorers. There is plenty of parking, century-old factory ruins, a grand lookout steeped in Native American folklore, and an iron lenticular truss bridge from 1895 as the park’s centerpiece. What makes these spots even more fun is discovering the history around them. I was looking for a dig this past …
“How do you find these things?” This is a typical question that often accompanies the “Where?” as well. My best advice is to look everywhere. When visiting a sale, the common approach is to separate what is for sale from what isn’t. While I do recommend making a quick review of all the rooms in an estate sale, a good friend taught me a lesson that follows the philosophy “Everything is for sale.” Rather than be concerned about the taped off rooms and the “No Entry” signs take everything in that you can and feel free to ask about what you can’t see. A few weeks ago I found a lone estate sale …
One thing a good Urban Archeologist shouldn’t overlook is the occasional box or dusty shelf of books. They are often passed over or ignored and seem destined to be undone by technology. No, I don’t think e-books will cause hard and soft cover books to disappear overnight. For one thing, some of us don’t have it in us to throw out a book. Think of that unread copy of “Moby Dick” you’ve had on your shelf for years. That paperweight won’t ever leave. Sure, you wish it would, but there it sits resting on your conscience because it was a gift and, well, you can’t throw out a gift. But that may be…
I’ve said many times before — “Some of us were born to collect, and some of us have great collections thrust upon us” — at least it’s a quote I would like to be known for saying. I have never been able to settle for collecting one thing, it may be more accurate to admit I am a collector of collections — or maybe the stories around them. In an article published a few weeks ago, I wrote about a jar of matches I picked up at an auction. It wasn’t the matches I wanted, but the odd coins of varying currency among them. I have purchased matches before, though not nearly in as great a quantity, …
One of the categories I think very few of us can resist while on a “dig” is our past. No matter how old you are, you have a history. The shows we watched, the toys we played with, the products we’ve used, all play an important part of who we are, and often what we look for. Like retrospectives, or “clip shows” of your favorite comedy series, searching through the collections of other folks is a great opportunity to enjoy a sort of slow-motion look back at the things you thought you had forgotten. This happened to me one afternoon while digging through some old magazines. There in a stack were…
I have to admit I do go through a sort-of withdrawal around this time of year. The weather may be cooperating but the sales are not. Last week, when I so generously offered a way to find sales, I didn’t expect that there would only be one in a 50-mile radius. In my world, that equates to a prolonged drought. I even went as far (literally) as to drive outside that radius to a listed estate sale in West Pawling, NY. I should have known I’d have no success when the shortest route to the sale was met with a “Bridge Out” sign. I persevered only to be grossly disappointed by the slim pickings at …
I found a friendly comment placed under last week’s article asking me the question for the ages: “Where do you go to find the good sales?” I have been doing this weekend treasure hunting for as long as I can remember. Actually, it all started with a parent teaching me to drive. What better place to practice parallel parking then among the row of cars at an estate sale. Of course, once successfully wedged between two cars, I had to go and take a look. My first lesson in successful treasure hunting: Randomness. As a dashing (writer’s embellishment) young lad of 16, I was immediately attracted …
When I woke up on Saturday, I knew it was not going to be the best day to find a “dig,” or possibly a blog post, or even an article. I had actually checked the night before to see if there were any sales in the area and was hopeful when I found a lone estate sale listed in Danbury. The snow had been falling since 3 a.m. and the prediction was for 3-6 inches, maybe more, maybe less. Looking out the window, I figured the day was lost to finding anything, except lower back pain from shoveling. My wife doesn’t drive in the snow, but cares about her clients, and when she asked for a ride to work…
It may be obvious, but after discovering the glass negative from this earlier post I have been fostering a small obsession to learn more about them. Thanks to a mutual friend, I have known Nancy Zorena for several years. Remembering that she was connected with a historical society led me to getting in touch with her. Nancy, who has been a past president of the Monroe Historical Society, and is now currently a volunteer, met me in the History room of the Edith Wheeler Memorial Library on a warm Saturday in January. I was there to see what I had been searching for: a large collection of glass …
Last week I ended with a find that almost slipped through my shredder. The item was an odd wedding invitation addressed to Florence Sagendorf, the owner of the 44 Connecticut post cards (see image) found from 1904-07. With no date and taking place out of state, the invitation really didn’t have much interest. However, seeing that the groom was serving in the military as a Cavalryman piqued my curiosity. I wondered what luck I would have if I just Googled the groom’s name? It turns out that Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, who was about to be wed to Adele Howard Holley in 1911, was more than just a…
What are we looking for when we go tag sale-ing? Some people look for that best-selling novel they wanted to read two years ago or the piece of discontinued china that will complete their own set. I look for items of local historical significance. Because I rarely find what I am looking for, I will often settle for anything with a good story behind it. Earlier in the year, at a sale in West Redding, I was looking through piles of books when I came across a postcard album with a heavily worn cover. During the late 19th, early 20th century postcards were sent as frequently as emails are today…
Why do we send Christmas cards? I don’t want to shake a billion dollar industry to its foundations, but I have to ask the question. Every year, my wife and I sit down and select a photo of our daughter in holiday dress, add a snappy or humorous quote or greeting and order copies of these to send to people we know and people we think we know. Whose idea was this? Apparently, this all started in the 1840s with an Englishman who got tired of writing a personal note to each of his friends and acquaintances. Sir Henry Cole asked an artist to draw up and duplicate a picture that represented the …
When the sales begin to dwindle this time of year, if you look hard enough and are willing to travel, it is still possible to find things that are unique and beyond description. That was the case this past weekend, as I scanned my sources and found no “digs” in the local area. However, in New Canaan there was a listing that sounded very inviting. "Wexford Hall", the magnificent English country mansion designed by William Tubby in the 1920s, is overflowing with wonderful and unusual art, antiques and collectibles: furniture, rugs, porcelain, ivory, silver, books, linens, garden items, three …
