The print and the Yard of Ale are sold!
The muff is still available!
Here are some paintings by my dad. They are 16" X 20", Acrylic on canvas. Two paintings from this series were bought by Garnet Hill for bedding. They are $550 for one, or two for $950.

Last Minute Holiday Gifts!!!!

Did you ever want to decorate your house to look like the Adam's Family?

Well, this print would be a good place to start!

It is 18" by 27".

I am asking $29 but make me an offer, if you would love to have this in your home, then I would love to move it out of my home!

I will deliver within a 5 mile radius of South Orang for free!

Call if interested: 973.865.1173

I'll be adding more items throughout the weekend!

This Fox Fur muff is long and luxerious! Girls of all ages will love it for keeping their fingers warm and elegant! There is a little secret pocket inside!

Only $24! (OBO)

Yard of Ale
How about trying to chug this glass of beer?
$29 or best offer!

Muddlers and Firkins

What the heck is this? A common question for me as I encounter something new on a regular basis.





















I found these glass what-nots and thought, "hmmm, these are too short to be swizzle sticks."


I asked two knowledgeable friends about these glass what-nots, and they both, independently said, "These are knife rests. They keep your knife a little in the air so you don't get butter on the tablecloth." I thought that made sense except the knife rests I had seen previously were more symmetrical.


I then asked a third friend who said, "These are muddlers, for mixing drinks." Sure enough, when I googled "muddler" I found that they were used right after prohibition and into the depression. They are now used for making mojitos and are highly collectible. Having the right name for something is very useful! (and having friends with many different interests is also good)! oh, heck, having any kind of friend is good!


























This same friend also identified this cool item as a firkin or sugar bucket. I liked the bucket, but knowing more about it makes me appreciate it even more! She also told me the slats were loose because the wood was dry and I could tighten them up by wetting them. I ran a wet cloth over the wood to clean it and it helped a little but I was nervous to do more then that.

Then there is the annoying spouse...I was talking to Gary about firkins and muddlers, and he accused me of reading too much Harry Potter lately.

I met a lot of nice people on Friday and Saturday! Thank you to everyone who came and participated!

I still have a few nice pieces left. They are reduced to 50% to 75% off!

SALE THIS WEEKEND! April 3rd & 4th

345 Walton Road in Maplewood
Friday and Saturday, April 3rd & 4th
9:30 to 4:00
Numbers out at 5 the day before.

I hope to see you there!
Here are some items for sale:

What is an Estate Sale?

Wikipedia has a nice defination and explanation of what we do at an estate sale:

An estate sale or estate liquidation is a type of garage sale, yard sale or auction to dispose of a substantial portion of the materials owned by a person who is recently deceased, or who must dispose of their personal property to facilitate a move.
Reasons for an estate sale
The most common reason for an estate sale is the death of the property owner, and the consequent need to quickly liquidate that persons belongings. The survivors may have no interest in the bulk of the personal belongings left by the deceased, or may simply lack a place to keep those belongings. Where the survivors of the deceased cannot agree to the disposition of tangible property, a court may order those goods to be sold in an estate sale with the proceeds to be divided between the survivors. Such a sale and division may also be mandated in the will of the deceased.
An estate sale may also occur because the property owner will be moving into a situation where they will be unable to keep their property - for example, a move to an assisted living facility, a retirement community, a rest home or other living quarters.

Conduct
Estate sales are usually conducted by a professional, for a percentage of the revenues. The liquidator may also charge the estate back the costs to give said sale, including but not limited to advertising, marketing, research, labor, security, refreshments and other fees incurred in giving a successful sale. The presence of a professional liquidator may be necessary because the scope of the process is likely to be overwhelming to the survivors. Furthermore, the liquidator often has a tremendous loyal following of dealers, collectors and public. They may be familiar to buyers who have been coming to their sales for decades, and trust that they will price wisely and fairly and steer them toward finding their niches within each collectors realm, and for the specialist's knowledge and experience with pricing antique items, and general value knowledge of all types of household goods and personal property value, his or her following of customers, and the specialist's experience in disposing of unsold goods in an unsentimental manner after the run of the sale. These professionals often times take a percentage of the net proceeds anywhere from 20-50 percent due to their ability to double or even quadruple the gross sales outcome by their organizational presence.
Estate liquidators, when professional, honest, hard working and diligent can not only make the families or executors and heirs plenty of extra monies in giving a successful sale, at the same time a seasoned professional can often manage to keep all items out of too full landfills and dumps while managing to recycle and bring unwanted fairly worthless items into the hands of a second part of our poor community who wants and needs the dregs of most estates and can re home them rather than waste or bury them under dirt. Antique and collectible dealers use estate sales as one of their more important wholesale sources. Estate sales are typically 1 to 3 days long, often with a price reduction toward the end. It is becoming more and more of a trend on the west coast that on the last final day of the given estate sale, with the family's or executor's permission, all leftover items are advertised and given away for free to limit the amount of waste in any given purging situation. Sometimes this can result in an empty house and less burdened landfill. Moreover, estate sales are being used to redistribute households where families have lost their ability to pay mortgages and are losing their homes to foreclosures.

Tips on Attending an Estate Sale

Maybe you are an old pro at attending estate sales, but if you haven't been to one, you may be intimidated. What would you like to know? Ask us some questions!

At the very beginning of the first day (and sometimes the second day) of the sale, you may see a long line of people.
Some of these people are dealers and very serious about getting a first crack at looking at the offerings in this new sale.
It's okay for you to be there, too! Most dealers may be going quickly from sale to sale and this is "work" for them, but most are courteous and friendly people as well.
Look around or ask if there are numbers or a sign in sheet. We like to put out numbers. Then, at precisely the time mentioned in the ad, someone will come to the door and say, "Numbers 1 through 10" or "1 thru 25" etc. The reason for this is that sometimes the entrance or the house is small. We need to control the amount of people crowding into a small area so no one gets hurt and so we can see what is going on.
We put small valuable items in cases and we may have a person just to stand by those items.
Some estate sales put the numbers out the night before and some at a specified hour in the morning. This way people can come and get a number and then sit in the car, or go get coffee.
If you don't care about rushing in during this first moment, then wait 20 or 30 minutes and you can probably stroll right in. Sometime around 11 a.m. or noon things usually get very quiet if you want to really have time and room to look around. I am always surprised at what great treasures are found even at the very last minute of the sale. Some people think things will be all picked over by the second day, but I have a theory that, especially in some sales, the first layer of things may be gone, but they just reveal more treasures underneath in the next layer! Also, there just may not be anyone looking for what you are looking for and then you are in luck. When I am shopping, I like the end of the day because, if I find something, it is often a very good price as the sellers start to realize that it may be left over.

If you don't see an email list out by the door, ask if they estate sale sends out email notices. Sometimes we have special previews or special sales we don't even advertise! If you would like to be on our email list, contact us over on the right and ask to be added.