I wish there were more hours in the day. I wish I weren't such a sappy, sentimental basket case. If those two things were true, I would much more successful clearing out the boxes of stuff around here. Instead, I continue to plod along at a snail's pace, selling a few small items here and there on eBay and at the antique mall.
It's strange what actually sells. Would you believe old perm rods? Before I tossed them, I decided to check on eBay and learned that old salon/hair care items are quite popular right now. I also sold some of my barettes from the 1970's -- since my daughter forbids me to wear them. :)
I also sold a couple of sets of brand new Valentines from the early 1970's. They were so darn cute that I kept one set for myself.
Speaking of Valentines, as I've been sorting through boxes, I've been finding numerous Valentines from the 1920's-1950's. It seems that my mom and my grandma kept almost all the Valentines they received. I thought long and hard about it, then saved my favorites and sold the rest. There are over 140 used Valentines in this pile alone! I hope this does not cause my crafty friends to hyperventilate. Trust me -- I kept plenty. :)
My mom loved the Lone Ranger as a child and had saved several western jewelry pieces. I thought about keeping them but in the end, these items do not make me think of my mom, since she owned them as a child. I wanted to find a good home for them where they would be appreciated.
This is a tie slide.
This is a ring with a tiny gun on top.
This is a Lone Ranger bullet with a tiny compass inside. It's pretty cute, and I almost kept it. Still, I have no regrets about this stuff. I want to keep the things that I associate with my mom.
I found some movie star newspaper clippings and photos from the 1930's. Obviously my mom had ordered the photos by mail. Because western items seem to be collectible right now, I put them out on eBay and sure enough, they sold. Glad they're going to a new home.
I have a box of jewelry from my mom's childhood. I went through it with her sister to understand the significance of each piece so I could decide which ones to keep. I've now sold several pins and bracelets on eBay. I'm not making much money on any of this, mind you! I'm just trying to find good homes for things that were important to my mom or me.
My mom saved lots of my baby clothes and several pairs of my shoes. Good grief. I do not need my baby shoes, although I may keep a pair or two. These recently sold on eBay.
My mom had a couple of "Woodettes" sets in the 1940's. These wooden figurines were designed to be assembled and painted by a child. I am very happy to have shipped this set off to a new owner just today!
Not everything has been easy to sell. I've let go of several of my childhood dolls so far (the ones that didn't have as much emotional pull) and now I'm getting into the dolls that were more important to me. Last week, these two Storykins dolls (Goldilocks and Cinderella) went to a new home. Oh, how I used to love that pumpkin coach! To help me feel better about this, I decided to keep pictures of all of my childhood toys to put in a scrapbook one day.
I've sold my Dawn Doll car, bedroom set, and now this telephone stand/chaise lounge. I'm working my way up to the Dawn Dolls themselves, which will be very hard for me to sell. I loved them and, as hard as it will be for me, I must find a good new home for them. So I need to take a deep breath and do it while there is a strong market for them.
2 comments:
I'm completely shocked at the sheer amount of things that your mother and grandmother kept. :) My mother was a collector also, but only of fabric and NASCAR die cast cars which were relatively easy to sell. Neither of those things were sentimental to me and since I have plenty of my mother's quilts and cross stitch, I didn't feel bad about selling the fabric and die cast.
Kristina - Thanks for stopping by. Trust me...you don't know the half of it! Keep in mind how much of it I sold at the auction. I only kept stuff I thought I might want or didn't want to see at the sale, or stuff that was too small to deal with in an auction setting. I loved my parents dearly but this stuff has become a huge burden in my life. They never intended this to happen to me, and I vow not to let it happen to my daughter.
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