Auctions

I love auctions! I always have and always will, I guess.

Daddy and Momma took me to my first auction when I was about 10 years old. We were on our way to see Mamaw - or on the way home from visiting her - and we stopped at a little auction on the highway. Even to my little girl eyes, it was a small place. I remember sitting in aluminum bleachers and being entranced by all that was going on. Then I saw it ~ a set of smoky gray juice glasses. I asked Daddy if we could bid on them and he said that I could. So, with his help, I bid on those juice glasses. And I won them! A set of eight for a whole dollar! They were tiny, just four ounces each and about an inch and a half across. We used those juice glasses for as long as I can remember, until they broke and there were no more. My set is gone, but I found a picture of one online.

We didn't go to many auctions, and that is the only one I can really remember. However, eBay entered my life. Oh, how I love eBay! I really have to be careful there. It started out as a way to find vintage postcards of Blue Mountain College, my alma mater. Then it spread to buying scrapbook supplies. Two of my favorite purchases from eBay have been collector's Wedgwood plates for the 75th anniversary of Blue Mountain College. I found a blue one and a rare pink one!

That is Lowrey Dormitory pictured on the plates. My mother-in-law lived in that dorm as a student at BMC. When I was a student, the dorm had been closed and eventually was torn down. Another great find on eBay was a blue demitasse and saucer from the same commemorative china set that I gave to Mary Jo for Christmas one year. Doubly meaningful to her because she lived in the dorm pictured and she collects tea cups!

A few years ago, Ken and I started going to a local auction on Saturday nights in Tiplersville, MS. We have found some really cool stuff there. We haven't been in quite a long time because Ken has had to work on Saturday nights. But recently we have gone back. Here are a few of the great items we have found there in the last couple of months.

Blue Ball brand Perfect Mason jars in pint and quart sizes

Glass floral frogs

Fenton milk glass hobnail double scallop dish

HEAVY wood-framed antique mirror
I got this beauty for only $3!

And my most recent ~ and exciting ~ eBay purchase as of today:

A lovely cobalt blue ribbed bud vase just like the one my Mamaw gave to me. Mine fell and broke just after Ken and I married and I have mourned its loss. Now I have a replacement!

{Three on Thursday} Attic Treasures

I went up into our attic earlier this week on a quest to find something I thought I had stored up there. Our attic is filled with seasonal items and holiday items and no longer used items ~ from my family and the one before us! We live in the house where my husband grew up, so we have his parents' and brothers' stuff up there with ours. I came across some photos that triggered the following memories:

1. Kevin has always loved Elmo from Sesame Street. One of his first toys was a machine-washable Elmo. The crowd grew after that. He had Tickle Me Elmo, Rock-n-Roll Elmo, ABC Elmo, Elmo's World Elmo. He had big Elmos and little Elmos. Stuffed Elmo and figurine Elmo and Christmas ornament Elmo. Elmo posters and Elmo pillows. He saw Sesame Street Live and "saw" nothing but Elmo. He even had his picture taken with Elmo at a local convenience store promotion. Yes, we still have all the Elmo toys, but they are stored safely in the attic ~ mostly.

Kevin and Elmo, around spring 1997.
I don't imagine any other little one giving Elmo
a hug nearly as excitedly as Kevin did!

2. I found this photo of my great-grandmother, Minnie Iona Thompson Dawson. Mamaw was one of my best friends. She always gave me mason jars with holes in the top for lightning bugs. She always fixed pinto beans AND great northern beans for the same meal when I was there. She taught me to crochet. She was teaching me to knit before she had a stroke. This unusual photo is from her last driver's license, just because that was the only recent photo we had of her.

My Mamaw

3. Katie was always a very picky dresser. Even as a baby she didn't like to wear "fussy" clothes. So out went ruffles and bows and all things frilly. She always seemed more comfortable and happy in simple, clean-lined garments. Then, she was asked by her daddy's cousin Traci to be a rice bag girl at her wedding. And she needed to wear a black or black and white dress. Grandmother Annie had this one made for her. Ruffles! Pleats! Eyelet! Gathers! Pinafore! Katie was excited to wear the pretty dress and pinafore for the wedding, but I couldn't talk her into wearing it again. She would wear just the black dress, but forget about that fussy pinafore! She was cute as could be though!

Katie ~ June 1992