Auctions and Other Out of Body Experiences

During my travels to Thrift Stores, we also visit an occasional Auction.

This week we were in West Melbourne, Florida where we attended an antique auction.

Sitting there among about 150 people, after browsing among many tables of merchandise, sifting through "box lots" ( boxes of stuff that goes for one price) I began listening to the light chatter around me.

A man and his wife in their 70's were really keen on being the winning bidders on a 1940's Buck Rogers toy ray gun. " I don't care how much it is, just get it" the wife stated. The auction began and they were the winning bidders to the tune of more than $250...for this tiny little 3 inch treasure. They left, however before the auction was over after wife said " I don't care about that ray gun...my back is killing me ..lets go". And off they went!

Then I tuned in to a lady in front of me who was making it her business to sneer and jeer after every winning bidder. She was telling the folks next to her that she was there EVERY WEEK and then randomly starting telling them about "how the auctioneer drinks too much...the lady in the front in the blue shirt always looks dazed...and to look at those weird clothes that man to the side had on"

After this and a few other strange conversations I started to hear Rod Serling's voice saying "You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone!"

Not only the conversations but some of the prices these collectibles brought were astounding. After about 35 minutes into the auction I began to wonder if I would walk away with any treasures that were within my budget.

Then quicker than you can say "we now return you to your regularly scheduled program" the prices started to get lower, the people started to thin out, and then it was MY turn to bid. Here are some of my auction treasures:

A great little pink pedal car

Holt Howard Pixie Ware

These beautiful art nouveau - like platters

And my favorite funky find was this Zebra/Horse made out of iron!

(With an honorable mention to the vintage concrete deer in the background)

2 P's in a Pod of Pyrex

Wouldn't it be great to travel back through time and buy all of the things we love at these outrageously low prices? Take Pyrex, for example!

If you are as perplexed by Pyrex prices as I am, you can always buy "Pyrex- The Unathorized Collectors Guide" on Amazon.com
OR check out Ebay for the latest auction prices.
Pyrex is something that alot of people love, because of the many patterns and styles they produced like these below- PICK YOUR FAVORITE!!!

I found this wonderful photo montage at meetmeatmikes.com

Didn't find your fave? How about this one?

If you venture over to PyrexLove.Com
you'll find a wonderful pricing and pattern guide there.

I have a wonderful set of plain primary colored Pyrex. You know, yellow, red,green and blue. The set I have is from the 50's, which if you look at the foot of the bowls, you'll see a more pronounced ring.
These sets in mint condition will go anywhere from $50-$135 in my part of the country.
If youre not into primary colors, then how about some grooovy 1970's funky orange bowls? These were found over at JoRetro.Com

Of course, Pyrex is much more than vintage mixing bowls! I found one of these in my local favorite thrift spot: A Pyrex pitcher!!

The starburst pitcher was a great find...but a girl has to have a pyrex dream pick..so here's mine : I think it was a Christmas promo

Pyrex is still very affordable to collect! So dont be perplexed by Pyrex prices..research and then buy...or just grab every piece of it you can when you see it! Happy Hunting!

Store #55 down....only about 300 more to go!!!

I intend to work on this blog to give it a little more "oomph"...add links..add my logo etc etc..but I have having so much fun traveling around and scooping up goodies!  I need to repeat these 4 words "WORK ON YOUR BLOG"...over and over in my head like some random 70's song! ( Born to Be Alive, anyone?)

This week I traveled South to Ft Pierce, Port St Lucie, Jensen Beach and ended up in Stuart.
Stuart has a waterfront  little downtown area full of shops...but sadly not enough Vintage and Thrift stores.  I did find a few however, and being that I was in my car..I couldn't scoop up the 70's Formica dining set that I found at "Mustard Seed Thrift Shop", similar to the pic below.

I kicked myself like a mad donkey for this..you wouldn't believe the price...it was a mere $40 for the whole thing!

Back to the Ft Pierce area and feeling a little schizophrenic in my map skills, I ran into this:

A huge Iron Horse in the middle of downtown!

Junky, funky, artsy, reclaimed...and ____________ (insert your adjective here)

A highlight of our day was a stop at Laura's Emporium, also in Ft Pierce, where we found a

NAGEL Print!

Her store is full of really cool booths and vendors who are so creative! And GREAT prices too!

We bought a few retro goodies there, and have marked this place on the map for a return visit.

Now...back up the state and over a bit to O Town...Orlando!

Stay tuned.....