You Can't Go Home Again...

I go to a lot of estate sales and sometimes it's hard to decide if one is going to be worth my time and effort to attend. Where is it located? What kind of items are they advertising? How do the photos of the sale look? There are a lot of variables that affect my decision to go to a specific sale or pass it by.


This past Sunday at the Long Beach Flea Market, the owner of one of the area's estate sale companies stopped by my booth and told me I needed to come to his sale this week as he thought there were a lot of things I would be interested in. Before I spoke with him, I had seen his ad and decided it was going to be a "pass" on this sale. I'm glad I changed my mind!


It turns out that the house the sale was held at was my parents' first house! Driving over to the sale, I knew the house was on the same street I lived on until I was four years old, but when I pulled up to the address I knew it was our old house! I don't think I have any actual memories from living there, but I recognized a few things from old family photos - the banquette in the kitchen, the patio where I played with my sister, the stoop where my grandma sat, my mom in the front yard by the succulent plants, and my dad in the backyard showing off his deep-sea fishing catch. While I was positive it was the same house, I was able to confirm it with the son of the home's owner as he was at the home during the sale. He told me it was his mother's home and she is the one who purchased it from my parents many years ago. As the song goes, it's a small world after all...


I did end up purchasing some furniture and other things from the sale but since they are not my family's they will not be hard for me to sell. However, I did recently receive some furniture from my uncle's estate that my parents had given to him when they furnished their new home - living room tables that came from the house I visited today. They may not be "heirlooms" but they do have some sentimental value for me. At least I can validate their mid-century authenticity!


Who says "you can't go home again"?  Today, I did!

Dark Shadows

My wife and I are big Tim Burton fans and were really looking forward to seeing his latest film, Dark Shadows. While the movie is entertaining and the special effects are pretty amazing, it left us wanting more.  Even Johnny Depp's performance felt a little reserved compared to his other over-the-top characters. Maybe the subject matter is too grim, but we wanted more fun out of the movie.


Since most of the story occurs in 1972, there are fun retro references - bright Samsonite luggage, cool cars, vintage board games, and owl macrame. There's also a fun bit with The Carpenter's on TV singing "Top Of The World". We wanted more vintage product nostalgia and more music!


Fun? Yes. Entertaining? Yes. Worth going to? You decide. Based on our expectations going in, maybe the movie we really wanted to see was Light Shadows...

"HOARDERS" Show Filming At My House!

Just Kidding!  I think...  No, really we're just getting ready for our semi-annual yard sale.  This is the biggest one yet - the photo above doesn't even show six more tables around the side yard or what's on the patio or driveway!  retroda is teaming up with Sweet Treasures Home and another ex-vintage dealer to hold a mother lode of a yard sale.  It looks like we will get nice weather for the next couple of days - wish us luck!

You Spin Me Round Like A Record

Ever since I decided to write this post, I have had this earworm of a song stuck in my head!  Yes, an iconic hit from the '80s, but definitely not one of my favorites!  The "Big Eighties" are definitely on their way back - the music and clothes are already here...next up?  Home furnishings!  I even had a customer ask me for black lacquered furniture and a lucite table just a few days ago.  Are you ready for an American Gigolo home makeover?

Here's what caused all of this eighties madness:

It's a vintage spin display case.  All of the shelves rotate around so you can easily view items up close - no squatting or kneeling, just rotate the shelf to the top of the case to view. This type of case is hard to find since they are perfect for showing so many different things.  I was lucky enough to find one last month and I just installed and loaded it at Long Beach Antique Mall II.  Come on out and take it for a spin - big hair is optional!

Orange Crush!

I'm posting photos today from my dealer space at Orange Avenue Estate, Salvage & Garden.  It made me remember one of my favorite sodas when I was a kid - Orange Crush!  These days I am more likely to be drinking an Orangina though.


Located in the historic Long Beach neighborhood of California Heights, Orange Avenue ES&G opened last September and has quickly built up a loyal customer base of local residents and beyond.  As the name implies, the store features vintage finds for your home, salvaged and re-purposed/up-cycled items, and an outdoor garden area.  It's not your typical antique mall, but there are multiple dealers represented and you never know what treasure you might find.  Stop by and take a look!


Orange Avenue Estate, Salvage & Garden
3414 Orange Avenue
Long Beach, CA  90807
(562) 427-6928


website: http://www.orangeaveestatesalvageandgarden.com/#!
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/orangeaveESandG?ref=ts

Here's a look at some of what I'm offering there right now:

Wicker furniture - just in time for patio season!

Kitchen hutch full of canning jars, cookbooks, pottery serving dishes, and more.

A vintage baker's table with metal drawers for flour and sugar!  Loads of enamelware, milk bottles, and a ton of great old kitchen gadgets.

Vintage linens - tablecloths, napkins, aprons, dishtowels.

Shells!

Vintage buttons - fill a cup for $6!

Vintage dog planters and figurines and a great metal greenhouse - perfect for a terrarium.

An assortment of clear glass jars - selling lots of these, especially the old candy jars.

A black wrought iron entertainment wall unit - It would also be great on a patio filled with plant pots.  Also available are vintage biscuit tins, water and milk bottles, glass insulators and a thermos collection.  For the wee vintage collectors, some Fisher-Price toddler toys, board games and books are here to keep them busy while you shop...of course they are all available to purchase!

Shout It Out!

Yesterday was a special "5th Sunday" show at the Long Beach Flea Market so we packed the U-Haul again and headed out in the pre-dawn hours to get set-up for the show.  We were the featured dealer for this show and got "shout-outs" on the LB Flea Market website and Facebook pages:
http://www.longbeachantiquemarket.com/index.cfm/blog/featured-dealer1/retroda-at-the-long-beach-flea-market/
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150787287494452.421745.28409134451&type=1
It was fun meeting new people that recognized retroda from the coverage - our 15 minutes of fame!


We also saw a lot of our regular customers too.  Our friends Bonnie & Justin came by and we had a nice visit.  Bonnie writes an amazing blog http://thisamericanhome.blogspot.com/ and is a great photographer too.  She just posted a story about the flea market and posted a fun photo recap of their day at the show.  She also gave us a "shout-out" and took a picture of one of my wife's favorite items in our booth - An orange ceramic bunny bank!


We had a great corner location yesterday and featured a lot of industrial items including these wooden molds from the estate of Bud Hurlbut, one of the creative forces who built up Knott's Berry Farm from berry stand into a full-blown theme park.

They got a lot of attention as they are striking pieces of architectural interest.  I think the best part about them though is the historical connection to Knott's.  Some of the pieces are even stamped "HURLBUT AMUSEMENT COMPANY".  Other people thought they were cool as well and carried some of them home!


We'll be back at the LB Flea on the regular third Sunday schedule, May 20th.  We have moved our regular show selling space and will be located further down the same aisle in space E434, into the center of the show, closer to the restrooms...the snack bar...the beer!  Come out and see us!

Scenes From A Mall...The Sequel

It's been exactly one year since I was one of the first dealers to move in at the Long Beach Antique Mall II.  My space has had many iterations since then...Here's a photo album of what it looks like now:

A large mid-century bookcase features loads of kitchen/dining items, and owl lamp, and a mushroom lamp with a shade made out of coral.

A great green & white formica dresser, room dividers and wall decor.  Also, a nice assortment of vintage greeting cards.

More wall decor and a peek at some of the many lighting options.

Sewing headquarters - Adjustable-height dress fitting form, sewing books, vintage fabrics, loads of vintage patterns - most from the '80s

A fantastic picnic suitcase featuring bakelite flatware for six people, a metal container to hold your food, an aluminum ribbed thermos and aluminum drink tumblers.  Underneath the suitcase, an assortment of Pyrex, Fire King, and Federal glassware.

 Tons of glassware - from juice glasses to barware.  Many different sets to choose from.

Vintage military, vintage industrial. Also, a set of antique post office boxes - this would be an awesome nightstand or end table.

Pepsi Character collector glasses (also available at Inretrospect)

Vintage LP's - most are from Disney movie soundtracks, but there are other Disney albums as well as some Sesame Street and Captain Kangaroo discs.

Inside the showcase, lots of collectible items from the Queen Mary and vintage airline memorabilia.

Vintage medical items - great books, pestle & mortar sets, vintage medicine bottles, and some educational slides for microscopes.

Viva Las Vegas!

Lots of great Disney and Disneyland collectibles.