Aunt Jane's attic

Sometimes (when I don't have much else to think about, driving to a sale) I wonder what I could find that would make me happier than anything else. Jadite makes me pretty happy. So do Christmas ornaments. And sewing notions. But I think what makes me happiest of all is a box of sparkly Christmas things. (And I apologize right now for what will be an unseasonable onslaught of all things Christmas this week, but I can only show you what the sale gods deliver to me.)

By sparkly Christmas things I mean beaded picks and ornaments with a burst of tinsel on pipe cleaner stems and these great cardboard and foil candle holders that I want to do something really great with.

And all these lovely ornaments on stems.

You know, I am the last person in the world to get all weepy and sentimental at estate sales. I cannot stand it when people walk around and sigh and say, oh, it's so sad that it comes to this, an attic full of boxes and strangers looking through them. (These are never family members, who are entitled to say whatever comes into their mind. Usually the family members are well past their grief and are thinking how glad they'll be when all these boxes are gone.)

Anyway, I think all this hand-wringing is baloney. An estate sale is just stuff. I sure hope I mean more than the stuff I leave behind. And if somebody I've never met likes it and wants to buy it, all the better.

I do like it, though, when I feel as if I'd have liked the person whose estate sale I'm attending. And I felt like that at the sale I went to Friday. To the extent that when some other people in the attic started analyzing the late Aunt Jane, as the woman was known, I wanted to defend her. "Don't you dare call her a compulsive buyer! She was not a hoarder!" I wanted to tell them. "You didn't know her like I did!" (Which was, of course, not at all.) But I had to admire the spirit of someone who loved holidays as much as she did. Even if she did buy way, way, way more stuff (most of it, apparently, in the last 10 years or so) than pretty much anyone could ever use.

 

At some point, though, I did kind of wonder. Everything you're seeing here pretty much came out of one box. And to find it, I sorted through possibly 40 boxes of brand-new, untouched Christmas merchandise. (Not to mention the 20 boxes of brand-new Easter. And Halloween. And St. Patrick's Day.) She had collected enough electric window candles to light a high-rise. Box after box after box of stick-on bows. Bundles of holiday dishtowels. None of them ever used. Did she forget she had them? Did she think she'd need more?

I'll never know, and I'm not about to analyze someone I've never met. I'm glad she kept some of these old things around, because someone indeed did find them and was thrilled by them. And maybe the reason she kept buying ornaments and figurines at the dollar store was that she had some impulse to celebrate every holiday, and it made her happy.

 

So here's to you, Aunt Jane. Thanks for keeping this old stuff around. You had a beautiful house. And I bet nobody liked Christmas as much as you did. Well, hardly anybody.
 
  
   

Comments

[countryshab]

You know what I think? I think that older people (I have to watch myself, I'm getting older) who have lived through the depression or the aftermath have a tendency to buy and just store things new like that - my grandmother had drawers and chests full of new sheets and towels, she just kept using the same ones over and over and never opened them. she had canned food under beds and in drawers, and my mother says they never went without during the depression, my grandmother was just very careful. I also think it's overwhelming to them because they have so much they've packed away for a rainy day that it's just easier to buy some more on sale and cram it on top- and then forget about that - I hope that doesn't happen to me with my yard sale, love of vintage, can't pass that up, etc.

[Linda @ A La Carte]

I love the wonderful Christmas things you found! That said Aunt Jane may have been a little lonely and bored and 'shopping' helped that. I think my Mom did some of that right after my Dad passed away. Not so much now as she doesn't get out of the house as much. It's sad, but hey if it helps someone get through the day I say whats the harm. I am glad you rescued the vintage Christmas and will treasure them.

[Carol @ Old Glory Cottage]

Three cheers for Aunt Jane! She sounds like my Mom, who has packed away all of the good old stuff that I love, and keeps buying the new junk from Terry's Village and the dollar store!

[Martha]

What kept you going through 40 boxes of new dollar stuff to find these treasures?

I, too, am very happy that Aunt Jane kept all these old decorations, because I am imagining some pretty fabulous Christmas wreaths and decorations made from her stuff that are going to appear in someone's Etsy shop later this year.

[HeidiAnn]

I'm insanely envious of your great vintage Christmas finds!
Thanks so much for sharing them - I love to see vintage Christmas, no matter what time of year!

[nanette]

I'm totally with you. Jadeite, Christmas ornaments and can I add melmac? All make me pretty darn happy. I love your blog because you have the best stuff.

[Freckled Hen]

My daughter brought a friend along with us to two estate sales this weekend and the friend was politely horrified. It made me feel funny as I envisioned this sweet girl going home and telling her mother I was digging through boxes of whatnot with excitement (because I was). But I got over it when I bought five boxes of sewing stuff for $5. My daughters and I consider estate sales our trip to the mall. We love going.
I'll admit to you that I force myself not to buy Christmas stuff (I have to draw the line somewhere) and more than once I have thought oh boy if Mrs Oodles was here...

[Diane]

The Gods were good to you you must be doing something right! I LOVE your new found treasures very cool, I too get very happy finding Vintage Christmas. Hugs, Diane

[Tina]

I agree with you about the sentimentality of estate sales. We are not our things!! I love those tinseled picks! Aunt Jane had some really cool stuff!

[laurie magpie ethel]

Man on man, that Aunt Jane was one with it woman...I am swooning over all the wonderful stuff you found. I LOVE THAT WOMAN! I don't know if I can read your posts all week if they keep up in this manner...jealousy is rearing its head on this end. Where, oh where, is Aunt Jane near my house?

[Lavender Dreamer]

I love vintage Christmas! Beautiful! ♥

[Jane]

Ha, this is funny - my blog is AuntJanesAttic and of course this came up in my google alerts this morning...I too came across a huge box of vintage Christmas last summer and almost swooned right there in the driveway. Very similar to what you found - still looking for more - I love vintage Christmas and can't get enough of it! Thanks for sharing!

[rebecca]

I am seriously green with envy! What a treasure sale! :) Oh how I wish they had better estate sales around me. I went to one and it was full of weird things made out of wood and lot's of deer heads. Hmm. Great finds!