Mid Century Modern and Atomic Yard Sale? Yes, Please!

While searching Craigslist in the hopes of finding a rummage sale or a church sale, which sadly seem to be lacking this year in my neck of the woods, I stumbled across a yard sale featuring mid-century modern and atomic era items. In the four photos listed, the seller showed one of those yellow smiley face cookie jars that I keep seeing in thrift stores, a starburst clock, a funky pink chair, two swivel lamps, and several pieces of Pyrex. After spending far too much time drooling over the pictures, two things about the listing caught my eye.


The first is that the sale is only on Thursday and Friday, which is an odd time for yard sales around here. Plus, the sale runs until 7 at night, which seems pretty late to me. The other weird thing is that the seller "casually" mentioned at the bottom that they took the pictures from their last yard sale but that some of the same items and many similar items are available. That makes me wonder if this is a former dealer, an eBay seller, or maybe someone who just doesn't want to deal with opening a shop. Sadly, the pictures were just a smidge too fuzzy and small for me to get a look at the price tags.


I'm planning on stopping by probably Thursday to get a look at the items, but I highly doubt I'll walk away with anything. We have an antiques mall and several flea markets here where people sell mid-century modern items at pretty high mark ups. I would do some naughty things to bring home a starburst clock, but the cheapest one I've seen around here is $65. Those amazing swivel lamps pop up for a couple hundred dollars, and since they seem to disappear, someone's clearly buying them. We also have a few mid-century modern dedicated shops in the area with price tags that make me wince and run and hide. I somehow doubt that this "yard sale" will have anything in my price range, but who knows?

On a more positive note, I did pick up these lovelies this week:

 

I stopped by a Goodwill that I haven't found anything good at in quite a long time. The last time I was there, I noticed that they started pricing Fire King and Glasbake pieces as high as they price Pyrex. This time, I spotted one of these little beauties sitting on a shelf neglected. Called Swiss Chalet or Swiss Alpine, these are Marcrest Stetson plates probably from the 1960s. The company also produced a line of matching glasses and some other matching pieces, and it matches back to a Fire King pattern.


I need to collect another set of dishes like I need another hole in my head. I already collect a line of Taylor Smith Taylor dishes and the complementary pieces from Harmony House, and I have a ton of melmac and melamine dishes and pieces. I also have a good collection of the turquoise/aqua Pyrex dishes that I picked up from a flea market a few years ago. Unfortunately, I haven't come across a single piece since then, and the last few times I encountered my other dishes, they had some pretty high price tags attached.


At $.79 a piece, I just couldn't resist bringing home these dishes though. As soon as I get the chance to wash them, they'll go right in my cabinet for daily use. The others can wait for a special occasion. And as for that yard sale, I'll let you know how it goes. If nothing else, maybe I can get myself a little pre-birthday treat!