Hi all, I'm waiting. What did you find this past weekend?

[Paper Roses]

I picked up a set of period fire tools. Tongs and shovel.
In the brass book as circa 1790. Made my day!

[peacefreak]

1. A calphalon 4 qt chef's pan

and an opal pendant & chain--14karat. Both for a $1.00 each!

[Paper Roses]

2. My kind of price!! Good for you. n/t

[Vinca]

3. I didn't find anything that really got me excited, but I managed

to find quite a few things to sell pretty quickly. One thing I found that has already sold was a really unique flow blue plate. I also found a couple of sets of Shelley cups and saucers for $5 each and they've already sold. I guess I consider it a really good weekend when I find stuff I don't want to part with. My current problem is the estate of a lady who died who was a picker all of her life and had an eye for great stuff. Apparently her house is stuffed to the gills and her children are running an almost daily yard sale. The stuff isn't cheap, but everyday has turned into a treasure hunt. Today I bought a Rockingham pitcher with a fox hunting scene for $15 and a Naughty Nellie boot scraper for $10. I don't think the boot scraper is old, old, but it's definitely not a cheap repro. She would never have bought anything like that. It's got a maker's mark of "Iron Art" inside. I swear I've seen that mark on trivets and will have to quiz a trivet collector I know. The "problem" part is I haven't got the money to sit by her driveway all day to see what they bring out next.:rofl:

[grasswire]

5. hoo!

Maybe if you took them some donuts they would let you inside. ??

[Vinca]

6. LOL - you have no idea how hard I've tried to weasel my way into that place.

She was a picker of legend, so I'm sure I'm not the only one who's tried to get in. When the kids aren't there they put up police line tape across the driveway . . . really.:rofl: They've already taken one load of stuff to auction and the son tells me they've barely scraped the surface. If I had any money I'd ask about buying the whole estate, but based on the prices they've started to put on things I wouldn't be able to swing it. The good news is, they don't have her eye and every so often something slips into the "free" pile that shouldn't be there or is marked very low. Last week I rescued a box filled with Bennington Pottery cups and saucers and purchased 2 1950's Blenko glass vases for $3.00. You wouldn't have believed this lady near the end of her life. She went totally blind and had a person take her around to yard sales anyway and describe stuff to her. She was definitely Queen of the Pickers.

[grasswire]

4. 1790!

What would something like that be worth, if you don't mind telling?

[Paper Roses]

7. I'm out of touch with the latest in Fireplace Equipment prices

but in the 1990's I could get in the $2-300 range. Of course, I'd have to wait for the right customer.

I also sold older, utilitarian tools of solid brass for around the $100 to 125. range. In the big city, NY or DC. could get far more for the period tools.

The tongs are ball top with a ridge around the ball. They also have brass shoulders. That means, to those who do not know, that the first 5" or so of the arms of the tongs are brass. The rest, to the base of each arm is iron. The shovel has a very wide flare at the base and the hand hammered rivets(?) in the back of the shovel are very visible.

I have a great interest in brass of this period and find so little that this was very exciting. I have no idea what these tools command now. Depends on the shop and the location.

They look great in my living room!