I went to the estate sale today with Arlee. Photos to come. The large two-story house, built in 1898, was owned by a man named Robert Scott, a classical singer from New York who lived there with his mother. (Hint-Hint!) At some point, he bought a smaller house next door where he lived until he died (apparently recently) and rented rooms out in the larger house, probably to USC students.
The sale actually started Thursday. I wish I had gotten there sooner, just to see what-all was there. There were many old radios and phonographs from the early 1920s, some of which would have been quite valuable if they had been in better condition. Most of what I saw was in disrepair and missing some or all of the electronic components. There were mountains of old vacuum tubes piled up in dusty boxes that would have been as nightmare to sort out.
There were two player pianos in the living room - a baby grand (Steinway I think) and a really cute "parlor piano," a little upright with 6 octaves. That one is probably pretty rare. There were a couple hundred player rolls in cabinets along two of the walls.
There were several old refrigerators including a really nice G.E. Monitor Top. I just cringed when I saw the morons who bought it turning it on its side (which I've heard you're not supposed to do) and shoving it into the back of a pickup truck. {{{*Cringe*}}}. There were also several old wringer washers, including an ancien Eezee (sp?) with a solid copper tub.
I saw three or four old sewing machines, one of them a Singer with a very interesting triangular-shaped wooden cabinet to fit into a corner.
There were quite a few vacuum cleaners, all in neglected condition. Upstairs, as Chris noted, there were 725, 750 and 450 Hoovers, and a newer white and blue Eureka upright. There was also an old Cyclonic orbital polisher. I have one like it but about a third larger in diameter. Then downstairs, outside in the back yard were two Filter Queens -- the gold with dark brown trim model, and the chrome with dark brown trim model. (Sorry, I don't know most Filter Queen model numbers, jut the pinkish-tan 33 because I used to have one that was swindled out from under me. But I digress...) Neither of the FQs were in very good shape and most of the attachments had gone missing. The gold model had a white plastic hose stuck in the front of it. There was another old Hoover coffee can out in the back yard, a 725 "Special" that was in very poor condition. Its repainted color was dark maroon which I've never seen before. It was a factory rebuild because it had the large rectangular "Special" badge on top of the agitator housing, red in color with silver knocked-out lettering.
I shouldn't have brought any of them home but I did get the 750 because it has the two-speed motor and "Dirt-Finder" headlight. It was marked $20 but I got it for $10 because everything was half off today. I also got the Cyclonic polisher because it was only $5.00, or $2.50. I may stop by again tomorrow after church because, then, everything will be 75% off. If any of the vacuum cleaners are still there I might pick them up just so I can end up throwing them out instead of the estate sale liquidating company.
I also saw a beautiful blue oriental rug which I got for $12.00. It's not the antique "real-deal" but is in perfect condition and will look lovely in our living room.
Arlee got some cute old knick-knacks including some crocheted table-top "fussies" as I call them, a couple of swatches of nice fabric, a small bust of some poet, and a few little trinkets.
Estate sales in old houses like this are always interesting but sad at the same time. As I walked around this house I felt many lingering resonances of regret. I won't say "ghosts" -- there were no vibes as strong as that -- just a sad old house with sad old memories.
Fortunately, it's on the City of Los Angeles Registry of Old Houses, so it won't be torn down or cut up into 8 or 10 apartments.
Stay tuned for photos, later this evening.
