Collectorators On the Road - Warrenton Day 2, Fall 2011 or How We Survived Day 86 of 100 plus degrees

First here's some fun weather facts in my fair city (Austin TX)  as of our Warrenton Day 2 adventure: it was the 86th day of 100 degrees  or higher this year (an all time record), 26th day of 105 degrees or higher this year (all time record), 152nd day of 90 or higher degrees this year (record is 159 in 1925) and it is now Fall and we might just hit 90 days of 100 degrees or higher this week. Now doesn't that make you want to move to Austin???

Day Poo, I mean Two (hahaha, thanks CollectoratorOne for that assessment of Day 2), started off with a dust-bowl magnitude windstorm as a supposed cool front started to come into the area. We had been forewarned it would be hotter than Day 1, but the promise of a possible cool front gave me some hope. Well, that pesky cool front stalled out in the no man's land between Waco and Austin. By the time we reached the first tent, we were completely windblown and covered in dirt. We had to give up all hope of looking cute for the day. Not that it matters what you look like at Warrenton, but I am not sure we were meeting even minimal standards of being presentable by the end of the day.

Now you may have heard me talk before about the Warrenton curse in previous posts. I think it's some old Indian curse for settling on their land, but I'd say in the past 10 years or so that we've been going to Warrenton having a "nice weather day" is, well, countable on a couple of fingers. Normally, it rains on us (well it did before we entered into our latest drought period). But like clockwork, there for awhile if we were going to Warrenton you could expect rain. Now, I'd have to say the curse has evolved lately into just unpleasant weather. It's been hot in the past, but this was beyond hot especially for the fall show. It's been known to be 40 degrees when we first arrive.  Not this time. By the time it was 105 degrees, we were strategizing our moves like a chess player from one shade spot to the next debating on how we would get to the next spot and perhaps find liquids in between. It was brutal. Somehow, and I am still not really sure how, we managed it and still ended up with some quality stuff.

Overall, it was not the Warrenton we had hoped for, no furniture, no really exciting finds, but it was productive to some extent. I was VERY good this year and with the pending move I did not buy things I normally might have bought so that was good for me, but CollectoratorOne did not find the furniture pieces she had hoped for. I'd have to say this is the first Warrenton in a long time where we did not see any nice and affordable sets of mid-century furniture. There was some, but it was in bad condition and expensive. Last year we saw two very nice Heywood Wakefield bedroom sets and two really good couches but the timing was not right to buy last year.

I did make my first forays into a new hobby. Flower arranging! This is a hobby though I am not starting until we buy the new house mostly due to lack of space and a good work room. Regardless, I  had to buy this awesome love birds on driftwood planter because it was only $5!   I also bought an awesome 1940s table settings and flower arrangement magazine complete with lessons on "what's wrong with this table and how to fix it" lessons.  I've always wanted to learn vintage flower arranging techniques, but I resisted buying more flower arranging supplies than I need to have right now! My other favorite find was this Enid Collins purse.  It's called Mille Fleurs, but it always looked more like starts in the sky to me.  I had three of her purses on my list and now I have two! I have one more to go (the For the Birds purse, of course!). I was super excited to find this one in black as it is more rare than the plain wood and looks more like the night sky that way.

CollectoratorOne found a nice piece of fabric to recover her dining room chairs from the fabric lady tent. That lady has tons and tons of upholstery and curtain fabric. I can't imagine how long it takes to load it all in! The fabric she bought is cream and has that fabulous blue of her dining room walls running through it. I can't wait to see how awesome it looks on the chairs. Stay tuned!!! She also got this really neato plant green plant shelf for her Alamo pots on her patio. She doesn't even have to repaint it as it's the same green as the trim on the patio! It's metal but has really cute white plastic decorations on the sides. The whole thing snaps a part too. On the ride back we swore we would not want to go back for awhile but by the time I woke up and went to work the next morning, I already wanted to go back!  Crazy I know.

photo courtesy of CollectoratorOne

PS I totally forgot to mention that in Day 1 CollectoratorOne got this awesome chalk pin up girl wall art. We had never seen anything like it especially in the stand up pose. It was cheap too for something so cool. I still need to find chalk fish for the bathroom, but I am putting that wish on hold until I see what colors I end up with in the new house!

Collectorators On the Road - Warrenton Day 1 Fall 2011

Warrenton, day 1. The day we impatiently wait for every 6 months. This time CollectoatorOne was ready to finally buy one of those big ticket items (bedroom set, couch, club chairs, tables) we always see time and time again but never can buy because it's not the right time. She's recently bought a new house (see her Flick photos here There's No Place Like Home Too) and is ready to stock it with fabulous new furniture. The way Warrenton works though is you always find what you are NOT looking for. I kept telling her to start looking for Alamo Pottery because that's the last thing either of us needs! Unfortunately, Day 1 came and went with out the need to rent a U-haul, but we did walk away with some pretty cool stuff. CollectoratorOne found a new light copper light fixture that we hope will work in her dining room and some star backplates for door/cabinet pulls that she has a special purpose for in the new house. Not exactly what she was hoping to find but neat stuff to make an already cool house even cooler.

photo courtesy of CollectoratorOne

I was very reserved for myself which is VERY rare. I found several things I wanted that I passed up, some very good buys even. But embarking on a move in the near future has made it less desirable to by things even if I like or want them. I was joking before we went that I should just take some boxes and just pack things right then and there. hahaha. Instead I decided just to be good. For instance, I found a yellow Lustroware canister set for $12 that had lettering much brighter than mine. Now, normally I would have bought that without thinking about it to replace my current set, but who knows if yellow will even work in my future kitchen (frankly it better, as I have a TON of yellow plastic-ware), but I was trying to demonstrate some reserve and CollectoratorOne aptly said if I buy that then there will be no way that yellow will work in my future kitchen! I walked away.  I bought two things on my list, a quilted hankie box to rescue my overflow of hankies from the ziploc bad they are currently stored in, and a set of Manhattan candle holders to go with my "fire and ice" tablescape. I am getting ready to pack this up so it'll be featured sooner than later. =)

The one thing I refused to pass up was this  GIANT Gilmer pot with it's original stand. This pot is huge, and it was about half price of what we've seen this large of Alamo pots go for in the past. Not to mention its pink and totally goets with my trio Gilmer plant stand that is currently full of dead plants so it is not pictured. Probably the main reason I wanted it though is that it's the same Gilmer pots and stand (albeit it a larger one) that are outside my dream house in CollectoratorOne's new neighborhood. The universe keeps sending me signs that there's a reason I am drawn to this house and finding the same pots as the current owner has, who likely bought them back in the 1950s originally, really sends me good vibes. 

Probably the best part of the day aside from the chicken salad sandwiches at Legal Tender, was seeing our favorite dealer. I think he is as happy to see us as we are to see him which makes it all the better to see him. He had these really amazing chairs that I cannot even describe but they weren't what CollectoratorOne was looking for in the "club chair" category. Still very cool.  I bought a dress and a Neiman Marcus lambswool coat from him and the third time we went back by to say hello I bought a nice black and silver purse. We are looking forward to day 2 and hope that it will the furniture gods will shine down on CollectoratorOne! 

Collectorator Heaven Part II

Ok, so remember how I said that CollectoratorOne and I rarely go back to Warrenton more than once during the festival in fear of draining our bank accounts? Well, we threw caution to the wind and headed back out there this past weekend. As a precaution, we took my car this time instead of CollectoratorOne's SUV. Not that taking my car has stopped us from buying some large expensive items before (you'll have to read about that in my next post "Collectorators On the Road"), but we thought it might persuade us to at least keep things somewhat in check this time given both of us are currently lacking in space and funds.

The drive out was nice. CollectoratorOne has a new book about Ben Seibel dinnerware, which we have been collecting for awhile now. She read aloud about our two favorite Ben Seibel for Iroquois dinnerware lines, Informal and Impromptu, and it inspired me to go ahead and launch into that Impromptu collection I've always wanted. CollectoratorOne started the Seibel craze among us, and she has lots of good pieces. http://www.flickr.com/photos/collectoratorone/sets/72157615118597962/ She collects Lazy Daisy (Informal) and Stellar (Impromptu), and I collect (so far) Sleepy Hollow (Informal). I originally thought I'd collect the Rosemary pattern, but a set of yellow Lustroware canisters and this very cool yellow kitchen cabinet I acquired early on determined for me that my kitchen color would be dominated by yellow. I began to ponder during our Seibel conversation the feasibility of having three, maybe four sets of dinnerware. Right now with my two sets (I also have a set of Royal China's Star Glow), I use the Star Glow in the Fall/Winter and the Sleepy Hollow during the Spring/Summer. Everyone plays along nicely with this at my house, although I am sure most people think I am nuts. Who has seasonal dinnerware....I started thinking, could I possibly have a set for every season? CollectoratorOne was quick to point out that the Informal line of Seibel is just that, Informal, and the Impromptu line is fancier. So before the car trip was over I decided I could have two Spring/Summer sets and two Fall/Winter sets: Seibel Impromptu and Raymor Universal sets for nicer occasions throughout the year, and the Seibel Informal and Royal China sets for your every day informal occasions. Now where to put all of those sets of dinnerware... I really need a bigger house....

I found out on the trip as well that my Sleepy Hollow dinnerware was not among the first 4 patterns offered in the Informal line. Although that was disappointing to find out, it's really nice so I am happy with it. It just means I have no chance of ever getting that lazy susan with the separate buffet serving dishes in my pattern! However, since I am starting from scratch with the Impromptu line, I figure why not get something from the initial patterns offered. Since CollectoratorOne already has the Stellar pattern, I decided upon Vision. Search for it here on the Flickr Seibel Group and check out the other Seibel Patterns while you are there. http://www.flickr.com/groups/benseibel/ Vision is whimsical and modern enough, and the pattern makes me think of rain, albeit very abstract rain. So there you have it, my fancy Spring line, as it does rain a lot during the spring ...ok maybe I am stretching it a bit with the abstract rain part, but I really like this pattern best among the initial Impromptu patterns, and I'd like to stick with the original set of patterns mostly because you have a better chance of getting the offered pieces including some of the original interesting pieces such as the condiment set and candelabra set that were offered in the Impromptu line.

I decided before the end of the car ride that I'd venture into Siebel's Raymor Universal line as well. That will be harder to collect, but the pieces offered are amazing. My favorite pattern and hopefully the most prevalent is the Golden Burst (which you can find by searching the Seibel Flickr group as well). It is like a star burst, and it will make for a nice Fall/Winter fancy pattern. I really want the Spaghetti Server from this line. How practical and cool is that? My guess is that the sauce goes on the right hand side under the lid and the spaghetti on the left. Yum!

This brings me to another thought I had along the way. CollectoratorOne and I both actually use our collectibles for their original purpose. I wonder if we are a minority in doing that? I know a lot of people may not, but it seems so unfulfilling not to. Understandably, the pieces are rare and if it breaks you may never find it again and ruin that chance for someone else finding it in the future. So, obviously there's some caution and care you have to take when using them (and some people only get to use your plasticware because they cannot be trusted), but if one doesn't use them then do the collectibles just feel left out? All I know is that, if I could serve spaghetti in a Seibel Raymor Universal Spaghetti Server at a dinner party and hear my guests go “oooo” and “ahhh” they might just forget that I am serving spaghetti at a dinner party instead of a fancier meal. =)

Anyway.... with all of the Seibel discussion I felt like I had already gone shopping before we got to Warrenton! And I was determined to start my fancy Seibel collection that day! The second Saturday is officially the last day of the festival, however some people stay through Sunday. Regardless it's the day to get the best deals. We resolved that we'd try to go every last Saturday now as well as our usual day during preview week so we can be a little more leisurely and ensure that we see everything we want to see. This time, we decided we'd hit the other side of the street first which was an area we missed on the first day, but on our way past the booths where we parked, CollectoratorOne had the first find of the day. It's a lovely Shawnee leaf vase to go on her new Heywood Wakefield desk!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/collectoratorone/3415420012/

Once we made it across the street, we wandered into the area where the guys with all the good McCoy reside. Normally we wouldn't dare enter the booth because we can't afford the usual prices, but being it was dealing day you never know. Luck would have it for us that almost everything in the booth was 40% off! CollectoratorOne spotted me another yellow Gilmer pot with its attached saucer! It's the same size as the one I found the other day. I was thinking earlier in the week that the poor little Gilmer was all alone but not anymore! We both hemmed and hawed over a few other things in the booth, namely a McCoy pot for CollectoratorOne and an awesome deco plant stand for me, but we left just with the Gilmer pot.

We wandered along leisurely, enjoying just looking at things, and we happened upon the lady with all the good hankies. Now, I am not allowed to buy any more hankies as I have way too many, but she also has a lot of other nice stuff. CollectoratorOne dove into the lingerie, and I spotted a white satin robe that had to come home with me. It's super fancy and nuptial-esque, but I love it. Course as always these kinds of robes are too long for me but that's what they made boudoir shoes for...

After another lunch of chicken salad sandwiches at Legal Tender, we went back to the McCoy booth since we couldn't stop thinking about the good deals in the booth and got the pot for CollectoratorOne and the plant stand for me. We had to go back to the car after that because even though the plant stand was light, it was definitely unwieldy to carry. When we were almost to the car, after I drug that plant stand halfway across Warrenton, CollectoratorOne found a plant stand of her own! Lucky for her she only had to carry it a little further http://www.flickr.com/photos/collectoratorone/3415690362/ It's very unique and a perfect little house for the baby Alamos.

We went up north of Bar W in hopes of finding some more stuff but it was pretty lame up that way this time. That area can hold really good finds sometimes because it seems that's where a lot of the random dealers set up with somewhat “junkier” stuff. Sometimes you can score the amazing piece that they don't know they have in that area. This time we were out of luck, also most of the dealers had packed up in the big tent that I usually look forward to. Maybe they had had it with the wind. It was pretty brutal for most of the week. CollectoratorOne found a cool kelly green Alamo planter but regardless of the fact it was dealing day it was No Deal(!) for that pot. We had to leave it there. It was neat though because it had a sticker instead of a stamp like Alamo's sometimes have.

We ended up in this one large building that is like a giant antique mall. The same dealers are there every year and that's where you can find all sorts of wondrous things you have never seen before. Pricey is also the key word. But after trudging across miles of fields in the sun, the AC, indoors, and real bathrooms are always nice. I just consider some booths like a museum. Look but don't touch. One of our favorite booths in that building is a kitchen collectibles booth organized by colors. We were just a few steps into the booth when CollectoratorOne shouted “Oh Deer!” I knew that was the signal that an amazing deer find had been spotted that she must have....She has a lot of deer that were obtained just in this way, check them out...http://www.flickr.com/photos/collectoratorone/sets/72157615067461940/

This deer was on a Fire King mixing bowl. The dealer told us it was rare and it was priced accordingly. Course it is so rare, the dealer had two...so it makes you wonder just how rare it is. Granted maybe she has two because she doesn't sell them... if you think $75 is high for a set of the Pyrex Primary Color mixing bowls, this one bowl by itself was $75! And I thought only the Fire King Tulip bowls were that bad. The dealer said that they only made this one large-sized bowl in the gazelle pattern, and that it wasn’t part of a nesting bowl set. This seems hard to believe, but then again you never know – this is the first time we’ve ever seen this pattern in all our years of collectorating! Alas we had to leave the gazelle bowl there too. CollectoratorOne is in her own personal Recession, or rather Depression probably by this point, so there was no justifying $75 for that bowl. Too bad. I am sure we'll find another one for her someday.

We continued along and came across a booth that happened to have a lavender colored Alamo pot priced at a nice price for a change. It seems that dealers in Texas think that Alamo pots are rarer than they are. Maybe they really are rare, and they've just scooped them all up. I'd have to argue with that rarity point though given CollectoratorOne has somewhere on the order of 15 and I have 8. They seem less and less rare all the time. Course it doesn't stop anyone from telling us how rare they are to justify the price of them. We have never paid very much for one and yet you still see them for $40 plus for some of the smaller sizes even. So I couldn't pass up this lavender one for $15. Now granted, it was probably an off color garage sale item because it's probably supposed to be pink, BUT for me it's a nice additional pastel color. I started collecting the yellow ones first of course, BUT I decided to aim for lots of colors like the colors of flowers. Pictured here is my new Alamo plus the Alamo and Gilmer one that I acquired last week all on the new black plant stand from earlier in the day. I think they really do multiply.... As I was paying, CollectoratorOne spotted a marked Gilmer planter as well. We never see marked Gilmer anything. That IS rare. It has a huge crack in it, but it was only $5 so I rescued it for my chartreuse collection in my dining room. Now I don't have a problem with cracked pots unless it's so cracked it won't hold dirt and water. I just turn the crack where it can't be seen and get over it. Every piece of McCoy I have (which is not much) is cracked. Maybe that's wrong and breaking another collector code, but to me it's like rescuing the older broken down dog in the pound. No one wants it. I have a soft spot for such discarded items and animals.

The funny story in that booth was we saw this really cool lamp that had amazing colors, red, green and black and we both simultaneously exclaimed WOW! What a lamp! We checked out the price tag and believe it or not it said WOW! right on the tag. I guess that's the general reaction one gets when they see the lamp.

We continued along without much more luck. CollectoratorOne spotted an elusive large white Alamo, but it was priced way too high because it had its supposed original stand. See earlier discussion, this dealer too wanted to explain to us how rare this pot was as a way to justify the high pricing! We finally managed to escape that booth and left the “rare” pot there. The only other thing I scored that day was a wall lamp sconce that I've been dying to own. It's one that Dick Van Dyke had in his office on the show and that Mad Men have in their office. It’s a 1960’s double cone sconce (one pointing up and one pointing down). The only ones I've seen new, even in the restoration stores, are either up or down but not both. It was cheap, so it had to come home with me. I'll admit right now that I have a fixture problem. I keep buying them and not installing them. I am sure we can add this one to the list that includes the amazing dining room fixture I found (it has birds on it!), the deco foyer hanging lamp, and the two really cool lantern style hallway lights. I should do a whole post devoted to that. I can't help it though. Someday I will have the perfect house to install them in and if I don't get them I now I will regret it later. Until then I will just enjoy them off the wall. I'd really install this one if I had a sconce already on the wall somewhere in my house, but I do not. Probably easily remedied if you know what you are doing in the electricity department which I don't.

We wandered back through Bar W a little at the end of the day, realizing we had missed a lot of the booths given the whole Bar Triangle experience of the previous trip, but we didn't last long. Warrenton tiredness accompanied by Warrenton amnesia (that's when you keep asking yourself did I come in this booth already) had gotten the best of us so we headed home. Overall we were successful, got some good deals, and managed to NOT empty out our bank accounts...this time anyway... I spent the most money this time, and the find of the day, which we had to leave there was the deer bowl, we were tied on the deal of the day thanks to the McCoy booth that had such great deals. Had either of us had an extra empty bedroom in our house, the deal of the day would have been this amazing Heywood Wakefield Rio bedroom set. It was there the first day we were there, and it was still there the last day. Why no one got it I'll never understand. It was very reasonable to begin with - $1200 for the bed, the vanity with mirror AND original stool, and tall dresser. By dealing day it was marked down to only $1,000, and they offered to make us an even better deal! Both of us really wished we could have justified buying that set. We really need larger houses....The disappointment of the day for me was no new Seibel. We didn't even see a single piece of it. Not even Harvest Time which we usually see too much of. I guess the universe is also waiting for me to get that larger house...

Collectorator Heaven

Every year, CollectoratorOne and I mark our calendars with two big red stars, on the days that we plan to attend the Warrenton Antique Festival in March/April and September/October. If there is a separate Heaven for Collectorators, Warrenton would be it. Can you imagine what that would be like, suddenly every collectible you have ever searched for would be right there in front of you and at a great deal! The Warrenton festival is an offshoot of the Round Top festival, we prefer Warrenton because it's larger, free, and the vendors are the nicest folks. I would like to see Warrenton some time when there was no festival there, I bet it is beautiful in its simplicity then. During the festival, though, it is covered with tents and every collectible under the sun. The festival lasts for two weeks, but we only go for one day. We would drain our bank accounts if we dared to go more than one day.

This year we were hit with the traditional Warrenton curse....rain.....Normally rain is good, but when you are traipsing across fields that have turned to mud it is no longer good. Luckily this year the rain kept itself to a minimum, but it had poured the previous few days so the fields were mud pits. We barely noticed though once we were off and running.

Our first stop was to one of our most favorite dealers. We recently found out that they always attend Warrenton, but we hadn't been in the building they set up camp in for years. Not surprising as you couldn't possibly see everything there is every year, not in one day anyway. It goes on for miles. She wasn't at her booth so we walked around awhile nearby and an immediate score for me was this Gilmer pot:

Now it might not seem that exciting at first BUT we just discovered that Gilmer was the offshoot of the Alamo Pottery Company out of San Antonio. After it closed, the designers opened their own company and made similar pots. We have seen these pots for years, but because we had collected Alamo pots first we felt that the now known Gilmer pots were fakes. Course we didn't know the history until CollectoratorOne got the book so we always passed them up. This is what an Alamo Pots look like (scallop goes down and to the right where as Gilmer pots go down and to the left):

Now the great thing about the Gilmer pot I found is on the way to Warrenton I was looking at the aforemented Alamo pottery book in which CollectoratorOne had found that the Gilmer pots often came with an attached saucer. We may have seen one of these before but they are not very common. So I made the comment that if I saw a Gilmer with its saucer I'd get it even though it goes the wrong way. And wouldn't you know it, right out of the gate I found one. I bought it immediately. We haggled over a large white Alamo as well, but ultimately it was too expensive. I probably paid too much for the yellow one as well but it was a rarity given the attached saucer. Later I saw two more with their saucers in another booth, the two smaller sizes (this one I got is the largest), but they were even more money. So the one I ended up with was worth the money, justifiable by the Collectorator credo which is if you find one more expensive than what you paid for yours then it was a good price. =) I also ended up with a Oneida Community silver box for my Lady Hamilton silver flatware. It's nothing to write home about but it's good to have as it was all jumbled together before.

The next good stop was back at our favorite dealer's booth. We were able to find a few clothing gems. My favorite thing there was this black dress. It's a vintage Herbert Sondheim original from NYC, 7th avenue. Its silk and fits like a glove. Herbert Sondheim was the dad of the legendary Brodway composer Steven Sondheim and one of Jackie-O's favorite designers while JFK was still a senator. Apparently one of her favorite sleeveless sundresses was one she wore to church on a Good Friday, which garnered her a lot of negative attention. Here's a good story about it: http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20021013cloud1013fnp1.aspgazette.com/columnists/20021013cloud1013fnp1.asp

I also scored a navy robe (I have quite the robe obsession going on these days, I work at home so I've traded new work clothes for vintage robes. fair trade), a pink night gown by Rhythm Romancer (!) and these fabulous navy gloves with red bows. I just think gloves should come back in style. Why did they ever go out of style?? CollectoratorOne scored a fun black shirt a la Laverne and Shirley. It is adorable!

We moved on through the fields and one of the next finds for me was a little yellow bamboo pot, possible Shawnee, CollectoratorOne is doing the research on that one. Like I need another yellow pot, BUT it was on the half price table so hard to resist when it's only $9. CollectoratorOne scored a butter dish finally, a nice clear Fire King one that will work with any dishes. She resisted several along the way and suddenly the right one appeared. Shortly after that she scored an amazing deal on this West Coast Pottery Vase http://www.flickr.com/photos/collectoratorone/3404486345/ I think it could be used as a purse too! Albeit a very breakable purse...

My next big find of the day, literally, was another Gilmer pot. I figured I had already gone down the Gilmer road, what's the harm of another one? It's yellow of course. Here it is at home with its fellow yellow Alamo pot, nicely flanking my favoirte pink Alamo. I am a little worried putting a Gilmer next to an Alamo, I am not sure what they might reproduce when I am not looking...scallops that go up and down???

We had to make a trip to the car after that purchase, but on the way back I found my best find of the day. CollectoratorOne ultimately got the BEST FIND OF THE DAY award (read on), but for me these were the best of the day...and to think I almost left without them. We wandered into the booth with the guy who sells a variety of quirky stuff, you'd not know it from looking at his booth as a whole, but he always has something cool in it. One time he had this AMAZING cobalt blue glass mirror but he had broke it on the trip down. This time he had several neat items including a record player that was in a little 60's style console. I of course wanted it, but given I have three record players already I figured I should leave well enough alone. We spotted some end tables though and it was all over. See, I've been wanting new end tables for a long time, but I have an attachment to my grandparent's and although they do not go with my other furniture, blood is thicker than...well new end tables. I tried to talk myself out of them by saying there wasn't a round center table that matched, but I knew I was going home with them because not only where they cool they were only $40 for both of them and they were in excellent condition. If I saw those at a store at home, they would easily be over $100. I actually made a good faith effort to my "blood" and left the booth BUT we were back shortly thereafter. CollectoratorOne can talk you into just about anything when she knows you should have it, and she's always right. So the tables are now in their new home with the new lamps I got from CollectoratorOne in a lamp swap. I am only borrowing her shades though, on-loan...

Note how cool the sides are: three tiers and the lovely insert which is aluminum. We thought it was glass at first. The best part is the wood grain which is in a checkered pattern. It matches all the waffle decor I have in the living room (I'll do a later post about my waffle obsession). Now of course I have to find the round center table that will "go" with it. It's always fun to have something to look for! Thank you CollectoratorOne!

After that we had lunch at the Legal Tender Saloon. They make the absolutely best chicken salad sandwich, hands down. I think it's all due to the giant slices of homemade bread because the chicken salad part is simple, so why it tastes so good I'll never quite understand. They probably go through thousands of sandwiches a day. The worst Warrenton day ever was when we were late at getting lunch one time, and they were out of chicken salad!!! We'll never make that mistake again.

We had already had a great day and typically by lunch we are tired, hot, and frustrated because we haven't found enough. Not this time. We headed back out with our cart now in tow thinking it would just bring us bad luck given all the luck we had without the cart in the morning. We were off to a slow start, because our usual favorite places were coming up empty. We found some orphaned pink bathroom pieces (tub, sink and toilet) but obviously we couldn't bring those home. So we trudged on...I ended up scoring a little deco aluminum tray somewhere along the way to add to my tray collection (I don't know why I need more trays... I just do).

But, CollectoratorOne was the next lucky one... We were merrily going along when she spotted the Heywood Wakefield desk she's always wanted. As long as I have known her she's been collecting Heywood Wakefield. I always wanted to get in on the action, but given my love for dark wood the two just don't go together. We made our way over to the desk thinking that it'd be the usual overly expensive piece. However, imagine our surprise when we found out it was only $495. We talked to the dealers awhile as CollectoratorOne debated getting it, it turned out they were from a town nearby us so we built up a rapport quickly knowing it could lead to future deals. I knew CollectoratorOne was not going anywhere without that desk. It was in perfect condition, and they had even refinished the top. They also shared how to refinish Heywood Wakefield furniture with the right color that perfectly matches. So not only was it ultimately good collectorating, it was also a good learning experience. They eventually came down $100 on the desk so there was no more thinking about it at that point. They also had a cool set of nesting tables that CollectoratorOne also wanted but she had to be good... Here's a picture of the desk in it's new home.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/collectoratorone/3392269303/

Isn't it beautiful? Definitely the find of the day. And boy howdy was that thing heavy. The drawer alone must be taller and heavier than me. Getting it home was another story....read on....

So we left the desk to sit and wait for us and headed off, but in looking back at the desk one more time CollectoratorOne spotted an Alamo pot. Most of the ones we had seen throughout the day were too expensive but this one was $10. It was a little messed up, shape-wise, and therefore it probably originally sold at the garage sale the company had for it's rejects. But for me, it was Alamo and cheap so it came home with us.

We headed up through the Bar W area after that. It was pretty dry collectible-wise (although the ground wasn't!) up that way too until I spotted a vintage silk white robe with navy trim. Given it was exactly opposite of what I found earlier in the day I thought I should try it on. It didn't fit very well but the dealer said she had more clothes under this big pile of stuff. Then it was like the Collectorator Heavens opened up and went AHHHHHH!!! in that pile we found this really cute cute cute quilted pink robe with black trim that zips up the front. $20 = Mine, especially given that it fit well, like a dress. Even the belt is like the kind on a dress. I envision myself wearing this constantly when I am old. Everywhere. I am going to be the crazy lady in the pink robe...mark my words... If that wasn't enough CollectoratorOne pulled out another pink nightgown peignoir set from the 1940s. It's stunning. I have a lot of 1950s/1960s peignoir sets but not one from the 1940s. The fabrics on the two pieces are different, the nightgown being silk and the robe being organdy, but they definitely go together. The tags are slightly different, both by Gilbreath but the night gown says Nightlife by Gilbreath. Again $20 = mine. I can't find any info on it right now on the label yet.

Our next stop was at the booth with the man with two first names who always recognizes us and loves us. He's had clothes the past few times and gives us a nice deal with the "lady friend" is not around. All the clothes had been rained on and so they were quite soggy, so even better deals were in order. We scored everything for $10 each so that was nice. CollectoratorOne got a soggy Gay Gibson velvet dress with a little jacket, and I got a nice white Jackie O dress with a big poofy rose on it which will go perfectly with this awesome pair of white gloves I have (presuming the dress fits of course). I also got a cute green and orange cotton dress (also not sure it fits yet). We left there and got something to drink and I promptly dumped part of my iced tea into my bag with the nice white Jackie-O dress. ugh. Everyone knows that tea is a nice way to dye fabric....there was nothing I could do at the time, but when I got home later I tried to oxyclean it out but it turned into a "Cat in the Hat" style stain spreading all over the dress. That meant I had to bring in the big guns to get the stain out. One of our favorite dealers in town gave us this cleaner that like oxyclean uses oxygen to clean, but you have to let it sit over night in the solution. It is worth the wait because that stuff works. Not only has it fixed all but ruined pillow cases stained beyond help, but now my nice white Jackie-O dress. I have no idea where she gets it or I'd share...

We trudged along awhile longer getting lost and turned around in Bar W. No matter how many times we try to get that right we never seem to. I am not sure what it is about Bar W, it should be renamed Bar Triangle because you might go in there and never get out! We wrapped things up pretty quickly after that, none of the booths we usually have luck at had anything we had to have this time and the wind started picking up so all the dealers were scrambling to save their stuff. We decided to just head back to pick up the desk and end tables instead of trying to forage on. We didn't go up past Bar W where we sometimes find stuff in the giant tent, and we didn't go across the street where we usually find some good stuff. For some reason, time just got away from us, but it was a good day nevertheless.

Bar W will always be the site of my favorite Warrenton memories. We have had a lot of fun over the years in that area. My most favorite Collectorating memory though was when we were driving out of Bar W one time and CollectoratorOne spotted a painting she had to have that she didn't see when we had walked by there before. I hopped out of the car, bought the painting, and was back in the car before anyone behind us good get mad. Now THAT is good Collectorating skill. To this day it's one of her favorites, a Terone I believe?

Next came probably the most fun part of the day, watching CollectoratorOne work her magic, packing everything we bought into her SUV. If you ever move, you want CollectoratorOne directing the packing of your van. She will perfectly fit in as much as possible in a very nice neat organized way. I don't know how she does it, her brain must just work that way. It took awhile and some trial and error, but as luck would have it one of the legs unfortunately fell off one of my new end tables and ended up being a key to getting it all to fit in the SUV. I really wish I would have taken a picture of the packed SUV! It was impeccably packed. We drove back hoping we would not have to slam on the brakes because I don't think my little end tables would have been a good opponent to the desk. We have had some incredible times packing things up and driving back. I'll have to share those in my next post. "Collectorators On the Road"

All in all, we had a great collectorating day. I spent too much money of course, but all on things that I will love forever so it's worth every dime. CollectoratorOne won this time in all categories: money spent, find of the day, and deal of the day!!!