Yes, I was a Brownie for a few years in the 1950s. I still remember that dorky brown cotton uniform that wrinkled as soon as I put it on.
After my parents died a couple of years ago and my daughter and I spent days shoveling through their lifetimes' accumulation of possessions and documents, I came home resolved to eliminate--or at least reduce--the amount of "stuff" in my house. I'm not exactly a packrat, but somehow, my belongings have a way of reproducing, and before I know it, every available surface in the house is covered.
First, I held a yard sale (see the archive for May), which made a small dent in the pile of cra--er, treasures. Then, I resorted to eBay. After a steep learning curve and a couple of mistakes vastly underpricing items, I finally got the hang of it, and what a weird, wonderful, wacky world eBay is!
Where else could you buy my limited-edition Blue Glove figurine from the Beatles' movie, Yellow Submarine...
...or my dancing Coca-Cola can with shades and headphones?
Before I could list this Dazey churn, I had to convince the little survivalist in me that I will never really need to churn my own butter.
How about this one? It's a guilt-powered coin slot for a newspaper vending rack. This odd item had more "watchers" than anything else I listed. It wound up in someone's collection of newspaper-related memorabilia in Tennessee. (At least, I hope that's what he's doing with it.)
Is it ever too early to plan for Christmas? These and about a zillion other wooden ornaments were part of my "Box o' Christmas" sale. When my granddaughter-in-law bought the ornaments, her husband threatened to take them to the shooting range to use as targets.
I got a laugh out of the advertising copy I wrote for this item: "Each year, Godiva designs a new tin for their Lady Godiva chocolate collection. This tin is one of the most beautiful ones in recent years....The tin is empty now, which is sad, but I can assure you that the chocolates it used to contain were heavenly, and it's still a lovely storage or gift container."
In the '80s, I wore the hell out of these Jack Daniels overalls, and now, a woman in Oregon (whose name is also Cheryl) is wearing them.
I had no idea what this was, so I listed it as a "Mystery Container" and asked bidders to speculate on its use. Although I described it as a glass container that held approximately one gallon, bidders wrote to me asking, "What's it made of?" and "How much does it hold?" One person wanted to know what it smelled like. No one bid on it, so I may list it again, just for fun.
"Vintage" is a key word on eBay. Pretty much anything that wasn't made in this century is described as "vintage." I invited bidders to "Relive the '70s in these vintage psychedelic shoes."
Thanks go to my friend, Sherrod, for providing the impetus to start selling on eBay. He found some great deals on used musical equipment at a local thrift shop and was able to triple his investment when the items sold on eBay. This was the first item we sold. People in Australia went mad for these "vintage" stereo headphones. This "vintage" bass drum pedal was highly coveted by a drummer in Italy, but ultimately went to a guy in Oregon. Maybe he knows Cheryl in the Jack Daniels overalls.
I felt conflicted about listing these owl bookends, since they've held my books together as long as I can remember. I don't know which of my pets chewed on the owls' ears, but it may have been all for the best. No one bid on them, and now, they're back on my bookshelf.
Maybe not everything should be sold on eBay.
