The ongoing task of emptying mom's house continues.
All the canning jars might actually be out now.
Here is a portion of the rummage sale.
Here are the special "collectible" canning jars.
Here are the boxes & boxes of everyday, slightly newer
canning jars.
Looks like a lot doesn't it.
Most of these were probably grandma's jars.
If you sit down and do the math, it was grandma, grandpa, 6 kids, and grandpa's mom. That's nine people. If they made grilled cheese sandwiches for supper, with canned applesauce and green beans as side dishes, that would take a couple loaves of bread, a couple pounds of cheese, at least two quarts of applesauce, and probably another two quarts of beans. That's just one meal. There are 365 1/4 days in a year. That would have taken 1460 quart jars if they had used home canned goods at least once a day. It is true that in the summer, the food just would have been picked, washed, cooked and eaten, so maybe not quite as many jars would have been needed. Families are a lot smaller now. It makes a big difference in how big the pantry size needs to be. Technically, grandma may not have been a hoarder, because out of financial necessity (at least when the kids were still at home) she had to use all that food. And when company came, you had to have enough plates.
Anybody need a very large set of Fire King gilt dishes?
It starts off with 19 dinner plates and goes from there -
three copy paper boxes full.
How about some dessert bowls?
I sold 6, but still have 9 left.
And then there's the cookware, Prudential Ware or Saladmaster?
And it goes on and on.
The garden is coming along nicely in the background,
but needs some serious weeding - if it actually stops raining on a day when I'm not trying to sell stuff.
Damn, if I was closer I'd come shop!
ReplyDeleteWendy from Little House in the Big Woods blog probably would too, but she's way up in Canada. Sorry, shipping would be a bit much.
ReplyDeleteIt started off slow Friday and Saturday of last week. Sunday and Monday were rainy, so I didn't even bother trying to do the sale. Thankfully I had a lot of hits today on the less expensive Ball Blue jars. Some of the rare jars and unusual colors aren't moving as quickly because I priced them according to the collectible fruit & canning jar red book. (But I think the author of the book hasn't really adjusted the prices for inflation much, so folks are getting good deals.) Apparently the latest craze in wedding reception table centerpieces is to put flowers in old canning jars. Now if I can only get a stay at home mom with lots of children to feed from her garden to shop for some more everyday use canning jars....Those boxes aren't moving very well.
Oh, and the line I keep getting about the Saladmaster and Prudential cookware is "That's so expensive; I'm just shopping for my camper." To which I reply, "Well then buy the cheaper stuff, because I have the good cookware priced at least half of what it costs online. There is no shipping charge, and by the way I don't have to sell it. My mom and stepfather can donate it to a reputable thrift store for fair market value which is on the price tag."
The funniest thing is people keep offering to buy the old, wooden painter's ladder to which I tie the rummage sale sign. The thing is probably an antique, but I still use it. Hubby and I bought it from the previous owners of this old house.
Shipping would kill it entirely. But damn. I'd snap up as many of the general use canning jars as I could afford, and probly at least a few pieces of the cookware! My parents have several pieces of identical cookware and I KNOW those're nice pieces! Heck, I'm currently using a makeshift double boiler and I'd love a good one....
ReplyDelete