Today was the third day of a garage sale held at my mother’s home. My father, who was killed last September, had tons of tools and automotive equipment, plus jars of nuts, bolts and the like. Most all of that sold.
There’s a big board full of hooks and nails in Dad’s garage that’s now empty. You can see the silhouettes of all the wrenchws, hammers and such that used to hang there, all gone now.
Mom also put in a lot of houseware items, and they sold well. There were items I remember from my childhood.
Even Dad’s air compressor sold, and some of the spare tires(although not all of them).
The unattached garage is nearly empty. Dad’s work station in the cellar is nearly empty. The attached garage is empty. Someone even bought the sled we kids had when we were little, and the old Singer sewing machine that my grandmother taught me how to ser on. My* mother* remembers that being used when she was small.
Dad had so much stuff that well before the sale his two nephew’s, my yonger sister’s kids, got fully stocked tool boxes. Their dad, plus my other BIL, also rounded out their own collection. They have a good home.
I have lots of photos, as I’m not handy with tools.
One of my favorite set of photos of my father is car related. In 1950 my father bought his first car. It was a 1941 Ford Tudor. He posed, in a street shot, with his foot up on the running board. In the background you can see parts of two houses.
In 1990 my dad bought and restored a car just like it, same year, make model. So he drove to that same spot and had another picture of him taken. He wore the same type of dark slacks, and a white long sleeved shirt with the cuffs rolled up to the elbows. He could have fit into the original outfit. In 2000 and 2010 he did it again, and except for the fact he had less hair little was changed. In the background you can see the houses change, different shutters, trees grown or removed, a handicap ramp added to one house.
The guy who did so much of the work in getting things set up was my father’s best friend. Mom wants to give him a good chunk of the proceeds, but he won’t want to take it. But when that Ford was sold, by the friend, Mom had me write a check for 10% and I put it in the guys hands saying Mom wouldn’t take no for an answer.
I’m surprised two of the sewing machines didn’t sell. They aren’t new models but are perfectly servicable, with all their attachments. What did sell was an antique Singer, originally a treadle, but wired for electricity, that was in the house when my Mom was a little girl.
There is an odd thing where old things that don’t work will sell but newer-older versions that work GREAT won’t. A lot of the really old stuff is bought just to sit there; statement pieces I believe the term is. You hit this a lot with sewing machines, radios, and lots of other things.
My mother donated a lot of Dad’s stuff to a church sale a few years back. I clued in a friend, gave him a list of things to look for, and gave him some bucks to go shopping for me. He managed to recover almost everything on the list. I could have lived without any or all of it - like you I think the memories are more important than bits and pieces. But there are days when I’m really glad to have the bits and pieces too.
