This is the easy way to tell what is still available. Just click on the link below. Otherwise, look at the bottom of the post. If the item is sold it will read GONE! SOLD!
ADDRESS: The Estate Store of the Community Warehouse 3969 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97212
The Estate Store
Hours: Open 10am to 4pm Thursday through Monday. Closed Tuesday & Wednesday Closed Monday May 28th For Memorial Day
THE Garage Sale
Hours: Open 10am to 4pm Thursday through Monday. Closed Tuesday & Wednesday Closed Monday May 28th For Memorial Day
Telephone: 503-445-1449
Email: Ed at communitywarehouse dot org
West Side Donation Center:Open Wednesday-Saturday, from 10:00 am – 4:00 p.m. at 8380 SW Nyberg Rd. Tualatin, Oregon 97062. TUALATIN STORE NOW OPEN 10:00 am – 4:00 p.m. Friday, Saturday & Sunday!
Not in Portland but want an item? We can ship most things to most places most of the time. Shipping costs for furniture are often prohibitvely expensive! If you still think you want it, contact Ed to see if we can ship what you want where you want and how much it will cost you.
In the Portland Metro area and wondering if an item is still available in the store? Contact Ed.
This vintage kitsch painting of of a sail boat regatta (at night?) was done by someone named Thompson, who lived on the Roxwell Rd. in Chelmsford, Essex.
I’m having a tough time reading the first name but it could be Paul, which doesn’t help a whole lot. Regardless someone had this shipped across ‘the pond’ and then to Oregon where we ended up with it. Hopefully its journey still has many miles to go and maybe at the end one of the boats will cross the finish line.
This painting is 18 inches by 37 inches. Mostly it is simply paint on board, but the sails have been outlined in relief with some sort of glue-like substance. It is in good condition.
The Silhouette pattern was introduced by 1847 Rogers Brothers in 1930 at the height of the Art Deco period. This set is not quite as expansive a set as the last one we had* but it is still a good, serviceable set.
This time we have eight dinner forks and knives, ten salad forks, six table spoons and 12 teaspoons, so you can set a nicely decorated table for eight people. In addition there is a gravy ladle, a master butter knife, a sugar spoon and eight cocktail forks for pre-dinner noshing.
I’m not sure that this is the original box, but the set looks quite comfortable in it anyway.
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*I love it when I see something that I know I’ve seen before, and it was cool, but I can’t recall the exact name for the pattern. This is good, it means that it is not so familiar that it is common place (a.k.a. “look more Franciscan Apple dishes”), but not so rare that I need to spend a few hours looking at silver pattern references to figure it out (a sure cure for insomnia).
The frame for this old mirror is in surprisingly good condition. It looks to be carved wood with a coat of paint or gilding and features a motif that includes wheat sheaves, cat tails and various leaves.
Overall this piece is 41 3/4 inches tall by 31 1/2 inches wide. It is currently wired to be hung in the ‘portrait’ orientation as seen above but there are old marks on the back that indicate it was once hung in a landscape orientation.
Nice old lamp set which look like they were designed by a madmen with only a french curve on the drafting table, a 1950′s pin-up calendar for inspiration, a looming deadline and a gullet full of rot-gut coffee.
I can commiserate.
The lamps are 40 inches tall. They work but one has a three position switch and the other a single. They both have what appear to be the original lampshades which are in fair condition.
I had planned to save this fantastic old Eastlake style mirror for a day when “interesting” stock was running low and I needed something to put online. Instead, multiple people discovered it where I thought I had it safely hidden.
So, it’s for sale now instead.
The mirror, in frame, is about 23 1/2 inches wide and 52 inches tall. It is in OK shape though there are some slight cracks in the frame from wood that’s been drying out for 120 or more years and the mirror backing has a slight grayish tint on close inspection. Generally though the silvering is intact and the frame is solid and it’s probably good for another 120 years or so.
Anyone who was married in the late 1940′s or early 1950′s (or whose parents were) will probably remember how fashionable Ivy was at the time. It was shown on everything, from china services to oddly shaped aluminum trays made from materials intended for the war effort, but released to civilian use when the war ended
Somewhere around this time there was also an upsurge* in items decorated with the leaves of the Philodendron genus.
These lamps for example.
They appear to date to around 1950 (+/- a few years). The central column is glass upon which are painted green and gold leaves and vines. The lamps work, have a three position switch, and stand 28 inches tall to the top of the glass globe. One of the lamps does have a long crack in the side (see picture) which may make it unsuitable for shipping, otherwise they are in fine shape.
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*I suspect there is some underlying reason for this and for who chose to buy ivy items versus who bought Philodendron pieces. I’m not sure it can be reduced to something as simple as geography (e.g., east coast Ivy vs. west coast Philodendron) or area of military service (Europe or Asia) but I suspect these are influences in consumer choice of the era.
This pair stands 30 1/4 inches tall to the top of their finials, 19 1/2 inches tall to the top of their heads.
They’re in ‘age appropriate’ condition, meaning the have flaws. The female figure is cracked around her waist and the male has a crack across the base.
They’re probably from the 1950′s. Both of them work.
As a dealer in quality used goods there are two great things about the Singer Red Eye pattern. First the Red Eye pattern was only used on the Model 66 sewing machine.
The other great thing about the Red Eye pattern is that the Model 66 is a great machine. They’re rugged and except for ones that have been abused they all run and usually sew OK.
In other words, one cracks the lid, sees the pattern and says “oh goody, that’s a model 66, it’ll work fine.”
This one is no exception. We plugged it in and it turns over nicely. It was made around 1921 and comes with the original manual, some accessories, extra bobbins and needles.
Although it doesn’t show any damage to the wooden case this machine was kept in a damp environment (In Oregon? There’s a surprise!) since some of the accessories and bobbins bear faint surface rust.
I’d place its current condition as a high 6 on the Forsdyke Scale. If the light rust was not there it’d be between a 7 and an 8 since there is little wear to the decals.
I love tables like this. They’re classics of the Art & Crafts or Mission era. A bunch of different companies, many of which were based on Santa Catalina Island and in southern California from about 1910 to 1940. The tables are attractive, durable and shippable. We’ve had quite a few of them over the years.
This one is what seems like a standard size of 17 1/2 inches square and about 17 inches tall. At some point it was refinished and the tile was reset. As a result the tile isn’t quite level with the wood. Overall it is in fair to good condition.
This is a nice vintage Turnabout “4 in 1″Dumbo cookie jar. The head and body can be rotated to display four different configurations of Dumbo (and was used for other characters too, like Mickey and Minnie and my favorite, the Donald Duck/Jose Carioca combo).
He stands 13 1/2 inches tall and is in good to very good condition with no chips or cracks. Even the over-glaze paint is in much better than average condition. Often on these jars the paint is largely gone, due to handling wear and washing.
Not surprisingly the design is patented*. What is surprising (to me) is that the patent for a reversible cookie jar of this sort wasn’t issued until 1944 (and again for good measure).
It’s odd when one considers that Dumbo (the film) was released in 1941 and Dumbo (the character) was nominated as Time Magazine’s mammal of the year in December 1941, even in the face of more pressing world events. He had originally been intended to be the cover character for the final issue of the year, but with the attack on Pearl Harbor and the American entry into the World War he was demoted in favor of General MacArthur.
Given the divergent dates between the release of Dumbo and the successful patenting of the reversible cookie jar (note the patent was issued when this piece was made) I suspect this particular piece was made after 1944 and may be from the early post-war period.
*The patent holder was an employee of the American Pottery Company. This company made the cookie jars and then they were sold to the Leeds China company, which was a distribution firm that had the license to sell Disney products.
To further confuse things American Pottery Company was involved in cooperative efforts with the American Bisque Pottery Company (which in turn worked with Ludowici-Celadon Co., Terrace Ceramics and made and decorated jars that were distributed by Cardinal China Company).
I look at this leather upholstered bar stool and think, “If this were at my drafting table I could sketch cities, build Important Edifices or design untold futures.”
Instead I have an old cast iron and oak stool that’s just a bit too short, the mark of a plonker, a dilettante, someone who’s not, note the capital s- Serious.
But I’ve had that old stool too long to casually toss it aside for a flashy new brunette. I spent a lot of night sitting on it with only a purloined milk-crate for a footrest and a wall to lean against and it suits me pretty well.
This new bar stool is about 48 inches tall with a seat height of 30 inches. It is 23 inches deep and 21 3/4 inches wide, unfortunately we have only one.
If you don’t have a drafting table it’d class up a home bar much better than tossing an olive in your PBR and calling it a martini.
“Horace you really shouldn’t try to kill the guy at the Community Warehouse.” “Bah Helena, one runs some risks in dealing with vintage stuff, he knows this.” “But Horace you’re not even giving him a chance.” “Whatever.” “I shall sprinkle plaster roses on his grave.”
KA-ZOT!!*
Thank you Mr. Circuit Breaker for doing your job and saving me from a serious zapping. As you may have guessed one of these lamps had a serious short-circuit that caused the circuit breaker to trip which in turn has resulted in some rewiring.
This is why I usually test things by plugging the into outlets with multiple breakers in the circuit. Thankfully I only average one minor zapping every two years (except for the incredible smoldering slot machine, which is a story for another time).
This plaster figurative lamp set was made (or copy righted) in June 1952 by Chesterlamp of Los Angeles, California. They stand about 36 inches tall with the shade and are pretty heavy (nearly 10 pounds each). Since they weigh so much and are plaster they could be shipped but it’s going to cost a fair amount.
If one wants them, these lamps even come with age appropriate funky fringed shades that only slightly smell of cigarette smoke.
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*Long before the Electric Light Orchestra came along there was the electric light near-death experience with their big hit Mr. Blue Lips. . .
Sometime we sell sterling silver in bulk. I’m not sure what our customers do with it though. Maybe they make jewelry or silver ingots that they stock pile for when the paper dollar collapses, what ever it is it’s a modest, but nice part of how we pay for things.
As I was packing up the most recent shipment I ran across these items and decided I didn’t want them to be melted down yet. This isn’t all a factor of my over attachment to the past. The value of sterling is pretty good, but I think these are worth more than just scrap value. As such I’m offering them here first and if they’re still around the next time we get a request for sterling maybe then. . .
First up is this lovely little set of four drink stirrers/straws. The handle is a hollow tube, they are about 8 1/2 inches long and weigh just over 1 troy ounce. SOLD
Then there’s this set of six Wallace sterling spoons with a design patented September 27th 1882. They’re cute little spoons and have a monograph of MLB on the reverse. They are teaspoon sized, just under 6 inches long and altogether weigh 4.11 troy ounces. SOLD!
These are my personal favorites, they’re mid-19th century coin silver spoons. They were made in Boston by Palmer & Bachelders around 1850. They have the characteristic fiddle-back shape that was so popular in the 1800′s, especially between 1840 and 1860. These spoons are about 6 inches long, bear a monogram of JLBRats, it’s actually JHB, I misread that. . .and have a combined weight of 3.31 ounces. SOLD
Berkey & Gay was one of the leading late 19th century furniture makers and this continued into the early 20th century. They were noted for producing quality pieces at decent prices. I always like to get items made by them since I know that the piece will be well made and if not mistreated, it will have withstood the years well.
These three pieces are good examples and since they were quality pieces to begin with they are in good condition now*.
The tall chest of drawers is in excellent condition, it is about 46 inches tall, 20 inches deep and 26 inches wide. SOLD!
The dressing table is 46 inches wide, 19 inches deep and 30 inches tall. It’s probably seen the most use out of all the pieces, but it’s still in good shape. SOLD
The mirror is not marked as Berkey & Gay however I’m pretty sure it is another of their products. It is in excellent condition and stands about 46 inches tall and 24 1/2 inches wide.
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*It may help that they might have been in a beach house for a while and not in daily use. When we got them in the drawers had a lot of sand in them, not enough to provide traction on a mountain road, but definitely more than you’d want in the waistband of your swimsuit. We gave them a good vacuuming (in the process netting two pennies for the cash register).
A place for everything and everything in it’s place.
With 15 drawers this makes that quite a bit easier.
Alternatively one could use it to make getting dressed easier in the morning. Just put one days worth of socks, underwear and a T-shirt in each drawer. After two weeks it’s time to do laundry again.
It is 34 inches wide, 41 inches tall and about 13 inches deep. One of the drawer pulls has been replaced but it is in good shape overall.
Siamese as in ‘generically from eastern Asia’, not ‘co-joined’.
They’re marked on the underside Siamese Teak Handcrafted Hong Kong ATAPCO. These are probably 1960′s vintage and have end grain butcher block tops on folding bases. For folding tables they’re surprisingly sturdy while still easy to move around.
Overall they’re in good condition with age appropriate wear. The only notable flaw is that the corner of one of them was broken off an re-glued. It seems to be a decent repair as it is still solid and didn’t give way when stress tested.
When assembled for use they are 19 inches tall and the tops are 17 inches square.
A little while back we go in this great pair of shadow puppets. I first thought these were Burmese puppets, but it seems that shadow puppets aren’t an important part of that great tradition.
instead they’re from another great puppet theater family, the IndonesianWayang Kulit shadow plays. The Wayang came to Indonesia with Indian traders and are now one of the oldest puppet theater traditions in the world. Originally the Wayang was associated with story telling within the Hindu religion but it has since been modified for other religious and secular tales.
The puppets traditionally made of buffalo hide with bamboo or buffalo horn control arms. Our figures look like painted hide. The control sticks one the larger figure are wood and horn on the smaller one.
They are both in good condition. The larger puppet is about 31 1/2 inches tall, the shorter is 25 inches tall.
The pattern is the tall Lincoln Drape lamp in alacite glass, model B75 with the plain foot.
We had a nice little alacite electric lamp a few months back, one that dated to before WWII. We could tell since it glowed under black light. This lamp does not fluoresce so we know it is alacite produced after the war, when the government was still hogging all the uranium.
The Lincoln drape pattern was produced from 1940 to 1949 with an intermission of unknown duration for the war. The burner is still attached and the adjustment screw reads Nu-type Model B. This model burner puts out enough light to compare effectively with a 60 watt light bulb, making it perfect for use in storms, remote places or as mood lighting.
The tall lamp and its shorter counterpart the ‘short’ Lincoln drape lamp are the only known faked Aladdin oil lamps. The fakes are pretty easy to pick out since they are made of two pieces and glued together and the burner attachment is different.
This is the real deal.
When originally sold it had a chimney but no shade. In the course of time ours has lost its chimney and the oil fill cap. The glass base is in excellent condition and overall it stands 13 3/4 inches to the top of the burner.
It depicts an idealized 1950′s vintage American LaFrance aerial fire truck. It is in excellent condition. Overall dimensions are 36 inches long, 7 inches wide and 7 1/2 inches tall. When fully the ladder is upright fully extended it is 48 inches tall.
The hard black rubber wheels are marked ‘Firestone’ and are in good condition. There is minor wear to the paint, but this wasn’t played with very much. The gold decals are in good shape although one has had slight damage (see detail pictures below). Oddly, the emergency light is still present as is the fire bell located just above the front bumper.
The diamond plate running board is missing on one side and one of the fake hydraulic cylinders for the ladder is broken. Fortunately the ladder will remain fully upright due to a locking mechanism at the base.
The original headlights are still in place and the truck steers freely.
We also have two additional ladder sections and there is a decal that notes that this reproduction was authorized by American LaFrance.
A vintage color advertisement featuring the truck can be seen in the second advertisement on this page.
This antique mahogany mantle clock by the New Haven Clock Co. still ticks merrily away and keeps time while doing it*. It will also count the number of hours or strike a single stroke at the half hour.
This has the Harmony Duo-Strike movement. This means that instead of just striking a plain old single tone it makes a ding-dong tone.
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*As always with old clock like this it takes a little bit of foresight to get it properly level but it works well once level.
The donor of this item handed it to me and said: “I don’t know what this is, maybe you do.”
I knew it was a rifle sight with adjustable elevation and windage. I thought that was a pretty good place to begin research.
Until I actually started. . . There are far too many old rifle sights out there. There is a mind-boggling number of contraptions designed to get a projectile to hit a particular spot at a particular distance. Eventually I figured it out though (thanks to a 1903 Springfield rifle bearing a later version of this sight).
This is an antique Buffington rifle sight, originally outfitted with the ‘trapdoor’ Springfield rifle.
The rifle itself was the first breech-loading rifle issued to the United States Army beginning around 1873. The weapon was modified numerous times* over the years including 1873, 1879,1880, 1884 and 1888, and 1889. Production stopped in 1893. This particular sight was introduced in 1885 (on the model 1884 Springfield).
Apparently it was quite popular with marksmen, but generally despised by the average soldier (continuing a long military tradition . . .).
It is in great condition, works smoothly and bears the letter ‘R’ indicating it was originally installed on a rifle rather than a shorter carbine. In the event you have a 1884 or later Springfield and you’re wondering how to use this sight, simplified directions for use can be found here (about 1/4 of the way down the page).
$85
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*The simple story is that at the end of the American Civil War there were a lot of rifles. As muzzle-loaders they were obsolete and solutions were looked for to update them without huge additional costs. The solution was to retrofit them with a breech-loading mechanism. By 1873 revisions to the weapon included reducing the caliber and improvements to the breech mechanism.
This sculpture was conceived and executed by Scott Nelles, who learned to work bronze in Seattle but now lives in Michigan.
It is cast in bronze and depicts a mother Humpback Whale and her calf. They rest on a wooden base with a vertical wire. They could swivel, but they’re quite heavy (almost 4 pounds) so they tend to tip over if not aligned along the long axis of the base. When aligned as shown in the pictures it is quite stable.
When set up on the stand they are 9 1/4 inches long, 7 inches tall and 7 inches wide from fin tip to fin tip. The larger whale bears a copyright date of 1986, the smaller one is from 1981. This seems a little odd but they were cast together.
Let’s get this taken care of right off: I know that a witches coven does not necessarily consist of 13 members.
But we have 13 wine glasses in two sizes and I’m trying to write (yet) another post before I get to go home, so just bear with me.
These glasses were made in England by Stuart crystal. They are all in the Marlborough pattern. We have two sizes. There are six water or wine glasses (7 inches tall) and 7 claret wine glasses (5 5/8 inches tall). If, by some chance, you happen to belong to a 13 member group and you’re looking for a way to demonstrate a 6 vs. 7 individual hierarchy then here’s a possibility.
These particular pieces are in good condition. We originally had more of them, but they’re easy to damage accidentally if you’re accustomed to drinking out of mason jars (like I am).
Drink carefully, lest you do anything you might regret later. . .
Sometime in the early 1950′s my mother worked as a secretary in a big insurance company. This chair probably comes from that era, when stenography was an essential skill for office workers and the kind of chair you had was a symbol of social status in the organization (which is something that hasn’t changed much).
Given that this chair doesn’t have arms and has a hard wooden seat it was probably used by a typist or someone similarly low in the office food-chain.
It is in great shape which I take to mean that they spent as much time as possible elsewhere. It adjusts for height and the back is adjustable too.
