All the trappings of an interesting find...

I found this sale purely by accident, but I should have found it sooner.  3 weeks ago, while my daughter and I were out on the tag sale trail, there was a "sign" from above...the lamp post, which led us to a garage full of stuff. Unfortunately, it was the home of a "regular", a familiar face I remembered from previous sales.  There are all kinds of regulars on the tag sale trail, hunters out there looking for whatever interests them.  I don't know what they're looking for, but often it is the priceless stuff that will be resold via consignment or Ebay.  Nothing wrong with that, but that's not for me.  So, I am not motivated to arrive early and take a number, well, maybe sometimes.  Anyway, this guy was one of those "regulars" I have seen 2-3 times in the past year. I made small talk because this makes it is easier sometimes to slip away without a purchase, and I knew that a fellow digger would not have either a "dig" or a deal for sale.

We looked around his garage, and I was right...nothing.  We did talk about the lack of good sales this year and I shared my opinion of some of the estate sale services.  I respect most of them, but he let loose with several scathing opinions of a few he didn't think too much of.  Then, as if someone might be listening in on our conversation, his eyes shifted left, right, then left again, he leaned toward me, and in a somewhat hushed tone said, "Bethel, in a week or 2, lotta stuff, old house, they may not even advertise, gonna be good, keepa look out..."  and that was it. We left and I stored his tip somewhere in my brain.  Then, a week later, there we were on the "the trail" again, trying to kill time before a birthday party in New Milford.  I read about a sale in Easton that looked promising, and we headed in that direction.  As we turned on to Rt 58, I remembered a sale or two that had been memorable on this road, and at the first side road to the left there was a familiar "Estate Sale" service sign on the corner.  Suddenly we were off in a new direction.

Although it was the last day, and the last hour of the sale, there was still a mother-load of stuff . I discovered that the sale had been going on since Thursday, and it dawned on me as I realized we were in Bethel. This was the sale that guy had given me the tip on. I briefly lamented on not having had come sooner, but, no matter, in the basement I managed to find the "dig" I was looking for.  In the workshop, among all kinds of shelves and cabinets was an old desk, and I began to paw through the drawers. If untouched, these are often repositories, or micro time capsules (think of an old desk in your house, alright, your older neighbors house).  In this desk there was one drawer that wouldn't open and by removing the drawer above I was able to reach down and remove the contents. What I got was an assortment of papers and catalogs, and envelopes, including the one above.  There was an interesting letter inside: (click to enlarge)

Okay, so it was a little morose, but that's the chance you take when you read other people's mail.  It seems that the owner of the letter had written away for some "trappers" secrets he saw offered in a magazine.  What he got was a bit of a delay in his order (Note: ordered in October - shipped late February) with a personal note which includes a single sentence obituary (I'll summarize in case you can't read the handwriting):  "Sorry so late, but it's been real cold, my wife died, and thanks for the order."  Not only cold, seems it's been a little heartless in Gordo, sheesh! What "methods" were worth waiting 4 months and a funeral for?  (click to enlarge)

That's right! How do you catch a raccoon without a trap, snare, or poison?  The question I don't want answered is: "What do you do with them once they're caught?" Good Eats! or just good skins? But wait there's more:(click to enlarge)

Trapping foxes makes a little more sense, though for CT it could have been to keep them out of the hen house. I wonder what this area looked like in the 50's; I am sure there were fewer homes and more wildlife. This last tip is my favorite:(click to enlarge)

Now, getting raccoons drunk just so you can kill them seems just a little unsportsmanlike.  I would wait until they've raised their paws at the local Varmint AA meeting, "My name is Rocky and I have a drinking problem . It's been...." - Bang!  Nothing like being shot by your own enabler.  That's would be like a bartender stealing your shoes, just too easy.   As you may have noticed, these methods all came from Jessie Connor in Gordo, Alabama. The copyrights are pending, so I am taking a chance sharing them here, however, I can find no one involved in any trapping activity there that has been introduced to the internet. I will gladly remove these if asked.  Along with the methods was an advertisement, though it appears to be Jessie's father, read on: (click to enlarge)

 

Also "Hillbilly Farmer" $1.00"  The best 2 dollar prescription any man can give his children is this book. and on the back is another publication:(click to enlarge)

I thought this was a real unique discovery in one little package that hadn't seen the light of day in over 50 years. I will be sharing more "Tales form the sticky desk drawer" in future posts...stay tuned.  You can blame me if you feel I trapped you into this.