Friday, October 14, 2011

Book Battle Warriors!

Well, here I am again – battleworn and weary from an incredible 12 hour day of book sales which began at 6:30 a.m. when we left our house to 6:30 p.m. when we returned to it. To give you an idea of my exhaustion I was asleep on the couch by eight, woke up at midnight, and staggered upstairs not be heard from again until 6:30 this morning. That’s an hour and a half past my usual wake-up time, so I had to hustle like a used car salesman to get the orders wrapped – two day’s worth because we had no time to ship yesterday.

The first sale, made tolerable only due to breakfast with our seller friends Paul, Carol, and Ed, was akin to sharing a pile of glowing embers in book sale hell with the people who drive you the craziest. Had it not been for the pre-sale conviviality I think I would have so thoroughly self-destructed I wouldn’t have left behind a speck of dust. Crowds, hordes, and mobs, scanners blazing like six-guns, ran around like a pack of frantic ants after somebody kicked the anthill, each lugging at least two plastic bins or Rubbermaid tubs, used of course to thoroughly block the aisles. The volunteers worked hard to get them to take their books to the holding station, but it was about as effective as trying to get feral cats to eat out of the palm of your hand. Whaaaat??? Stop the scanfest for two seconds??? Not a chance!

The funny part was the books which, despite their number, consisted of three-quarters well-used ex-library copies and the rest titles as ubiquitous as the common cold. Eric bought some military and fishing stuff for store stock and I bought exactly one thing, though I do believe it was the best thing in the whole place – 16 volumes of Mazo de la Roche’s Jalna Novels in the Whiteoak edition from the 40’s replete with their hard-to-find dustjackets (see photo of sampling). I had had a smaller set of six, also published by Little Brown in the 40’s, but with different dustjackets and sold them for $65 on April 9th of this year. So, not a bad buy! While Eric checked us out I chatted with an elderly man who commented that he has seen us at sales quite a lot and was amazed at how calm we are.

“This is very undignified,” he said, nodding at the swarm. “But I notice you never participate. Are you a book dealer?”

At that moment I think an angel got its wings. Oh, listen to THIS! Now I’m reduced to quoting from the most treacly Christmas movie of all times.

On to the next sale then! Last spring we had a lovely time there, but this was about as lovely as a tar pit. The same gang from the morning, plus many more, prompted the volunteers to make the same old stern speech about fighting. But the crowd didn’t bother me here, as we headed straight to the specials room and stayed there until after the natives had calmed down. The problem was that all the beautiful books from last time were replaced by the wonkiest bunch of stuff I ever saw and priced to the heavens. Here are a few examples – a ratty copy of the Holland volume from the My Travel Ship set priced at $24, Cherry Ames reprints with ratty jackets (not the tweed bindings) at $8 each; and a well-used set of first edition Little Golden alphabet books at $35. But the real shocker was the railroad titles. Brace yourself – this makes your roller coaster nightmares look like carousel rides. They had maybe eight or ten train titles that were good except that in every instance their price exceeded $100. Profit margin? Forgetabout  it! Not a single dealer bought one and that included at least three who, like me, have spent that much in the past for a single book. I did get some stuff from this room, but I have to dig it out of the bags to tell you what it was. If there’s anything good I’ll show you later, but I rather doubt it.

All told, I suspect the day was better than it feels because we got lots of store and mall stuff too. But what a way to do this. Call me old, but give me the good old days.

4 comments:

sundaymornancy said...

Warriors indeed! It takes a special tenacity to wade through two sales and find even a few gems like the ones in the photo.
It isn't he best way to spend a 12-hour day, but it sure makes for interesting reading!

tess said...

Having just returned last night from a THIRD sale this was just what the doctor ordered! Thanks much!

Anonymous said...

Keep getting out there. I find a new cheer in your voice that I like! Thinking of you often. G

tess said...

Thanks! I thought I sounded rather crabby really, but I AM happy and excited again about going to sales. I love the discovery, finding old favorites and new treasures.