Secret Sale 2: A Pastel Past

About 20 years ago, I was lucky enough to be inside this house. It was at an estate sale, the kind of sale that you remember well even two decades later.

The house is on what was once the grandest street of Syracuse. Sadly, today it's a mishmash of commercial buildings, apartment houses and a few old homes. But until the 1960s it was where the city's industrial giants lived in beautiful houses that were under a canopy of Dutch elms. This house, built in 1916, was the home of the founder of the Bendixen Tobacco Co., which was best known for manufacturing the Yara brand of chewing tobacco.

Fortunately, in the years since that sale the house has been beautifully restored. But when I was inside, it was more shabby than chic. Still there was something about it that was still quite grand. I distinctly remember that just about every room was decorated with elaborate moldings in various pastel shades. Coincidentally, my most memorable purchase at the sale was also pastel-inspired. It was this beautiful oversized Easter basket. At $10, it seemed like quite an extravagant buy at the time but I convinced myself that I would keep it forever, and I have.

Last Friday, prompted by a Craigslist ad for an estate sale with Christmas ornaments, I went to a much more modest home a few miles away from the Bendixen house. The ornaments were OK, and I bought a few. I also bought what was in a brown paper grocery bag, especially when the woman running the sale said that her father used them to decorate the Bendixen estate.

There must have been at least 16 honeycomb tissue balls in that bag. To say that they're big is probably an understatement. They're H U G E, probably at least 24 inches across when open.

I immediately thought of how they matched the Easter basket that I had bought nearly 20 years earlier. I can picture them hanging from the ceilings in one of the rooms with the pastel moldings. In addition to the multicolored ones, which are my favorites, there are also those with subtle stripes of pink, green and a pale, pale yellow.

I'm not sure what I'll do with them although I'll probably hang a few in my house in the spring to complement that Easter basket. Knowing where they came from, I think they need a much grander and more pastel venue to display them the way that the Bendixens did.

Comments

[Sue]

Those are GREAT! They'd be permanent fixtures in my home.

[Linda]

Those pastel honeycomb balls are fantastic!!! They would be prefect hanging up for a sping garden party!

Blessings

Linda

[laurie mapgie ethel]

Always a sucker for honeycomb balls like that - love the size and pastel colors. The Bendixen history just adds to their attraction! (would have been awesome to see them at the estate with all the decorations up)

[Betty]

You've been going to estate sales for a long time! They're pretty neat. My first thought was decorating for a spring wedding.

[Judy]

Am I right this house is on James Street? I used to live in Eastwood and would walk home from work and walk by that house everyday. I've never been inside tho. I loved looking at all those houses on my walk home. Those ornaments have held up nicely. Good find.

[Linda]

Hi Judy
Yes, it is on James Street, in the Sedgwick area. At one time, there were beautiful old homes from downtown to Eastwood. What a shame that more of them didn't survive.

Linda

[Maureen O]

Hi Linda,

New reader here...

I absolutely love this story. The historical connections over the arc of time... beautiful. Thanks for posting it.

[Kermit Lukacs]

The style of this house has been merged with many contemporary designs these days. It's a relief to know that this wonderful, vintage house has been maintained for decades! It probably cost them a lot to do such a thing!