Estate Sale in Hyde Park

March 28, 2026

Liz and I had an early morning breakfast out, and on our way home… stopped by an estate sale in the neighborhood.

While we usually know that showing up early gets you the good stuff… we were fine to take our time, and contended ourselves to wait in line.

Outside, waiting to go in.

Inside, there were a good number of folks in every room checking out all the wares.

A small stack of Bibles, with a copy of “Keep Calm and Pray” at the top.

Neighborhood Gossip and Dream Book.

Finally, some recipes for celery soup and codfish hash.

So this thing. Tempted.

The price tag is $20. I’m not sure what I’d do with a mallet of this size – maybe fight off home intruders? But for $20, it seemed like a steal. I came very close to purchasing this.

An assortment of items. Liz spotted the table, and pulled me aside so we could talk/confer/scheme.

In one of the rooms upstairs, I came across this worn journal.

Salary, 1926 – incredible.

Looking at the wallpaper lining the room… so many questions.

So we ended up buying the table. We paid before we left, but decided to return after the estate sale ended (in the late afternoon). We were able to transport the table in three pieces – the marble top, the circular support, and the base.

Closeup of the tag. Searching on Google found this:

Albert Best & Co. (founded 1879) was a high-end New York retailer known for children’s clothing but also produced or branded home goods, including Eastlake-style parlor furniture and tables in the late 19th century.

Also, Wikipedia’s entry for Best & Co.

Cleaned up, and reassembled (we got the glass caster guards thrown in for free). Funny and satisfying to think that this table lived for a good while in Hyde Park, and with some luck… will continue to live in the neighborhood for some more time to come.