Bargain Hunters Never Forget a White Elephant

Alfonso de Bourbon was poring over kitchen knickknacks. He cradled spatulas and knives, ladles and goblets, fingering each one carefully to see if it fit in his La Jolla “chateau.” He entertained the Women of St. James with a litany of stories, mostly having to do with a wondrous genealogy.

“He’s a count ,” one woman murmured. “A real count.”

“Ah, but I never use my title,” De Bourbon said, backing up a step. “If I claim it, it sounds like bragging. But they say I am the spitting image of King Alfonso XIII of Spain, the grandfather of the current King of Spain, Juan Carlos.”

De Bourbon came to La Jolla from Spain 14 years ago, intending only a visit.

His fingers raced through his pockets.

“I seem to have misplaced my return airline ticket,” he said Friday, one of hundreds of shoppers and sightseers--and characters--who came to mingle at the 57th annual White Elephant Sale put on by the Women of St. James.

The Women of St. James is an auxiliary and charity run under the auspices of St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church. The lawn of the church, at the corner of Eads Avenue and Silverado Street in La Jolla, was littered with teddy bears, pots and pans, mopeds, good art, awful art, Ping-Pong tables, an exercise treadmill, an IBM personal computer and a 1966 Cadillac.

Diane Mounts, an organizer of this year’s effort, said the sale raises about $30,000 a year. Recipients of the money are church-appointed charities that help take care of the needy and the homeless. Mounts said the 1987 event was the biggest ever, netting more than $40,000.

The rummaging continues today from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Every year, Mounts said, the sale pulls in the rich and the poor, the young and the old and a handful of curiosity seekers from south of the border. She said the Women of St. James are “quite proud” of the event and even a tad competitive.

Jane Cassidy, 75, now involved in her 50th sale, was telling Adele Webster, 67, that the Junior League sale is “the biggest in the county,” with the Women of St. James a distant second.

“But, Jane,” Webster said with a hurt expression, “they have to do it.”

The most-talked-about item Friday was the black ’66 Cadillac, that someone said didn’t run. Somebody else said the windows wouldn’t roll down. Somebody else said it had to be towed over.

Oh, well . . .

Pat Carlton said the car was donated by a

wealthy La Jolla woman who didn’t need it any longer and who likes Carlton’s homemade biscuits, which, in Carlton’s words, persuaded the woman to “put it up.” Carlton declined to name a price for the car; it’s being auctioned through sealed bids.

Kasey Crandall, who manages Croce’s restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter, said she likes the sale because outlet stores run by Goodwill Industries and the Salvation Army have become too expensive.

“They have a set clientele, and they can charge more now,” Crandall said. “See that orange dress over there? At Goodwill, I’d figure it for $7. Here I get it for $1.50.”

Douglas Giacomazza, a gardener and part-time fireman from Del Mar, said he came to the sale “just to wander” and ended up finding a record album for 50 cents that brought back a flood of memories.

“ ‘Future Games’ by Fleetwood Mac,” he said. “I haven’t heard that one for years. Incredible. Just incredible.”

Picked Over Pretty Well

Lance Pelky, a student at the University of San Diego, likes the sale as a collector of antique toys. He said he owns “upwards of $5,000” in toys and usually adds to the bounty by coming to the sale.

No such luck this year.

“I guess I got here too late,” he said. “Everything had been picked over pretty well. The sale’s gotten so popular, people show up earlier and earlier every year.”

Caroline Taylor, who grew up in La Jolla, said La Jollans will surrender items for charity that “no one else will.” She said the clothes, in particular, are a cut above the average when it comes to threads--at least the kind found at most rummage sales.

“I get Calvin Klein jeans here for next to nothing,” she said.

Norma Arnold, who comes to the sale for books and ornate, homemade Christmas decorations, said the event has been a fixture in La Jolla for decades “and gets more popular with each passing year.”

It’s gotten so big that elderly Arnie Sieg has been hired for protection. Sieg sat near a side door, wearing a red visor with big white letters reading, “SECURITY.”

“It’s a tough job,” Sieg said with Barney Fife hubris, “but somebody’s got to do it. You wouldn’t want some guy walkin’ off with a fork, would you?”