TMR

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I’ve been busy. I had a lot of energy on Monday night and decided to check out the trash in Villeray (though I didn’t find jack all). On Tuesday morning I woke up early to go to Hochelaga but didn’t find much.

It was raining hard for much of Tuesday but I managed to avoid it on the most part. I came across these bags yesterday evening. They were in the same spot as the first things in my “Generations” post from the 10th. I took this picture after my scavenging so the bags look less full than they were before I got there.

This definitely looked to be the former possessions of an older woman. Inside the bags were mostly trinkets and fabrics. I love trinkets and brought all of the non-busted ones home.

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My room-mate took this picture with most of the things together. There were lots of religious artefacts including a few bibles. Everything was very clean and clearly well cared for. I’ll give you some close-ups of some of the most notable items.

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A pair of old “Made in Japan” salt and pepper shakers. I think they’re pretty cute.

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A tea pot made to look like a conch. I like it a lot – it has a cool vintage look and is a great size for one person. I think I’ll keep it!

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This little thing is made to put your pins and needles in and was designed to hang from the wall. It’s pretty adorable. It’s marked as being from Val-David, which is a small town in Quebec known (according to wiki) for it’s arts scene.

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A Canadian Centennial Ashtray. There’s a bit of fading on the gold of the flag, but otherwise it’s in great shape.

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A gold-toned necklace that will likely fetch me decent money on Etsy.

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Some nice old brooches. The 2nd from the left is made by Trifari, a company which has a bit of collectors value.

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A couple more salt and pepper shakers. The girls arm has broke off but they’re still beautiful vintage pieces.

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A couple more brooches. These ones seem hand-made.

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Two wooden carvings with “Jamaica” engraved in the top.

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An ashtray bearing the symbols of the Knights of Columbus. The black stuff on the inside seems to clean off.

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Finally, a kitschy planter marked as being made by Samson Imports Company in 1958. It’s in amazing condition for it’s age – not even a chip.

I’m happy with my haul of interesting stuff. I was a bit sad though to have to leave behind the fabrics. I’m not even sure what they were exactly but they were clearly saved for a reason. A lot of them had old patterns you just can’t find anymore. I took a couple of knitted blankets but didn’t have room for the rest, though I did stash a bag full of fabrics where I didn’t think it would be picked up. I’ll see when I have time if that worked out.

It’s a reminder that I should look into getting a bike trailer. Even one of those ones made for carrying small kids might do they trick.

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I started a short temp job this morning which involved me picking up a rented van in Ville St-Laurent. I did some research last night and found out that Wednesday morning is trash collection day in the Town of Mount Royal (TMR). I’d never trash-picked there before so I decided to plan a route that would let me see some garbage.

There’s definitely some money in TMR but the population density is a lot lower than it is around my neighbourhood. The streets curve a lot more (around my area it’s more of a grid) meaning I can’t see good trash from as far away. A lot more people have trash bins as well. I’m sure there’s some good trash to be found here but it’s more work to find it.

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I did manage to find a couple of nice lampshades, a hammer, a puck, a phone and a weird measuring stick thing in the pile above. Any ideas as to what that measuring stick is for? It’s not near me right now, but I think “skirt” is written on it somewhere in a descriptive sense.

I’m going to be busier these next two weeks with the job but I should still have time to get out and find some garbage!

6 thoughts on “TMR”

  1. Very cute teapot!

    The ruler is a shirt hemline marker … for back in the day when the length of the skirt was important. 🙂 See a collection here http://www.ebay.com/sch/Sewing-1930Now-/113/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=markers

    I remember hearing one time that years ago women would often stick their pins and needles in the porous plaster wall beside the chair where they generally did their sewing and mending. The little gem like you found would have been created to save the wall from pinholes, and people’s hands too (apparently there were many cases of people inadvertently impaling themselves on unseen pins).

  2. I remember a reader telling you to look into TMR on trash pickup day.You put it off ,but see how your trip paid dividends.You should also visit Outremont and Ahuntsic/Cartierville through the next few months on trash pickup day-many times.Congratulations!

  3. The made in Japan salt shakers are fabulous.The Canadian Centennial plate you found is very good too.I do not know why people throw out such valuable knick-knacks.Simply no reason to throw them out.Great finds

  4. I consulted your dumpster diving map from the website and went to Atwater Library this Wednesday morning.There were 15 to 18 boxes of books discarded on the lawn for the garbage truck.Three or four people were going through the books and a couple of people each took home a box full of books.An older man took away a plastic bag full of books.I went through the boxes and took home 8 or 9 books,six in French.30% or 40% of the books were in French,surprising that this is an anglophone area.There were some excellent older history books,novels,picture books,cookbooks,children’s books,etc.By the time I left,9 or 10 boxes full of books were still there.I urge your readers to drop by Atwater library on Wednesday morning.Some weeks they might not find anything,but from now on I know will drop by there on Wednesday morning,as much as possible.Please recommend this to your readers,including francophones.

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