Yesterday was rainy as advertised. I didn’t do a morning run and contemplated not going on an evening run either. The weather cleared up a bit later in the day, however, so I did manage to get out and check out the trash.
I came across this pile of bags behind an apartment complex on Papineau. Most of it was pretty foul smelling crap, I reckon full of the junk people put down the trash chutes, but some of the bags (with the red ribbons) were different and looked to contain an emptied-out apartment.
Most of the trash was kitchen and bathroom stuff. I saved a few cans of food, some of which I left on Papineau and some of which I took, including a six-pack of V8 and a can of root beer I thought my room-mate might want. There was also a collection of maps from a road trip in the 70s.
There were four nice old trays in the bags. This one is my favorite, an ornate silver plate tray by Wilcox. It has a great design in the centre that features a couple of birds. They’re a bit hard to see in this picture but any information as to the type of birds they are would be appreciated!
This is another silver plate tray, this time by WMA Rogers. In the centre is engraved “de tes amis, 24 Janvier 1957” (from your friends, January 24 1957). It needs a cleaning but it’s in good shape.
There were also a couple of green glass platters. They’re pretty heavy and look vintage. Could they be depression glass? Regardless, they’re quite nice.
I think this little tray is silver plate too but there’s no markings to confirm this. I’ll have to try to clean it to find out for sure.
Finally an old tin, which when I found it contained some Red Rose tea bags.
On the way home I came across this box of bread behind a bakery on Mont-Royal. I took home a few loaves. It all looked fine and was probably just day (or two) olds.
I haven’t really been “dumpster diving” much. The thrill of finding treasure has been too strong and I haven’t bothered to look for food. Regardless, finding this bread saves me a bit of money. I put it in the freezer to use later.
I made a couple of sales yesterday – a catchers mitt for 10$ and a 10 karat gold cross for 35$, both of which were sold via Craigslist. I’m happy with how much I got for the cross, it represents a nice profit over what I would have gotten for simple melt value. I may put more jewelry on CL going forward.
It’s going to be a big weekend for moving. I might take an aimless bike ride on Sunday just to see what’s out. The big day, however, will be July 1st. I encourage everyone to take to the streets and see what people are leaving behind! I can’t take everything and frankly I don’t want to. However, there will be a lot of good stuff, especially household items and clothes. Check out my “tips” section if you want advice.
don’t clean that one, (or any), until you find out for sure. Looks like it might be quite old, and they say antiques are best NOT polished.
a very old solid silver can be difficult to find the hallmark
that green looks to be depression/similar glass
look in good shape
all in all, it looks like you did VERY well…Seems like a valuable bunch.
hope someone is more knowledeable
Hi! I have those green dishes, rec’d them as gifts in the late 60’s early 70’s. They’re not depression but certainly are vintage..only problem is there’s a lot of them out there .. I see them at flea markets all the time..they don’t go for much 🙁 Also, the silver plate with the handle… I have one of those too! Rec’d it as a gift in the early 70’s and still use it. I still have 3/4’s of the sticker on the bottom of it! I always wash it by hand so it’s still there! It says Brama Stainless, made in England and has a gold Crest with two animals on it. I think it also had a glass plate in it. If you want a picture of it I can send you one. Good luck with your hunting this weekend, hope you find some goodies. Also hope lots of people are out there looking for furniture etc. Makes me so sad to see all the stuff people just leave behind. Take care xx
Hi Nancy, just wondering, I recal hearing somewhere that quite often silver pieces were copied in stainless…wonder if it might be something like that…
that is, maybe his is still an older silver piece.
oops, just had a real good look at your silver plate with handle and noticed it has feet on it…mine doesn’t..sorry about that.. so we’re back to square one! lol
Those birds look like curlews, but I am not an aviary expert.
The green glass is definitely 1960’s or 70’s. Depression glass was generally a softer (less yellow) green. While it is true that brass, bronze and copper may lose value when polished, customers do not like unpolished silver. Just a light cleaning could make the difference between a sale or not. I love seeing what you find. I would go hunting, too, but I do not need one more thing in my house.
Hi Martin,
Great site and love what your doing!
You should do like TMZ and have tours on days and show people how to find, you can charge people for this.
As you being kinda of a celebrity I think people will line up to do it.
Nice finds!
Here’s an interesting link on silver stuff (Coin Silver, Silver Alloys, Silverplate, Sterling Silver, etc.) which may give you an idea of values http://ancientpoint.com/category/603-antiques_silver_/index.html
Another useful “silver” page – http://index.about.com/index?q=selling+silver+plate&askid=07a16939-dd77-40da-985f-4e406cc90832-0-ab_gsb&kv=sdb&gc=0&dqi=value%2Bof%2Bsilver%2Bplate&qsrc=999&o=4631&l=sem
The tray with the handle and the feet might be from India.
That’s a sweet tin. It should make you a couple of dollars.
Food! Always good to keep you going. 🙂
sandpipers? or some other kind of water bird with the long skinny beaks
Besides the Plateau,Rosemont and the downtown Ville Marie Borough,NDG is a rich hunting ground for valuable trash after Moving Day.Last year after Moving Day,me and my friend retrieved antique toys,beer steins,dolls and unopened cans of new food on recycling/garbage pickup day that were destined for the garbage truck.Please search the trash heaps of NDG on recycling and garbage pickup day after July 1.NDG is rich like the Plateau and has plenty,plenty of apartment buildings.Outremont and Westmount are even wealthier but have more houses and fewer apartments;fewer people move there on JUly 1.Outremont and Westmount are already patrolled by rich scavengers in vans who check out the trash there after July 1.Readers,.do not forget to check out the whole of NDG.Martin cannot be everywhere.All readers should keep their eyes open in their neighborhood.
I moved to Nun’s Island from Villeray two years ago to be with a boyfriend.Nun’s Island is full of rich people,and there are good opportunities for garbage foraging in Nun’s Island off Verdun.Look out,boy.
or snipe?
My mother … a depression glass connoisseur … says that this is from the 60s. Apparently you can recognize depression glass from the seam that divides the piece in two.
Nice finds!