Pen for men

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The week before last was actually pretty productive for me. My first finds came from this spot, one which I had been keeping an eye on for some time. Over the previous few weeks someone had put several bags filled mostly with miscellaneous fabric on the curb. Not much of that stuff was particularly interesting. However, I also didn’t see any food waste, and the lack of food usually indicates that someone’s clearing out a house they don’t live in. Those places are much more likely to produce interesting trash than your average house.

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This time around I opened up a bag and saw lots of costume jewelry and accessories, especially headbands. I put the whole bag in the car to sort through later.

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I sorted it all the next day. A good portion of the contents were ruined, damaged, or otherwise not worth my time. I put these items in a box on the curb and they were quickly taken my someone else, so hopefully something good will come of them. This is the box of things I decided to keep.

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There wasn’t much to be found in terms of precious metals but some of the pieces were pretty cool regardless. There’s definitely some Etsy-able stuff here, though I’ll probably sell most of it at a 2017 yard sale.

These were some of the pieces that caught my eye. The bracelet on the left in the second row is signed by Givenchy and was probably made in the 80s. It’s lost some of its gold tone but I expect that it will sell for a good price (between 30-40$). The serpent bracelet at the bottom left is pretty cool – it’s also signed but I can’t make out by who.

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This necklace is signed Ornella Italy. Though the maker doesn’t seem to be that well known, some of their pieces are listed for big numbers on eBay. The string on this necklace is unfortunately broken, but maybe someone will want to buy it for the beads. They’re made of glass and look to be well crafted.

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The most valuable piece in the bag was probably this 18k gold ring. Maybe it was overlooked when whoever was dealing with the rest of the stuff. 18k is one of the higher purities, and because this ring is relatively heavy it’s worth around 200$ for its weight in gold.

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A spot in an unassuming part of CDN provided the rest of my notable finds.

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One of the bags was stuffed with old photo albums, most of which contained family photos dating from the 50s to the 80s. There were other interesting shots though, like a series from a parade that presumably featured the Queen. The grand looking carriage in the middle of this picture looks like her Gold State Coach.

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The albums also acted as scrapbooks. Inside one was a collection of ephemera related to the 1967 Progressive Conservative leadership convention, including signed letters from high ranking conservatives such as Duff Roblin, Davie Fulton, and George Hees. Someone who lived here was a delegate at that convention. There were no letters from the eventual winner, Robert Stanfield.

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One of my favourite pieces of ephemera was this letter signed by longtime Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau. He sure wasn’t perfect (he was rabidly homophobic to start), but there’s no denying that he got a lot of things done over his roughly 30 years in power. It’s neat to have a copy of his signature.

Just in case you’re wondering where some of the words went, I edited these photos to make sure they show no personal information.

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I was otherwise able to scrounge together some interesting bits and pieces from the rest of the bags. I found a vintage match safe (top right), some vintage dental floss (to the left of that, and now part of my collection of old junk), a “Respiration Service” pin from the Royal Life Saving Society, and a medal from a 1960 Volleyball competition, among other things.

The pens are the best part of this haul though. At the bottom is a nice 1960s Sheaffer Imperial pen, and above that is a Silverolex “Tribes of Israel” pen. It has a sterling silver barrel. From what I can tell this design was pretty popular amongst Jewish people in the 50s or 60s – I’ve found several similar pens over the years, and all were from Jewish households.

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One of the pens is a Sheaffer desk model with a large 14k gold nib. I love finding gold in all its forms!

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To my surprise however the most valuable pen was this relatively unassuming Sheaffer. A reader helped me identify it as a PFM (“Pen for Men“), a model released in the late 50s and early 60s. It wasn’t that popular at the time but it seems that pen enthusiasts came to appreciate it later on. Despite the fact that this pen needs work (the ink sac needs replacing, and the nib is slightly bent) my PFM just sold last night for 175$ + shipping. That’s a pretty good deal!

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Another quick seller was the brush, which also served as a manicure tool holder. It was signed by Dunhill, a British luxury goods brand. I couldn’t find any similar brushes on the internet, but I listed it at 50$ thinking that was a good starting price. It sold within a day to a happy buyer who left me positive feedback.

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I love vintage things in their original packaging, so let’s finish with this 1lb brick of Celluclay instant paper mache from the 1970s.

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The back notes that Celluclay contains no asbestos, so I guess there was a time when instant paper mache did contain asbestos. Fun stuff!

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Oh, and I found another tuque and two pairs of gloves in the Plateau. The gloves are used, but they still work great. I went on a bike ride when it was really cold out and didn’t have any issues with my hands being cold. I should be set for the winter now, even if I do lose a tuque or three!

Recent sales (November 7 – December 4)

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1. Postcards: 108$. I finally got around to doing something with those postcards. I decided to go the auction route because I couldn’t figure out what made the occasional postcard sell for a lot of money, and I didn’t feel like doing that thing where I guess at a price and have the item sit around while I analyze the reaction of the market. That’s okay with one item, but it would have been a bit much to do that with around 200 postcards, most of which probably weren’t worth much.

Doing the auctions helped me learn about the postcard market anyways. It seems that the ones that are worth real money are from the 20s or before, unless the photo is otherwise interesting.

I listed most of the RPPCs (real photo postcards) individually, and grouped the rest in similar lots. I started them all at 5$, because it isn’t worth my time to sell anything for less than that. About half didn’t sell, and most of the ones that did went for 5$ or a little more. One from Chateauguay caused a minor bidding war and finished at 10.50$. The most popular lot was of 65 Quebec postcards, which went for 26$.

I relisted most of the cards that didn’t sell for a set price higher than 5$. One lot featuring Mounties sold at BIN for 12$, which was more than I would have gotten if that one person bid at the auction.

The profit overall wasn’t bad, but the process was relatively labour intensive. I also would have made more if I had listed at a BIN price. Still, it was a good learning experience, and the next time I find cool old postcards I’ll have an easier time valuating them.

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2. WWI-era group photo: On eBay for 83$.  As you can probably tell I’m not generally a fan of  selling via eBay auctions. However, this one worked out pretty well! I wasn’t expecting this photo (cool as it was) to sell for that much. It ended up going to a local collector and former curator who clearly cares about history, so that’s nice. I found it hidden behind an image of Brother Andre in a junked frame.

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3. Jabra Tour bluetooth speakerphone: On eBay for 20$.

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4. Vintage Birks sterling silver tea strainer: On eBay for 135$. This was a very nice piece. It took a while to sell because I had it overpriced for some time. I probably would have kept it myself if I were rich. Found last May in Cote-des-Neiges.

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5. WWII-era sailor’s knife: On eBay for 50$. I found this sturdy tool while biking in the Plateau. I was tempted to keep it myself, but decided to take the money instead.

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6. Raffinee by Houbigant: On eBay for 80$. This was part of the excellent collection I found a couple months ago.

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7. Tilley hat: On eBay for 50$. Found at the “privilege” place way back in January. It looked to have barely been used.

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8. Vintage Ray-Ban Balorama sunglasses: On eBay for 100$. These sold not long after I listed them. They weren’t in perfect condition, but vintage Ray-Bans are always desirable. I’m not sure where I got them, though it might have been part of that collection given to me by a nice old dude in the Plateau around the end of June.

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9. Art Nouveau-era “Bride’s book”: On eBay for 18$. I recently decided (/ figured out) that sometimes things sell not because of the price, but because of the buyer. I lowered the price on this book many times, thinking that I had it too high. While that might have been true for a while, it might also be have been that the right buyer just hadn’t come along yet. I’m thinking that I should have made between 25-30$ from this book. It was a very beautiful object and is pretty hard to find. I found it last September in NDG – you can see a few more pictures in the link.

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10. Lowell High School pennant: On eBay for 30$. Apparently Lowell was Jack Kerouac’s alma mater. It was one of the last pennants left from that great collection I found in January.

11. Scottish clan wall plaque: On eBay for 23$. This sat around for a while before I accepted a best offer. Found last year in NDG.

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12. Vintage 70s Tudor watch box: On eBay for 180$. This is probably one of my favourite sales of the month. I didn’t know this when I found it, but Tudor is apparently a Rolex off-brand that’s pretty decent in its own regard. Unfortunately the watch didn’t come with it but the payoff was pretty good regardless. The box was in near mint condition and came with an outer shell and paperwork sleeve. It sold within a day or two of me listing it. I found it in Rosemont, a neighbourhood that’s not really known for high-end watches.

You can see that I used a black background for this shot. It looked pretty nice, maybe better than it would have with the white background. It got fuzzy quickly however so I’ll have to give it a wash.

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13. Fendi eau de toilette: On eBay for 150$. This might be my most valuable single perfume sale ever. It was also part of that collection from a couple months ago. I’m pretty happy with the photo I took as well! Blogging and eBay selling have definitely helped me become a better photographer, among other things.

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14. WWI silver cigarette case: On eBay for 140$. This was a cool find. It took a while to sell but I got a good price for it. The silver was German and the message (below) was written in Hungarian. Found in NDG back in February.

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15. Vintage syringe (top left): On eBay for 23$. There goes the last of my vintage syringes. They seem like a sketchy thing to sell but they’re undeniably cool and there’s definitely a market there. Besides, these probably hadn’t seen daylight since the 70s.

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16. Teepak melon tester knife: On eBay for 21$. I got a bunch of messages from a buyer asking for a deal on this knife. I thought he was making me a terrible offer until I realized he was saying the price in American dollars instead of Canadian dollars. Apparently we weren’t that far off after all. Found earlier this year in Cote St-Luc.

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17. Vintage Montreal city blueprints: On eBay for 30$. These were printed in 1927, and featured a location in Hochelaga around Ontario and Bourbonierre. Pretty cool! Found in Westmount.

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18. Cretan dagger: On eBay for 25$. The knife itself is pretty cheap, but the sheath was made from 950 silver. I considered selling it for scrap, but I ended up listing it on eBay where it sold for about 5x more than I would have made from just the silver. The knife was probably a tourist piece from the 60s or 70s. Found in Montreal West earlier this year.

19. Lot of Sansui product sheets: On eBay for 5$. I went on a bit of an auctioning spree. This one didn’t work out that well, but at least I don’t have to look at them in my “death pile” anymore.

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20. Ter Waes wall tapestry: On eBay for 80$. Found in TMR a while back.

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21. Huge box of photos: To a reader for 100$. To be honest I’m just glad these are gone as they took up a lot of space. But it was a great collection, and it went to someone with an interest in Quebec history who plans to keep it intact. I consider that a pretty good outcome.

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22. Expo 67 passport: On eBay for 40$. This was a pretty great example of an Expo 67 passport. It had lots of stamps, and even came with a typed itinerary that was tucked inside the back page. The guy looks to have tracked his movements by the 0.05th of an hour (3 minutes) which to me at least seems excessive. Found in Villeray.

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23. Moorcroft ashtray: On eBay for 20$. It had a little hairline crack, which you can see around the bottom left, but it was still attractive and sturdy. The buyer was very happy with it. Found in the Plateau.

24. Centennial Birks Catalogue: On eBay for 30$. I don’t think this made the blog, so check out the pictures on eBay if you’re interested! Found in the Golden Square Mile.

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25. Parker pen desk set (base and pen only): On eBay for 35$. The base was pretty chipped so I decided to ditch it and just sell the base and pen. They ended up making a trip to England for a happy buyer.

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26. TI-83+: On Kijiji for 30$. I listed this for 40$ on Kijiji, but accepted 30$ at the door because I didn’t want to play email tag with anyone else. I usually try to sell these locally but I might just list them on eBay going forward as trying to meet someone for a sale can be a real pain in the ass.

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27. Cirque du Soleil watch: On eBay for 200$. This is one of the nicer things I dug out of my death pile. It wasn’t on eBay because I added a new battery but couldn’t get the cover back on. I thought I needed to go to a watch repair guy to get them to do it, but apparently I just needed to press harder on the right places. Anyways, it didn’t take long to sell after I finally got it listed. It came in its original box and plastic, and probably was a gift to someone who worked for the company. The watch itself wasn’t of particularly high quality, but it did have a cool face featuring colourful circus hoops. I found it in Outremont back in April.

Total: 1786$, 21270$ so far in 2016. I also sold Balloon Man but he was returned (in good condition, they just didn’t want it anymore). That cost me 12$. I think my goal of 24k is attainable, but I might choose to wait until next year to sell certain things that would put me over the top. At this point I care more about reducing my taxes than achieving that specific goal.

Always be listing

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I haven’t been picking as much recently. Instead, I’ve been focusing on getting things listed before the Christmas rush. I’m up to 235 eBay listings which is an all-time record for me – I think I had around 150 at this time last year. More listings means more money, as the Scavenger Life folks always say, so this listing spree bodes well for my profitability in the short-term.

Despite all my efforts though I can’t seem to defeat my pile of unlisted items. The further I dig, the more I find. Some of the stuff I’m listing has sat around for years. This can be reassuring when I think of it all as future cash, but frustrating when I approach listing it as a battle that I can’t seem to win. The latter feeling though is avoidable if I’m able to curb my workaholic tendencies.

Regardless, I’ve still been picking via bike in the Plateau and Mile End. It’s a good way for me to get out of the house and do some exercise. I’ve had a bit more luck in these neighbourhoods recently, perhaps because the cold and snow deters some of others pickers who would normally patrol them. I came across the pile above while walking to the post office.

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I found some miscellaneous electronic bric-a-brac in one of the bags. I thought the best score would the the Apple keyboard on the bottom, but unfortunately a bunch of the keys don’t work despite it looking fairly clean. If it worked it’d be worth around 40$.

The real get might end up being the Elgato EyeTV thing (second from top left). For some odd reason they seem to be going for pretty good money – between 60$ and 200$ at BIN. This despite it being released way back in 2006. I picked it up thinking that it was probably junk, but it must do something that no other product can do. I listed mine for 170$, and I’ll let you know how it goes.

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On another bike ride I saved a collection of mostly American pennies, some Wii controllers, a vintage 1980s calculator, and a relatively modern digital camera with a busted screen. The Wii controllers were a nice find because my roommate was actually looking for some. I threw the calculator in with an eBay lot of vintage calculators, and I’ll soon include the digital camera in a lot of busted or untested digital cameras. On its own the camera would fetch me around 15$.

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I had some good luck on my Monday night bike ride.

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Based on what I found I’d guess that someone around my age (but richer) moved and ditched some of their old crap. The toque is a nice find, as I have a tendency to lose a toque or two every winter. The sunglasses aren’t fancy or anything – they’re made to promote Budweiser and Coke – but they look cool and their lenses actually protect against UV. They’ll make good yard sale material! The watch is a Puma, which is a decent marque.

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Buddy also threw away a bunch of change. A lot of it is foreign money, but there’s a fair bit of Canadian currency in there too. I’ll bring it all to the change machine once I get enough.

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I also found a busted LG Nexus phone. It’s a 16gb D820 from 2014 so it still has some value as a “for parts” unit. I’d guess that it’s worth around 30-40$ in its present condition.

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My favourite find though was this Bluetooth speaker. I’ve been wanting one for a while and it actually works great! These look to sell for around 100$ but I’ll be keeping it myself. I don’t have much space to work with, so I appreciate that it’s compact and doesn’t come with a lot of wires.

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I came across a vintage clock not far from my place. The previous owners could have put it inside the trash bag, so I expect they placed it on the curb hoping someone would bring it home.

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The big (14″ diameter) Ingraham wall clock reminds me of school. This style of clock is pretty popular right now, so I’ll probably list it on Kijiji for 80$ or so, though I am tempted to keep this for myself as well. I like its minimal design, or maybe the nostalgia it invokes.

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Last but not least, I’ve been finding lots of vintage toasters. I came across this old 1950s chrome Sunbeam T-20c in Outremont. These seem to be pretty collectible, as they sell for between 60-100$ on eBay. It’s an automatic toaster, meaning that all you do it put the toast in the slot and it will lower and rise by itself. Pretty cool!

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Then on my Monday evening bike ride I came across this pile, which featured two plastic shopping bags… each of which had a vintage toaster inside.

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If the one on the left looks familiar it’s because the toaster is a Sunbeam Model T-20B – just slightly older than the one I found in Outremont. It seems to be similarly valuable, but unlike the T-20C (which seems to work perfectly) this one has some quirks. Mainly, the darker / lighter dial doesn’t do much of anything; this resulted in the burning of my test bagel. It’s probably an easy fix for someone, and given it’s otherwise excellent cosmetic condition I might be able to sell it “for parts or repair.” If anyone’s interested in a project let me know!

The other one was made by Morphy Richards and while very attractive isn’t quite as collectable. It’s also missing a handle, so I might just put it on the curb for someone else to take home. It seems to work just fine though.

That’s all for now! I actually had some good finds on Monday night and I’ll share those with you soon, maybe next week. Otherwise, I’m going to keep on listing. Check the links below if you want to see what I’m putting up.

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot. I decided recently to list a bunch of old jewelry I have in lots because I don’t think I’ll ever have the time or motivation to list the pieces individually. One lot is of jewelry that needs some repair or general TLC, while the other features pieces that are good to go. The former I listed for 40$ + shipping, while the latter is an auction starting at 100$ + shipping. If you’re interested check the links below. I’ll relist the auction as a BIN (set price) listing if it doesn’t sell, and as usual I’ll adjust the price downwards if they sit around for a while. However, I think these are pretty decent deals especially if you’re into a significant number of the pieces.

1. Jewelry lot (auction)
2. Jewelry lot (needs TLC)

Relevant links

1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Contribute to Garbagefinds.com

Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. I often fall behind on emails, so I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to get back to you.