Month: October 2017

Very rich people pt. 5

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I’m having my last yard sale of the year tomorrow! I may also do one on Sunday actually, but I don’t want to promise that just yet. Anyways, it will be at 4096 Coloniale near Duluth starting around noon. If you can’t make it Saturday and want to know if Sunday is a go, send me an email or Facebook message and I can let you know. Also do that if you’re interested in a specific item and you’re wondering if it’ll be at the yard sale.

The last part of this Very Rich People will showcase the bits of jewelry I found. These pieces are all costume jewelry, but some are signed by companies like Sherman, Weiss, and Boucher, all of which go for pretty decent money on eBay.

For a while I thought this would go down as the best spot to not provide any silver or gold. However, I ended up finding those earrings, which are busted but still good for silver scrap. The clasp of that faux pearl necklace is also silver.

However, these earrings were easily the best pieces I found. Marked Chimento and 750 (18k) gold, they weigh around 10.2 grams, which means they’re worth close to 400$ in scrap alone. However, they’re in perfect condition, so their actual value is more than that.

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I currently have them listed at 800$, which might be a little high but not by much…

I’ll finish off the series with this pack of printer paper. Not very exciting, I know, but it did save me from having to buy some.

That may be all from that great pile of trash, but I’m always finding great stuff that rich people throw out – those people just happened to be very rich. I’ll share some more soon enough.

I’ll bulk up this post with a few other recent finds. I found some snowshoes poking out of a trash bin not far from Olympic stadium.

They’re nice old ones, marked as being made in Lac Megantic Quebec.

I could sell them, but I’m leaning towards keeping them for the winter. I might actually go snowshoeing, who knows. I’ve been talking about doing that for years.

I also found a smaller pair of snowshoes without bindings, which I’ll try to sell at the yard sale.

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Those trash cans were filled with old garage / basement junk. I dug around a bit and found a dirty old canvas bag that smelled strongly of must. I knew it was worth a closer look, however, as that material was often used during the wars. As it turns out, the bag was made to hold a WWII-era US Army combine.

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I was able to clean it up pretty nicely in the shower, and the musty smell was mostly gone after it stayed outside for like a week. The zipper has some issues, but it’s an interesting piece regardless and should sell for 30-40$.

I found some intriguing stuff at one place in NDG. Unfortunately I’ve seen nothing but kitty litter there since, but maybe the spot will come alive once again. It seems that whoever lived there was an engineer or engineering student, and this photo envelope contained some unusual photos, presumably taken before Expo 67 that show it under construction.

Zoom in for a closer look! From what’s written on the envelope I’d guess they were taken in February of 1967.

I found more interesting engineering related photos as well.

These ones are a fair bit older, I’m guessing from the 30s or 40s, and look to me like a dam under construction.

I also found a bit of junk. Slide rules are always a fun find, and I liked the wooden cheque from “Banque Dubois.” There were some nice cufflinks, though none were made of precious metals. The Expo 67 flag with the UdM pin was also interesting.

I found a bunch of old books and VHS tapes at another spot in NDG. None were particularly exciting, though I did enjoy finding this old tin.

It contained a little box, along with miscellaneous sewing bric-a-brac. I’m not really sure what that oval glass thing is supposed to be, if you have any ideas let me know.

Inside the box was an old collection of string. Unfortunately, string doesn’t really stand the test of time very well, but the box itself was sturdy and nice. There were also some sewing needles and a couple thimbles that might sell at a yard sale.

I love finding sewing stuff, in large part because there’s often interesting bits and bobs mixed in. These old pins were in a small brown envelope marked “extra buttons.” They’re service badges from Supertest, an old Canadian oil and gas company that disappeared in 1973. Supertest operated lots of gas stations in Ontario and Quebec back in the day, so people from central Canada may remember them.

The pins ascend in years and materials from five (sterling silver), to 15 (gold filled), to 20 (10k gold, with a small diamond or diamond-like object). Petroliana is a big market right now, so I should be able to get a bit of money for them, even if just for a bit above their weight in silver and gold.

As usual, I’ll be keeping an eye on this spot going forward!

Relevant links

1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Contribute to garbagefinds.com
6. Follow me on Instagram

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.

Loonies & Toonies

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Bag-o-vision

I went for a walk last weekend, not to find garbage but to get out of the house. Junk has a habit of finding me, however, so while I left home with no bags I ended carrying home five.

I kicked this bag and heard the jingle of coins, but unfortunately they were only pennies. More importantly they had been sullied by food waste, and I didn’t feel like getting my hands dirty for maybe 25c. To the dump they likely went, to join the millions of pennies already there.

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I had better luck later on my walk. Yup, those are toonies. When you throw those out, maybe it means you have too much money.

All in all I found three toonies, six loonies, at least three Euros, and lots of other coins. I also found a £10 British pound bank note, and a fiver in one of the many purses that you’ll see later on. This all adds up to something close to 40$, making it my best cash haul in quite some time! British pounds, American dollars, and Euros are the best foreign currencies to find as they’re easily exchanged.

I found no gold here, but I did some pieces from a sterling vanity set (at right). I’ve never seen a hook like that before, so I’d appreciate it if someone could enlighten me! The animal charm bracelet looks vintage and cute, while the necklace is a quality Monet piece.

I usually don’t peddle in stuffed animals, but this time there was a whole garbage bag full and they all looked to be in pretty good condition. Plus, I’m more likely to take a chance on stuff when it comes from a household that throws out toonies.

These toys should find a new home at my next yard sale. This Fisher Price dog is especially fun, if you click on the picture it should show you a short video of it walking.

I also enjoyed this squirrel puppet (there’s a video of this one too). Perhaps my cat will appreciate it.

This spot was perhaps most notable for its large collection of barely used bags. The Herschel duffel at the top right was a nice find, they retail for around 100$ new. The Lole bag still has tags and seems to retail for around 140$. There’s a couple of vegan bags, one by Urban Expressions and one by Rachel F, a local designer. The WESC backpack also a lot of life left in it.

The little green purse is signed Christian Louboutin, and if it’s not fake it could be worth good money. I tried to do some research online, but most of the info out there is about fake shoes, not fake bags. It does look well-made.

I found lots of shoes as well. The two at top right are Repetto ballet / dancing shoes, which seem to sell for good money online. The black ones look barely used. The APC heels are also nice.

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Here we have some Star Wars toys, an unopened box of Q-tips, and some plastic ties.

I also found some teas (I drank some already, they’re great) and an unopened jar of maple butter. As you may know, I love maple and am always excited to find it in the trash. I expect it was at least 8$ new.

There was another big pile here last night, but it was mostly unexciting garage / under the sink kinda stuff. I saved some useful cleaning products, but nothing too exciting. I’ll keep an eye on the situation, but at least I did very well here this one day.

Otherwise, I found a cool “Man and his world” (post Expo 67) vanity plate at that spot in Villeray I blogged about recently. I’m trying to figure out whether I should sell it or put it on my car.

I found a collection of slides in Outremont, all of which contain pages from two old comics.

One was À quand notre tour?, an anti-communist comic book first published in 1947. For this shot I used a little plastic slide viewer I found a while back, it did a pretty good job!

It definitely provides an interesting look at Cold War era politics.

The other was Cidopey, a trippy looking comic by well-known illustrator Richard Corben. Cidopey first appeared in an underground comic in 1971, but since these are in French they’re likely from the first issue of Métal hurlant, which is the French version of Heavy Metal magazine. I’m not sure why these comics would be in slide form – if you have any ideas, let me know. Regardless, these might be of interest to a collector.

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Next to the slides was an old society sash. It was made to be reversible, with green fabric and red / gold illuminations on one side, and red fabric with green / gold illuminations on the other. I’m not sure what society this comes from, and I’d appreciate any input you might have!

I happened upon a bag in Villeray that contained a bunch of old stocking, and also a little ring box. Underneath the little ring holder part were two 10k gold Catholic pendants with chains. Maybe the previous owner didn’t notice them, but it was pretty obvious that something was inside the box.

There were many other bags around, but all of them were filled with actually gross garbage. This jewelry made getting my hands dirty worthwhile, however, as the scrap value of 8.5 grams of 10k gold is about 185 CAD$. If anyone wants these, I would sell them for a bit above scrap.

I found a ruined Victrola cabinet in St Michel. It wasn’t worth saving, but I did remove the top (which I thought could be repurposed) as well as this old badge. It’s worth around 15-20$, but I might just keep it myself.

My friend and I happened upon some great stuff from an eviction in Westmount the other day. It’ll take a while to process all that, but I’m excited to get it figured out. In the meantime, I have other recent finds I can share with you.

The weather is looking good for this weekend, so expect my real last yard sale to happen on Saturday or Sunday. I’m considering doing both as well, with Sunday being a kind of “pay what you can” kind of thing. I really don’t want to store a bunch of stuff over the winter, and I hope that by the end of it I’ll only be storing a bunch of empty suitcases. I’ll keep you posted and let you know by mid-week.

Relevant links

1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Contribute to garbagefinds.com
6. Follow me on Instagram

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.

Parker VP

garbagefinds31 Comments

I told myself that Sunday would be a day of rest. My only plan was to watch football. However, I ended up spending much of the afternoon watching football, while also organizing and testing my large collection of vintage Christmas lights.

I’m sure some people find that kind of job meditative, but not me. Let’s just say I took no pleasure whatsoever in testing the many bulbs, trying to figure out if the bulb was the issue or the socket, all the while wondering if it was even worth the effort. I spent about four hours on this task, and by the end I developed a loathing for Christmas.

Fortunately, it’s only October, and I did end up getting this stuff organized and listed. The best of the bunch are the strings above which comes in beautiful decorative boxes. I listed them as an eBay auction starting at 30$ – here’s the link if you’re interested. I hope they’re worth that much, otherwise they won’t really be worth the time I spent organizing them, but you live you learn. Unfortunately the shipping will be expensive, but if you’re local you can skip out on the shipping fees by coming to pick them up.

I went out for a walk after finishing with these decorations and happened upon a very nice pile of rich people stuff. When I stopped there I had no bags, and when I left I had five (more, if you count the bags inside the bags). Anyways, that post will have to wait for another day. I also found some quality junk in St Michel.

Today though I’ll showcase a spot I’ve been visiting in Villeray. I’ve gone there every garbage day for the last month or so, and while that first day was the best so far, I still visit and find the occasional thing. I’m lucky to have even come across it – a friend and I found it while on a very late, and very casual garbage run.

People on Instagram noticed this cute little Christmas tree at the top of the pile. It seems to be in great shape! It looks a bit uneven in this photo but I think that’s because I put one of the branches in the wrong place.

I found a large 1976 Olympics coin bank there, which I sold at one of my recent yard sales. It was over a foot tall.

I love amateur art, so one of my favourite finds here was this deer painting by a guy named Pelletier. This now has a spot on the wall of the garage.

These cast iron pans were made by Findlay in Carleton Place Ontario. The company operated between 1862 and 1974. They were in pretty good condition, but were really gunky around the sides. From what I hear, the best way to clean that off is to throw them in a campfire. They sold at my most recent yard sale, so they’re someone else’s project now.

Those Glasbake mugs were nice, but had one chip in roughly the same place. A friend of mine is going to use them to put candles in.

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That 1950s Thermos sold for 10$ at my yard sale (a good deal, I think – I could have sold it for a lot more on eBay). The wooden spoon looks to be a memento from a 1966 sugar shack party.

Swizzle sticks are always fun. My favourite is the mermaid on the left, which came from Montreal’s Bellevue Casino. The Bellevue was a pretty popular spot back in the day, but shut down in the late 1950s.

There was a fair bit of candle-making stuff, as well as a collection of old beeswax candles.

My most profitable find there so far was this bag full of pens. Most were long dead and nothing special …

… but thankfully a few were noteworthy. The top three are Northrite pens, which aren’t super fancy but solid enough. The Expo 67 pen is kind of neat, I haven’t seen one previously. The best though is the Parker VP on the bottom, which was actually in very nice condition.

It has a 14k gold nib, and I expect it to sell for around 100$. This is why I always keep an eye out for old pens!

That’s all from this place for now, though if I’m lucky I’ll have more to show at some point down the line.

Here’s a few other miscellaneous finds. I found this stuff at a one hit wonder spot in St Michel. The horse clock was cool, but it had been repaired many times and the clock itself didn’t work. However, someone at my most recent yard sale liked it regardless and was pumped to get it for a dollar. I’m glad it found a good home! The cute heart clock also didn’t work, but someone bought it for a dollar nonetheless.

I happened upon a few watches in Rosemont. Most weren’t anything special, but the vintage automatic Seiko on the right is nice of neat and should be worth selling on eBay.

I saved some old wooden printing blocks in Outremont. They look to be from some old french Canadian history textbook. They’re pretty interesting, zoom in for a closer look!

Otherwise, this vintage pineapple lamp sure did make my Instagram followers jealous. Do you like it? The lamp was just sitting there on the curb in NDG, and I was lucky to come across it first. I could probably sell it for a nice price, but for now I plan on keeping it.

The weather is looking iffy for this weekend, so unless that clears up my (real) last yard sale will be later in October. I’ll keep you posted, however.

Relevant links

1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Contribute to garbagefinds.com
6. Follow me on Instagram

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.