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.
I currently have them listed at 800$, which might be a little high but not by much…
I’ll finish off the series with this pack of printer paper. Not very exciting, I know, but it did save me from having to buy some.
That may be all from that great pile of trash, but I’m always finding great stuff that rich people throw out – those people just happened to be very rich. I’ll share some more soon enough.
I’ll bulk up this post with a few other recent finds. I found some snowshoes poking out of a trash bin not far from Olympic stadium.
They’re nice old ones, marked as being made in Lac Megantic Quebec.
I could sell them, but I’m leaning towards keeping them for the winter. I might actually go snowshoeing, who knows. I’ve been talking about doing that for years.
I also found a smaller pair of snowshoes without bindings, which I’ll try to sell at the yard sale.
Those trash cans were filled with old garage / basement junk. I dug around a bit and found a dirty old canvas bag that smelled strongly of must. I knew it was worth a closer look, however, as that material was often used during the wars. As it turns out, the bag was made to hold a WWII-era US Army combine.
I was able to clean it up pretty nicely in the shower, and the musty smell was mostly gone after it stayed outside for like a week. The zipper has some issues, but it’s an interesting piece regardless and should sell for 30-40$.
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.