I moved all my junk into the new garage space a few weeks ago. I was helped by the former tenant who now occupies my old garage. The transition wasn’t all that hard thanks to a door connecting the two spaces, but because we were in a rush (he had a fancy car in there and wanted to move it before the snow came later that night) the placement of my products wasn’t well thought out.
I’ve gone back a few times since then to move things around. The garage now looks much better than it does above, though it’s still a work in progress. I have a lot more space to work with now, and I’m hoping the extra expense (300$ total, or 200$ a month more than the other garage) ends up being worth it!
One of my main goals for the garage is to set up a little photo studio so I can get quality pictures of my trash. Lighting is key for good photos, so I bought these two umbrella things off eBay in hopes that they’d do the trick. They seem well made, but the light output isn’t nearly strong enough for my purposes. I might just need to buy a couple more to get that optimal light, but if you have any advice let me know! My dream is to be able to take large group shots at a level of quality near what I can achieve using my light box at home.
I haven’t found much good trash lately, in large part because of the harsh weather, and the stuff I did find won’t be documented until I get that light situation figured out. So, I figured I’d share one of my more unusual finds from the summer: a large collection of vintage Chinese food-related items, and fortune cookies in particular. One box I saved was stuffed with empty fortune cookie boxes, most of which look to date from the 60s-80s. For the record, this all came from that spot where I was eventually yelled at by an angry guy with a dog.
(FYI, these photos were all taken at my old garage until mediocre light. They look okay, but if you zoom in the details aren’t that great).
I expect there’s a collector, or maybe a researcher out there who would be interested in these! They’ve been sitting in my garage since the summer, but maybe I’ll finally do something with them soon. The collection could make for a fun eBay lot.
That Amay’s Almond Cookies box was loaded with other smaller, flattened boxes.
I also found a small box full of actual fortune cookies, which like the boxes probably dated back around 30-50 years. I wonder how they’d taste? I’d guess not good.
These were the biggest fortune cookies I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, like the others they’re quite stale!
Of course, what fortune cookie collection is complete without some actual fortunes? My favourites are the ones that look hand-typed. Zoom in for a better look at what they say!
My favourite part of this collection is yet to come, however – five scrapbooks full of old Chinese restaurant related ephemera, including clippings of ads and articles from magazines. I’ll show you that sometime in the near future!
In other news, the bakelite bead auction I started last week did exceptionally well, ending at a mind boggling 1,141$. I won’t celebrate too much until I actually get paid (I haven’t yet, but I assume that’s normal for a transaction that big) and the package is successfully delivered, but I am cautiously optimistic. I wasn’t expecting anywhere near that amount, otherwise I would have listed it years ago! The other two auctions were duds – the items did sell, but at their original listing price – but this result would more than make up for that.
Anyways, the weather for this week is looking a bit nicer (though the rain sounds kind of gross) and hopefully the finds will be more plentiful. I’ll keep you posted!
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.