Today I’m sharing finds from two different houses on my Monday evening run. Neither of these spots developed as I hoped they would, but I found some cool blog-worthy stuff regardless.
This house (which also gave me the turtle magnifier and kitchen stuff from this post) produced great stuff for around a month before the source dried up, leading me to wonder if I was a little late for the party. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts I’m still bound to miss out on most of the great trash that gets tossed in this city! The cool vintage kitchenwares I found here should do well at future yard sales, assuming of course that nice weather ever actually arrives. The picture above also features a collection of skeleton keys and a single Birks sterling silver napkin holder, which I think was good for about 15$ in scrap.
There was a bit of nice pottery here. They’re signed on the bottom, and I should probably do some research before selling them.
I haven’t found any particularly noteworthy teacups since that huge collection I saved years ago. However, this Royal Stafford cup & saucer is pretty cute, and in good condition outside of some fading to the green on the near the middle of the saucer. I found more nice saucers but no cups… I wonder if those went out on previous trash days.
I also found some cool paper ephemera here, including this Sears catalogue from 1966. I’ll likely add it to my small catalogue collection that includes a 1983 Sears catalogue I found back in the fall.
I just did a bit of research and found that the vintage Christmas / “wish book” catalogues sell really well on eBay. I hope I find some soon! This particular catalogue seems to sell for around 35$ plus shipping.
I love vintage road maps, and this spot provided a whole bunch of them. Most were from the 60s and 70s, and should be easy to sell at a yard sale.
I’m not sure why the map of Warsaw has a topless lady on the cover, but there you go.
These map were stored in that little Texaco plastic folder. These folks did a lot of travelling!
I think these pressed flowers were stored with the maps, and were likely picked during one of their many roads trips.
I also saved a neat old newspaper from the time of the Warren Report. It’s not worth a lot, but it’s still pretty cool.
Finally, I picked these old leather “Gorilla shoes”. I doubt they’re worth much, but they’re in good condition I’m sure someone will appreciate their slightly distressed look.
Unfortunately that’s about all I got. I wonder what I missed out on?
Elsewhere, the house where I found that Robert Larin collar necklace was reasonably productive afterwards. “Reasonable” though isn’t what I was hoping for – I was dreaming of an MVP-like performance à la the generous (or perhaps the opposite of that) folks of the Very Rich People series. Alas, true GOAT contenders don’t come around very often.
If I were to guess I’d say that this trash was the result of an older person downsizing before a move to a smaller home. One day I opened the recycling bin and found a small collection of great ephemera. This is the cream of that crop – zoom in for a closer look! I really like the leather bankbook holder at the top of the screen. The bankbook contains entries from the 1910s, so I’d assume the holder dates from around that time as well. There’s also a McGill student card from 1949, a YMHA and YMHA library card from the mid-40s, two old photos of a guy working shoe repair in front of a hospital, and some other stuff.
This little pineapple looking thing was a fun find. It’s made of bakelite and measures about an inch tall. I’d guess that it’s a pendant, but there’s only one hole drilled into it so I’m not sure how you’d hook it onto a necklace. Regardless, due to its unique shape it should have some value on eBay.
That stockinette doll in the middle is kind of interesting. It was made in the Soviet Union, and most eBay sellers seem to think it dates back to the 1930s. I have no idea if that’s true, but it does look pretty old. I think that well worn bouquet of flower on the right goes with it. The pendant with the four red spots was made by de Passille-Sylvestre, a Quebec couple who did quality enamelwork in the 60s and 70s.
Lastly, I found that nice purse thing on the left. Inside was a pair of lacy black gloves and a very pretty scarf. The latter looks barely used and has a tag saying “handblocked print – 100% pure wool – Made in Switzerland.” I don’t know if it’s worth a lot, but it’s definitely a good find.
Barring an unexpected revival that’s all she wrote from these places. Fortunately, lots of other great spots have emerged to take their place.
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The topless lady on the map is the Mermaid of Warsaw statue. It’s one of the city’s symbols.
Teacups tend to break sooner than the saucers, which could explain the lack of matching teacups in your find. My mother puts orphan saucers under her small potted plants; they make pretty trays to catch the water.
Looks like early super model Cherly Tiegs on the 1966 Wishbook?
Cheryl
Hi Martin, Please save the YMHA card for me….alongside that Y brochure that I asked you put aside some time ago. You’ve collected some good stuff. Could I come by and see if we can make a deal on some of it? Thanks, Herb
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Yes for sure, send me an email and we can figure out a time to meet.
It is 19 year old Cheryl Tiegs on the catalog cover. That cover is on Pintrest
lot of skeleton keys sell really well on ebay
Nice finds again! That Russian doll is awesome!
regarding topless lady, out of frame, so to speak, is her mermaid tail and sword,
Polish illustration from that era is great, I feel like I have seen that artists work in kids.books or maybe circus(cyrk) posters
Oh, and she is more of a fierce warrior, siren/syrena
Your finds are amazing, Martin! And your photographs of collections of things that you find are starting to look more and more like fine art to me. I wonder if you might some day enter into a relationship with a left-leaning, sustainability-aware art gallery/dealer who might mount a show of your photos of the things you have collected… Or perhaps include some of them in a larger exhibition to coincide with an ecological/consumerist them such as Earth Day? Are you shooting in high resolution so that they could be blown up to hang on a wall? On another note, I keep staring at the possibly 1930s era Russian doll and imagining what life in the USSR was like then. Who might have clutched this doll for comfort during troubled times?
Who knows, maybe. If someone contacts me with a proposal I’d consider it. Thanks to my new garage space / more advanced photography setup I’m better able to take large group photos of “stuff” which is good for the blog and also makes the photos more interesting from a sociological perspective. Previously it was harder to takes these kind of shots, I’d have to do them outside (as good lighting is key) but not if it was too windy, too sunny, rainy, and so on. Most of the time I’d end up not taking them at all, or they’d be of a lower quality than they are now.
I like taking high resolution photos so that people can see what’s there. I don’t have time to describe every item (plus, I think people would get bored if I did) so I prefer to let people browse, like they would at a vintage / antique store or museum.
Love reading your posts! Skeleton keys are quite popular for artists right now, so I would have thought they would sell for more on eBay than for scrap. Also citrus presses like in your second photo always sell really well on Etsy for a friend of mine (and probably eBay).
Wow! Maybe not “great” finds … but very interesting and varied ones.
And ephemera too … I know how much you love that.
I’m looking longingly at those skeleton keys (*sigh*).
That bakelite “in-the-round” pineapple is so cute, and might be worth a bit, as it’s unusual.
Definitely look into that black bag in the last picture. I’m thinking Victorian mourning purse (and the black gloves that were in it seem to fit this possibility).
I have great fun reading your posts. I agree with willedare in his assessment of your photos.
I don’t think the little black bag is anything too fancy. It might be a mourning bag but
when you look inside you can tell it was made relatively recently, maybe the 60s or 70s. It’s still a nice piece, but more “yard sale” worthy than eBay.
You probably know that maps make gorgeous and interesting wrapping paper for gifts. 🙂
I love collecting old maps and think the maps should be kept for themselves.There are other things one can use as wrapping paper for gifts.
1/2 purses from the Victorian period are morning purses. Check closely if silver or not. If in decent condition…put it as a set and sell (if not silver) for 20-35 bucks. If all material rotted…five bucks at garage sale.
The Bakelite pineapple is gorgeous and would make a great decoration
The Warsaw lady is part of a famous statue in the city of a mermaid with a sword and shield. The pineapple looks like bakelite. 😉
-maggie