September 2019 – Things I find in the garbage

The irate woman and her clocks

September 28, 2019 garbagefinds21 Comments

I might not have noticed these unassuming trash bags if I hadn’t stopped for a slightly bigger pile maybe a month prior.

Inside was a great collection of old junk, some of which dated back about 100 years. Unfortunately, I was soon to meet the previous owner who was none to happy to see me looking through her trash. She’s the person who I mentioned briefly in a previous post as having potentially set an all time decibel record for an unhappy supplier, screaming about taking what I found (I had set aside of of my main finds, including some old alarm clocks) & leaving right NOW! It was unpleasant, but fortunately I was just about done with my sorting and didn’t feel as if I missed out on anything good.

I didn’t see any garbage there for about a month after this incident, but eventually the bags started appearing on the curb once more. Now I just take them and leave – no on the spot sorting, even if some of it is probably food waste. I don’t feel like chatting with her again.

Anyways, here are the alarm clocks I found. I haven’t done much with them yet (ie: with research / testing) but they’re definitely very beautiful. I’d guess the Westclox is from the 40s, and the Tapageur a bit older than that. The British United Clock Company one is probably the oldest of the bunch, given that the company folded way back in 1909.

I found this nice mid-century Westclox in the weeks leading up to “the incident.” It might be the most valuable of the bunch given how much people are into mid-century anything these days.

I also found a bunch of books in the lead-up. Books are unfortunately a tough sell at my yard sales, and a lot of these probably ended up back on the curb (I always make sure to leave them out where people can find them, however). The classics are the only ones that sell consistently.

I found a couple old things in their original packaging, like this c. 1950s basically mint condition Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass sachet powder.

This Waterman’s ink was pretty much empty, but the packaging is very nice!

I found a lot of nice boxes that day. The Goodyear Fountain Syringe one is probably around 100 years old.

The “Bracer” box held some buttons and other bits of junk.

Here’s some standouts. I think the knitting needle and manicure tool (?) are made from bone or ivory. The enameled pin is neat, as is the odd thing with pop-out eyes to the right of it. I did some googling and discovered that it’s a Kobe charm that was probably made in 1920s-1930s Japan. If you follow that link you’ll see a close up of one just like mine! Based on what I see on eBay the average Kobe charm sells for around 25$.

Another box held more buttons, including some from WWII, as well as a pin commemorating the silver jubilee of King George and Queen Mary in 1935.

Here’s some more old boxes (including a couple of repeats). There’s two old medical doohickeys here, including a breast pump from the early 1900s.

I don’t think they’re worth a lot, but old medical stuff is always cool.

I also found whatever this getup is. Please share in the comments if you know what it’s for!

That’s all for now, but this spot has since provided lots more awesome junk. It’s not always good, but for a couple of weeks I was finding lots of great old paper ephemera, some of which dated to the 1800s. This past week was also good – apparently it was time to sort through some old jewelry boxes (but not particularly carefully). I’ll share some of those finds here sooner or later.

Otherwise, I plan on doing a sale tomorrow. It’s nearing the end of the season and there’ll probably be only one or two more after this one, so come out if you can! It will be at 4096 Coloniale near Duluth starting around 11:30.

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Watch out for those boxes!

September 24, 2019 garbagefinds11 Comments

The past month hasn’t provided many “omg” finds, but I still pick up good stuff even when my luck isn’t great. Here’s a nice collection of bird figurines I found at the bottom of a bag a couple weeks ago. It wasn’t as big or owl-y as my haul from late last year, but there’s still some nice ones here. Remarkable only one was broken (the wooden bird at far right), but I have the piece and it should be easy to fix.

I haven’t done much research on these yet but I suspect the ones in the back are the fanciest. I think they were made in Mexico, and there’s some writing on them that I have to decipher.

I found this .999 fine silver keychain fob from 1991 at another spot. It’s only worth around 20$, but it’s always fun finding bullion in the trash. This is the second silver keychain I’ve found this year, here’s hoping a solid gold keychain is next!

Another run was salvaged when I found two watch boxes in excellent condition. Generally speaking the more expensive the watch the more expensive the box – I expect this green Rolex box to sell for about 100$, while the IWC below should sell for closer to 150$.

I’ve made a fair bit of cash from watch boxes (and occasionally other vintage cases) these past few years. The most valuable to date were the pair of Universal Genèves I sold for 450$ a couple years back. Needless to say they’re something to keep a lookout for, and knowing of niche markets like these helps make garbage picking a reasonably profitable venture.

Still, I hope my luck improves in the near future. Some gold would be nice – it’s now valued at over 2000 CAD per ounce, which is about as high as it’s ever been.

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One hit wonder

September 20, 2019 garbagefinds36 Comments

It was just another pile of trash to most people, and I’m sure many passed it by without a second thought. But to me it was a pile of trash worth checking out, given that it was somewhat larger than your average pile of trash. Collections of this size will often disappoint, but until I develop x-ray vision my best chance at finding great garbage is to investigate piles that deviate from the usual. Fortunately this particular one was pretty good.

I found several neat items, including an old camera, a leather picture frame, a vintage alarm clock, and a few photos. That hearing aid remote control (to the left of the frame) was also a good find, I sold a similar one a little while back for about 80$.

It was the silver and jewelry that really made by night though. Those brushes are Birks sterling and should fetch a good price. The cufflinks weren’t super exciting, but the 14k white gold necklace chain (top right of the open jewelry box) was. The necklace at bottom right is nice as well – there are four strands of what look like tiny pearls attached to an 18k gold clasp, which featuring three stones that are probably diamonds.

I spotted my best find loose in a bag alongside some clothes. I had a feeling it was gold, given its weight and look, but had a hard time finding hallmarks. I eventually spotted some on the pin catch, but they were indecipherable. So, I brought it to my jewelry guy who confirmed that it was 18k gold, and was worth a bit over 700$ for its weight in gold (about 18 grams).

I wanted to make sure it wasn’t some fancy designer piece, so I took it home to do some research before making a decision. However, I wasn’t able to uncover any useful info, and after consulting Reddit I decided to sell it for scrap.

I think it was the right call. The price of gold is fairly high right now, and it’s hard to find buyers willing to pay above scrap value for pieces like this. I’ve had (and continue to have) other quality gold jewelry that languished on eBay for way too long, and sometimes it’s nice just to make a quick buck! Or 700…

Another interesting find was this small cup featuring a scene from Exodus.

The design is unlike any cup I’ve seen before. Most of the design looks like a repoussé, except for a small piece of the wall (to the right of the door) which is etched. I’m not sure why the maker did it like that, but maybe there was a good reason to do so. The cup is hallmarked “13” (around the top in this picture), which I hope means 13 loth, a base 16 German (and apparently Austro-Hungarian) silver standard that’s been obsolete since the late 1800s.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s from the 1800s just from the way it was made, but I can’t say I’m an expert in the area. I was able to find some similar cups on Google, but none were exactly the same / had the “13” hallmark. If you have any ideas let me know!

I haven’t seen anything at this spot since. Perhaps it will end up a “one hit wonder.”

Otherwise, I’ve been having a hard time putting words down lately. My family has been struggling with illness and age, and I’ve been dealing with more anxiety & depression, so maybe my brain just hasn’t been in a good place for writing. I hope my focus returns soon, but forgive me if it’s another long wait until my next post.

On the other hand, I’ve been thinking about doing some shorter posts, say between 1-3 photos. It might make it easier to share finds regularly. What do you think? I’ve worried that doing too many short posts might make the blog feel “spammy,” but I starting to wonder if that’s just a figment of my imagination.

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