Let’s finish with the QVJ from that TMR apartment. I passed by there again last week and saw nothing on the curb, so I fully expect this to be a “one hit-wonder.”
Besides the silver-plated cutlery, I also saved a whole bunch of silver-plated tableware. This stuff is rarely of much value, but it does well enough at the auction house when you bring in a big lot of it.
I found about as many clocks as I did radios. None of these alarm clocks are super valuable, but they’re fun to have at yard sales. I could make an auction lot of them as well.
I’m sure someone will appreciate that horoscope wall clock on the right. Astrology has seen a bit of a resurgence in popularity of late, even if I personally still don’t know much about it. That clock is probably from the early-mid 80s, based on that beautiful faux wood finish.
That bottle of Labatt 50 is still full. It must be getting close to 50 years old itself, and wouldn’t be at all fun to drink. I’d guess that bottle of Crush is about the same age, but it was probably consumed decades ago. The electric kettle (perhaps a percolator, I forget right now) is pretty nice, and probably dates to the 1950s. I haven’t tested it yet, but most of those old electric things never die.
Here we have a vintage toaster, a Polaroid camera, an old aluminum kettle, and a copper & brass pot adorned with the Aztec calendar, which was likely a souvenir from Mexico.
I saved several nice vintage tins, one of which I traded to a friend for some homemade hand sanitizer (middle right).
I found three of those Schick “drying sticks,” all of which look to have never been used. The Hankscraft humidifier also looks unused. Maybe I can sell these via an auction lot of vintage products in their original boxes.
I found a whole bunch of matchbooks. Lots were stored in this Vapomaster jar (or canister of some kind). The rest, which filled up a shoebox, were loose in one of the bags. Matchbooks are always fun to look at, and are great yard sale fodder.
Coca-cola collectibles are a consistently hot market. This mirrored tray is a reproduction made in the 70s or 80s, but it’s still a nice piece that should sell for around 30$ at the auction house.
Let’s finish with some wall art. Here’s a W.E. Degarthe print that appears to be signed by the artist. It got a little water damage because it rained a bit the night I found it, but it looked better than I was expecting it would once it dried out. It’d probably be worth about 100$ in excellent condition, maybe 50$ in this condition.
Lastly, I saved a couple of vintage Formula 1 prints mounted on particle board. This one features the McLaren MP4/6, which was driven by Ayrton Senna during his highly successful 1991 campaign. The other showed a Williams car from the same era. Senna is a legend in the racing world, and these are in excellent condition so I’m hoping they’ll accept them at the auction house. If not, they’ll be easy to sell at a yard sale.
Otherwise, the quality finds keep on coming. My garage is pretty full right now because the auction house is closed and I can’t do yard sales. Thankfully a friend gave me some plastic shelving, which should at least help me get some stuff off the floor.
The “part x of a million” tosser recently rented a dumpster and filled it full of junk, both quality and not. I picked several bins worth of stuff just from that one container, and I’m still storing several other bins of their trash from months (some, almost a year) past that I haven’t yet had time to document. Due to the sheer volume I’m dealing with, I’m going to try using video to make it easier for me to share it all here. It takes longer to set up a photo, because you have to think about how it’ll all look from a certain perspective, while a video allows me to switch perspectives when necessary. Anyways, expect to see some videos in an upcoming post. No, I don’t plan on being in them in any meaningful way, ha ha. I still don’t have interest in becoming a Youtube star at this time.
Truly, you’re doing angels’ work. Obviously, these things mattered to someone who is no longer here, or is in no position to fight to preserve their collections. Good on you for saving them from the landfill and finding them new homes.
I love the little gold alarm clock with the pedestal feet…
That’s a beautiful photo of the silver plated tableware! There’s just something about the composition and colour tones that has real artistry.
Lots of good finds and I hope conditions will soon improve for getting them sold.
I like that one too. It was going to be hard to get a photo of every piece (and frankly this kind of silver plated stuff is pretty common / not too exciting), so instead I displayed it as a “mound.” That’s also likely how it’ll look as an auction lot, so the perspective is fitting.
Still literally the best postings on WP.
Thank you, and the person below as well!
ALWAYS the best thing in my inbox. Thank you Martin!! I used to have a Big Ben clock. I don’t know what became of it. I hope you are able to organize your spaces so that you can keep at it. Here’s wishing you many more great finds.
I agree with all of the comments above. Reading your posts — and knowing that you exist and care and do what you are doing — always lifts my spirits. Thank you again and again for all you do.
I am happy to hear you are considering a video. If it goes well, I would love to see a video of all the stuff that you have in storage for a garage sale. I know from you tubers that show themselves at flea markets and thrift shops, that viewers also contribute to their knowledge by pointing out items in the videos that have value.
That could be a good post. I did the “home office” a while back, but my garage is where I process most of my junk. It’s also a bit of a disaster zone right now, ha ha.
There are lots of interesting jobs to be had … and many, many more that are tedious almost to the point of brain rot. Your career can be counted among the more enviable ones, at least for me. No two days are the same; no two excursions are the same; no set of finds is the same as the last. There are few jobs that can boast as much variety. You’re a procurer, a researcher, a photographer, a captivating writer, a marketer, a salesperson and a shipper. You get set your own hours, and don’t need to angst over taking a day or three off. You are indeed blessed.
I love that old art deco style Ingraham eight-day broadcast clock! And it’s glow-in-the dark to boot. I think it would look great painted turquoise, or maybe yellow. If it works, would you be willing to part with it?
I think you’re going to be busy finding the addresses on the Montreal-area matchbooks, and recording what’s at that location now on your Instagram account. 🙂
That’s a sweet little painting by William E. deGarthe. Too bad whoever threw it out hadn’t a care if it got rain-damaged. It’s still looks great though—a calm scene to clap eyes on, and ease the stresses of the day. I love how you include clickable links in your post … and send people off on brief jaunts of discovery. Mr. deGarthe looked to be an interesting chap.
All wonderful saves!
I believe the item you identified as either an electric kettle or a percolator is a percolator – because of the glass in the top/knob. Percolators have the glass to let you to see the colour of the coffee as it’s percolating so you can get the strength you prefer. Sorry for being obvious if you already knew that 🙂
I look forward to getting email alerts about your latest finds! Here’s hoping we all get back to normal soon and that you can get your stuff to the auction house and host some yard sales.