The move is all done. It sucked, as moving always does, but it’s over. I’m lucky that my family came to help move stuff and get me organized. I think I was reasonably well prepared, but the process always ends up being a bit harder than you anticipate. It certainly acts as a booster shot of “garbage empathy.” I totally get how good people can get overwhelmed and end up throwing quality stuff in the garbage when dealing with a lot of stuff at once. Of course this is humanity we’re talking about, so some of the tossers are just idiots, but I try not to judge too hard except in egregious cases.
I kept doing trash runs during the big week, mostly keeping up on past producers. One of my finds is better saved for a book, but here are some of the others. I came across this pile on Clark while out to get a donut. Inside the bags some cool vintage trash, including a broken 10k gold chain, a pink glass lighter, and this vintage depression glass measuring cup made for Kellogg’s. These sell for 40$ or so, but I’m going to keep it for my new place.
I also saved a few old books, one of which had this 1955 auction notice stuck between the pages. It sounds like they were clearing out an entire farm, including the beds and probably the kitchen sink. I don’t find these very often!
I moved some of my bigger things with a truck on Monday, and then the rest on Tuesday. I went out for trash on Monday night, but got a late start and didn’t try too hard. My most notable find was this bronze trophy made for the 2nd ever U-16 FIFA tournament, which was held in Canada in 1987. The Canadian team did pretty badly, but this appears to have been given out to celebrate a successful event. I couldn’t find another online, so maybe some Quebec soccer fan will pay good money for it.
On July 1st I went out again, this time after moving stuff for about six hours earlier in the day and a few more hours of organizing & cleaning at the old place. The route was quiet to start, and then got busy near the end. I got home at around 1am, so it was a long but productive day. Anyways, I offer you a “reduction” of the finds from that night, which included a couple of Cesca chairs (one of which is Italian), some Rio tuna snacks that expire in 2027 (which retail at around 3$ each, and many of which I ate in the first days at my new place), a couple of nice glass figurines, and a pair of 10k white gold cufflinks that I scrounged from the bottom of a bag.
And of course July 1 is Moving Day here in Montreal. A lot of people assume this is a great day for me, but in my opinion it’s pretty overrated. There is a lot of garbage, but the people who are moving are generally younger and not all that wealthy, so their junk isn’t usually very exciting or interesting. Also, everyone and their dog knows about moving day, so there’s a lot of competition, including people who just rip through all the bags and make a huge mess (like above, and I saw much worse).
Anyways, long story short I didn’t have any FOMO from not being able to pick as much trash because I was moving, and most of my finds (except maybe the Kellogg’s cup, and even then I’m not sure) were likely completely unrelated to the Moving Day phenomenon.
My last notable finds of the week came while walking around the neighbourhood with my mom on Friday the 4th. I did a little before (left) and after (right) photoshoot to show how I leave things tidy, unlike some of the competition. You can see some sunglasses through the bag, most of which were pretty cheap, but they were a good indicator that the bags were worth investigating.
Inside I found what was probably some kid’s old jewelry. There’s always some low quality junk in collections like this, but I picked out a few quality pieces including three Pandora silver pieces that look legit, two Swatches, and a pair of Ray Bans. I basically “made” a couple hundred bucks of product just from walking around on a nice day. There are worse ways to make a living.
I still have some setting up to do at home, but maybe once that’s done I’ll share some pictures of my favourite trash decor. Otherwise, the garbage keeps on flowing, and I’ll post more finds here soon enough.
(Also, I’m looking to replace the blurb below with something more concise, but I’ll post it again now because I haven’t shared this info in a while)
Links
1. My eBay listings. Sign up for eBay (Canada, US). Search for something you want / research something you have (Canada, US). — These are Ebay Partner Network links. If you create an account or buy something after getting to eBay from these links, I get a small cut of the profit!
2. “Things I find in the garbage” on Facebook
3. Follow @garbagefindssells on Instagram (this is managed by a friend, I’ve quit Instagram for the time being)
4. Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. Note that I really suck at keeping up with my email.
5. Help support the blog, or just buy me a coffee! PayPal link below.
I was happy to help with your move, and it was great fun touring around with you after. Hope you’re all settled in soon. 🙂
Martin, thanks to you, TIL about Cesca chairs. Wow, they appear to be expensive, especially if the joints on the wood are dovetailed. I see a “925” stamp on a chain in the kid’s jewelry, so that’s nice! I hope you’ve since fully recovered from your move. Re. “One of my finds is better saved for a book” … intriguing. If you keep up with teasers like that, you’ll sell a few books (once published) to your blog readers, I’m sure. Here’s wishing you all the best in your new place!
One already sold for 150$. I think there are modern knockoffs which are cheaper, seems like the older ones are a little heavier and usually have a country of origin pressed underneath somewhere. For the silver, there’s the necklace, and the two charm bracelets which are all hallmarked with the 925 and ALE (Pandora trademark). There’s also another small broken silver piece which will go to scrap.
I just want to offer my congratulations and a tip of the respect hat to you for successfully moving. As you say, it is a nightmare for all of us, but that you seemed to get it done relatively efficiently given that you are the accumulator of all our over-consumptive moving day sins, is a testament to your character. You may have your life together better than you realize!
I just love reading about your adventures. Good luck in your new digs. Just don’t stick the Kelloggs measuring cup in the microwave to heat water…don’t ask how I found that out. 🙁
I love reading about all that you find. I live in Ontario, and collect bottles and tins for recycling at the beer store, but I have yet to come across anything like you do. Of course, I am nervous about people coming to tell me off, and that keeps me from going through their actual trash. Still, I am pretty happy with my modest haul from the recycling each week.