Out with the old pt.3

I was talking about only sharing my most interesting or “special” finds going forward, and then almost forgot to share some of the more interesting finds from this spot. I found some papers here that seem to document someone’s attempt to be recognized as a “mischling” in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia during WWII. A mischling was basically a person with some Jewish lineage, but who wasn’t considered fully Jewish. A first degree mischling (as was the case with this person in the end) had two Jewish grandparents, and fulfilled a bunch of other criteria, while a second degree mischling had just one Jewish grandparent. For obvious reasons it was in someone’s self-interest to prove themselves a mischling, versus the alternative.

Below is a Google translation of this document, and below that are a few related documents, including what looks like a request from the secret police to bring documents that would prove their mischling status as per the Nuremberg Laws.

Otherwise, I reduced another box of old stock (originally found in St Michel a few years ago) to just two photos of the most notable finds. My favourite piece above is that 1934 Montreal bootblack (shoe polisher) license, issued for the Aldred Building in Place d’Armes Square (which would have been just 4 years old at the time). I haven’t been able to find any others like it online, so I guess not many survived the last 90-some years. I saved a lot of neat stuff from the 30s and 40s here, but a lot of it ended up in the yard sale pile as per my new focus. These folks were travel agents I think, and I saved a bunch of old tourist stuff. Below are some fun Quebec-area maps and booklets that I found here. I recently gave them to my Instagram seller to unload.

Speaking of Instagram, I got a tip from a follower about a big pile of trash in the McGill area. It was pretty picked over, but I saved some decent yard sale stuff, and some interesting 8 x 10 photos. This one was my favourite. I figured it was from around Expo 67 given the sign in the backgroud, but I’ve since found out (via other photos I found) that those signs were up into the mid-80s, I guess for the post Expo “Man and his World” exhibit. Regardless, I think this photo is probably from the late 60s or early 70s, and either way the subject is kind of funny. I think this one might be frame-worthy.

Speaking of frame-worthy, I got that (silkscreen?) print from a few blog posts ago framed by a friend and am very happy with the results! This is the first time I’ve ever had a find professionally framed. This print was unsigned, but I love the colours and it matches my style. Plus, I like having things that I saved from the trash on display. The only question now is where to put it.

As for trash, finds have been slow during the dog days of summer. However, I was lucky last week. I heard a jingle coming from a small trash bag filled with mostly kitchen waste, and out came a few pieces of jewelry. The most prominent pieces were obviously junk besides one simple silver bracelet, so I didn’t think much of it at the time. So it wasn’t until the next day that I took a closer look and noticed that the necklace I had dismissed as probably junk turned out to be solid 18k gold. So about 11.4 grams of 18k gold … you can do the math. Pays the rent and then a bit! I also noticed that one of the other pieces was a rice pearl and black bead necklace with a 14k gold clasp, so clearly the junk jewelry (cheap plastic beaded stuff) fried my quality junk radar that night.

Anyways, it’s Labour Day Weekend which was a good one for yard sales last year. So, I plan on doing two sales, one on Sunday and one on Monday, both at the 4096 Coloniale spot. The Sunday sale will have the usual array of quality junk, while the Monday sale will feature clothes. That section will be run by the person who runs the @garbagefindsells Instagram, because fashion is really not my thing. Hopefully I can clear out a whole bunch of junk, winter is sadly not too far off!