Astronomical spring is almost over. The season was pretty good to me, although things have been a bit slower (but still decent) as of late. Moving day is coming up, and although the phenomenon has rarely been a great source of trash for me, I have some new ideas for this year that I’ll be trying out.
One spot in a nice part of town was very good to me over a period of a couple of months. I saved lots of yard sale stuff, and some decent electronics such as digital cameras and a Nintendo DS. However, I was pretty busy at the time so I only got around to taking pictures of the jewelry, most of which came in two hauls over a few weeks. The first box on the left is the silver from the first haul, the middle the silver from the second, and the right is the gold from both.
The silver jewelry was pretty cool, and included a couple of Tiffany pieces (the skeleton key pendant and the classic Elsa Peretti heart pendant) and a Links of London necklace. That one pendant on the left is huge and ornate. All in all there was about 250 grams of silver (including stones), and a little over 6 grams of gold. Most likely, it belonged to teenagers or recently former teenagers who don’t know the value of their possessions.
I’m pretty sure this stuff was tossed by someone famous, but trash pickers are bound by professional ethics laws so I’m not telling. The sports cards were high quality and never opened, they made me around 300$ at auction. The jewelry there is all silver or white gold. And there may be a trend where people are now throwing away unlocked iPhones. Maybe now that you can transfer your info to a new phone just by bringing it next to the old one, more phones are being factory reset than in the past. I posted about an iPhone not long ago, found an unlocked 10 elsewhere, and then this 13 Pro Max. There were some cracks on the back glass, but was otherwise in fine condition. I sold it to a friend for 230$, which is about what I would have gotten from that local company I’ve started using to sell relatively new cell phones.
This one house was a one-hit wonder that I had high hopes for. On the first day, I salvaged a bunch of yard sale quality stuff, including some nice if unexceptional pens. I also saved a near-perfect vintage c. 50s or 60s Canadiens wool sweater. This was during our playoff run, so I did an eBay auction and it sold for 100$. I also found my first ever silver bar, a 1oz by Johnson Matthey for Scotiabank. I had to cut it out from the plastic to take a closer look, even if that might devalue it slightly in the eyes of some nerds. I was hoping for more bars, but I think this one just got overlooked. A couple weeks later I found a bunch of 1976 Olympic coin set boxes, but they were all empty.
In the random ephemera category, I found an old stock certificate for a Brooks Steam Motors Ltd, which from the sounds of things was an early automobile scam. Almost 100 years later Nikola would pull a similar trick, but with electric cars. The certificate is probably worth a little bit, but I’m thinking of getting it framed and put on my wall.
I also really like the New Lotus Cafe restaurant menu. This was a Chinese Restaurant in Montreal, and presumably it was designed around Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.
And lastly, a few other miscellaneous finds. I’m pretty confident the pieces on the top left are ivory. The heart has an unmarked 10k gold loop, and the bracelet has a 14k embellishment with a nice looking red stone. In completely random one-off piles, I found a gold pin that relates to dentistry somehow, and a 1976 Olympics participation medal. It’s made of copper and seems to be worth like 150$ bucks, just as a collectible.
I’m trying to do some work on my book. For now the progress is slow, but sometimes things can evolve quickly. So I have a bit of an absurd question that might help me on one chapter, which is: why don’t you become a professional trash picker like me? I know there are many reasons not to, I just want to hear them!
In my estimation, same answer to why a doctor doesn’t become a lawyer or a plumber a teacher, etc. It’s not for them. We don’t choose what fills the soul.
A good few hauls of smalls!
If I were 40 years younger, had a reliable vehicle, and dared to drive in the city … I would be doing your kind of work, for sure. I’d be free, independent, keeping my own hours, not not subject to arbitrary strictures … and every outing would be different, an adventure as t’were..
I have a pretty good eye for treasure, not as good as yours, but not bad either. My favourite thing is to rescue good art from thrift stores. I have some lovely original pieces and I decorate my house with a rotation of interesting and beautiful, semi-valuable artwork I’ve acquired, so I am a collector but not a seller. Selling things is the aspect of your profession that is the least appealing to me.
Selling is also the least appealing to me, but still fun at times and necessary if I’m trying to make a living off my finds.
I always felt a little embarrassed trash picking. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s due to my shy nature and wanting to avoid running into the owner of the trash. I even have problems running a garage sale, but that’s something I can do when I set my mind to it.
Great finds. To answer your question, I’ve become a part-timer trash picker, poking through trash in my 55 plus community. The finds I have made are incredible and reinforce what I learned from you; people are extremely wasteful (or lazy) and often throw away valuable stuff! Thanks for the inspiration!
Ah, Martin, so happy to hear that you are working on your book. I will happily sign up to buy a copy once it’s available. I have picked trash in the past, mainly when I was a dirt-poor 18-20-something-year-old, at which point I mainly went searching for cans and bottles to return. These days I get irate when I see what people throw away, and it’s mainly directed at what they bought in the first place: e.g., cheap pressboard or MDF furniture that doesn’t stand the test of time. As for what’s keeping me away from it now: time, I guess. Unless I see a nice old solid wood side table I can easily carry home and refinish, I’d leave everything else alone. Back in the days when garage sales were worthwhile (1980’s, LOL) I was at an estate sale at a posh place where there was a spectacular mahogany sideboard with a $300 tag on it. Two days later it was on the curb. Had to pass on it as I neither had a vehicle, or space in my apartment. If the human race survives over the next 1000+ years, archeologists are going to have a field day at our dump sites. Please keep up the good work at picking, writing, and posting.
My father and I used to go curbside shopping, he and I were the only two in the family that enjoyed it. To us it was a game, what could we find that would reduce our need to purchase something else. But recent past the curbside shopping opportunities aren’t that great. A poorer, uneducated, red state doesn’t produce much resalable or reusable Junque.
If you’re in a city you could probably find some wealthier enclaves, but yeah if in a rural area it is less likely for a variety of reasons.
I an too old, problems with my back and knees, I am cautious about being grossed out by some people’s trash, it would be frowned on in my small town and no place to really put items to be gone through. I will experience picking vicariously through you.
I do wonder how age will effect this. Even at 39, it’s getting tough on the back, moreso from bending over and sitting in the car than lifting. I’ve adapted a bit though so I don’t have to spend so much time hunched over. And yes I’m from a small town too, and I wouldn’t want to be known as the guy who looks through everyone’s trash ha ha. In the city everyone has a bit more anonymity.
I’m very happy in my role as a customer, for the treasure-hunting aspect, and to support the recycling and the initiative and livelihood of people who are performing this service to vintage lovers, historians and the planet in general.
There is a level of work that I do after acquiring the fruits of the gatherer’s labour. That is, if some articles may require repair or restoration I will fix them, or get them fixed by a pro if necessary, to restore them to active duty. Example: I recently got a nice old brass lamp base at Martin’s garage sale. It was missing some parts, which were fortunately available at the hardware store. I added the parts and the lamp looks and works great in the living room. Thanks, Martin!
I would love to see a pic of that. Possible to post it in a reply?
Love to post a photo, Meghan, but couldn’t find a way. Calling Martin—is there a way?
I don’t think so, unless you post it to a site (Flickr maybe?) and then share the link here.
Thank you, Martin. Not an option for me at the present time but appreciate the info.
It takes all kinds. I prefer picking to projects, because I enjoy the former to the latter, and also because there are a near infinite number of potential projects and I just find that overwhelming. But if there weren’t people chosing projects over picking, then a lot of my finds would never get the TLC required to reach their potential.
Martin, cant wait for your Book!!! I would have to say that the reason I don’t trash pick is because there’s not a lot of good stuff in rural Georgia at people’s garbage cans! However, back in my youth, I was a dumpster diving, roadside picking trash queen. I still stop to grab the occasional piece of good garbage. (Just the other day, I stopped for a ceiling fan, note said it still worked. The globe was the painted like earth). Good luck, Alice
I think rural areas are worse, in part because a lot of people have trucks and aren’t afraid of a little labour so they will more often drive stuff to donate. Or, if you’re lucky, there’s an open pit dump somewhere ha ha
I live for trash picking, dumpster diving. We do not have near the opportunities that your good eye finds you. Such great scores in this lot. I’m up to a little over $1100 w yard sale type items from student move outs. Two new w tags Patagonia jackets, university issued team athletic wear. One set has an athlete’s name and number on them and he’s playing pro ball now so I scored well w selling those pieces. Many bits and bobs of silver and gold jewelry. Curb find of a big bucket of flatware that had several silver pieces including a soup ladle, early Boston piece. Off the melting pot they went. Your vintage items are so interesting, you are a professional!
Nice finds! I think after like 15 years of picking, I basically have a 6th sense. But also different cities have different ways of collecting trash, so what works here might not work as well elsewhere.
Alas, I have to agree with another poster who feels much too shy/easily intimidated to be a professional trash picker. I think I’d also easily get overwhelmed or conversely not have a healthy sense of knowing when to stop. I do best with clear boundaries in my work (since I’m not so good at making them myself). That being said, I am the go-to among my family/friends to take and re-home everything they don’t know how to deal with. I genuinely enjoy the process of finding who could use what others can’t (last week, it was 4 boxes of sheet music from my sister’s friend that I organized and shared with several musician friends).
I think shyness is a big one. It’s funny because I was extremely shy growing up, but I’m not super shy about trash. My theory is that because I grew up in a small town, the city feels very anonymous and therefore a lot of social interactions are relatively irrelevant.
Hi there! I’m not a professional because I wouldn’t want to do the selling, but oh my, the stuff I’ve collected from the curb for my family and home! People would be surprised and maybe a little scandalized by what I bring home from the garbage…it’s been such a fun and helpful hobby for big city living, stretching my budget and making my life more interesting and funny and beautiful, probably also making me look wealthier than I am… but I’ll leave the selling to the pros. Thanks for your interesting blog, it unites a tribe.
Hi Martin,
I’m sure you’ve heard the expression’this is the last straw!’
Which is exactly what my wife would say if she caught wind of me venturing into the world of trash reviewing.She already believes that my ‘general store‘collection has over reached.
The next step would be her changing the locks on the doors.
How would you feel about having a new roommate?
Haha. My place is so small I’m not sure I could get another cat in here let alone a roommate.
Like a lot of people I don’t live in the right area. I can’t see your type of picking in my small town. Our nieghbours do use the ‘free and it works’ signs on many items and a lot of that stuff doesn’t end up in the dump. I have a ‘free’ table at work and almost everything I bring in disappears quickly. And there is a guy who always seems to cone around in a truck to pick the metal. We have even gone out to our barn to get him other metal we had not yet put out. All these things help reduce the dump bound stuff ☺️