Garbology pt.2

garbagefinds20 Comments

After my last blog post I received 93$ in donations. Thank you for that! Any money I receive will go towards maintaining the blog, and ensuring that my garbage picking operation runs as smoothly as possible.

A few different people mentioned the possibility of generating revenue from placing ads on the blog. I’m skeptical of the idea for a few reasons. For one, I don’t think the blog would make much money at its current level of popularity, which is very good but nowhere near the levels of the most viewed blogs. Second, ads are often pretty ugly. Third, I wouldn’t have much if any control over what ads ended up on the site. I don’t want to end up promoting low-quality watches from Alibaba, for example – I want people to buy less junk, not more.

This blog post sums up my views pretty well. However, I’ll admit to not knowing much about online advertising, so feel free to offer a rebuttal in the comments if you think I’m wrong.

Anyways, today I’ll show you a bunch of the old paper stuff from the spot I mentioned in my last post. I don’t think the person who lived here (I presume, because of the age of the items that they are no longer with us) was much of a tosser, given that a lot of this ephemera dates back to the 1940s. That Shirley Temple colouring book, for example dates to the early 40s.

(Just to remind you, you’ll notice a lot more details if you click on these pictures and zoom in!)

Someone here was a Royal watcher – I found lots of clippings and documents relating to the Crown. The scrapbook in the first picture is filled with articles relating to the death of King George VI and the coronation of Elizabeth (1952).

I love finding scrapbooks because they’re always unique, and sometimes contain neat old stuff that wasn’t often preserved.

Those Guy Laviolette children’s books must have been pretty popular back in the day; I’ve found them on a few different occasions now. That Purity cookbook was published in the early 1940s and is in excellent condition for its age. That “Faune illustrée du Québec” book is fun, and should do well at a yard sale.

This stuff is a little newer. There’s a “Photo Police” tabloid from 1980, a program from a 1980s kickboxing event in Verdun, a calendar from a church, a tourist guide to Seattle, and a couple of postcards, among other things.

Here’s the ticket to the kickboxing event. Jean-Yves Theriault has a surprisingly detailed Wikipedia page, which tells us that he won his fight against Danny Macaruso (who does not have a Wikipedia page) on August 23 1983.

The scrapbook at top left featuring the Queen and Prince Philip is empty. Otherwise, there’s a report card from 1946, a gas station calendar, a certificate from 1949, a book titled “Where to Buy Handicrafts in Nova Scotia – 1950,” an old snakes & ladders board, and a couple of typed / handwritten letters.

I’d assume that the Maine pavillion papers (there are two) came from Expo 67. That Labatt calendar is from 1966, while that Horoscope calendar is probably from the 70s. There’s a couple more kids books here, including one titled “L’histoire de Dieu” (History of God). Otherwise we have some old receipts, a train whistle guide (which I think came from an old Muffets cereal box), and a Catholic school workbook.

Here’s a couple more old colouring books, this time featuring Santa and Wyatt Earp. The baby boxer and Queen Elizabeth pictures are clippings – they’ll go into my yard sale collage box.

Above you can find a book filled with Red Rose tea cards (I’ve seen some of the loose cards before, but never the album), some old photos, a receipt book from the 1940s, a Canada centennial dish, a “Want list for Genuine Ford Parts” notebook from the 40s, and an old book sharing “new” coin tricks.

The Newspaper on the bottom left is a St John (New Brunswick) Telegraph Journal from February 21, 1952. It seems that the previous owner(s) had roots in New Brunswick, if you’ve been zooming in you may have noticed other items from the province.

That L’Évangéline newspaper bills itself as “le seul quotidien Français des Maritimes.” It stopped printing in 1982, but apparently it was once the main newspaper for Acadians in Eastern Canada. These folks likely had Acadian roots, based on the presence of those papers and other things you’ll see later on. I like that old Royal Bank receipt book a lot (unfortunately I didn’t takes pictures of the inside), as well as that copy of “The Digester.” I didn’t look at it long enough to figure out what the R.C.L. was, but it may have been some kind of company.

I saved lots of newspapers! We’ll see if anyone wants them at my yard sale. I figure my archivist friend might have interest in the old Montreal papers.

Let’s finish up with some miscellaneous papers. I found a couple different posters advertising Sirbain faux fur.

This large poster looks to be signed by Marie-Paule Belle, a French pianist and singer. I doubt it’s super valuable, but maybe someone at a yard sale will want it.

It looks like someone in the family ran a gas station in the mid 40s and early 50s. I think there’ll be some more old Esso stuff in a future blog post, but I can’t remember for sure. If I’m lucky there’ll more to come, as petroliana is a hot market these days.

This attractive map was made by Eric Aldwinckle for Maclean’s magazine. It shows “The Queen’s Realm,” or the British Colonies as they existed in the early 1940s. This antique map store has one listed at 375$, though I doubt it will sell at that price anytime soon. Still, it might be worth listing on eBay. It doesn’t seem to be very common.

These maps were printed by the Department of National Defense in the 60s. They’re quite large, measuring around 2′ x 1.25′ (from my memory).

Finally, I saved a roll of about 20-30 papers featuring what looks to be aircraft engineering drawings. Each page is headed with “Aircraft Sheet Metal W.E.T. No. (x)” and dated December 1941. These had been rolled up for quite some time, and I had to weigh them down with that cast iron dutch oven to get a decent picture. If you know what they might have been for, let us know in the comments!

Otherwise, I’m starting to get sick of the winter, which I think has been one of the snowiest and coldest in several years. Garbage is still pretty good (if maybe not quite as good) in the winter, it’s just that the actual picking is about 500% more frustrating. A partial list of annoyances include: the cold; the snowbanks; the fact that everything (including my boots) is often damp; the snow and little pebbles that get tracked inside my house, garage, and car; the parking issues and snow removal operations; and the fact that I can’t take any pictures outside. Those factors combine to sometimes make picking feel more like a chore rather than a fun and profitable pastime. Anyways, it’s almost over, right?

I haven’t had much luck picking this week, but I’ve made a few fun finds that will make the blog at some point. Stay tuned!

Links

1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Contribute to garbagefinds.com
6. Follow me on Instagram

Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. I often fall behind on emails, so I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to get back to you.

Garbology pt.1

garbagefinds34 Comments

The place where I found those stamps has been one of my best spots of late. Many large black trash bags have appeared on the curb since then, often stuffed full of old papers, junk, and collectibles. Unfortunately, whoever is doing the tossing isn’t taking much care when putting things in the bags, and a substantial percentage of the ceramics were broken in the process. Still, I’ve been able to save a lot of good stuff, including one of the biggest collections of fun vintage junk that I’ve ever seen on the curb!

I’ll share my finds in a few different posts. This series will be one of the most thorough I’ve ever shared on the blog, thanks largely to my new photo setup which makes it easier to process large numbers of items. Basically, a lot of things will appear in these posts that wouldn’t have made the blog otherwise! I think this is a good thing, as it makes the blog a better sociology (or garbology) project. Plus, it provides more opportunity for readers to connect with, and tell stories about the items they see.

Remember: you can click on the picture and zoom in for a better look. That kitten holding the ball of yarn at top left is an old chalkware piece. The lobster salt and pepper shakers are pretty cool, but unfortunately one of its companions didn’t make it. You’ll be seeing more of those little metal plates soon enough… if you know what they were made for, let us know in the comments! My guess is that they were part of a children’s tea or kitchen set.

That lobster claw looks to be a souvenir from a vacation to P.E.I. That dog on the bottom is another old chalkware piece, and that framed bambi is pretty cute as well.

(PS: this is my favourite photo of the bunch, and the photos I’m taking now are of a similar quality. No more concrete background shots!).

You might have noticed one of these bizarre figurines in the last photo. Apparently someone in the 50s decided it was a good idea to make a series of ashtrays featuring toilets and black babies. I don’t really get why, but I can only assume that racism had something to do with it. Some old racist crap is worth good money, but these aren’t particularly valuable – I could probably sell the unbroken one on the right on eBay for 10$ if I wanted to. However, I’m just going to put them in the yard sale pile. I found a similar piece years ago, which you can see here.

I wish that vintage Jovan Musk Oil bottle on the left was full! I sold a small, albeit seemingly NIB bottle for 65$ early in 2017. I found a lot of perfume bottles here, but very little actual perfume. The boudoir lamp is nice, and there’s several fun fridge magnets here.

Here’s a nice vintage jug, a shot glass with a picture of a dog on it, and more fridge magnets.

That teapot shaped trinket holder / spice rack is pretty cute. I’m tempted to keep it myself! There’s also a package of vintage toilet paper, a roll of some other kind of paper, a container full of what looks like tiddlywinks, a lid to a corning glass pot (one of my favourite kinds of pots), and a wood cutout of a cat. I soon found out that the vintage power cord belonged to…

… the vintage waffle maker on the bottom left. It looks a little grimy here, but I brought it home and it cleaned up nicely. It’s a Reliance #850, probably made in the 50s by JK MacLodd & Co of Toronto. I found a similar one on Etsy that sold for 55$. Otherwise, we have some cookie cutters, a rag rug (that might say “1940?”), and a cool galvanized dustpan or scoop.

I saved a lot of old papers here – this is just the beginning. I’ll save the rest for another post. Here we have some old calendars, a “Kingston 1976” Olympics sticker, a package of vintage magic transfers, a couple packs of airline tickets, a message from the Quebec eye bank asking for eye donations (I didn’t know this was a thing), and lots of other miscellaneous stuff. Click the picture for a much better look.

I enjoy taking these pictures, but it’s a lot of work and I’m not sure how sustainable it is in the long-term. I think I’ve spent about 10 hours shooting and editing these photos (including the ones that will appear in the future posts) and I’m not even done yet! In short, I might not have the time or energy to take photos like this when things get busy again (I’m actually on a bit of a dry streak when it comes to finding quality trash), especially since I don’t make any direct profit from blog photos.

If you want to help the blog reach its full potential consider donating a small sum to the project! For instance, I can probably convince an underemployed friend to come take some photos or help organize for 10$/h. A contribution can also help pay for blog-related expenses (for example, I just paid over 300$ to keep the blog running ad-free for another year), and also go towards larger expenses such as a more powerful laptop or camera. If interested, please visit my donation page, or send me an email at thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com (especially if you don’t use Paypal).

Anyways, here’s a few more recent finds…

I mentioned recently that some pens I found in Outremont may have salvaged an otherwise unfruitful trash run. Well, here they are. The Parker 51 is on the right – it’s probably worth between 50-70$. There’s a Sheaffer and another Parker (both fountain pens) in there, as well as a couple rapidograph pens. The rapidographs might be junk, but the others should at least make me money at a yard sale. I have yet to figure out what models they are.

I went back the next week and found bags and bags full of audio and video reels. I don’t have the technology or knowhow to deal with this kind of stuff, so I usually just drop it off at a local Montreal archive and let them figure it out. They’re always pumped to get any kind of archival footage, as there’s always a chance that it might contain something unique that doesn’t exist anywhere else. This bag looked to be filled mostly with old Radio Canada (French CBC) reels.

This one was full of loosies. It would have been quite the job to get this organized, but the archive apparently got it done.

If it turns out that there’s anything interesting on these I’ll let you know! As for the spot, I found more interesting stuff there last week (perhaps I’ll share it here in the future), but nothing this week. Hopefully they produce again in the future as I quite enjoy their special brand of trash.

I was out in Westmount this morning and happened upon an intriguing pile. Unfortunately, the garbage truck roared around the corner not long after I arrived and I was forced to leave with only this bag of electronic junk.

I sorted through it when I got home and found a Tomtom GPS, a satellite radio receiver, a bunch of those light timer doohickeys, some portable phones, and lots of miscellaneous wires. Nothing mind blowing, but stuff that should do well enough at a yard sale. Plus, most of this was “e-waste” that shouldn’t have been put in the trash in the first place.

Otherwise, I finally looked through a collection of wool blankets I found late last summer. They were nice enough, but not in good enough condition / not fancy enough to bother selling on eBay. They were nice enough to sell at a yard sale, but I decided to donate them to one of the local missions instead. These old blankets are very warm and very useful for people sleeping on the streets during this cold winter.

I also donated a collection of scarves, knit hats, and other potentially useful clothing items that I found in St Michel recently. I brought it all to the Old Mission Brewery in downtown Montreal, and would recommend that anyone with extra blankets, winter items, non-perishable food, & etcetera do the same!

Links

1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Contribute to garbagefinds.com
6. Follow me on Instagram

Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. I often fall behind on emails, so I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to get back to you.

Mercury pt.2

garbagefinds21 Comments

The “mercury house” (as I came to know it) kept producing unusual junk long after I found the jar of mercury there back in September. These folks were pretty crafty, and often the bags would be filled largely with old projects – homemade masks, dolls, ceramics, woodworking, glass, and more. These slides featured images of those projects, some of which you might see below. However, I didn’t have time to photograph many of the things I found here.

The house provided plenty of neat vintage junk as well. In this photo you can see some expired film (there’s a good market for that at yard sales), a Seagull pewter keychain, a container of pull-tabs, some copper doohickeys, a hat of some kind, and plenty more.

That orange medicine bottle is full of seeds. I find seeds semi-regularly, and always wonder if they’re worth trying to sell at yard sales. I know people like heirloom plants, and if the seeds are, say 30 years old the plants might be different from the ones grown today. I doubt the ones in paper envelopes keep very well over time, but ones stores in airtight containers like that pill bottle might still be good. So…

That guy with the violin was a fun woodworking project; when you pull the string, the head bobs up and down and the bow goes back and forth. It’s a little busted though – a cut penny, which I think is an essential piece, has come unglued.

This brass ashtray was a cool find. It’s not super valuable but should do well at a yard sale.

I took my first garage photos against the background of the floor. They’re ok, but the ones with the fabric background are better. There’s a few Red Rose tea figurines in this batch of junk, as well as a bunch of projects.

There’s some nice vintage ceramics here including the pot on the left, the Limoges dish near the centre, and the Beswick bird near the top right.

This little burner / needle sterilizer was a neat find. It might have been part of a WWII field kit, and should sell for around 30$.

I like that typewriter ashtray, as well as the vintage Cookie Monster doll.

Somebody at a yard sale will probably want these creepy masks. I forget what was written on the back, except that they were made in the 80s.

That box on the right is probably a homemade radio. That alarm clock radio didn’t work, unfortunately.

I enjoyed that handmade book near the top left. It seems to contain the lyrics to a bunch of scout songs (see below for a closer look). I’m curious about the rocks in the tin and the beaded necklace, if you know anything about them please comment!

I saved a bunch of scarves and miscellaneous fabrics, as well as a pair of wooden shoes.

One time I opened a bag was greeted by a vintage 1$ bill. It’s in excellent condition but still not worth much. I also found a Bérudollar, a “Bank of Quebec” note valued at 80c. It was made in the 80s by a trade union to protest something, what exactly I’m not sure.

Let’s finish off with another old political item. This record was made for the Rhinoceros Party, a satirical political party that promised to repeal the laws of gravity, among other things. The first Rhinoceros Party (it has since been resurrected) existed from 1963-1993, though 1979 (the year this record was made) was the first time they fielded a significant number of candidates. This recording looks to be pretty uncommon but I have no idea what it might be worth. If you do, let me know.

I think this spot has dried up for good now. I saw a moving truck there one day, and since then there’s been no trash on the curb. So it goes!

I happened upon a great pile of vintage stuff on Saturday. It’s going to take a while to process / photograph but I’m excited to share it here when that’s all done.

Otherwise, I finally sold this beautiful old art deco (c.1930s) Asprey catalogue I found a few years back. The book was in excellent condition and offered a great look at the luxury goods of the era. It will be featured in my next sales summary post, but for now I figured I’d let you guess how much it went for. Good luck!

Oh, and I started a couple more auctions last night, and four more are ending tonight. The beer label auction is doing quite well already with a bid and eight watchers in the first 12 hours or so. Not bad! A couple of my battery lots will sell as well, for how much it remains to be seen.

Links

1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Contribute to garbagefinds.com
6. Follow me on Instagram

Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. I often fall behind on emails, so I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to get back to you.