Back in the early to mid summer I was stopping at this house regularly on garbage day to see what was on the curb. It seemed that every week I’d find either old Christmas decorations or weird vintage junk, often stored in old boxes that dated back at least a few decades (like that Dumaurier one above).
Unfortunately, one day I met one of the people doing the tossing and he was a real d-bag. As things stand today he’d make the top three in my “least pleasant people I’ve met trash picking” list. He had a big truck, an angry dog, and was yelling. Not really wanting to interact with that guy ever again, I abandoned the spot despite the fact that it was producing some unusual vintage trash (my favourite).
This box of old toys was one of the last things I rescued here. Some were ruined, but others were worth salvaging. I stuck it in the basement until recently, when I dug it up to see what was worth selling on eBay. I ended up taking pictures of everything, save for the stuff I had already thrown out or free boxed.
This old tin helicopter was made in Japan by Marusan toys, probably in the 1950s. It’s missing the top rotors and the winding key, but is in pretty good cosmetic condition otherwise. I think it’d be worth around 200$ if it were in mint condition with a box. As is, it’s probably worth closer to 50$.
This old Schuco Fex tin car was also pretty neat. Again, it’s in solid cosmetic condition but has no key and the top detaches from the base. It’s also worth around 200$ in great condition with a box. I hope to get 50$ for it.
The rest of the stuff was cool but not worth the hassle of selling on eBay. Here’s a collection of toy guns…
… a rubber lizard (or some other reptile) marked “Made in Japan”;
… a celluloid Santa on a tin sleigh (the reindeer is a bit busted, otherwise it might be worth listing);
… a wind-up baby goat with a missing tail;
… a vintage xylophone;
… an old lantern;
… a walkie talkie;
… an operator / battery pack for a missing toy;
… a wooden flute from Niagara Falls;
… some miscellaneous bric-a-brac, including a couple of lead soldiers;
… some toy cars;
… a weird rabbit that looks to be made out of paper mache;
4… and a “Tuck-ins” blanket holder, made by a Henry Davis Co. Pretty cute eh? I’ll share some of the stranger stuff from this spot soon enough!
In the meantime, I figured I’d share these old tobacco tins I found last week.
They were stuffed with old matchbooks.
Most were from the same two places (the “Red Lion” Motor Inn and the “Blue Seas,” both in Miami Beach) but there were some others I thought were worth sharing. I always enjoy finding old matchbooks, especially when they’re cool from a graphic design perspective. My favourite of the bunch is probably the Expo 67 Cuban Pavilion matchbook near the top right. I’ve never seen one before, and couldn’t find anything similar online.
This week was relatively slow, but there’s still lots of great stuff, including potential “find of the year” type items that I have yet to share. You’ll have to keep coming back if you want to see what they are!
Relevant 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.