quebec – Page 3 – Things I find in the garbage

Lucky Cup

June 5, 2014 garbagefinds10 Comments

This house in CDN has been my only real source of garbage the past couple of weeks. It’s definitely one of the most productive places I’ve ever come across, providing me excellent and interesting things for nearly two months now. At some point the reservoir will be exhausted but for now I’ll enjoy the ride as it lasts.

Here’s some things I collected here over the past two trash days.

This is an old “Susy Goose” Barbie doll closet. Inside are little clothes hangers, drawers (which contain miscellaneous clothes items – including a pair of diving fins), and a foil mirror. It’s in pretty good overall condition and should make me around 20-25 bucks.

A couple pieces had broken off this Murano glass ashtray but I managed to glue them back on. It looks pretty good after the repair but the imperfections reduce its value. This near perfect example sold on Ebay for around 55$ (28$ plus 27 for shipping). I’ll try to get 10$ for mine at a yard sale.

I like this old metal box. It would easily sell at a yard sale but I’ll probably keep it myself.

Another little metal container, this time with a chrome finish.

These disposable coffee cups were part of a 1980s “Lucky Cup” promotion by Maxwell House. I couldn’t find any reference to them outside of the website of a marketing firm that takes credit for the idea. According to them “this was the first time a sweepstakes had been placed on a hot drink cup.” There’s nothing like them on Ebay, I wonder if a collector would give me 25 bucks for them? It’s a shot in the dark but you never know!

I found another one of those unique record pressings. On the label is written a name and that it was recorded on February 7th, 1948 at a “Music Bar.” There are some scratches that might make it hard to play but I hope to get it digitized sometime this summer.

On the right is a NHL schedule published by Esso for the 1964-1965 season. That was way back when there were only six NHL teams – bit took me a while to figure out why there were so few games! It’s in excellent condition, someone wrote the scores next to some of the games on the inside but a collector might enjoy that. There’s a guy on Ebay trying to sell one just like it for 110$ and there’s another one up for 65$. I think I’ll put mine up for 60 in hopes that I can sell it relatively quickly. I also don’t think 110$ is a realistic price.

These are old S&H green stamps, part of a popular rewards program that existed in the US from the 30s to 80s. They’re not really valuable but are a cool addition to a yard sale. I’m sure a lot of people remember them.

A brand new red leather wallet. I think I’ll use it after my current wallet gets worn out.

A cool, if not particularly fancy (Made in Hong Kong) pair of vintage sunglasses.

There was a bunch of jewellery here on Tuesday. Some pieces were broken or only good for parts but others were quite nice.

These costume jewellery earrings will make me some money at a yard sale. The pair at top left were made by Monet, a fairly popular brand. The beads of the necklace seems to be made of glass.

This bracelet needs some love (one missing link, no clasp, some green tarnish on the metal) but is still very beautiful. I’ll try to find some parts to match it.

There were a bunch of pins and other baubles. The two at bottom are sterling silver while the ring at top left looks to be silver as well. The ring’s “arms” don’t extend as far as usual, it doesn’t seem like it’s broken but it’s a challenge getting it to stay on my finger.

There was also a collection of Hebrew pins. Some are related to the Maccabiah Games, an event held in Israel that Wikipedia describes as the “Jewish Olympics.” Others have the Olympic symbol on them. I’m going to try putting these on Ebay as a lot.

This piece marked 750 (18k gold) is a brooch with a missing pin. I think the rocks at the top could be little diamonds. It’s valuable even just as scrap but I wonder if I could make it into a pendant.

These beads have a beautiful lustre and a sort of marbled tone. I think they’re pearls because none of them are perfectly round and they also passed the “friction test”. I supposed they could be polished stone or marbled glass as well, what do you think?

I thought this modernist style ring (marked 900 silver) was pretty cool. One of the arms is a little cracked but it works fine for now, though I’d want to repair that somehow before selling it. I’d also be happy keeping it myself!

Last weeks sales (May 26 – June 1)

–Gold-filled watch in need of repair – 15$ (to a reader), found in Plateau April 15th
-2 “Banzai” Metallica Cassettes (early Canadian printings) – 38$ (Ebay), found in Rosemont as part of larger collection but not featured. The collection was in front of the same place as these great bike locks and the bike seats from last week
-Yard Sale – Many different things added up to 135$
Total: 188$, 338$ since I began keeping better track (May 18).

Another passable if unspectacular week. I hope to have another yard sale this weekend, if so I should post some bigger numbers soon. I also plan on scheduling my work a bit better so I get more things listed online.

I plan on going back to this spot (and NDG, CDN, Westmount) tomorrow (if not later tonight). I’ll let you know if I find anything more!

Let’s recap

November 8, 2013November 8, 2013 garbagefinds6 Comments

A recap of the “summer of garbage” is below! But, first things first. Yesterday evening I went out to Rosemont, the section east of Papineau and west of Iberville. This area hasn’t been particularly lucrative since I began exploring it a few months ago but I keep checking it out, if only due to the lack of competition for my Thursday evening time slot.

There wasn’t too much of interest last night either, though I did find a few neat things, most of which came from this bunch of stuff on rue des Écores.

Lying out in the open was this pair of Jackson brand skates. They’re in great shape, even fairly sharp. They’re probably worth around 20$ or so.

I also found this old Singer manual typewriter. It seems to work fine, just like most others typewriters I find. I can probably sell this for 40$ on Craigslist, especially since it has it’s original case.

I saved this near-full bottle of Yves St-Laurent “Champagne” eau de toilette from another spot. I’ve been surprised recently about how much scents can be worth on Ebay, it all depends on the name and vintage. This bottle for example, which is the exact same size and name, sold recently for 68$ on Ebay.

After finishing in Rosemont I decided to try my luck in the Mile End. I didn’t spend too much time there, but I did manage to find this watch (in the same spot where I found all those Avon products a few weeks back). It doesn’t look like it was ever worn. It’s nothing super fancy, but it’s in very good condition and looks quite nice. I can generally get 5$ easy for watches at yard sales.

Last but not least is this leftover find from my Wednesday trip to TMR. I saw this bag full of odd-looking “Hell Bank Notes” inside a black bag and threw them in my trailer.

I did some research and apparently these bills are part of a relatively modern Chinese funerary tradition. The bills are joss paper and are made to be burned in honour of the dead. It’s actually a pretty interesting tradition, I’d suggest reading the fairly brief wikipedia article on the topic. I’m not sure what I’ll do with them, though I suppose I could start a campfire with them next time a celebrity passes on.

Now for some general news. I wrote an article back in May for the “New Escapologist,” a Montreal-based magazine that discusses “practical escape routes from the present-day predicaments of demeaning work, status anxiety and urban lethargy.” You can buy a PDF copy here for 9.50 if you’re interested. Thanks to Samara for this great drawing of me, it’s featured at the beginning of the article.

Also, as you can tell I’ve continued this project past the October deadline written in the subtitle. I plan on doing this through the winter, though I’ll likely be taking more days off, especially when the weather is bad. I just don’t see myself doing anything else right now. I love saving things from the trash and finding cool stuff. I’ve also done well enough financially that I’m not yet desperate for a more conventional job. The extra time off will allow me to focus on other things, like maybe learning guitar or some other skill(s).

Overall, the project has been fairly successful. While my organization skills are unfortunately poor enough that I never actually made a log of my earnings, my current financial situation implies that I more or less broke even while living a frugal-but-not-especially-so lifestyle. I’ve made my money primarily from yard sales, Ebay, and Craigslist. I’ve saved a lot of good stuff from going to landfills and I like to hope I’ve encouraged others to throw out less while maybe taking a peek in the trash themselves.

I’ve actually gotten a lot better at “trash hunting” over the summer too. I now visit wealthier neighbourhoods more often and have a better knowledge of what streets offer me the best chance of making great finds, focusing less on covering every street but instead scouring the ones I like the most. It also took me a while to figure out the garbage days. For example, Rosemont confused me for a while before I finally figured out that they had switched their schedule around to account for a new composting day. I doubt it’ll take me so long to figure that out next time.

People often ask me of my favourite or “best” find. I have a hard time answering that, there’s just so many great little things. However, I can give you a top three finds of the summer, all of which are actually accumulations of things.

#3 came way back in April when I found a pillowcase full of vintage costume jewelry and curios in the Mile End. There were some beautiful silver pieces as well. They smelled strongly of cigarette smoke but with some airing out and washing they were fine. Here’s the original post, though I believe I had a couple of other posts devoted to the things I found there. I ended up making a fair bit of money off this stuff at yard sales, and I still have some of the nicer pieces to this day.

#2 came in early August when I found a box and shopping bag full of jewelry and curios in Rosemont. I found some great silver jewellery here as well, but this find edges out #3 because it contained more odds and ends, including some old military stuff. The original post is here, but again there are a few more subsequent posts devoted to the miscellaneous bits and bobs I found here.

#1, though, has to be when I found a little box full of treasures when biking out to visit my mom and sister out in Ville St Laurent back in June. The box, protected by a small ziplock bag, contained old coins from the late 1800s – early 1900s (and one from 17 something), a German Iron Cross from WWI, and a pair of WWI dog tags from a Lieutenant of the 22nd Battalion. The dog tags are definitely on the list of my favourite finds of all time, being something so unique and of such an interesting time in our history. This might have been my favourite find because it served as a great reminder that my “job” isn’t just fun but also something that benefits our culture. It was also so improbable that I was even in the area, or nearby that specific street, and finding this felt very special as a result.

As you can see my favourite finds are the treasures, especially when there’s a whole bunch of them at once. Finding these things just brings out my inner kid in a candy store, I love poking through it not knowing what I’ll find next.

Anyways, the project isn’t done yet. I’m going to keep doing it for the foreseeable future, perhaps even intensifying it again next spring and summer. The best may be yet to come.

This evening I’ll likely check out the eastern Plateau. As usual I’ll let you know if I find anything.

Man and his World

October 4, 2013 garbagefinds5 Comments

Yesterday evening and this morning were pretty barren so I figured it’d be a good time to show you more of the books I found on Tuesday. I still have some to sort through but these are the oldest ones of the bunch. All the photos are highly detailed images, so feel free to zoom up and take a closer look.

The one that doesn’t match here is the guide to the “Man and his World” exhibit at Expo 67. The rest of the books here are quite old, with the most modern being the mid 40s book of missals at the top left and the oldest being the English textbook that lies in the middle (published 1876). There’s also a book featuring popular songs of Canada published in 1880. It’s missing the front cover but I’m sure someone would have an interest in seeing these old songs.

These books all feature a similar ornate red cover. The bottom two are little books describing various famous French Canadian figures dated 1913 and 1926 respectively. The top is a memoir by Silvio Pellico, a Italian writer who lived in the early 19th century. The book is called “Mes Prisons” and tells the story of his being sent to prison for the crime of “carbonarism” – basically being a member of the Carbonari revolutionary movement. I’m not sure when it was published but I’d guess it would have been around the late 1800s.

The book at the top left is another old English textbook. I thought the scribbled calligraphy was pretty cool. My favourites though are the two Geography textbooks. The little one is from 1912 and the bigger one is from 1914. I’ve always enjoyed looking at maps, as a kid I spent many hours looking at a giant National Geographic atlas of the world. I’ve posted a few pictures of the inside of these books below. I think the map of Africa is particularly interesting as it shows how the land was divided amongst the European powers. I also like the old map of Montreal which is found in the larger book.

It’s a guarantee that in these old textbooks, when discussing the world, the authors will say something overtly racist. In the text on Africa they describe the native populations as “negres sauvages” or negro savages. Then, in the study question they ask whether or not the indigenous race is “civilized.” We’ve got a ways to go but I like to think humanity has made some progress since then!

Last but not least is this old book entitled “Lectures instructives et amusantes sur diverses inventions, découvertes, ?” (Informative and entertaining lectures on various inventions and discoveries). I couldn’t find a date but apparently it was first published in Montreal in 1866 and the last print came in the final years of the 1800s. What’s most interesting is how the obviously originally hand-written text changes often throughout the book. You can see some of the differing forms of calligraphy below. There must have been a few different people collaborating to write this.

That’s all for now. This evening I’ll explore the eastern Plateau where I’ll see if whoever threw out these books is putting out more stuff today.