Show us your Thrift and/or yard sale finds

[Whizz for Atomms]

Antique store finds, actually...

That is awesome!

It makes me wish I still smoked so I too could be one of the cool kids and have one.

 

[Quigley Brown]

Lucky duck! I'm a Starburst Clock addict!

Thanks! Like I said, though, I've got to replace the motor. I wonder if I get a cheap battery-powered wall clock at Goodwill I could replace the motor myself....?

 

[tonyb]

Thanks! Like I said, though, I've got to replace the motor. I wonder if I get a cheap battery-powered wall clock at Goodwill I could replace the motor myself....?

You can get the battery-powered motors for something like six or seven bucks a pop. What's critical, I'd think, is getting one with a shaft (or whatever they call that part) that your clock's hands will fit. I'm assuming that the body of your clock is deep enough to accommodate the movement.

These guys here ...

http://www.ofrei.com/page_26.html

... appear to have the various types. It also appears that the thickness of the clock's face is an important consideration.

 

[tonyb]

This magazine rack set me back 10 bucks, which didn't exactly thrill my parsimonious little heart, but then, it's hard to get much for 10 bucks these days. (Even a simple lunch out runs that much, after you leave a couple of bucks for the wait staff. Or so goes my rationalization.) And it fits that modern(ish) vibe I got happening in this part of the house. And really, it's worth at least that much, right? Right?

 

[Loweboy461]

Its been a good week!

23 dollars spent!

 

[I Adore Film Noir]

Loweboy461,

Which LP is in the frame?

 

[Miss Tuppence]

Its been a good week!

23 dollars spent!

Oh I could cry it’s so beautiful! Like a bit of bakelite, me. The record player is pretty neat too…

 

[Loweboy461]

Its not "IN" the frame per say. i just used it for size refernce. Its a Frank Sinatra 78 from Coloumbia.
And that radio became my favortie radio as of saturday when i bought it!! I gotta find another Zenith knob though. And the Record player was a DOLLAR!! i couldnt pass it up. Mom got MAD when i brought ANOTHER record player home. When i go to college i am worried about Mom "Cleaning House" if you know what i mean. Lol

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I am so jealous of those radios! I'm a bit of a radio junkie lol

 

[tonyb]

Its not "IN" the frame per say. i just used it for size refernce. Its a Frank Sinatra 78 from Coloumbia.
And that radio became my favortie radio as of saturday when i bought it!! I gotta find another Zenith knob though. And the Record player was a DOLLAR!! i couldnt pass it up. Mom got MAD when i brought ANOTHER record player home. When i go to college i am worried about Mom "Cleaning House" if you know what i mean. Lol

Twenty-three bucks total for all that swag? It appears you have a bright future in the larceny business.

Great finds, man, even if the maternal unit doesn't appreciate it.

For whatever it's worth to you, know that domestic relations regarding such matters rarely improve as one progresses down this bumpy road. Now it's dear old Mom; soon enough it'll be the lovely bride, or whichever other person the committed old-junk fancier finds himself sharing a roof. The trick, it seems, is finding a good place for everything. A garage comes in handy. And it doesn't hurt that the goods are acquired at bargain prices. Even those benighted souls who can't fully appreciate the rightness of those wares would have to concede that the price was right.

 

[Shangas]

Flea-market finds:

Antique porcelain scuttle. Mint condition.

Straight-razor. 5/8 hollowgrind. French-point with double staliser and top & bottom jimps. Scales are rather obviously, "French Ivory" (aka: Celluloid).

Sanded it and polished it to remove the surface-rust, sharpened it and stropped it.

Now I'm going to find out how well it shaves!

 

[Warbaby]

First day of garage sailing this spring - scored this Automatic Electric Model 40 telephone for five bucks. Aside from needing a good clean-up, it's in great condition.

 

[Michaelshane]

Today's find....

 

[AtomicEraTom]

That is a steal for an old AE 40! I paid 35 for mine and thought it was a steal!

First day of garage sailing this spring - scored this Automatic Electric Model 40 telephone for five bucks. Aside from needing a good clean-up, it's in great condition.

 

[Warbaby]

Now that I've had some time to look at it for awhile, I really like the design. The angled corners and the grillework along the sides are a nice bit of deco styling. I opened up the case and the works are very clean, all the moving parts well-oiled, and it still has the paper pasted inside with the wiring diagram and adjustment instructions. There are also two phone company service stickers on the bottom - one from 1953 and the other from 1960. Of course, it will become a functional telephone after I get it cleaned up and put a new wire on.

 

[Loweboy461]

I have been "junking" (quotes because that word is used very lightly) sense i was about 12 going places with grandpa. now that im matureing so are my tastes. my lady friend likes my "junk" but who knows how it will turn out down the road. we have a 64' X 40' building with lots of space so that helps. but the stuff i buy s of too high of caliber to be put in the shop. i wanna display it!! And the "but Mom it was only a dollar!!" quit working a few years back. i have BOXES of stuff. Im a "Hoarder of High Class Things"

 

[Shangas]

High class things should be displayed in a high class manner. This usually involves some level of cleaning and rearranging of stuff around the house.

 

[tonyb]

True enough, Loweboy and Shangas.

What's that saying? It's something like "the opposite of a profound truth is another profound truth."

It seems a shame to have all this cool old junk and not have it out where it can be used and enjoyed. But then, so much of this stuff survives because it was put away and forgotten. This is especially true of the more ephemeral stuff -- magazines and whatnot. And everyday use will wear out everything, just about, sooner or later. Add to that all the still quite serviceable stuff that gets relegated to the landfill by its owner's acquisition of the new and improved (arguably) model.

Often I score stuff whose splendor is lost in its context. You know, people just can't see how cool it is (or see it at all) because it's crowded in with all that landfill fodder. For it to shine it has to stand on its own. A few people of my acquaintance -- more than a few, come to think of it -- live in spaces that are made much less pleasant than they might be by too much stuff. Much of that stuff is quite nice, in and off itself, and certainly worth having. But what good is a beautiful table top, say, if it can't be seen for all the stuff piled atop it?

I'm certainly not immune. I already have more lamps than I have good places for, but that didn't stop me from buying another one yesterday. Set me back five bucks at a Habitat for Humanity salvage store in a smallish town 20-some miles up the road. It's an acrylic and glass retro-deco sort of thing that cleaned up quite nicely. What'll I do with it? I dunno. Give it to a friend, probably.

 

[Loweboy461]

I have reached the point to where i am not just buying for me but i buy as gifts too. and some of my older stock i have rotated to the shop i have started to give away to close friends. people who find this stuff interesting and cool and i can teach them about it and give them the spark for saving cool old stuff that was passed on to me long ago.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I can never resist stuff for a dollar, or freebies. That's why I have a storage room full of Console TV's. Can't wait until they become 'retro' and valuable!

I have been "junking" (quotes because that word is used very lightly) sense i was about 12 going places with grandpa. now that im matureing so are my tastes. my lady friend likes my "junk" but who knows how it will turn out down the road. we have a 64' X 40' building with lots of space so that helps. but the stuff i buy s of too high of caliber to be put in the shop. i wanna display it!! And the "but Mom it was only a dollar!!" quit working a few years back. i have BOXES of stuff. Im a "Hoarder of High Class Things"