Show us your Thrift and/or yard sale finds

[Warbaby]

Found this briefcase at the thrift shop today for $1.99. I don't think it's as vintage as it looks because it's in almost mint condition - prolly from Russia or some other Eastern European country.

 

[Miss RM]

It's been almost a year since I found this set, but I'm still pretty chuffed. It's Bakelite, and cost only $3!! I read somewhere (can't remember which thread) about how hard it is to find good vintage jewelry for reasonable prices these days. I say, keep looking! It's still possible!

 

[Warbaby]

Gorgeous set, Miss RM, and an absolute steal. It's always nice to hear that treasures are still found for a pittance.

 

[cookie]

It's been almost a year since I found this set, but I'm still pretty chuffed. It's Bakelite, and cost only $3!! I read somewhere (can't remember which thread) about how hard it is to find good vintage jewelry for reasonable prices these days. I say, keep looking! It's still possible!

seriously funky Congrats!i

 

[Joie DeVive]

I had a little boon this weekend. I hit an estate sale and for a grand total of 50 cents I got 5 books.

I got the Sunset Host and Hostess Book copyright 1940 (my edition printed 1952), The Complete Book of Table Setting; with Service Etiquette and Flower Arrangement copyright 1949, Gregg Shorthand (instructional text), and my husband threw a paperback copy of Around the World With Auntie Mame on the pile. My favorite though was a 1943 edition of The Complete Book of Sewing with it's dust jacket intact and including the original delivery letter and invoice. I thought this letter was fantastic.

It reads in part:

"Dear Friend,

Here is your copy of the COMPLETE BOOK OF SEWING. Now you can quickly know how to sew with the best of them..."
"Enclosed is your invoice for the amount now due. With it comes a wonderful bargain opportunity-- YOURS if you act at once.
You know, of course, that 25,000 doctors have gone into uniform. Soon one third of all doctors in the country will be in the Armed Forces. Do you realize what this will mean to you?
Today it is often impossible to get ANY doctor even for illnes, let alone emergency. So now, more than ever, it is up to you to HAVE the medical facts that everyone should possess.
That's why I have made all arrangememts to send you for 5 days FREE trial, an amazing book of Medical Facts called the MODERN HOME MEDICAL ADVISER...."

(emphasis mine) Both a period piece, and the same vein of commercial you can see today!

It goes on to tout the book and whatnot. It even includes the phrase "What would you pay for...?" and "No, not $25, or $50, not even $7.50... but for only $2.98!"

I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.... lol

 

[Odalisque]

It's been almost a year since I found this set, but I'm still pretty chuffed. It's Bakelite, and cost only $3!! I read somewhere (can't remember which thread) about how hard it is to find good vintage jewelry for reasonable prices these days. I say, keep looking! It's still possible!

Fantastic!
How I wish there were treasures like this in California!
The thrift stores and yard sales in my town are all full of late 80's trash.

 

[Miss RM]

Thanks, everyone!

Odalisque, I've heard that complaint from friends of mine in California. I have no luck at all in the current town I live in, but a few hours north, and it's a thrift store gold mine! I really miss living up there!

 

[Brinybay]

Thanks, everyone!

Odalisque, I've heard that complaint from friends of mine in California. I have no luck at all in the current town I live in, but a few hours north, and it's a thrift store gold mine! I really miss living up there!

Hmmm, you just gave me an idea. I too have been frustrated with finding shelves filled with Chinese made garbage in local thrift stores. Maybe I should try driving an hour or two out the area. Which direction, I know not.

 

[Miss 1929]

Found this briefcase at the thrift shop today for $1.99. I don't think it's as vintage as it looks because it's in almost mint condition - prolly from Russia or some other Eastern European country.

It's a spy case, I tell you! Probably abandoned full of nuclear secrets and they threw it overboard on the way back to Siberia...lovely.

Hey, looking at your current signature, you could name it... Satchel Paige...

 

[MadelienneBlack]

If any of you are near South Eastern Pennsylvania, say an outside out of Philly or so, it's a thrift store and antiques heaven! I should know, I live there!

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

If any of you are near South Eastern Pennsylvania, say an outside out of Philly or so, it's a thrift store and antiques heaven! I should know, I live there!

Mmmhm. Have you been to Zern's? Despite there being only 4-5 teeth per every hundred person at any given time there, or perhaps because of it, interesting things can be found. There's an entire store for vintage clothing, almost entirely women's.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

I made out like a bandit at my local Goodwill a couple days ago. I'm going to list a lot of this in the Classifieds for exactly what I paid for it, a couple bucks in most cases! Let me know if you're interested in something I don't list. Here is what I got for a grand total of $20:

Top pair marked Kramer, middle pair marked Japan, sweater guard unmarked.

50s monogram purse, looks unworn, still stuffed with paper. I wonder who owned it? I love vintage monogram stuff.

Silver 50s or 60s clutch with chain and pearl clasp.

Not sure of the date on this one. Totally encrusted with seed beads. I was thinking it was modern, but then I saw the awesome lucite faux MOP clasp! Stained on the back, but possibly OxiClean can get it out?

Cool 60s flight bag. Already being used as my book bag.

50s (?) Cotton B. Altman dress. Kind of an anomaly, this one. It has a wrap cheongsam-style top that closes with handmade frogs, then has a flared skirt and what appears to be the original sash belt. Look at that fabric! Dingy though, needs a cleaning and a couple snaps replaced. Paid $5 for it!!!!

 

[imoldfashioned]

That flight bag is killer Bella! What a great haul!

 

[Brinybay]

Its rare to find anything of interest in the thrift's in my town, but I stumbled upon this little gem the other day...

I hope this works I'm still trying to figure out the bst wat to post pics here (I'm a little slow I guess )

p.s. Brinybay those nail clippers are pretty cool, are they still sharp?

I was able to view you pictures ok. I haven't tried the clippers yet, I'll let you know next time I need to trim my nails. I was able to date them though. I found a 1906 Hardware catalog online that has an image of Gem Nail Clippers that look very similar: http://tinyurl.com/c9gz2r (Go to page 604).

What's funny is when you google "Gem Nail Clippers" guess who comes up the most? Dr. Seuss! He was apparently paid in 12 gross of Gem Nail Clippers instead of a paycheck one time (before he became a children's author)

When Ted, then back in the U.S., finally sold a cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post, he was motivated to move from his parent's home in Massachusetts to New York to try his hand as a cartoonist. He finally sold his first cartoon to a humor magazine, Judge, and landed a job as staff writer there, as well. Taking this as a sign that things were looking up, he and Helen were married. Still quite poor, they rented a dismal apartment across from a stable in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York. When the stable horses died, they would be pulled out of the stable and dumped off into the middle of the street, there to be left for several days until picked up by the sanitation department. The magazine began having money problems, with staff sometimes being paid in goods given to the magazine by advertisers-one week Ted received 100 cartons of shaving cream; another time, 1,872 Little Gem nail clippers--so the Geisels stayed rather longer than they had anticipated in this particular location.

http://www.anapsid.org/aboutmk/seuss.html

 

[FStephenMasek]

It's been almost a year since I found this set, but I'm still pretty chuffed. It's Bakelite, and cost only $3!! I read somewhere (can't remember which thread) about how hard it is to find good vintage jewelry for reasonable prices these days. I say, keep looking! It's still possible!

Is it transluchent? If so, it is not Bakelite, but may be Catalin, essentially the same material, but without fillers. Here is one article I found on such materials:

http://www.coololdgames.com/CatvsBak.html

 

[BeBopBaby]

Bakelite and Catalin are two different plastics, but are both commonly referred to as Bakelite. All of the "Bakelite" jewelry that you see is actually Catalin. Bakelite was generally only used for electrical appliances, handles on pots and coffee pots, etc. because it will not melt. Bakelite has become the general term for the jewelry in the same way that people call all tissues Kleneex.

Bakelite is a thermoset plastic made out of formaldehyde, phenol and a filler to make the product stronger and cheaper; usually wood, rags, cotton, and sometimes asbestos. Because it has filler in it, once the first layer of Bakelite is destroyed it is impossible to restore to its original luster. True Bakelite was only made in two varying colors: brown and black. It could only be made in these two colors because of the extreme heat it endured while being cured.

Catalin is also a thermoset plastic made of formaldehyde and phenol with no fillers. Therefore it can be restored and reworked. Catalin is usually very colorful. Over time Catalin develops a patina, there is NO white Catalin (unless it has been restored, reworked, or has never seen sunlight). Sunlight causes the Catalin to yellow or "petina". All of the original white Catalin has yellowed over time, and clear to "apple juice", blue to green or teal, purple to brown or tan, while green, orange and red stay about the same. White marbling in marbled pieces will be yellowed. Catalin also shrinks over time, that is why most of the radios have cracks, warping, and the fiberboard on the back no longer fits.

 

[Foofoogal]

I sold a book but it was about tons of different plastics made around the time of the plastics industry beginnings. Very interesting to see the different ones.
I gave up trying to figure out bakelite. Never could figure out how to do the testing with the hot water, simithichrome (sp) or whatever. It is a mystery to me.

http://www.amazon.com/Wallace-Homes...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233927241&sr=1-1

probably should of kept this book. it is amazing.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

That flight bag is killer Bella! What a great haul!

Thanks!!

 

[missfire]

Ok, here is my living room, furnished a la thrift stores and Craigslist:

RCA's mascot, Nipper, is from Goodwill for $6.99. He's looking at a wind-up Victrola that we bought from Craigslist for $75.

The mirror above the fireplace was $49.95 at Goodwill.
The elephant tusks around the fireplace were $5.99 each at Goodwill.

Mantle clock - $6.99 at Goodwill.

The chalkware Indian Hiawatha busts on the fireplace mantle I believe to be old Cigar store advert pieces. They were resale shop finds - one was $40 and the other was $28.

The room actually has a lot more finds in it, but this is the only picture I have handy that shows a bunch at once.

 

[CopperNY]

today's haul

-two decent ties. nice, but nothing special
-Swank propeller tie bar.
-Saks Fifth Avenue stingy in taupe. only an 1/8th size off! side to side is perfect, but fore/aft has some wiggle room. a little soft foam under the sweatband in back should take care of things. my first fur felt. appears to be unworn.

total cost: $21