Watching Pawn Stars made me curious about the junk I have laying around here. There's an old F hole guitar I bought a few years back. It's a Monteray Harmony. I found it in a junk shop and the dude had $100 dollars on it and I kind of smirked. I'm so sure, an old git with a name like Harmony? Pfft. Then I picked it up, tuned it and played it. Cripes, the sound that came out of it blew me away. I guess they were a poor man's version of a Gibson, they sound like Gibson's. I payed him the full price and took it home. Poor old thing doesn't even have a case and is only dusted on the frets where my fingers land. So, I started looking these things up today and found out that not only did I NOT get ripped off on it, I think I got a real bargain. Kind of pretty, isn't it?*
So, what's the best thing you ever found at a junk store, yard sale, pawn shop?
42 comments:
Nice guitar! I pick instruments by how they sound too. Had an old player piano once that sounded so wonderfully 'wild west bar room' I fell in love with it. It was painted beige and was in a forgotten corner of the showroom on clearance for $500.
The best deal I ever got were two authentic Windsor captain's chairs for $20. They even have the brass plate nailed on the bottom of the seat.
The best thing I ever got from a yard sale is a sign that reads " My house was clean yesterday . Sorry you missed it." I love it because my 9 year old daughter got money from her dad to go to the yard sale down the street. She ran back home with the sign so excited that she bought something for her mom. She is the sweetest thing.
A vintage leather clutch (small handbag) from the 30's. Paid $10 for it.
Frimmy, I once tried to refinish a beige painted piano. What a mess. I gave up and sold it.
Valle, I love that story, your daughter is precious.
Naseem, I'd love to see that clutch. Right now I'm using a Capezio red leather slouch bag bought for a bargain 5 bucks.
Dishy loves her handbags!! Have you ever went to a garage sale at your friends house and seen something you gave them for sale? I have!!!! I just picked it up & took it back home, was never used or appreciated. Pisses me off. I also "loaned" some of my sons baby clothes to a friend and went to her garage sale & saw them in her sale!!! I took them home!! Those are probably the best finds I have gotten at a garage sale. My own babies expensive baby clothes/shoes!!!
rox
Not me but a friend of mine who loves antiquing...She and I went to a rummage sale where she found this extremely ugly picture that had been framed she didn't like the picture either but thought the frame had potential..she being crafty and all she would pick up that kind of stuff or even those old milk cans clean them up varnish what could be varnished paint what could be painted most of the stuff would end up looking beautiful after she got a hold of it...ANYWAYS this ugly ass picture in this unique looking frame, she had an old black and white photo of a family member that she though would look awesome in this frame with a dark matting so bought the thing for 0.50 or 1.00 she took it home carefully took off the back and found some post card dated back in the 1800's by some author, I will have to call her to see if she still has it, I know on that particular day she merely put the post card back where she found it and placed the backing back on the frame elated.
Connie
I bought a beautiful framed pastel painting of hills and a river, probably two feet by three feet.
It looked familiar to me, and sure enough, it is a painting of the Columbia River gorge.
My husband researched the signature, and it was painted in the 40's. We were able to trace the name to the painter's daughter, living somewhere in the deep South. Alabama, I think. She was elderly, and said her mom would have been so happy to know that someone liked her painting.
Framed, it was $2. It hangs over our bed.
I also bought an inlaid wood music box from Sorrento, Italy for $3 at another sale.
Christina
I found an awesome shirt with a cartoon of a cat and a kitten on it that says "Mom Cat." It cost $1 at a junky clothing store in my town. I also got a pair of really cool pink shoes with a chunky heel for $3 at an outlet store in Las Vegas years ago. I like bargains on clothes.
I got 2 rings for $100. One a band with 5 small diamonds and one right hand ring with a small diamond. The single diamond is of very good quality, cut & clarity. It also heelped that my uncle owned the pawn shop. A good pawn shop can make a killing if it's able to hold on and people are getting rid of things they don't want or need anymore. And I think it's like a treasure hunt.
I'm not much into yard sales and such, but my sister is and one day she convinced me to go to an estate sale with her. I mainly looked at all the costume jewelery and found a 30" gold-looking chain that was very heavy and pretty. I paid $2 for it. When I got it home and looked at it closer I saw that it was 18K. Several weeks later I took it to a pawn shop just to see how much they would offer for it. They offered $200. Knowing that pawn shops only offer approximately 1/2 of what something is worth, I decided to keep it. Maybe I should go to estate sales more often. LOL.
Bought an interesting looking bookcase at an estate sale for 90 bucks. I loved it cause it was real old and even had bubble glass in the door. When we got home we noticed a Stickley stamp on the back. Did some reseaching and found out who this Stickley fellow was and that our bookcase was done in the "mission" style. Ever since then I've loved that style of furniture.
We have a building at the town dump where you can drop off or pick up used items you may not want, but others could use. I have gotten new changing table, pine drop leaf table-not a mark on it, toys, etc. All free.
I have left many things too. Bummer though, some people hang there ALL DAY and take the really good stuff and sell it on ebay.....
We were on our way back from the coast about 12 or 13 years ago when we stopped at a garage sale.
Our son was very small then, and we found a beautiful, birds-eye maple children's table and two matching captain's chairs. It was in excellent condition. We got it for $10 and have gotten a lot of use out of it. The chairs are packed away, as all the kids are big now, but we still use the table in our living room.
Christina
Yesterday I went to the Goodwill for my monthly doggie toy buying spree. Got three full size stuffed animals, a bag of 6 smaller stuffed animals and a shirt for me for the grand total of six bucks and got 25% senior discount :)
escrow
OMG Matilda!
You got something special. I have a Stickley story too but it is my Moms find. She bought the ugliest rocker at a yard sale for five bucks. This was in the late 70s. I inherited. The seat was a mess. Needed serious help. So hubs brings it to be reupholstered for me as a Christmas present. The guy refinishing offered him one thousand for it. Hubs did not budge (and I know it killed him) cause it was my Mom`s rocker and he was fixing it as a gift for me.
That five dollar ugo rocker is a Stickley! Not Ugly anymore!
Seriously I have done good at yardsales in the handbag department. Got a gently used Louis Vuitton briefcase for $20 and a very tiny barrel bag that was supposed to be a makeup bag that I gave to my grand daughter for her 1st Bday. Now, who other than Suri gets a LV for her 1st BD?
At another GS found a brand new green snakeskin (yeah call PETA) Prada bag and a Kate Spade for $45. I'm set for life on bags, thank you very much!
escrow
I bought some wicker rockers once for $10 a piece. They were dirty and I took them home and painted them and my Aunt bought them for $100...All they needed was paint and they looked like new!!!
DD, I've found so many good finds in junk shops that I can't list them all. Love this kind of thread, though and love to hear what "treasures" everyone finds.
Valle, I have that saying on a door mat! Your little girl sounds so adorable.
Once when my middle guy was about 6, and his older brother, who he idolized, was playing football, a neighbor sold him one football cleat for $.50. He was so pleased with his "find" because he was half way to being like his older brother, and I was so mad that I went down to the neighbor and threw a dollar on the table and said, "I had no idea you were so hard up." Can you imagine selling a 6 year old one shoe??? I was mad at him, too, but he made me laugh when he said he could probably buy another one in another garage sale.
I bought a bottle years ago. It's been through kids, from shelf to shelf in the house and probably knocked over a dozen times. I decided to fool around and look it up on the web a few years ago, and I found out it's worth $500. Of course, I'd have to find a buyer first! (grin)
Another time, and my favorite, I found a baby book--beautifully done with a cute little boy's locks, a picture of him as a baby on his mama's lap, names of his nurses and doctor, 1st step, 1st tooth, etc., etc. I brought it home to see if I could find the little boy--I hit it the first time. He'd never moved out of the family home. The guy was in his 70s and never knew it existed--his mother died when he was a little boy. He was suspicious of me, at first. I asked him all the obvious questions, then told him that his hair was blonde when he was a baby, the names of his nurses, the day he took his first step, etc. He was totally confused. I told him that I was going to send him something--he was really convinced, then, that I was up to something. My husband overnighted it to him and he called us when he got it. He was so grateful to have it. He had one son who was coming over that night to see it.
I just got a really good buy on a little cabinet the other day--have to paint it and fix it up, but it's perfect for what I want to use it for.
I always wondered how it wound up in a junk shop in the south. I always wonder the same thing when I see very old photo's of people in the shops. On owner said, "You'd be surprised how many people buy them and hang them and claim they were relatives." I think he was probably pulling my leg--more likely people bought them for the frames. Anyway, I always say,"Awww, that's somebody's Mother or somebody's son, etc." My husband used to laugh at me.
Matilda, anything Stickley is gold. A chick I knew paid $500 for a old cabinet and sold it for $35,000. I've never been that lucky. I have found some nice genuine prints though, dirt cheap. I still have three of them. One is a Homer Winslow.
Coyote, I love old photos too. I have a Victorian album full of them. If you see a studio portrait of a person, usually babies, with thier eyes closed, it means they were dead. Victorian people didn't really do photos unless they were fairly rich, but, if the kid died they took one. Creepy, huu? I had some of those and when I found out what they were, I got rid of them. I particulary like the old wedding photos.
escrow..LV for 20 bucks??? I wanna go shopping with you!
Lisa K, awesome. Now you have to find her a wicker couch and paint it to match. LOL! Cha ching.
Tricia, I love the dump places, Nancy Todays town has one like that and she films it for You Tube. It's so cool. I wish we had a dump like that.
Rox, sorry, but, I'd never get pissed if a friend sold something I gave them. I mean, sometimes you just don't know what people will like, you can't take it personally. But, seeing something you LOANED them being sold is pretty assholy on their part.
Heidi..Stickely..cha ching. BIG cha ching.
I found a 35mm camera for 25 bucks at a yard sale. It had a nice bag, a 2.5 telefoto lens and a flash. Looked it all up and it would have been $600 worth of equipment 15 years ago. Took a bunch of great pictures and it still works great.
Pat, that's so creepy about the babies!!! Shivers.
My Grandmother used to get pictures of dead relatives from "the old country".
Like, all of the furniture in my house.
Nothing is shitty, and if it was, I refurbished it.
Solid maple kitchen table...not dated, classy. 45 bucks.
I like deals. I don't pay retail. Fuck that.
Did you ever hear about the old lady that bought a Jackson Pollock at a yard sale? She thought it was a piece of shit and shoved it in her storage room....her neices' friend had a friend who was a art history prof. and then she figured it wasn't a "piece of shit". BTW, she's a hillbilly, I saw her on Leno.
I like old Carnival glass. I just enjoy the oldness of it, and the luster.
I bought his horrible Carnival glass canister with lid. It's the amber-rainbow type color. I got it for a dollar.
It's sitting on the bathroom sink, holding hair brushes. I think I put the lid somewhere (I hope!).
The other day I was bored and browsing antique sites. I saw my ugly canister listed for $250. It's evidently somewhat rare!
I guess I should find that lid and then wash the toothpaste spots off the thing.
i only really find stuff curb side shopping that is worthwhile! :P
they have websites with those victorian death photos on 'em! sometimes it's hard to tell if they are alive or not, because they look so lifelike in some of them---they have them standing up in some photos and in some, they even paint eyes on the closed eye lids to look like they are open!!
i am sure others have noticed this, but when people pass away their eyes always look like they've disassociated with the body...i don't know how else to explain it....even immediately after death, like if you look at people who've been executed....
alright...morbid topic....i took a valium and need to get to bed!
night!
My absolutely favourite things all came from second-hand shops, junk shops, whatever. I've only bought a knife or two from a pawn shop- there's a weird vibe in those places, some kind of open secrecy and desperation.
I love vintage furniture, old books (hold the mildew), vintage kitchen implements and linens. I have so many favourites, I couldn't pick the best. The weird thing is, the better the bargain, the more highly I value it and the more I mourn it if it is lost or damaged.
A toast with the Virgin Mary's image on one side, and Joseph on the other. An ironing board with an image of the shroud of Turin, an autographed Bible ( a must have, what a lucky find! 2000 years old!). It's all going on ebay soon.
Jarhead
shmedelle, I DID hear about the Jackson Pollock. That's a good one, like, how would you know it wasn't a drop cloth? LOL!
SharnaPax, you lucked out with that canister. I have some carnival glass around here, but, nothing like that.
Jarhead, sounds like I'll see your treasures on eBay soon. LMAO. Maybe on Letterman too.
South Fla. has tons of consignment, thrift stores, etc. The sad part about many of them is that people make a deal with the owners letting them have dibs on the best items, yes, to be sold on EBay. I just feel that it ruins the fun of finding something really good at a bargain price.
I like little trinkets, recently I found an old, emerald green, cut
glass perfume bottle, really pretty. When I brought it to the cashier, she said,"How did that get past me"?
So,I guess employees get first dibs , too.
One of my better finds is a huge, solid oak table, with two leaves, and for some reason, three oak chairs for $5 total. Last day of the yard sale. It's got a beat-up top, but would be pretty easy to refinish. I actually am happy with it looking imperfect, as it is meant to be in the back room for fabric cutting, crafting, etc. This way I don't have to worry about what I do to it.
Right now it's in the dining room, because it is so easy to throw a tablecloth over it, and have a big family dinner.
Christina
Maureen, you hit on one of my pet peeves too. People actually volunteer to work in those stores, like our community center, just so they can get things first. Everyone else is left with garbage.
Christina, that's awesome. I'm using a Duncan Phyfe drop leaf table with fancy brass feet I found for 5 bucks at a yard sale. I tried to tell them, but, they said they wanted to get rid of their "old junk." Fine, I'll take it.
a pair of Uggs for my daughter, in great shape, at Goodwill for $1.75
I love this topic!
A big, brass (working) chandelier for $5.00 at Goodwill. I absolutely love it. The el-cheapo light that came with our house went straight into the garbage when I brought the chandelier home.
My Mom bought a dining room table at a garage sale, came home and found $90.00 hidden down inside the base of it. (She returned the money to the owners.)
I never knew that the employees at thrift stores got "first pick" of stuff. Interesting.
I have really good luck at the yard sales in richer neighborhoods. I have lots of fake and real high end hand bags that I never paid over $20 each for.
DD, I think my carnival glass canister is a reproduction, actually. For one thing, it has really prominent seams (yes, while some of the glass does have seams, these are way too big), and the sheen doesn't seem right. I don't care what that website says.
I have a true large blue carnival fruit bowl that I inherited from my aunt. I know it's real, I remember it from childhood. That one is only worth about $40, and it's gorgeous.
I love putting green apples in it. There's something about that color mix that makes me smile. It's always been one of my "try to find joy in at least one thing a day" pinky swear I made to myself years ago.
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