Here are some of my most memorable "finds" from the past year, all things that make me go "EWWWWWWW".
1. Drafting Book:
I purchased a whole bunch of vintage books from an estate sale early in 2012. Most of them were old textbooks. One in particular was really cool at first glance. An early 1900's drafting book worth a bit of money from completed and current listings at the time. The initial inspection and photo shoot went great! As I was writing up the listing, I had the book open next to me on my desk. A glint on my desk caught my eye. It was a small, perfectly round ball of silver I couldn't catch with my finger. Suddenly, a light went off from high school science and I knew what it was! Mercury! The binding and binding edges of the book contained many, many, many little mercury balls. I still cringe to think of all the places that book went in our place, how many times it was looked at, all the while dropping little balls of mercury all over!
2. Jewelry Box:
We went to a garage sale packed with great stuff last summer. On the table we found a jewelry box/garage storage box full of old odds and ends. We could only get a couple of the drawers open as some of them were so full they would get stuck opening a little bit. We bought the box for under ten dollars. When we got it home and started looking through all the stuff in it and we opened some of the stuck drawers. One of the drawers contained 3 human molars, complete with cavities, fillings, roots, and crevice gunk!!!
3. Pretty Sweater:
This happened recently! I am always cold in the winter, so I am always on the lookout for big, bulky sweaters to wear around the house. I found a pretty, pink sweater that was nice and thick so I bought it for a dollar and brought it home. This particular sweater had two small pockets on the bottom front. I wash ALL second hand clothing the minute I get it home and I reached in to make sure that there wasn't anything in the pockets before it went into the wash. My hand closed around something kinda hard, kinda soft. When I pulled it out, it was USED KLEENEX!!!! Not just "I blew my nose on it" Kleenex, but the gross "Grandma spits phlegm balls" kinda Kleenex! Both pockets were full of it and I had to use kitchen tongs to get the rest of it out, washed the sweater twice, and washed my hands like I was prepping for surgery! (It's cold and flu season here. No chances!!)
4. Meatloaf and Salad and Ketchup- Oh My!
I love to buy flatware at estate and garage sales. What I don't understand is the amount of flatware that I bring home that looks like it was scooped out of the sink after dinner or pulled from the dishwasher before it was actually washed!!! Is it too much to expect people to wash their flatware before putting it into a ziplock to sell?!?
I have also brought home a number of items that were Febreezed, sitting next to a fan, or air freshener only to realize later there was a reason:
Heavy Smokers
Cat/Dog Who Pees Wherever He/She Pleases
Incontinent Elderly
And some smells you just can't identify.
I have also found my share of rat/squirrel/mouse poop.
OK, share in the fun! Tell me some of your most memorable "EWWWWWWW" finds from thrifting! I need a good laugh! :)
EWWWWW! I have been pretty lucky. Nothing like you! No good stories at all
ReplyDeleteYour day will come! :)
DeleteOnly a couple I can think of.
ReplyDeleteA gorgeous vintage illustrated children's book, that I was flipping through taking photos of the pages - and a little darling had drawn penises on some of the pictures - in texta. Sheesh!
The other was a video - when I opened the case, there was a big black spider inside. I squealed and threw it half-way across the room. It was already dead - but now I always open the cases with a *hint* of panic.
Yeah, you found some winners though! LOL.
LOL! Love the added artwork of kids! Spiders make me run for cover too and I know you have some big, nasty ones in Australia. *Cringe*
DeleteI bought several decks of near-but-not-quite-vintage playing cards at the thrift still in their neat little velvetty covered cardboard boxes that the thrift geniuses had taped around completely with packing tape, and I didn't think to ask if I could take the tape off before buying them. When I opened them at home (all three boxes of two cute patterned decks each) they were covered with dirt...dirt not being a strong enough word really. The kind of grimey filth that gets on things that were touched by hands that never ever got washed. Literally black around the eedges and spotted with bits of loose ick front and back. I could only imagine a prisoner on death row or a grumpy old get off my lawn kind of guy who lives alone in the back woods with no running water and gets clean in the lake only once when spring thaw comes, or possibly someone raised by wolves, playing solitaire with all those cards until you could grow carrots on them. Since I collect single cards too I tried to find a few in each deck to hang on to, but the smell of grandpa's gross back pocket that clung to each and every one inevitably made me commit the ultimate thrifter's regretful sadness; I pitched 'em.
ReplyDeleteEWWWWWW, years of hand grime......Gross! I would have tossed them too. Thanks for stopping by! :)
ReplyDeleteI couldn't remember anything yesterday to post, but I was just recalling the time I bought 6 pounds of Lego that was thrown in a box that was filled with dog hair. It took all day to clean it, dry it, sort and package it. Very gross!
ReplyDelete