The Big Score

 
Maybe it won’t happen in a single trip to the thrift. Maybe it won’t happen in a day. But at one point you’ll look at your pile of thrifted treasures and say, “this is it.”  This is the Big Score.

I came to the realization that I had a touch of luck these last few weeks. I nailed a byline for a hot topic editorial in my city’s leading newspaper. I scored all these awesome finds at the thrift. Life was good.

Seemingly not long after dragging home bags of clothes, books, electronics and other assorted goodies, I fell ill to the flu. After spending a solid 5 days in bed, I grew restless. I’m still not feeling like myself. Not quite back on par with treasure hunting at the thrift, I think I’ll just take the time to share with all of you some great finds from the past.


First and foremost, this camera. I’m always a bit hesitant to gamble with thrift electronics. Many thrift stores do tests products before putting them on the sales floor. Radios, TVs, vacuum cleaners. These are typically pretty safe bets. Cameras? Cameras are a crapshoot. Though I know nothing of this particular brand. And though I wasn’t necessarily in the market for a camera, I took a chance.

Thanks to the spoils of the digital age, I haven’t worked with 35mm film in years. So this will take some getting used to. Due to the external flash that mounts on the camera, it weighs a ton. And it has varying apertures and automatic rewind. It was brand new in the box and seems to be a steal for $20. The only downside? I have to wait until I finish the roll before finding out just how big this score was. I have high hopes for this one. I really do.



This, however… This I knew was a wise investment. I’m not a sucker for all designers. I’m really not. Sure, I enjoy owning nice things. But only if those nice things speak to me personally. Do I like this item? Will I use this item? Is this item more than a status symbol? Yes, yes, yes. The answer is yes. I love Betsey Johnson. Her quirky, prima donna punk style just makes me smile.

So. When I found this lovely purple leopard print purse with black lace overlay…new…with original tags still on….with protective zipper pulls still on…with the original paper stuffing to protect the shape…well. I dashed over there to grab it. Originally, this bag is $68. At Impact Thrift it was marked $24.99.

But wait! The aisles were crawling with shoppers. The parking lot was jam-packed. It must be a store-wide sale, I thought to myself. And surely, it was. 25% off everything in stock. $18.75 for a brand new Betseyville bag? You better believe it.

With those kinds of savings, I could even buy this…


…multi-functional votive candle holder/square goblet/candy dish/glass decor. I like the fading gold, orange and red. And it was 90 cents. I’m just not entirely sure the purpose it will best serve…yet. Maybe some of you creative thrifters could offer some suggestions?

In hindsight, the roughly $40 spent tallies this one of my more expensive thrift adventures. I rarely find myself spending more than a couple of dollars on each item. So two $20 purchases in one week seems rather excessive. But who can pass up an old school 35 mm camera and Betsey Johnson? Not I. Besides. Look how neat that multi-functional votive candle holder/square goblet/candy dish/glass decor is.


What’s your biggest secondhand score?





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Being an Audiophile…For Cheap.

There’s much to be said about the abundance of knick-knacks, bric-a-brac and tchotchkes at the local thrift store, and of my growing personal collection of found oddities that could be described as such. But when it comes to thrifting for music, I never had much luck. Until this last year, that is.
In this special edition of Let’s Go Thrifting, I’ll share with all of you diehard thrifters the music I scored secondhand.

Now. Let me preface all of this by first describing my musical tastes. I enjoy many different artists in many different genres, so it’s hard to quite describe my preference. But…if we were to keep the story short it would sound something like… Hello. I’m Jackie and I like listening to girl-garage groups and Japanese pop from the 60’s, complaint indie-rock, DEVO and Lady Gaga.

So aside from finding the remnants of boy bands and one-hit wonders past, I’d never consider the average thrift store a viable option to expand my music library.


Good thing I was proven wrong!

The inventory so far:

On vinyl…

• Marlo Thomas and Friends Free to Be You and Me
• Nutty Numbers (a strange, strange assortment of songs from the renowned K-Tel collection)
• Big Brother and the Holding Company Cheap Thrills (Cheap, yes! Costing less than $1, in fact)
• DEVO Q:Are We Not Men? A: We are DEVO!
• DEVO Freedom of Choice

On CD…

• Belle & Sebastian The Boy with the Arab Strap.
• Sebadoh Bakesale
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-titled)
• School House Rock! Rocks (indie and educational!)
• Growing Up Too Fast: The Girl Group Anthology (2 discs of heartbreak and girl drama…and it’s great)
• The Go! Team Thunder, Lightning, Strike
• The Honorary Title Anything but the Truth

And…funny thing. That last title wasn’t particularly for me. I took a chance on the unknown… buying it simply for the cover art.



Yes. That’s a panda. And yes, it just devoured someone. But wait…There’s more! This particular Salvation Army where I bought the CD had it sealed in their own personalized plastic sleeves. So imagine my surprise when I peeled back the plastic, pried open the case and found a bonus CD hiding in there…



Nothing like a free album from The Postal Service! It’s so great. It’s almost like I knew that disc would be hiding in there, behind that drawing of the ferocious panda. So sometimes, just sometimes judging a book…or an album… is an awesome idea.

For five records and eight relatively non-mainstream CDs (from four different thrift stores, mind you) I paid about $18. Meanwhile, most chain-owned music stores (who never carry anything even close to the Nutty Numbers collection) somehow get away with charging that amount for one album…
So I suppose the moral of the story is that there is more to be said for thrifted music than just show tunes and Herb Alpert.



"We can dance if we want to!"


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The Weather Outside is Frightful. And That’s Not the Only Thing…

In visits to flea markets, garage sales and those beloved thrift stores, we at Let’s Go Thrifting have encountered many a strange find over the years.  And judging by a few specific finds I myself have acquired, I believe it's possible that I’ve discovered a unique ability to successfully scare family and friends.

This oil painting on canvas was found at my favorite secondhand bookstore in Philadelphia. I was at first hesitant to spend $20. But then I wondered if  I would ever again encounter such a vivid depiction of a   multicultural clan of doll-children escaping from some post-apocalyptic wasteland... It's now hanging in my bedroom.

This is, quite possibly, the most inappropriate book in publication. The most frightening thing about this find? Well that's a tie between a title that's straight out of an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and the author whose sole credentials on the supposed scientific matter of staring at people lie in his self-appointed expertise as a "Chief Watcher." Creepy? Yes. Hilarious? With a hearty guffaw, yes! In a future experiment, I plan to take this book to the nearest Starbucks and occasionally peer above the pages to practice the science of "body watching." My hypothesis? A swift escort off the premises.

 

In an effort to literally scare my sister, I bought a plastic bag of clown heads. 17 assorted smiling and crying decapitated clowns for .99 cents. What a deal! I lined a row of crying clowns inside the bathroom medicine cabinet. And I left a handful of smiling clowns neatly arranged on her bed. Then I just listened for the reaction. It was priceless. Since the initial scare, I’ve kept the clown heads in a wicker basket displayed in the living room…as a sort of conversation piece. The conversation usually goes: Are those clown heads? Why, yes they are…Followed by an awkward silence.

And in a special contribution to things that go creep at the thrift store, friend and Let’s Go Thrifting fan Angie Schlauch of Langhorne, PA sent us these:

This was described as a “mummified Tony Harrison” due to a striking resemblance of this character from The Mighty Boosh.

 

It’s uncanny!

Also, Angie documented a disturbing case of animal cruelty, when this knitting grandma chimp was spotted working at the sweat shop, then retired to the shelves of the Holy Redeemer thrift store.

Thanks for sharing, Angie. Contributions and comments are always welcome!

Funny how we encounter, document and occasionally feel the need to buy these cultural oddities...these hideous, inexplicably strange artifacts of other people's bad taste reflected by our own sick sense of humor.

What strange and horrifying secondhand things have you spotted lately?

____________________

 

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Donate Now to De-Clutter Your Christmas



Unless your family is this compact, ya better start tidying up for the holidays!

The holiday season is here and so the is all of the chaos that comes with it. Family flying in from out of town, a mountain of boxed and bagged gifts and stuffed stockings will soon be flooding your households with holiday cheer. But before you exchange gifts, bake the fruitcakes and make room for auntie’s sleeping arrangements, why not take the time to tidy up?

Of course you’re likely to dust, run the vacuum cleaner, spray some pine-scented air freshener. But why not confront the ghost of Christmases past and purge some unused goods too?

Chances are you’ll need every inch of space for guests and gifts. So here are a few helpful hints to make room for all that holiday spirit:

• Go through a few closets and sort out any un-worn or ill-fitting clothes and shoes. Don’t forget those holiday sweaters you’ve acquired over the years!
• Filter your holiday decorations to the ones you actually use and enjoy. Ask yourself: Do I really need five dancing Santa Clause dolls and 10 tree toppers?
• Do you still have gifts from last year that just weren’t quite your style? Mint in the box Chia Pets, 1000 piece puzzles you just don’t want to assemble, a Snuggie perhaps?
• So many clearance sale goers stock-up on holiday decor, gift sets, and more after the holiday, by the time the next Christmas rolls around, they’ve forgotten all about their post-holiday stockpile. And this is exactly how you end up owning 50 rolls of holiday wrapping paper. (No exaggeration. This person, who shall remain unnamed, does exist and at one time owned this much or more).

So don’t put the ho-ho-ho in hoarding this holiday season. Donate all unwanted goods to your local thrift store before your family and friends come caroling at your doorstep.

_______________


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