Yard Sale, Thrift Store, Junk Heap Shopping (Part 1)

[Anna N]

That is my Saturday morning ritual as well! Both hardcover volumes of JC's The Art of French Cooking, all volumes of the Time-Life series (but only a few of the accompanying spiral-bound recipe booklets ), mint copies of Dan Lepard's The Handmade Loaf and Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres..... Practically all of my cook books are from garage sales or thrift stores and I rarely pay more than $1 per copy. I am now on a hunt for Richard Olney's Simple French Food at a garage sale. As well as books, my kitchen is filled with gadgets, dishes and pans from the same source. Last weekend my daughter and I found a Black & Decker bread machine in excellent condition for $5 which we grabbed for a friend. I could go on and on. Roll on tomorrow!

[hjshorter]

My greatest find (already mentioned on another thread) at the Goodwill book sale was the complete Time-Life Foods of the World, including spiral bound recipe books, and all of the American volumes. For $25.

My Mastering the Art I & II are yard sale finds.

I don't get to used book stores nearly as often as I would like to these days.

[Chris Amirault]

I clearly need to change the title of this thread to reflect the zeitgeist here. So, let's hear your yard sale, thift shop, and junk heap food finds!! Please include prices and gloat when applicable.

[marlena spieler]

Horror in the thrift store bookshelf!!!!!

There was a shelf devoted entirely to me, every book i wrote. and of course they were all lovingly autographed to brother in law, sister in law and their three children who were really excited that i wrote cookbooks. however,! my b***h of a sister in law didn't want to cook i guess. I keep telling my husband: No More Cookbooks for Them!

AND she chose the thrift shop near ME not HER (neighbourhing village) just to be sure that i found them (she knows i check out the thrift shops regularly). it really hurt my feelings, though i know that its just her little way of being who she is. i guess that is what hurt, that people have to be that way.

other than that, i like the woman's day encyclopedia of cooking which i collected until i had all the volumes. they were published in the early 60s i think and were really quite basic as well as sophisticated and real--they managed to stear clear of the packaged silly fake food stuff going around the cooking and eating world during those times. i love the books and always look stuff up in them. james beard, all sorts of people made contributions, there are essays, and collections, and sometimes its useful, sometimes downright quirky. lovely books if you can find them......

Marlena

[Chris Amirault]

There was a shelf devoted entirely to me, every book i wrote. and  of course they were all lovingly autographed to brother in law, sister in law and their three children who were really excited that i wrote cookbooks. however,! my b***h of a sister in law didn't want to cook i guess.  I keep telling my husband: No More Cookbooks for Them!

AND she chose the thrift shop near ME not HER (neighbourhing village) just to be sure that i found them (she knows i check out the thrift shops regularly). it really hurt my feelings, though i know that its just her little way of being who she is. i guess that is what hurt, that people have to be that way.

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Oh, man, that is a very, very cold diss. That's like "Ex-Lax Chocolate Layer Cake" on your birthday stuff....

[anzu]

Horror in the thrift store bookshelf!!!!!

There was a shelf devoted entirely to me, every book i wrote. and  of course they were all lovingly autographed to brother in law, sister in law and their three children who were really excited that i wrote cookbooks. however,! my b***h of a sister in law didn't want to cook i guess.  I keep telling my husband: No More Cookbooks for Them!

AND she chose the thrift shop near ME not HER (neighbourhing village) just to be sure that i found them (she knows i check out the thrift shops regularly). it really hurt my feelings, though i know that its just her little way of being who she is. i guess that is what hurt, that people have to be that way.

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Pearls before swine!

Anzu (who has some of your books and appreciates them greatly)

[marlena spieler]

Dear Chrisamirault and Anzu:

I love you guys!

Thanks,

Marlena

[Busboy]

Not books but I did score an immersion blender, ice cream maker and rice cooker for a grand total of 20 bucks from some guy named "Shorty" at a flea market next to the Italian Market in Philly.

[hjshorter]

In response to your original inquiry...

Seen always but never bought: "diet" cookbooks (think Grapefruit Diet and the like), low-fat/cholesterol/taste cookbooks, celebrity cookbooks, and all the Gourmet/Bon Appetit/Southern Living, etc. etc. Best of (insert year here).

[racheld]

Oh, ((((Marlena!!!))))

What a snitty thing to do!!! Knew just where to stick (and donate) the knife.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I know just how I'd feel, and would just MELT if I saw something of mine on the shelves. But they got grabbed up immediately by some lucky soul who is STILL gloating and bragging to HIS/HER friends about the great trove.

We may see it appear before this thread is done.

I'm gonna go looking for you in a REAL store today, and she can just take THAT!!! So there.

Gotta go cause we're leaving for the weekend, but you just don't worry about that ^&*(%. She can just open some more Lean Cuisine and take her broom in for its oil change.

Pah.

rachel

[andiesenji]

A friend of mine, who is re-doing her 100+ year old farm house outside of Memphis, TN, is working her way down the "endless yard sale" right now starting in Covington, KY. Last year she found some incredible bargains (in spite of what seemed like endless rain), including some light fixtures piped for gas made by Tiffany. She bought a beautiful stove made in the 20s several enamel topped kitchen tables from the same era and a Hoosier cabinet with all the fittings intact.

She moved from California to Ohio and then to Tenn., five years ago and has gone on this trek for four years. Her son owns a small trucking company and sends a truck and driver with her (lucky her).

When she used to visit me she always admired all my cast iron and other old stuff but out here had a very modern house (50s modern, all glass, chrome and etc.) and didn't think such things would fit. After her husband passed away she moved back there to be near her son and found this lovely bungalow built in 1902.

I haunted swap meets and yard sales for years and still manage to get to a couple each year, usually the one at the Rose Bowl which has a lot of real antique vendors, they vet their vendors very strictly.

I also go to estate sales and auctions, particularly those in the more remote area where the dealers are not as thick on the ground.

When MGM had their huge auction of things from their studio back in the late '80, a friend and I bought a lot of furniture, decorative and kitchen items that had been used for props since the 1930s. Many of the things were sold in lots and one had to take the "chalk with the cheese,", as the old saying goes, however we did get some incredible bargains. One lot was 8 closed wooden crates full of "china" which we got for $160. and which turned out to include 2 complete sets of Victorian era Spode, each service for 24! As with most Victorian sets, there were many extra dishes not seen in modern service. We also bought 4 huge boxes of "fabric" which were bolts of vintage fabrics still in their original muslin bags, all from the '40s.

I bought a lot of kitchen items, some with the stickers or tags that indicated in which movies they appeared, still attached. Most of these were from the 30s and the films are long forgotten but now the items themselves have become very collectible.

If I still had the energy I would love to spend more time poking around flea markets, swap meets and yard sales. However I have reached the point that I would have to buy another house to hold the stuff. I also have the feeling that my housekeeper would become a bit "testy" if I hauled anything else in that needed polishing or any special attention.

Edited August 5, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[Milagai]

A friend of mine, who is re-doing her 100+ year old farm house outside of Memphis, TN, is working her way down the "endless yard sale" right now starting in Covington, KY.  Last year she found some incredible bargains (in spite of what seemed like endless rain), including some light fixtures piped for gas made by Tiffany.  She bought a beautiful stove made in the 20s several enamel topped kitchen tables from the same era and a Hoosier cabinet with all the fittings intact. 

She moved from California to Ohio and then to Tenn., five years ago and has gone on this trek for four years.  Her son owns a small trucking company and sends a truck and driver with her (lucky her). 

When she used to visit me she always admired all my cast iron and other old stuff but out here had a very modern house (50s modern, all glass, chrome and etc.) and didn't think such things would fit.  After her husband passed away she moved back there to be near her son and found this lovely bungalow built in 1902. 

I haunted swap meets and yard sales for years and still manage to get to a couple each year, usually the one at the Rose Bowl which has a lot of real antique vendors, they vet their vendors very strictly. 

I also go to estate sales and auctions, particularly those in the more remote area where the dealers are not as thick on the ground. 

When MGM had their huge auction of things from their studio back in the late '80, a friend and I bought a lot of furniture, decorative and kitchen items that had been used for props since the 1930s.  Many of the things were sold in lots and one had to take the "chalk with the cheese,", as the old saying goes, however we did get some incredible bargains.  One lot was 8 closed wooden crates full of "china" which we got for $160. and which turned out to include 2 complete sets of Victorian era Spode, each service for 24!  As with most Victorian sets, there were many extra dishes not seen in modern service.  We also bought 4 huge boxes of "fabric" which were bolts of vintage fabrics still in their original muslin bags, all from the '40s. 

I bought a lot of kitchen items, some with the stickers or tags that indicated in which movies they appeared, still attached.  Most of these were from the 30s and the films are long forgotten but now the items themselves have become very collectible. 

If I still had the energy I would love to spend more time poking around flea markets, swap meets and yard sales.  However I have reached the point that I would have to buy another house to hold the stuff.  I also have the feeling that my housekeeper would become a bit "testy" if I hauled anything else in that needed polishing or any special attention.

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wow! doubt if anyone can top that!

but my humble self did score a large (10 inches diameter, about 8 inches

depth, no idea how many litres or quarts or whatever it holds)

all stainless steel pressure cooker for $ 10 at a yard sale in Berkeley

about 11 years ago. The sellers said they had never used it because

they had no idea what to do with it. Hey! mine!

It's still going strong. Mainstay of my kitchen.

Everything from veg stock to dal.

Milagai

[andiesenji]

Horror in the thrift store bookshelf!!!!!

There was a shelf devoted entirely to me, every book i wrote. and  of course they were all lovingly autographed to brother in law, sister in law and their three children who were really excited that i wrote cookbooks. however,! my b***h of a sister in law didn't want to cook i guess.  I keep telling my husband: No More Cookbooks for Them!

AND she chose the thrift shop near ME not HER (neighbourhing village) just to be sure that i found them (she knows i check out the thrift shops regularly). it really hurt my feelings, though i know that its just her little way of being who she is. i guess that is what hurt, that people have to be that way.

Marlena

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That is just plain crass! People who have so little notion of propriety should never be given anything of worth.

I have known people like that who discard things given to them as a loving gift and sometimes I have been able to get back at them in subtle ways. (Sometimes not so subtle.)

I gave one person a particular cookbook, mostly for her four children, just a few years ago.

The Narnia Cookbook, published in 1998, with its wonderful illustrations, became an instant collectible. (I had purchased 2, one for me, one to give as a gift.)

I saw this person last year and mentioned that I had seen one of the books had sold on ebay for almost $200.00. She got an odd look on her face and her daughter, now 18, said, "Mom tossed the book in the trash and one of our neighbors took it."

I am sorry to say that I broke down laughing. This person was not a friend, but professed to be interested in cooking and often wasted a lot of my time asking my advice which I don't think she really needed to know, or ever used. I felt that she had been taught a valuable lesson.

[coquus]

This years scores, a nice dexter-russell wooden handle bread knife and a couple of calphalon pots with bumpy bottoms? with lids 4"&6", a glass flour containter which matched the other two I have for a total of about five bucks. I don't even want to get into the book scores I have made. Good stories all.

[lancastermike]

Rival Ice-o-matic electric Ice Crusher, one dollar at yard sale, works great

Dinner plates gold rimmed with floral patter, the name of which escapes me just now, at goodwill store for 50 cents each. Discovered replacments place in North Carolina was selling them for 17.50 each.

set of three removable bottom tart pans, grarge sale, 1 buck for all three.

at an auction bought a box lot of cookbooks for the grand price of 50 cents. At the bottom of box Mastering the Art of French Cooking volume one, autographed by Julia Child. One of my most treasured possesions.

My wife and I don't yard sale much anymore, but kitchen items are always great value at them.

[winesonoma]

A very large, heavy butchers cleaver. It had been abused and needed repair. I fixed the handle, bead blasted and sharpened it. It could cut up an entire cow. I just love it. $1.00.

[oneidaone]

In Naperville, Illinois I found the Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking both volumes

for $1.00 each in great condition, also there for .75 cents was Robin Leach's Lifestyles of the Rich

and Famous cookbook which is a hoot and interesting at the same time. Pretty much you can see

mostly people who are now divorced throwing lavish parties and the recipes. Here in Honolulu I got

an ashstray from the Whitehall Hotel which we spent a most memorable night with a great room with a veiw and a very long night in the bar downstairs prior to. We all were there a few days after

Jerry left us on 8/9/95 and drank in his honor since the Dead had stayed there on numerous occasions when they weren't at the Tremont or later for Jerry, the Ritz. a hui hou!

[loiosh]

Two copies of "How to Cook and Eat in Chinese", both for less than $2. More people should get to know this book!

[Jeebus]

Two copies of "How to Cook and Eat in Chinese", both for less than $2.  More people should get to know this book!

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I picked up a copy of Larousse in pretty rough shape. still not a bad deal for $3

[peppyre]

I've been collecting first edition cookbooks for a few years. Actually, it all started when I received Mastering the Art of French Cooking from my mom. She found the first editions at a garage sale and spent almost nothing on them.

My two most recent huge huge scores are The Escoffier Cookbook, 1st Edition, mint condition. $.50

Entertaining is Fun , Dorothy Draper, 1st Edition, almost new, $.50.

After a little research, the Dorothry Draper is selling for an average of $500 USD and the Escoffier $150 (in rougher condition than the one I found).

With all of the books that I have, all of which are first editions, I have about $2000 in my bookcase and I think spent a total of $100 over 3 years. I love garage sales and thrift stores for cookbooks. If it is a 1st edition, I buy it. They're usually fun and you never know what you may have in your hands.

[gourmande]

Not a book... but a fabulous well seasoned cast iron skillet for $5...

[Terrasanct]

Oh, yeah. I bought one of those two weeks ago for $3. I'd been looking for one but just couldn't stand to pay too much.

Everything turns up eventually if you keep looking.

One good thing about Billings, Montana--the garage sales here are fantastic.

Edited August 6, 2005 by Terrasanct (log)

[coquus]

Terra-that is because those of us who live out in the sticks know how to do things for ourselves when we can't find them nearby, and for that we got tools, lotsa tools, sometimes more than we can handle, or we forget what we used them for .

[Pookie]

I have a fabulous bean pot with lid that makes the best. baked. beans. ever. At a garage sale for .50$

Plus some housekeeping manuals from the 1910's in a box for .25$

Mom picked up a Paderno sauce pan, never been used at an acution for 5.00$ (normally around 75$)

[andiesenji]

I've been collecting first edition cookbooks for a few years.  Actually, it all started when I received Mastering the Art of French Cooking from my mom.  She found the first editions at a garage sale and spent almost nothing on them. 

My two most recent huge huge scores are The Escoffier Cookbook, 1st Edition, mint condition.  $.50

Entertaining is Fun , Dorothy Draper, 1st Edition, almost new, $.50. 

After a little research, the Dorothry Draper is selling for an average of $500 USD and the Escoffier $150 (in rougher condition than the one I found).               

With all of the books that I have, all of which are first editions, I have about $2000 in my bookcase and I think spent a total of $100 over 3 years.  I love garage sales and thrift stores for cookbooks.  If it is a 1st edition, I buy it.  They're usually fun and you never know what you may have in your hands.

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Sometimes you can score some fantastic book finds at thrift stores, mostly because the volunteers do not have time to research the donated items.

Not a cookbook, but the best I ever found was while I was still living in the Valley and making periodic pilgramage to the thrift shops in west Hollywood and Santa Monica. I found a first edition of To Have and Have Not, signed and with a little note "To Erroll, AKA Cap'n Blood, nice boat and great grog, pal!"

I have picked up hundreds of cookbooks at thrift shops, many are the little soft back ones put out by appliance companies with the appliances such as Sunbeam mixmaster, Westinghouse electric roaster, Waring blender, Reynolds Wrap, etc. These are fun to collect, do not take up a lot of room and for someone like me, who collects vintage appliances, are especially valuable.

One of my favorites is James Beard's Recipes for the Cuisinart, published in 1978. The recipe for braised celery is one of my favorites and is on several internet sites so others must have found it to be particularly tasty.

Edited August 6, 2005 by andiesenji (log)