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

[Anna N]

There hasn't been any activity on this thread for more than a month. Does that mean everyone has stopped bargain hunting or that everyone has stopped bragging about their finds?

In the last few weeks, I claim bragging rights to the following:

(All prices in Cdn $)

1 KitchenAid 350 W Professional stand mixer in mint condition ($80)

1 FoodSaver 420 also in mint condition ($10) - gave this to my daughter as I already have one.

Set of 8 BBQ skewers in stainless steel with wondrous brass "knobs". They look to be of Indian origin as the designs in the brass show Indian themes. So much more interesting and elegant than the plain ones I owned. ($5)

Yogurt maker in its original packaging with instruction book - not the kind that makes a bunch of tiny jars of yogurt but one with a serious container that will hold at least a quart of yogurt. ($3)

Various Tupperware containers for 50c to $1.00 each.

I'll stop there, at least until next Saturday

[Rachel Perlow]

I haven't been GS shopping for the past few weeks, but I did pick up a box of FoodSaver bags for $1 (US) at a church rummage sale, run in conjunction with a Greek Food Festival.

[memesuze]

Yesterday I scored the following from several garage sales:

an Osterizer blender with a glass jar for $2

a wooden spoon and a wooden scraper for 50 cents each

two small bowls, two ceramic soup spoons, and a small platter decorated with the ubiquitous fish ala oriental groceries for $3

a 500 ml French-style jelly glass for 50 cents

[balmagowry]

There hasn't been any activity on this thread for more than a month. Does that mean everyone has stopped bargain hunting or that everyone has stopped bragging about their finds?

In the last few weeks, I claim bragging rights to the following:

(All prices in Cdn $)

1 KitchenAid 350 W Professional stand mixer in mint condition ($80)

1 FoodSaver 420 also in mint condition ($10) - gave this to my daughter as I already have one.

Set of 8 BBQ skewers in stainless steel with wondrous brass "knobs". They look to be of Indian origin as the designs in the brass show Indian themes. So much more interesting and elegant than the plain ones I owned. ($5)

Yogurt maker in its original packaging with instruction book - not the kind that makes a bunch of tiny jars of yogurt but one with a serious container that will hold at least a quart of yogurt. ($3)

Various Tupperware containers for 50c to $1.00 each.

I'll stop there, at least until next Saturday

Oh wow. Anna, can I come and garage-sale in YOUR neighborhood?

[tsquare]

I don't like garage sales.

Stopped at one yesterday - they had boxes of Ikea sets of wrapping paper/ribbon/bow/gift cards - $1.00 per set. I bought one (I think all the neighbors did - it would be hilarious to have Christmas on display this year.)

Also 4 clear champagne flutes - 40 cents a piece - and a large straight sided pressed glass bowl from France for $3.00. Perfect for fruit salad or tiramisu.

[Anna N]

Oh wow. Anna, can I come and garage-sale in YOUR neighborhood?

You'd be very welcome but I have to warn you - some weeks it's just a bust - nada, nada, nada.

[balmagowry]

It's like that everywhere, isn't it - especially after you've been going at it for a couple of years. Kind of frustrating to run across a great repeat "find" and realize there's no excuse for buying it because you already have two (one for use, another for parts) and have already given one to the only friend who would want it, all courtesy of previous sales. And yet the urge to buy it is still strong! (If it's Magnalite or something comparable I'll buy it anyway, secure in the certainty that SOMEDAY I'll want to give it to someone.)

Mysterious circumstance: Some years ago I went to a really promising garage sale (often you can tell by the house and locale) and sure enough found many marvelous things including a KitchenAid mixer - an old one, very solid - for 10 bucks. TEN? Yes, ten, because the cord was frayed and it didn't always work. At that price, I figured it was worth rewiring. And it was, even after we discovered that it was so intricately put together we actually couldn't rewire it ourselves (possibly the only thing I've EVER seen that I couldn't). Took it to a Little Man who did a fine job and ended up with the KA for a total of 50 bucks. Good deal, no? it had all its parts and original manual, from the 50s I think it was. My mother had always coveted a KitchenAid, so this made a great present for her. She was delighted, but her kitchen was set up in such a way that she really didn't have a spot where she could conveniently leave it set up and ready for use, so... you guessed it, I don't think she ever did use it.

After she died I thought, well, it's just sitting there, so I might as well take it back - no one in that house is going to have a use for it. I don't have the counter space either, but I'll manage somehow. Searched the house high and searched it low, sought sideways and upside-down, looked in places both probable and improbable - and nary a sign of that mixer did I ever see. Do KitchenAid mixers evanesce if they're not used frequently enough? Do they melt away because their owners are unworthy? Do they sacrifice themselves on their owners' funeral pyres? Perhaps I just imagined this one? Or perhaps its ghostly spirit is still hiding somewhere in the house?

We may never know.

[Marlene]

Oh wow. Anna, can I come and garage-sale in YOUR neighborhood?

You'd be very welcome but I have to warn you - some weeks it's just a bust - nada, nada, nada.

Garage sales in Glen Abbey on the other hand are usually full of stuff people bought, used once or never (usually high end stuff) and put out for sale A recent scan of garage sales in our neighbourhood revealed the following: (I did not buy any of it though):

4 qt all clad sauce pan still in box

Kitchen Aid Artisan Mixer (apparently used twice)

2 Oscar de la Renta original evening gowns (size 10)

1 weber portable BBQ

[jess mebane]

Today, Sara Moulton on FoodTV was talking about how she brakes for garage sales. She buys various molds.

She made Lemon Madelines with lemon vodka syrup, and Burnt Orange Panna Cotta in garage sale molds.

Sadly, no watermellon Jello.

KatieLoeb, I believe someone's taken your Limoncello receipt and found yet another astounding practical application.

Me, I get magnalite. The pittier the better--kidding. My fave find is this glass cheese keeper, with an instructional lid and raised feet on the insided, the whole being a depth of four dessert plates. It was in mom's garage and came with a sewing machine...

[foodgeek]

A couple of weeks ago i found a nice sake set (in the original box, and made in japan) with (i think) a persimmon design at a yard sale in Arlington for $3. I don't even want to know how much it would be in stores.

We went to an indoor yard sale yesterday, and they had a lot of kitchen stuff, but I didn't get anything. too pricey for yard sale.

[KatieLoeb]

Today, Sara Moulton on FoodTV was talking about how she brakes for garage sales. She buys various molds.

She made Lemon Madelines with lemon vodka syrup, and Burnt Orange Panna Cotta in garage sale molds.

Sadly, no watermellon Jello.

KatieLoeb, I believe someone's taken your Limoncello receipt and found yet another astounding practical application.

Me, I get magnalite. The pittier the better--kidding. My fave find is this glass cheese keeper, with an instructional lid and raised feet on the insided, the whole being a depth of four dessert plates. It was in mom's garage and came with a sewing machine...

Rock on Limoncello Fans!

And keep those brilliant ideas coming...

On a separate note, my latest find was a pretty etched glass pitcher/decanter over Memorial Day weekend while I was down in Cape May. It's tall and thin and probably holds about 24 oz. I think it was $3. Although the surface area isn't wide enough to qualify as a true decanter, it would certainly be lovely to serve wine from that wasn't in such serious need of actual decanting.

[Adam Balic]

In the last year:

One EP silver braising spoon (Victorian) £4

One OK quality tinned copper casserole £5

One good quality tinned copper skillet £4 (tin had bubbled in spots, heated to high?)

One large round stoneware pickling crock £5, matches the upright version (same pottery in fact) I paid £40 for in an antique shop.

Various Victorian glass jelly moulds

One hand coloured Victorian print of a red mullet £5

[mongo_jones]

One hand coloured Victorian print of a red mullet £5

mullets of all shapes, sizes and hues can be seen at garage sales in colorado. can't say if they're all hand colored though.

[andiesenji]

Me, I get magnalite. The pittier the better--kidding. My fave find is this glass cheese keeper, with an instructional lid and raised feet on the insided, the whole being a depth of four dessert plates. It was in mom's garage and came with a sewing machine...

Do you have the big Magnalite roaster? I have had mine for close to 40 years and it has seen a lot of turkeys come and go. It is what I use when I have to cook a very large turkey (30 pound) in a hurry.

I have one of those glass cheese keepers and also a very old ceramic one which came from a "general" store in Bishop, Calif. when it went out of business back in the 70s.

My glass cheese keeper is a reproduction from Brookstone and had a printed notice that the instructions on the lid called for "1/3 pint vinegar which is excessive for modern tastes." It sy that equals 5.3 oz. They recommend a maximum of two tabelspoonsful and a mild vinegar works as well as a strong one. (use the amount of water and of salt as shown on the lid).

The ceramic one is made essentially the same way but is larger and rectangular but with beveled corners so it actually has 8 sides. It is white with a narrow cobalt blue line at top and bottom and around the lid and the handle is blue. It says CHEESE on one side in cursive lettering in black.

I wanted to get to the Rose Bowl event yesterday but the lift which loads my scooter into my van was on the fritz.

I like garage sales but getting in and out of the van has become a real chore and having all the stuff in one place is easier for me. I miss the early morning adventures though.

[jess mebane]

Do you have the big Magnalite roaster? I have had mine for close to 40 years and it has seen a lot of turkeys come and go. It is what I use when I have to cook a very large turkey (30 pound) in a hurry.

I wanted to get to the Rose Bowl event yesterday but the lift which loads my scooter into my van was on the fritz.

I like garage sales but getting in and out of the van has become a real chore and having all the stuff in one place is easier for me. I miss the early morning adventures though.

No, no roaster, and I salivate at the thought of such a beautiful hunk o' maganalite turning up someday, but folks seem to hang onto the bigger pieces.

The Rose Bowl.............garage sale mecca. That would be worth some pictures, andiesenji, my friend.

[balmagowry]

Do you have the big Magnalite roaster?  I have had mine for close to 40 years and it has seen a lot of turkeys come and go.  It is what I use when I have to cook a very large turkey (30 pound) in a hurry.

I wanted to get to the Rose Bowl event yesterday but the lift which loads my scooter into my van was on the fritz. 

I like garage sales but getting in and out of the van has become a real chore and having all the stuff in one place is easier for me.  I miss the early morning adventures though.

No, no roaster, and I salivate at the thought of such a beautiful hunk o' maganalite turning up someday, but folks seem to hang onto the bigger pieces.

The Rose Bowl.............garage sale mecca. That would be worth some pictures, andiesenji, my friend.

Hee hee, I gloat. I found the big one at a garage sale some years ago... and I already had one, and so did my mother, so I gave it to a friend who's also a Magnalite fiend. Cost me $15, if memory serves. I couldn't believe it. Woman was selling her dead mother's stuff, and she wasn't a cook and she had no clue. it looked pretty grubby... but that was easily taken care of. You shoulda seen the look on my friend's face.

That's also how I came by my copy of the Larousse Gastronomique. Different garage sale. Late in the say. They threw it in for free with something else I was buying.

[jess mebane]

[

No, no roaster, and I salivate at the thought of such a beautiful hunk o' maganalite turning up someday, but folks seem to hang onto the bigger pieces.

Hee hee, I gloat. I found the big one at a garage sale some years ago... and I already had one, and so did my mother, so I gave it to a friend who's also a Magnalite fiend. Cost me $15, if memory serves. I couldn't believe it. Woman was selling her dead mother's stuff, and she wasn't a cook and she had no clue. it looked pretty grubby... but that was easily taken care of. You shoulda seen the look on my friend's face.

That tears it!! Balmagowry, I nominate you to administrate the first official Egullet Swap Meet, and toute suite! There clearly is too much good crap going to waste while I, I go roaster-less.............

[andiesenji]

I love that roaster. I nearly killed my ex over it. That was many years ago but I can still work up a good snit over what nearly happened to it.

While packing my van for a dog show, back in the early 70s, I heard my husband banging around in the kitchen and as I was going back into the house for another load of stuff, he passed me, heading for the garage with my roaster in his hands.

I stopped, turned around and followed him and asked what the "heck" was he doing.

The rat was going to use it to catch the oil he planned to drain from his truck.

Needless to say, I snatched it out of his hands and threatened him with maiming if he dared to touch anything from my kitchen.

My best find at a garage sale was a pair of ugly black spoons, long handled, large spoons rather heavy. The people told me they were "old iron spoons" their grandmother had brought from Wales around the turn of the last century.

Cleaned up they were hallmarked english silver, a basting spoon and a stuffing spoon, one made by Hester Bateman, one by her son Peter. Oh yeah, I paid $20.00 for the pair plus a ball jug by Hall china.

Since the advent of ebay and Antiques Roadshow, it is getting more difficult to find really great buys.

I collect odball antique kitchen gadgets but they have to be in working order.

Edited June 16, 2004 by andiesenji (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Originally, I thought that this thread should focus on the following:

We have a Saturday morning family ritual starting around Memorial Day and ending about Hallowe'en: hitting the yard sales around town. We have found many fantastic food-related things, including a lot of great cookbooks. Why, just three weeks ago I found four volumes in the excellent Time/Life Foods of the World series.

But there are a lot of cookbooks that we don't buy when we see them at yard sales, Salvation Army, and thrift stores. They're kind of hard to describe: they have to be popular enough to have been purchased, but not popular enough to be kept. Two that we see all the time are Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet and Molly Katzen's (you know what I'm going to say, don't you?) Moosewood Cookbook.

So what books do you see that fit into this category? What do you make of their popularity and fall from grace?

But in response, members have been outing themselves as inveterate junk shoppers and yard-sale early birds (see above and below). So we're tweaking the thread to include all your finds, good, bad, and ugly. Let's hear it, flea marketeers!

Edited August 5, 2005 by chrisamirault (log)

[racheld]

Die-hard Goodwiller here:

In the Kitchen with Rosie; the Time/Life ones you mentioned; anything to do with microwaves--I think the entire nation bought a Sharp in the 80's; lots of Emeril, one autographed. Many cake decorating books, mostly the cut-the-cake-into-a-bunny/butterfly ones. The little spiral bound church/organization ones are frequently there, as well as the HUGE CIA tomes.

I've never seen a Martha Stewart, Lee Bailey or Ina Garten. I did, however, pick up a 40's Larousse and an 1800's Mrs. Beeton's Cookery book, as well as hundreds of others.

And I just saw a Patricia Cornwell one, Scarpetta's Recipes or some such...it just came out last year, I think. Quick turnover.

And is Moosewood the big paperback with the broccoli on the cover? It's everywhere.

Edited August 5, 2005 by racheld (log)

[Chris Amirault]

In the Kitchen with Rosie

←

Oh, man, I can't believe I didn't think of this!!! There are probably a dozen of these at our local Savers.... You go!

[Terrasanct]

Yeah, I'll third that one. I've never even opened that one up, because I see so many of them.

Almost all of the cookbooks I buy now are from yard sales and used book stores. I see some of everything, but there really are a lot of microwave cookbooks, and a lot of skinny hardbound books with 1960's fake-looking food. And spiral bound local cookbooks, of course.

As far as other food related finds, last weekend I bought a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for five bucks. No bowl, but since I have two extras, that wasn't a problem. And a copy of Master Cook software for two dollars.

[maggiethecat]

If you see a copy of Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet snap it up. Really. It reads a little dated, but this book made me stop sneering at my microwave. Worth it for the risotto recipe alone.

[racheld]

I have only her Party Food one---I take a bagful of pretty picture-laden cookbooks when we go away for weekends, for restful reading/viewing by the lake.

And don't anyone laugh or throw fruit---I just picked up two dozen issues of Taste of Home--a favorite of my late Mom, and they're going with me tomorrow. I intend to peruse and absorb every single can of cream of mushroom and container of Kool Whip, every birthday cake made entirely of DingDongs and pink Hostess Snowball caterpillars. And I might return and decorate the kitchen entirely in Apples. So there.

[snowangel]

Wish I had a dollar for every copy of Barbara Tropp's Blue Moon Cafe cookbook I've seen at half price books or garage sales. What's so sad is that her Modern Art of Chinese Cookinb is such a great book; a wonder of wonderful information.

What I want to know is how many church cookbooks have been published over the years? How many of them have been sold at garage sales?