thrift store finds

[mutepointe]

hey folks:

every now and then someone writes about something they find at a thrift store. i'm jealous as all get out. so i've been checking thrift stores and pawn shops during my local travels. i did manage to find a hard bound selection of interesting piano pieces for 75 cents. and right before our wedding anniversary, my wife was pleased with her present. (i also found her an old hard bound book about pirates. she's real into pirates.

anyway, my big questions to all of you are:
1. what's the best thrift store find you've found? what did you pay?
2. would you be interested in leaving some high end whistles at a thrift shop in my locality? and could you give me a heads up?

[lenf]

1. what's the best thrift store find you've found? what did you pay?

In Anchorage there was an odd store that sold mostly very old rifles, handguns, etc. The store owner's father, who had a like store in Michigan but which specialized in antique musical instruments, passed away and once or twice each year the son would drive there and back, bringing a trailerload of old furniture and instruments.

He didn't like music, so the instruments went for next to nothing. I once bought a box of 30+ violin bows for $25, and sold one of them the next week for $1200. But the best was a clarinet and oldstyle leather case from 1740, perfect condition, for $5. (The price on that one went so high I ended up just giving it to a museum instead.)

Christopher Hogwood came to town one weekend and I took one of the woodwind players to the shop, where he identified a rare baroque bassoon which set him back $20.

[BillChin]

My best finds have been clothing. I have a Brooks Brothers suit, an Armani sports jacket, and a nice tuxedo. It takes a lot of shopping to find something that fits. Retail price on those items is $500 and up, often way up.

As for whistles, I found a couple of Clarke whistles with the tape and book. I ended up passing them on to others who were interested. Pickings are getting a bit slimmer as thrift store prices creep up. Salvation Army now has a separate section for collectibles and the items are often priced near second-hand retail.

[Redwolf]

My favorite thrift store find has been a set of soup mugs. You know, the things that look like a cross between a coffee mug and a bowl? I make a lot of soup, and those things really are the best for that kind of thing...deep enough to serve for a bowl, but you can easily pick them up and sip from them. They were quite popular during the '70s (and, in fact, my set is in a tasteful '70s harvest gold). I'd buy more, if I could find them.

Redwolf

[avanutria]

Thrift stores in the UK are called Charity Shops and each one is run by a particular charity...Cancer Research, Oxfam, British Heart Foundation etc. They're usually very well organised, well lit, and the stock is in good condition.

Great for finding clothes and cheap secondhand books/videos/toys. Terrible for finding hidden treasures.

Once my heart jumped when I spotted a somewhat cylindrical soft case, about the size of a concertina.

Unfortunately, it was a bowling ball.

[sponge]

I had the same experience as avanutria in a Uk charity shop they had a large plastic box of cased instruments, 50 pence each, on opening one,
yep you guessed it, they were all Aulos REC****RS, although I did buy
10 of the 30 on sale and past them of at a car boot sale for a £1 each,
so I doubled my money that can't be bad.

Sponge

[kenny]

Just over 2 weeks ago, I got the following LP records from a charity shop in Aberdeen – 50p each. They’ve obviously been played over the years, there are scratches and scuff marks and the occasional track sticks, which is a pity, but not bad considering they are all from around the mid – late 1970s.

Finbarr Dwyer – the 3 LP recordings he made for “Outlet” in Belfast.
Also on “Outlet :
“Irish Traditional Accordion Session with 4 Champions” – which is highly misleading, as the title would suggest 4 accordions playing together. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen. It is in fact a compilation of tracks from other Outlet recordings by Messrs Burke, Dwyer, Kevin Loughlin and John Whelan. The entire LP is composed of reels – not even a jig or hornpipe to be heard.
“The Best Of Seamus Tansey” by Himself
“Galway’s Own” - Joe Burke
“Champion Of Champions” – Sean Maguire
Plus – “The Best of Seamus Shannon”, and one of the “Star Above The Garter” “Topic” label recording of Julia Clifford and Denis Murphy.
Not a bad haul, I thought.
If any one wants records by “The Malachy Doris Ceili band”, I could go back and see if they’re still there !

[fearfaoin]

But the best was a clarinet and oldstyle leather case from 1740, perfect condition, for $5. (The price on that one went so high I ended up just giving it to a museum instead.)
Christopher Hogwood came to town one weekend and I took one of the woodwind players to the shop, where he identified a rare baroque bassoon which set him back $20.

Good lord, man. That sounds like some kind of magical dream!

Our nearest thrift stores have nothing but clothes and old microwaves.
They're good for finding leather skirts to cut up for whistle pouches,
though. One guy at our Ren Faire made a noble's costume (which
usually cost several hundreds of dolars) for $30 by smart shopping
at the Salvation Army store and some handy sewing.

[Mack.Hoover]

Used ski poles http://mackhooverwhistles.com/frame.htm

(Check the whistle pictures page)

I can make one whistle walking stick or three individual whistles.

I hope they don't catch on...

[SBS144]

Thrift stores are great! I've found lots of piano music, but also found some great plates that I've made clocks out of for gifts. It's amazing what people get rid of that becomes somewhat of a treasure for someone else.

[crookedtune]

I have a very sweet little 'Maybelle' banjo-uke that came from a thrift store, and also a decent old German fiddle that required very little work to make playable. We also bought most of our kids' Halloween trappings, at thrift stores. Have yet to find that museum-quality item, but I'm sure they're out there!

[King Friday]

Thrift stores are awesome! I go with friends from my orchestra who always seem to snatch the good stuff before I see it. One of my friends bought the trombone he plays in our orchestra for $9, and another friend found an old Italian accordion for $45 I think.

I just got some money so I'm going to the thrift store and a few antique stores tomorrow to see what I can come up with.

[CountryKitty]

I love hitting the junk shops, but every since The Antique Roadshow hit the air, most folks want an awful lot for most items.

Did find a pair of carves shell guitar picks for $4 at an antique shop---and an ocarina for $1. I shocked the clerk when I picked up the ceramic turtle she thought was just a knick-knack and tootled on it.

My Mother-in-law works for Walmart and they occasionally auction off (to employees only) goods that've been returned and that the company doen't want back for some reason. She picked up a child sized electric guitar--normally $50+--for $3.

My one really good musical find was at a charity thrift shop a mile from here. There was an old battered trombone case sitting among the recent donations and I couldn't resist looking inside (my daughter plays the trombone). It held a slide trombone that I have since dated to mid-1955. I always save my shopping bags for the thrift shop, so the woman running it told me to just take the trombone--free of charge! Was pretty corroded but with a little elbow grease it shined up nicely. Daughter has it stashed in room for later display.

[Dave Parkhurst]

I picked up a Martin Tiple for $150

[Whitmores75087]

I used to shop at thrift shops. After many years I came to realize that I had a problem. I was developing a "something for nothing" beggar mentality. I'm not saying that everyone who shops at Goodwill has this problem, in fact I doubt that many do, but I now know it infected me pretty bad. I suspect I had the problem before I ever set foot in a thrift store, but events combined to reveal it.