Janie and I have had bad luck in our past excursions in Northern Minnesota. This weekend was to prove the exception.
Find of the week:
This dealer. We found this "yard sale" on the highway that runs under the Leech Lake Indian Reservation. He had great stuff, lived in a nice patch of woods, had a charming wife. Janie (above) and I had a great time milling around among the tables, chatting with them and buying some nice things.
Least interesting thing we saw:
This sale. A complete rat's nest. But I must say I understood the proprietor at a very basic level. He didn't have a phone, TV, or electricity. The county has been trying to shut him down as a nuisance. He was featured recently on a local public TV feature. I'm half way tempted to go back and interview him at length. He's me, if my life had only taken a couple different turns than it did.
Things we did and did not buy this weekend:
Let's just get the rat's nest sale out of the way.
Mickey phone
price - didn't ask
no sale
It had been out in the rain. One of the few cool things he had and it had been left out in the rain.
Inside the trailer. Lots of stuff.
price - didn't ask
Nothing worth anything.
Kong
price - didn't ask
no sale
Again. It had been out in the rain.
Something about this place. It would be an absolutely cool creepy Haloween place for the local kids. I was there in the broad daylight, and I was being brave.
New gray cargo pants
price - 50 cents
sold
It's one of my missions to buy enough cargo pants to last me the rest of my life.
Gun
price - $2
no sale
"My grandma bought this for my ex-husband. I guess she had him pegged long before I did." Thanks for sharing.
1940s Cobbler's bench
price - free
sold
I don't know if this qualifies, but my mother-in-law didn't like it and wanted it out of her cabin. I'll take it . . .
Ford "jeep"
price - best offer
no sale
He already had a couple of offers, and I had no good way to get it back to Colorado. I like this. This is a 4-wheeler. You can keep your Hummers and Cadillac truck thingys. This would get me everywhere I want to go in the mountains, and it can get back into Silver Basin. No SUV made can get back into Silver Basin.
Wine rack
price - $3
sold
This will fit in the bottom of our fridge. If we decide we don't want it, it's 3 pounds of aluminum scrap.
Elf ash tray
price - didn't ask
no sale
This was very disturbing.
Case of 1970 squirt bottles
price - $20 (includes case)
sold
This was from the great sale. Each of these will retail for $3.50; the case is worth $5.
Pop bottles
price - $1 each
sold
Also from the great sale. Especially the root beers - these will sell for around $10. The Bubble Up and Mountain Dews are nice also.
Repo Coke sign
price -$10
sold
From the great sale. Janie is a Coke fan. This not only had a bar code on it, but had a website too. No question as to its age.
Easyriders metalic collector's cards
price - $3
no sale
Girlies posing with choppers, lovingly preserved on brass cards. What? I must not be normal. It was sooooooo uninteresting.
Bluegrass and Texas Swing records (all mint condition)
price - 5 cents each
sold
I'm kicking myself for not buying them all. There were about a dozen fiddle records that didn't interest me, but I'm sure the used record store would have taken them. The best, I think, was the two record Roy Acuff set. I paid her a dime for that.
"The B*t*d quit paying child support sale" sign
no sale
She came to her senses and turned it over and put just "yard sale", but when I turned around and saw the back, I got lost.
Brass scrap (1.5 pounds)
price - 50 cents
sold
Sheet aluminum scrap (7 pounds)
price - $1.10
sold
I'm on a mission to rid the world of aluminum cookware . . .
Bucket with a bullet hole
price - $1
no sale
Too light for scrap.
Bunnies for sale
price - $5 each
no sale
We've been to that sale on a previous weekend.
Mooning santa
price - didn't ask
no sale
What is it about yard sales and Christmas things?
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All in all it was a great weekend. And the drive was nice too. Lots and lots of green trees and fresh air. Ahhhh.
Would You Buy This or Not? is an almost weekly feature on Gather. If you'd like to see some of our previous adventures, do a tag search on "garage sale" and scroll down through the results.
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Comments: 57
You know that Roy Acuff record set would go for about $35 out here in Arizona.
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Jim Swan's "None-Too-Great Hits" now on iTunes. Featuring the title song from his novel, "Dawn in Honolulu"
Thank you, Samantha!
De M. Don't tempt me to sell the Acuff record. I might commit it to digital code, but nothing compares to the analog, direct from the record.
Marianne, I really enjoy bringing the yard sale items to others. It's one thing to go out hunting for the good stuff, but when I can come away with pictures of the squirrely things and share them with others, that doubles the yard saling pleasure. So you're very welcome.
It was a plastic gun for sure, Sue, but guns are so easy to get. Porn is so easy to find. Drugs are as close as the nearest liquor store. Lies - well - don't get me started. It's a dangerous place, this world. We need good parents, and I hope they're out there.
The elf sorta reminds me of Johnny.
I hate Gather squabbles. If anyone has one, please folks, don't ask me to take sides. It's bad enough knowing someone I respect is twisting in the wind over one kind of nonsense or another . . .
We'll certainly be keeping the cobbler's bench, though we might haul it to Colorado where we have space that hasn't been completely filled yet : )
Thanks for stopping by, Julie and Leslie!
I don't know exactly why myself but am pretty sure all-around disillusionment and disgust with the site and some of its members had something to do with it. I'm not ashamed to say that I cried when he wrote his "Goodbye" article.
I liked his writing.
Thank you, Erica. A person can do a lot worse on a day off than going out to see what people are willing to part with for a quarter.
Kelly, I'm very torn about the trailer sale. It has that sort of romantic desert feel to it. And then again, I've seen better pickings in just about any dumpster. No kidding.
Thank you, Ruth. I've been at it for about three decades now, and the money I save and earn at yard sales makes the difference between having to take a job where I wear a tie and not having to do that.
Sometimes the photos don't show up Leslie. I'm not sure what that's all about, but I do know it's getting better, whatever it is.
Bonnie, bottle diggers dream of having a day job that involves digging. We're usually on the other side of the fence, watching the backhoe crush cobalt sodas from the mid-1800s.
Thank you Shannon. Everyday life is actually that interesting. I'm convinced it's just a matter of taking the time to look around.
And to the editorial staff. I'm humbled by the feature. Thank you.
Abbie, every emergency needs a little gasoline thrown on it, eh?
Joan, no story on the bucket. The trailer guy seemed pretty happy and relaxed; when he gets old and needs health care, that may change. I too prefer plastic guns, and I wish there really was magic. I'd pray for all guns to be turned to plastic.
Then thank you too, C!