Boot Hill Cow Pet

No one really seemed to take notice of my odd little hint the other day, which means that either I was too obvious and you saw through my not-so-clever ruse or I mystified you all.  Either way, this is the special junking place I got to visit the other day:

I told you it only kind of rhymed.  Boot Hill Cow Pet.  Goodwill Outlet.  Get it?  Huh? Huh? Get it?  Oh well.  Enough of that.

This particular outlet is in Nashville.  (What was I doing in Nashville?  Well, that's another post yet to come!)  If you are unclear about the concept of a Goodwill Outlet, here's some helpful information.

Unopened 90's X-men Valentines

This was the third GW Outlet I have visited, but I consider it to be my first "real" GWO experience.  I went to one in Gary, Indiana right after we got married, but everything was priced by the item (extremely reduced), not the pound, and the only brought out one new bin the whole time I was there.  I got some good stuff, for very little money, but the whole experience was kind of lame.

I also went to one in San Francisco.  This one was small and cramped, but stuff was sold by the pound.  It was a higher per pound price ($1.49) than others I have heard of, but I still came out well.  I went twice, on two consecutive days, and was a bit disappointed to find on the second day that no new bins had been brought out.

The store in Nashville had the whole Outlet thing going on.  Most stuff was .79 a pound, except for shoes, which were $1.39.  Luggage, furniture, and books were priced per item, although there were a few of each that would come out in the other bins.

I've scattered pics of a few of the things I found through out this post.  Everything was bought at the per pound price.  I have to say that this was one of the wildest junking experiences I have ever had.  The people-watching was as fun as the junking, and that was awesome.

Complete Bible on cassette

Let's talk about the drill first, then I'll share some thoughts and observations.  They wouldn't let people take pictures inside, for some reason.

Basically, you're in a large warehouse-like room that's filled with large blue bins on wheels.  There's a yellow line taped on the floor around every bin.  There are separate bins for clothes, shoes, books, luggage, and everything else.  A few bits of furniture line the walls.  Groups of people are rummaging through the bins and tossing stuff into their carts.

Vintage Briefcase

Every so often, someone comes out of the back and starts wheeling a few of the bins away.  After a while, the bins return, filled with new items.  Everyone lines up, careful to stay on the outside of the yellow lines, and waits for the okay to dig in.  While they wait, they crane and stretch to try and see what might be in the bins.  Touching anything is forbidden.  Getting too close is forbidden.  Staff people stand by the bins and play hall monitor to this group of adult kindergartners, making them back up and keep their toes outside the lines.  The adult pre-schoolers, in the meantime, are literally (and I am using that word correctly here) bouncing up and down in anticipation.  It's truly a sight to see.

Big Raggedy Ann!

Once the staff are satisfied that everyone is suitably outside the lines, they give the okay and everyone dives in!  Then it's all stretching and reaching and elbows and, in a couple of cases who really needed larger pants, butt-cracks all over the place as everyone tries to out-dig and out-grab everyone else.  Eventually, they start fading away, hopefully with a few more items in their carts.

When you are satisfied that you have enough, you head to the check out.  If you have a few items, then you put them on a scale on the counter. If you have a cartload, you wheel it on a large scale set in the floor.  I got quite a kick out of that, let me tell you!  I made two trips through, filling up a cart each time.  I'll talk about my strategies in a minute, but first some overall reflections.

File Boxes and NIP Puzzles

First off, it was way more fun than I had anticipated.  I knew I would have a good time, but I also knew that there would be obnoxious people reaching and grabbing and generally spoiling the fun for everyone else.  I'm not a grabber or an elbow-thrower.  I tend to adopt the philosophy that it's all just stuff.  There will always be more stuff.  There will always be more chances to get stuff.  My reason for existing will never, ever include having to make a jerk out of myself to be the first person to get stuff.  Ain't gonna do it.

Frame and Lego Case

Instead, I didn't see any of that going on.  People seemed to be very respectful of each other and their hunting.  People were even leaving their carts stashed in corners and adding stuff as they went, and no one else was bothering them.  I had not expected this, as I had read that you needed to keep an eye on your cart, lest anyone rummage through it.  In fact, I think I irritated a couple of folks hauling my overstuffed cart around.  I did end up in one situation where another guy and I reached for something at the same time.  He was just going to move it aside, so it was no biggie. 

I wanna play!

Originally, I planned on avoiding the new bins while everyone else was diving in.  I quickly found that I could do pretty well for myself going through the more picked over carts.  Most of the items in this post came from bins that everyone else had finished with.  However, once I saw someone pull a vintage trike out of one of the newer bins, I decided that I had to try it at least once.  It was a trip, let me tell you, but not nearly as bad as I was expecting.   

Ice skates!

I wish I was a sociologist, so that I could do an observational study of a GWO.  There were mothers there looking to get nice clothes for their kids, but not spend a lot of money.  There were obvious resellers.  The eBay folks were being very picky and focused, while the flea market folks were a little more eclectic.  I saw people buying cartloads of shoes, video tapes, and super nice clothes.  When we pulled up, there was a guy unloading three or four carts of all kinds of junk into his pick up.  Some of the best vintage stuff I saw was in the cart of one lady who looked to be about 75.  There was also a younger girl there going for selective vintage items.  I think she was more a vintage fan, than anything else.  Of course, there were also three or four hoarders as well.  They were the ones most likely to be vocally irritated at other people for getting things they wanted.

Shutters

One of the things I learned was that there are many ways to go about shopping in such a place, but it is important to have a system.  People were repacking their carts and sorting their purchases, neatly folding the clothes and stacking the other items.  This enabled them to keep track of things and also fit more in their carts.  Others brought lightweight reusable shopping bags and used those in their carts to organize their items.  Some folks come for the day, staying from open to close, often coming every day.  They hang out during the time after the bins have been picked and the arrival of new bins.  They chat, text, read.  There's a kind of little society going on in this warehouse.

Sweet Train Case!

My own strategy was just to cut loose and have fun.  If I wanted it, I grabbed it.  I did sort through my stuff, but I tried not to think about it all too much.  I just wanted to enjoy the experience.  If I were to do it again, I would spend more time thinking about weights and such in order to maximize my profit. 

Even without putting a lot of thought into it, I still did pretty well.  Once I got everything packed into boxes, I found that I had spent about as much per box as I would have at a typical (very good) church sale, but I had a lot more to show for it.  By contrast, I went into the regular Goodwill store right by the Outlet, spent about half what I paid for one cart, and got less than a third of the amount of stuff.  Regardless of how you do it, GWO shopping is a bargain!

Bizarre Burlap Snake Thing

You do have to check everything carefully.  It's all been transported from stores all over the place and then dumped into these bins, where it's roughly rummaged through.  The potential for damage is high.  Also missing bits and pieces, but if you search the other bins in the store, you might just find those pieces.

Sadly, there is not Outlet in Kentucky.  We're one of the few states that does not have one.  What's up with that?  I keep hearing rumors that we're going to get one in Louisville, but nothing so far.  Bummer.

This is not something I could do every day, much less all day.  The potential for burn out is too high for me.  I could see dropping in once a month or so during the warm months, maybe more when it's cooler and there are no yard sales.

MAVIS!

You can kind of get an idea of what I found from the pics in this post. This isn't everything, of course, but a good sample of the best items.  One thing I didn't get a pic of was a rotary dial phone.  It's tan, rather than red or black though.

One last find I wanted to highlight is Mavis, who is going to become a yard sale companion this summer.  She's sturdy and hefty, perfect for both hauling around neighborhood yard sales and junk set out times!

HISSSSSSS!

Climb Every Mountain!

This is not Sorrow Mountain.

This is Sorrow Mountain's younger cousin.  His name is the Somewhat Rounded Hillock of Minor Despair and Slight Melancholy.  (SRHMDSM for short.)

We got this unit in order to get some stuff out of the house for a little while, so we could figure out if we still needed it or not. Unfortunately, during that time, I had to start the move out at Dixie when it closed. 

I don't have a lot in there, junk-wise.  Mainly, it's the last bits of stuff from the storage room I bought last winter, my unsold holiday merch from last year, and my religious book section, which is in the milk crates.

Non-junkwise, about half my personal books are in there. I went through the half in the house for the big spring extravaganza book sale.  Now it's time to start to work on these books for the fall version.

I spent some time there yesterday, just getting this it all organized.  I pulled most of the religious books to take to the booth and got all the books and all the holiday stuff together in their own sections.  I sorted the last bits of stuff from the buy-out, tossing a couple of boxes of crap.  Now that it's all grouped, I can just go in and pull what I want to take or need to work with and go. 

After I get my books ready for the sale, most of what I'll have left here can be transported to Sorrow Mountain, since I've been making some room over here.  At this point, I cannot imagine either of us keeping any of the household stuff that is in there, as neither of us can remember what it is!

This is one hillock that isn't long for the world.  (But it did serve its purpose and definitely helped out when needed.)

Downsizing.  Feels good.  This is another one of those tasks that I wanted to have done (or at least started) weeks ago.

And then I found an antique frame with the glass and an old ceiling light fixture in the dumpster.  I told Keith that I made a trade.

Friendly Faces

I spent yesterday cleaning off my desk, because it was something I could do sitting down.  I still have a tote of junk beside it to go through, but I'll do that Saturday.  I've needed to do this, like, forever!

As often happens, I found a bunch of stuff that I had forgotten about:  a few comic books, some booth reports, a bunch of blank price tags, a couple of holy cards, some vintage Christmas cards, and a trio of friends:

Two cute vintage Kokeshi dolls and a Little People airline attendant!

Say hello, everyone!

Hello, everyone!

What's in Mazda?

Lotsa goodness this week.  There are more and more options with every Saturday, it seems.

 We actually had to make a stop by the house to drop off a few boxes of smalls, so we could keep going.  I'm doing things a little differently this week.  Stories and select items will be in tomorrow's post.  A couple of items will get their own posts.  The rest of the stuff will be scattered throughout upcoming blogs.

Monday Rambles

Well, it finally happened.  I do feel sorry for them.  It's tough to make it so far and then have it all snatched away.  It also came too late to have any effect on sales here.  Oh well.  It's also now Spring Break, which is traditionally another lull, with the Derby Festival waiting to start up on the 18th.  April is a cruel month. Also, a stormy one.  We're gonna be covered in the proverbial May flowers if this keeps up!

The first few days of the month were a little down, as far as daily sales go, but Saturday was the Spring Fling at the mall and I had a killer day.  I thought I was going to sell a table that needs to go, but the people that kept looking at it and talking about it bought a gun cabinet from someone else instead.  I guess you can eat cross legged on the floor, just as long as the shotgun is secure.  Or something.  I did sell a nice shelf and a ton of comics, so it was still a really good day.

Speaking of Saturday, it was a long day.  It had POURED rain CONSTANTLY at the end of last week, so the thrifting I wanted to do did not get done.  I added that to the yard sale list, which already included a stop at an antique mall (for a booth that was running a 75% off sale) and the comic shop (for 25 and 50 cent movie special sale).  Add the drop off at the mall to that, and it was after 8 before we got home.  It did make for a nice Mazda shot yesterday.

Speaking of which here's the big stuff from the haul.

Both these came from the first stop.  The seller kept calling us "early birds" but we were there after his posted starting time.  I think he meant that we were the first ones there.  He was in "make an offer and I'll probably take it mode."  I ended up getting a few things from him.  School desks are my kryptonite.  Simply cannot resist them, even when I already have a couple in storage.  Keith said "Eddie's gonna buy a school desk." as soon as we pulled up and saw it.  More on those chairs in a minute.

Little Tikes is a must buy for me, when I can find it in good enough shape and cheaply enough.  So many people come through the mall looking for good kid's toys with a lot of life left in them.  At the sale where I got this, a little boy of about six was in charge of selling the toys, with some hints from his mother.  I asked how much it was and he said "Three dollars."  His mother tried to tell him that I might want to make an offer on it, when I opened it up and found all kinds of play food inside.  He said:  "Okay.  The food is a dollar and the grill is two dollars.  That makes three dollars."  I had to buy it.

When I gave him the money, he said "Now I have 18 dollars!"  As we were leaving, his mother was trying to get him to sell all the toys that were left to this one girl for two dollars.  He looked the the girl, pointed to a box of stuffed animals and said:  "For two dollars you can have two of these and all of these toys here on the ground."  We were all cracking up.

These were from the 75% off antique booth.  I got them for a really awesome price.  Kid's chairs are almost as bad for me as school desks, at least when they're this cute.  The paint on the one on the left is the most interesting gold-ish color.  Very intriguing.

Finally, a few "bigger smalls."  I'll get to the best of the rest of the smalls tomorrow.  The canister set came from the first sale.  I also got set of square glass containers with wood lids from him as well.  The UK poster was my attempt at "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."  It's an older design for the wildcats.  The little square planter sold right after I put it out.  A woman was buying it while I was getting checked out and the mall was closing.  The bamboo-looking tray on the bottom still had its original retail price tag on it ($49.99!--EEK!).  That white piece of paper is my sales paperwork from March.  I got my check while I was there. 

I start my new treatments tomorrow.  I have to say again how thankful I am for all of the support that's been shown here on the blog, on Facebook, and in person.  It really helps.  There's nothing to do but keep going and hope this one takes.

It's supposed to rain all week here.  We're still under flood watches from all the rain last week, so I hope we don't float away.  At least it'll be nice on Saturday for the big community sale in our neighborhood and the MAJOR church sale across town.  I guess I'll be staying in and catching up on some reading.  Might be good to take it easy the first week of treatment.  Although, there is the lure of the 50% off Easter candy....

I do hope everyone had nice Easter and that the bunny was good to you.  It's odd to have Easter so early this year.  Now, I guess, it's onward into SPRING!

See ya!

Here a Junk, There a Junk, Everywhere a Junk Junk!

I managed to get out and hit some stores this week.  On Tuesday, I met with my uncle, and we went to the store that's always been our usual spot.  I found some good stuff.

I'm going to call this one "Classic Grandma Boudoir Chest." 

Lots of littles.  I love the 4 Thieves vinegar bottle.  The Madonna in the little wooden niche I'm keeping.  I'm also probably keeping the blue one.  I got four of those little milk glass spade dishes.  Usually, I find the full set of card suites, but this time there were only spades.  I love big beer mugs like the Michelob one here.

 
The little plate has nursery rhymes all around it.

Here's a close up of that vinegar bottle.

"Alleged."  I love it!  Is this because the thieves haven't had their trial yet?  Here's the story of Four Thieves Vinegar, just in case you've never heard about it.  Maybe the bottle was "alleged" to hold this stuff, but it was never proven?

Folksy/craftsy looking Madonna and Child, vintage religious booklets, and primitive crucifixion figure.  The two kneeling girls represent two of the three visionaries of Fatima.  They're headed to the collection. 

I've never been into old photos, but this packet was cheap enough.  I could see an old church bulletin and religious pamphlet in the bag with the pictures.

Vintage religious comic?  Yes, please!  It's not in the best shape, but it comes from David Cook, publisher of the classic Bible in comic form, The Picture Bible.  I'm totally nuts about religious and educational comics and snatch them up whenever I find them for my collection.

Later that afternoon, I had to go pick up a prescription, which took me right by another store.  On the way home, I decided to hit up a couple of other stores in the neighborhood. Believe it or not, there's a secondhand store right down the street from me that I had never been to.

I found some stuff.  (Of course!)

Sweet detail on the potty chair.

I found this window in the trash!

The fruit crate is missing one board on the bottom, but I can see someone turning it into a shelf anyway.

This is a rosary making kit.  There are thirteen complete rosaries in it, plus all the crucifixes, beads, and medals for making more.   I need to figure out a way to display them without everything getting all tangled.

That's probably the most store junking I've done in one day in ages!  A perfect way to spend a really nice day.

Big Flea Finds!

I know you don't believe it looking at my granny cart, but it was slow going for a while at the big flea on Sunday.  Since it was a regular show, with no special antique wing, all of the older, cooler stuff was mixed in with all the folks selling socks, honey, roofing services and salvage groceries.  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those kinds of vendors.  One of the things I like about a good flea is the eclectic mix of goods.  I always find a few things for my own personal enjoyment, especially with the salvage groceries.  Besides, there are always folks selling Avon and the like who have a small table set up with a few other cheap, interesting items for sale.  I've found a lot of things from set ups like that over the years.

I always get so wrapped up in my shopping that I forget to take pics.  Sorry about that.  One track mind, I guess.  Instead here are some of the finds.

I bought some more comics there.   I always buy some comics there.  Since I spent a lot of space on comics in Monday's post, I'll just hit one highlight here.  I was pleasantly surprised to find this.

I don't run across these Whitman Dynabrite comics very often.

Of course, you have already seen the charmer on the bottom step, sitting atop the granny cart.  The red wagon is well-made and cool, but not that old.  I got a good price on it using my killer bargaining skills.

BOO!

Speaking of bargaining, it took a little work, but I got this bad boy down to a decent price.  I could not pass him by.  He's awesome.

Ahem!

These busty beauties almost got me in trouble.  The dealer had a sign that everything in her booth was a dollar, the kind of thing you do not have to tell me twice.  I was picking one of them up, when she said:  "Those are a dollar too.  I don't think a lot of people have realized that they are for sale.  For a dollar, you can take those ta-ta's home."  By this time, I'm holding both of them.  She's talking loudly, and the place gets quiet.  Folks in the next stall start staring at us.  All of a sudden, she points at the figures in my hands and says, even more loudly:  "I meant those ta-ta's.  Not these ta-ta's!"  Of course she points at her chest while she's saying it.  Now everyone is staring at me like I'm some kind of a ta-ta freak or something.  (As if!) 

Some of the smaller finds.

A metal flower frog for a buck?  More, please!  The dealer I got that from had been moving things over to his dollar table all day to reduce his carry out load.  He said he was surprised that the frog had stayed there all day.

Ew!  I need to clean these babies.

I got five of these great cocktail glasses from the same guy.  They have a little frosted spot on the glass where the host could write a guest's name and their drink order.  Cool.

I paid a lot more for these than I ever do, but I wanted them for my collection.  They're all quite old.  I've never seen an Altar Society pin like that before.  Cool.

All in all, a nice day at the big flea!

Boothing It

It's been so long since I've done a booth update post, mainly because I felt the booths were too out of control to show.  Now that things are looking a little better, I took some pics.

I'll warn you in advance that they're just crappy cell phone pics, since that is all I seem to have time for any more.  The harsh florescent lighting there isn't doing me any favors either.  I did some cropping to help give the pics a focal point, but I don't know how much it helped.  I have no walls defining my rather large space, so it's hard to keep background objects in other booths from becoming a distraction.  Also, I pretty much have stuff crammed into every nook and cranny.  Styling and displays are so not my thing.

For the record, I have two 8x10 and two 8x11 floor spaces combined into one large fourplex that I sometimes call "Ed-Mart."  The official name of my booth is "Eddie's Attic."  I also have three wall spaces beside my fourplex and another wall space that is in front of my storage room at the mall.  I forgot to get pics of two of the wall spaces.

My vibe is kind of eclectic.  I feature everything from the kind of practical to the slightly whimsical.  My goal is to never be too stuffy and to never, ever look like my stuff came right out of my living room, even though some of it has.  I'm not exclusively vintage or exclusively anything, except maybe exclusively Eddie.  Someone once asked about my booth and I told them to think of bongo drums.  If you get that,  you'd love my space.  Plus, Scooby Doo totally rocks!

I'm more enamored with the idea of the overstuffed little junk shop run by the slightly wacky neighborhood eccentric old dude than I am the overly foofed antique store.  My booth totally reflects that.  I do leave people plenty of room to safely walk around, though.  I truly believe that if you can walk through my space and not come out with something you have to have, then you're just not trying hard enough.  

Onto the booth:

Looking in from one side.  There are four main entrances into the fourplex.  This stuff is in the center of the space.

An overview of my religion wall.  It started as a single shelf five years ago and grew to this.  For a while, it took up one of the wall spaces.  I started referring to it as "St. Attica" during that time, but I don't use that name now that I've incorporated it into the fourplex.  I moved it when I had given up the wall space temporarily.  When I took the wall back, I decided to use it for something else.

The religion section really is a destination for several shoppers.  I have a lot of regulars buying from it.

The orange things in the lower right are priest's stoles.

The comic book/graphic novel/manga section is another popular spot.  It's a struggle to keep it neat and stocked.  There are other people selling comics in the mall, but I am the only one who has ever been a reader/collector, so I think my selection is better.  I know my prices are.

Media and games shelf

The start of my seasonal displays.  Right now, it's Fall/Harvest themed, but soon it will be mainly Halloween and will take over three tables and several shelves on the inside.  I sell a LOT of Halloween.  I don't do as well with the harvest stuff, so I don't do much of it, but I do like to have some.

Two of my wall spaces.  This is my section for vintage and primitive stuff, or--as I like to call it--classics and rustics.  

My ode to alcoholism.  Beer and liquor advertising and related items sell pretty well for me.  When I have a whole lot of them, I make a section for them and let it sell down some.  I haven't had a bar section for a couple of years, so I thought it was time to pull another one together.  When it thins out, I'll scatter the remainder among the other merch in smaller groupings.

I call this shelf "Remembering Grandma's Kitchen."  Well, except for the Kiwi shoeshine box in the lower right.  Grandma never had one of those in her kitchen. 

I just bought that white inset shelf the other day and knew it would look good among the other "rustics."  I had to take down one of the shelves that was on the wall to put it in.  I had never thought of doing that before.  I bought those shelves as they were (on the wall) when I first rented that space.  Now I am pondering other arrangements for them.

I think this one shelf pretty much sums me up as a reseller in one picture.  If you get it, then you get me.

Food fun!  Various promo items and toys related to food and cooking.  Plus, a big basket full of cookie cutters!

My Asian shelf

Quiet study area

I've had this 8 foot section of pegboard wall forever.  I bought it back when I only had one booth.  It just doesn't work in my space any more, and I have been trying to get rid of it without much success.  Right now, it sits on an aisle and I use it as my "storefront."  I rotate displays in and out of it like a store window.

Enamel top table + terracotta churches = DOUBLE AWESOMENESS!!

My vintage/classic toy section.  It looks sparse here, but for some reason I took the pic before I was finished restocking it.  It's full now.  My old friend Fisher-Price is very good to me.

Back to where we started, but on the other side.  Those drawers hold school supplies and office stuff.  I did have them out more prominently during back to school time.  Eventually, they'll end up under a table.  I know a lot of folks don't like bins of things, but I do.  It's a little extra work keeping them orderly, but it's also a good way to sell smaller things.  At least, I think so.

And that's the tour!  Hope you enjoyed it!  Come back soon and bring money when you do!