Sunday, June 30, 2013

yard sale score

I love yard sale-ing. The thrill of the hunt. Pulling up to the curb while scanning the tables and piles of stuff. Will there be something really cool or is it all gonna be old baby clothes and chipped coffee mugs? Our small-town newspaper comes out on Fridays, and first thing I do most Friday mornings is walk to the bottom of the drive and get it. The yard sale section is sometimes 4 listings long and sometimes 15 but there's always a few. 

I was poking thru some stuff on a table when I spotted an old wooden trunk with a little sign that said 'antiques'. This wasn't the sort of sale you'd find antiques at but I went over and started rummaging thru overpriced not-very-old-never-mind-antique books. At the bottom of the trunk was a small Whitman's Peppermint Patties box marked $5.

$5 for an old mint box? I took the lid off and saw 8 small matchboxes. Intrigued, I opened one and it was jammed full of old canceled postage stamps. Bingo! I got it for $3 and looked thru it more carefully when I got home. Lots of cool old stamps including one for a half cent. I'd never seen one of those before.

The photo of the stamps is the layered contents of 4 of the 8 boxes. If you need me I'll be in the studio making postal art.



6 comments:

  1. Wow those are the best kind of finds Leslie - I know I really enjoy going through the stamps I thrifted. Mine are mostly pre 1965 including ones of Hitler (which is interesting but will never get used).... and countries that I know no longer exist...nice little gold mine for you and a STEAL at 3 smacks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cool finds! Had I known you loved postage stamps I would have brought you a bunch too -- I have a box or maybe two still from years past of stamps for art...remind me and I still will bring some next time! I don't go to yard sales but you have made me curious, maybe I will find a few one of these weekends when it isn't triple digits by 9 am!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oooh, I love stamps almost equal to my love of yard sales. Haven't found a good one recently, but it's bound to happen. Great going! Hugs.
    bb

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lucky you - this really is a GREAT find! I have a stash of stamps I found at a yard sale and tend to hoard rather than use them....I'm afraid I'll run out! :)

    This weekend I was lucky myself and found a FAB old book - I'll be writing about it on my blog, but man is it a treasure. I can't wait to start using it in collages and mail art (one's headed your way soon)

    ReplyDelete