Yard Sale Bargains

I can never just drive past a yard sale. I have to stop and poke around, always hoping for "The Big Find". I got into the habit back when Claudia and I were married and she had the antique shop. It's a tough habit to break! My kitchen has a toaster, microwave, toaster/broiler, and all kinds of pots and pans and such, all yard sale finds. For light vacumming I use the $2 electric broom. I boil water in a 25 cent whistling tea kettle. I take a $5 1950's vintage Voigtlander Vito CL 35mm camera when I go fishing. But I've never found "The Big Find". I know it's out there because I have friends who've lucked out big time.

Once one of Claudia's antique dealer friends called me, asking if I wanted to buy some cameras. There must have been well over $5,000 worth of Leicas, Rolleiflexes, and some Hasselblad lenses and accessories in a cloth sack. He wanted $500 for the entire lot. I didn't argue. I found out later that he'd expected me to counter with a $300 offer. Anyway, an hour later I'd sold a couple of the items for way too little money, but I had my $500 back plus $100, and I still had most of the cameras. It turned out that he'd bought "the sack of old cameras" at a yard sale for $25.

I keep looking. So far I haven't found that next elusive "sack of old cameras", but on this day I did find a nice mess of new looking plastic clothes hangers for a buck. Win some, lose some...