I've been keeping track of some of the odd/interesting things that get donated to the thrift store.
We take it all. In with the literal garbage there is (sometimes) treasure.
1. Below: "SARA wants this book"
...but not that much?
It's not uncommon that an item will come in with a tag noting that the item was supposed to go to someone––presumably on the death of the owner.
Who knows what the story behind each one is, but these notes make me a little sad.
2. Below: Like the donut frosting, this was another (I hope) accidental food donation:
a used, blue paper plate & plastic spoon with cake crumbs, in with a box of quality woodworking magazines:
3. No accident here! Nicely noted, "IT WORKS FINE".
(If it doesn't catch on fire...)
4. Notes in books are not always this great.
Stay high, Bean!
5. What to do with old-timey racist/culturally imperialist stuff (e.g. Mammy salt & pepper shakers)?*
I don't usually put out for sale stuff like this comic book about an English cricketer who became a missionary, but it feels too culturally significant to just throw out...
* UPDATE: The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris University, Michigan accepts donations of racist objects.
www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/donate.htm
6. Some icky donations are obviously accidents---like the bakery bag that held only the frosting of a donut --I imagine someone cleaning up after a garage sale or move, and their bag accidentally getting in with the donations.
7. Other things are intentional--this headless sacred heart of Mary was mailed to the store. We have a religious articles ministry that accepts such objects, and we even say we'll repair them.
But that means gluing heads on---but not manifesting the missing parts themselves.
8. And these boxes of instant pudding that expired three years ago, in 2015? They came in a carefully packed box of nice kitchenware, so they didn't seem to be accidental.
Who knows?
9. It is very sweet when people write little notes---here the person even sketched the outline of the missing puzzle piece!
But the store gets waaay more than enough puzzles, and this one was nothing special, so into the trash it went.
10. It's common that people don't clean their shoes before donating them. Luckily the material in the treads of these hiking boots was just grass and mud.
11. This memorable entry from February 5, 1964, is the last entry in this donated daily journal.
After this, the journal is blank.
12. A shoe box of John D. MacDonald paperback thrillers from the 1970s was another donation that came with handwritten notes. In this case, the notes seem to be reminders to the owner him/herself, not to the future buyer. But who knows for sure?
These old pulp paperbacks were well worn and the high-acid paper yellowed. I saved a few with the best covers and put the rest on the 33¢ shelf.
13. This is the creepiest donation I've yet seen––
some kind of dead worm, a true computer bug, stuck under the screen of an MP3 player:
We take it all. In with the literal garbage there is (sometimes) treasure.
1. Below: "SARA wants this book"
...but not that much?
It's not uncommon that an item will come in with a tag noting that the item was supposed to go to someone––presumably on the death of the owner.
Who knows what the story behind each one is, but these notes make me a little sad.
2. Below: Like the donut frosting, this was another (I hope) accidental food donation:
a used, blue paper plate & plastic spoon with cake crumbs, in with a box of quality woodworking magazines:
3. No accident here! Nicely noted, "IT WORKS FINE".
(If it doesn't catch on fire...)
4. Notes in books are not always this great.
Stay high, Bean!
5. What to do with old-timey racist/culturally imperialist stuff (e.g. Mammy salt & pepper shakers)?*
I don't usually put out for sale stuff like this comic book about an English cricketer who became a missionary, but it feels too culturally significant to just throw out...
* UPDATE: The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris University, Michigan accepts donations of racist objects.
www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/donate.htm
6. Some icky donations are obviously accidents---like the bakery bag that held only the frosting of a donut --I imagine someone cleaning up after a garage sale or move, and their bag accidentally getting in with the donations.
7. Other things are intentional--this headless sacred heart of Mary was mailed to the store. We have a religious articles ministry that accepts such objects, and we even say we'll repair them.
But that means gluing heads on---but not manifesting the missing parts themselves.
8. And these boxes of instant pudding that expired three years ago, in 2015? They came in a carefully packed box of nice kitchenware, so they didn't seem to be accidental.
Who knows?
9. It is very sweet when people write little notes---here the person even sketched the outline of the missing puzzle piece!
But the store gets waaay more than enough puzzles, and this one was nothing special, so into the trash it went.
10. It's common that people don't clean their shoes before donating them. Luckily the material in the treads of these hiking boots was just grass and mud.
11. This memorable entry from February 5, 1964, is the last entry in this donated daily journal.
After this, the journal is blank.
12. A shoe box of John D. MacDonald paperback thrillers from the 1970s was another donation that came with handwritten notes. In this case, the notes seem to be reminders to the owner him/herself, not to the future buyer. But who knows for sure?
These old pulp paperbacks were well worn and the high-acid paper yellowed. I saved a few with the best covers and put the rest on the 33¢ shelf.
13. This is the creepiest donation I've yet seen––
some kind of dead worm, a true computer bug, stuck under the screen of an MP3 player:
