Curbside shopping

[Tammy]

Anybody ever stop at the curb to collect a wonderful treasure waiting for the trashman?  The town next to ours normally has a weekend where people put out anything they don't want and it's all for the taking.  We picked up some nice lawn swings (not swingsets but I've seen those also) last year. 

[Second Hand Sophisticate]

Yes!  I have four very ~kewl~ genuine cherry red kitchen chairs in chrome and that swirly plastic material that I found out on the curb waiting for pick-up two doors down from my in-laws house.  They are from the 50s and matched perfectly the grey chrome table that belonged to my in-laws!  The funny thing is, I had been looking for chairs like that forever, and a few days after I found these, I was driving around in another part of the county and four more chrome chairs out by a curb, but in brown!     

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

I do it, too, and like SeSo, have had very good luck with chairs. I've found some nice ones from the 30s, with big chunky renaissance revival legs. And FREE.

Ah, the joys of spring!

[Good Buddy]

Without hesitation do I stop..
More power to us!

[Vintage PurseLover]

When I lived in Michigan,my mom and sister and all of the kids and I would go and do this every Wednesday evenings in some of the "well to do" subdivisions.(Thursdays was trash pick up)I mean you can't imagine what well off folks throw away.Grills,bikes,furniture.They may have used it once and  for instance...if the tire went flat on their new bike..they tossed the bike in the trash.Weber grills that still have the "new " look to it..out in the trash.
I admit that I am not too proud to curbside garbage pick.
Dianne

[Vintage PurseLover]

SeSo you are one very cool lady.I'm telling ya...wow you must love all the 50's( and earlier) retro stuff.I am trying to get a picture in my head of what those delicious looking chairs look like.I love the 30-40's art deco look.Plus...*****blushing****all of the 30's and 40's pin up art...nothing distasteful or nasty..you know the kind like Marines would have on the side of their fighter jets?
Dianne

[Big Daddy Audio]

This sounds like it's straight out of Bizzarro World, but back in NY, I picked off the top of a trash heap a Technics SA-505 stereo receiver.  There was absolutely nothing wrong with it.  I couldn't (for the life of me) figure out why someone threw it away, but there it was.  Not only did it work fine, it also looked good as well.

I know I have a picture of it somewhere.  If I can find it, I'll post it.

That is all.

[Tammy]

Last year a friend of mine's son picked up a very nice newer 27" color tv that had the electric cord cut off.  Cost him a few bucks to replace it and he's got a really nice tv.  I picked up a daybed frame 2 yrs ago along with some really cool metal arbor fencing that has been sitting waiting for me to decide what to do with it.  I would like to get more into the 'garden junk' stuff and just can't wait to really hit the garage sales this year. 

There's a house we drive by each day that makes things really easy.  They put items at the end of their very long driveway with a free sign on them.  One thing we got from there was a very nice garden tractor cart and recently picked up some carpet scraps to fit in the back of our truck. 

[Mattie]

My county has a special curbside pickup every 18 months or so.  The flier always warns that scavenging stuff put out for pickup is a crime, but that doesn't stop anyone (including me) from doing it.  I hate to see useful stuff go to the landfill.  Once I watched scavengers take my old, broken water heater bit by bit.  By the end of the day the only thing left was the box my new heater came in.

My house was built in 1950 and it has the original white metal kitchen cabinets.  Someday I'd like to "remodel" it to its original glory, so I've scavenged three more cabinets.  They're doing duty in my studio as storage cabinets until that "someday" comes.  I've also scavenged picture frames, magazines, and other small items.

One day, not an official curbside pickup day, I walked past a house in my neighborhood where a woman was putting stacks of records (LPs and 78s) out on the curb.  I asked her if she was having a yard sale.  "Nope, it's my parents' record collection and they're going in the trash.  Take 'em if you want 'em," she said.  So I walked home, got out my trusty red Radio Flyer wagon, and carted all of them home.  Sadly, her parents had mediocre taste in music.  Lots of soft pop and light classical.  I ended up donating most of them to Goodwill.  I still have the 78s that are in albums with cool 1940s graphics, but I think I'll need to donate them eventually as well.  Those things take up a LOT of room.  They're practically worthless, too.  If only they'd been '40s country & western! 

[meiserlee]

in oklahoma we have "big trash day" twice a year.   the junkers come out in droves.  a neighbor of mine does it and found a 52 inch projection tv (in one of the well-to-do neighborhoods) that needed a 4 dollar part.  needless to say, he was extremely happy about that find.  he also gets lawnmowers and fixes them up and gives them to people.  most have just been sitting out in the weather and just need a good drying out or a new spark plug. 
it's amazing what people will just throw away. 
i am glad our city lets people trash pick, otherwise some of this stuff would just sit at the dump. 

[Tammy]

I just found out that the town next to ours is having their Gabby Days (stands for Garage, attic, basement, backyard) 6/2 & 6/3.  I'm looking forward to it!  Told the husband he ought to take that Sat AM off from work.  Ahhhh.. STUFF!!!

A gal I know that lives in that town said she goes out with a relative and they take everything.  She said they'll load a truck full, go home and quickly sort it.  Everything they don't want ends back up on their curb.  She said she's seen the same items at multiple houses. 

[Second Hand Sophisticate]

You guys are all so great and smart with your finds!  I envy those of you with designated trash pick-up days in your neighborhoods.

Except for the chairs and a 60s print pic, I haven't really taken much from curbs, though I have seen a lot of great stuff thru the years, I didn't/don't really have room in  my home or a place to store it. 

Dianne, thank you for the lovely compliments!  I know exactly the art you are talking about...I think the WWII guys had Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth and their look-alikes on their planes. Very naughty, in a delicious way! And the 50s stuff!  Tres ~kewl~ there's a model named Betty something- or-other ( a movie just came out about her last year, I think) that really personifies that 50s pin-up look you love.

[Big Daddy Audio]

We're actually in the middle of this "time of the year" right now.  I always try to take a look, but there's just not that much good stuff being put out right now.  I'm actually in "retrograde," trying to purge more than accumulate.  There's a ping pong table up the block that's been sitting there for a week now.  It seems like there's a wheelbarrow that needs repair in every pile.  A bunch of old computer monitors, couches (nothing good - I looked), and cut brush and assorted scrap lumber. There are a ton of gas BBQ grills, most of which have seen better days

**  Big Daddy's Quick Tip  **

You can use a gas grill with charcoal - just remove the gas guts and use it as you would with briquettes.  Many gas grills are thrown away simply because the plumbing is no longer up to code (the nozzles/regulators changed within the last 18 months, and the old grill tanks can no longer be filled, necessitating a re-plumb job - totally not worth it on all but the most expensive grills).  So - If you see one that you like, fear not - just use charcoal and enjoy.  In addition, many parts for the name brand units can be had at mass merchandisers and hardware stores (simply install a new metal grill surface and the whole thing looks like a million).

I'm partial to Weber Kettle grills myself, charcoal fired, so gas grills hold no attraction for me.

Anyway - I put out an old "pitch-back" (metal tube framing with springy mesh for baseball and softball training) and the tubing for a trampoline "safety net" that was given to us.  The tubing is gone (probably going to be recycled - so much the better) but the pitch-back remains.

That is all. 

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

You know, I put out a dead-- way dead, smoking, grinding, SO not-heating, pushing-up-the-daisies microwave...

EX-microwave, really...

to the curb recently. And by morning it was gone.

The only thing that microwave might have been good for was a doorstop. But someone seemed to think they found a real treasure. I kinda felt sorry for them. I'm really not the sort of person to put out roadside rubbish that has many possibilities.

[alexandra]

One thing to be aware of when picking up curbside furniture -- especially upholstered peices.  If they've been peed on by either a cat or a dog, you might bring home an object that your own companion may decide to mark.  Once they mark one piece, it's not uncommon to epxerience a cascading effect on others...

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com