Do you ever find hidden treasures in thrift store finds?

[Other People s Junk]

Every time I get a frame at a thrift store to repurpose, I wonder if I'll find some neat treasure underneath the picture that is showing...  It has happened to people I know- in one frame they found TWO papers with Charles Schultz autographs (with Peanuts characters above the autographs), but so far with me I just find odd things that deserved to be covered up. 

There are all sorts of other things to buy that could reveal "hidden treasures"...

In a box of patterns my in-laws had picked up at an estate auction, I found an envelope with cash- that was a very good thing as the patterns were pretty much worthless!

Along the same lines, but not keepable, I found a big bunch of credit cards/social security card in a purse at a thrift store... I turned it into the manager on duty.  I can just see some old lady out there emptying her old purse out because her granddaughter got her a newer purse and accidentally leaving all her credit cards in the old purse and then absentmindedly letting it get donated away.

Has anyone else found anything of interest?  Or heard of anything people have found?

[Big Daddy Audio]

In a set of art deco furniture that we bought back in NY from a furniture re-seller, we found a letter from England to an earlier owner of the set in the vanity.  It was dated right after WW2 ended, sometime in late 1945 or 1946.  The letter writer can't believe how evil Hitler was, and how things are still tight (food, supplies, etc.). 

The remarkable thing is, the handwriting is gorgeous, which seems to me to be a lost art.

That is all.

[nicejewishgirl]

I've found lots of bad teenage poetry in books that I've purchased.  Some of them I've sent to Found Magazine and they've been posted on their website.  I've also found pictures in books as well.  What else?  Oh, once I found $50 in a coat that I purchased at a Goodwill.  Now I always check the pockets first.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I have found old requisition forms dated in the 60's in an old desk I got that the Marine Corps was throwing out when I worked for the Gov't.  I have also found in thrift stores really nice men's raincoats & topcoats hanging in the women's section.  I guess whoever is working there assumes that all long coats are women's.  Turned out to be a great deal for me.  I've gotten several raincoats and overcoats in really nice shape cheap because they were overlooked and had been in the store long enough to be marked down.  I know of instances where people get deals at auctions.  One person I know spent $2 on a box at an auction.  In the box was a coffee can with about $20 in change.  Another instance was that there was an envelope full of unused postage stamps mixed in a $2 box.

-Jay

[Mattie]

I bought a bag of old unused envelopes, and each envelope was preprinted with a five-cent stamp.  When I added them up they were worth much more than I paid for them.

I found a $20 bill in the pocket of a pair of jeans and about $4 in change in the pocket of a jacket.

I've found old postcards and newspaper clippings in books.

Not exactly thrifted, but I found a charming 1940s blotter in the pencil drawer of a desk I bought from the retired owner of a motorcycle shop.  The blotter features an illustration of a Betty Grable-style pinup girl and an ad for States motorcycle batteries.  I'm going to frame the blotter, but meanwhile I'm keeping it in the drawer where I found it.

[Vintage Soul]

In a set of art deco furniture that we bought back in NY from a furniture re-seller, we found a letter from England to an earlier owner of the set in the vanity.  It was dated right after WW2 ended, sometime in late 1945 or 1946.  The letter writer can't believe how evil Hitler was, and how things are still tight (food, supplies, etc.). 

The remarkable thing is, the handwriting is gorgeous, which seems to me to be a lost art.

That is all.

I love old letters and postcards for this very reason. Not only do you get an interesting peek into long gone eras and people's lives, but the handwriting is always gorgeous (if at time hard to decipher).