Zestfully priced

The one thrift store sighting that inspired me to start this blog was one that I did not get a photo of so you'll just have to take my word for it. The product was one bar of Irish Spring soap, still in the box. There were actually two boxes, in different areas of the section. They looked like this:

The boxes were a little worse for wear, with some water damage and discoloration. And plastered onto to each little box was a sticker with the Goodwill logo and a barcode for easy scanning at the checkout. The price printed on each sticker ($2.99) made me do a double-take and hunt down my sister so that I could show her. Yes, Goodwill was asking $2.99 for a box of soap that you can get in an 8-pack for $4.13 at Meijer. At the same store I found a pretty vintage 50's skirt covered with embroidery and rhinestones for only $3.29.

Creepy family portrait

I love love love old American folk art, particularly portraits. There is always something "off" about them; the proportions are wrong, the perspective is flat, or the features are creepy.

I spotted this pair of 8x6" portraits on the same day, and at the same shop, as Big Al. The print is on thin paper adhered to a chunk of wood. The edges were deliberately worn down to make the pieces look older. I have several interior design books from the 50's and 60's and this set would have fit perfectly in a Colonial Revival room, complete with copper pots, Windsor armchairs and a spinning wheel. 

My favorite part is the dog underneath the father's chair. A very un-dog-like face. (Click on the photos to enlarge them, then click again for a really BIG version.)

(Incidentally, when I first saw these my mind went straight to an episode of my favorite television show Supernatural. The ghost-slaying brothers are hunting a killer who pops out of an old family portrait painting. Here's a short clip of them realizing that, even though they burned the painting, the spirit was too strong and the art reappears. The portrait looks like this:

I brought the little pictures home. The first thing my husband said was, "Holy shit. One of those kids is going to kill us in the middle of the night." I am pleased to say that, even though the plaques hang on the wall in the living room, we have not yet had our throats cut by an evil ghost child.)

Lonely in your thrift store

Hurry! If you act quickly you can "Save a Prayer Patrick Nagel Poster From the Thrift Store."

(Is there anyone who doesn't start humming "Rio" when they see a Nagel?)

Make healthier

I never cook anything in the microwave. I might re-heat leftovers, boil a cup of water, or melt butter in it, but I never actually cook anything. This product, the Microwave French Fries Maker, might make wonderfully crisp and tasty fries to give McDonald's a run for its money, I don't know. I wasn't about to fork over the money to find out.

Since I have never used this device I can only judge it based on its design. The description at Amazon claims the diameter of the tray is 8" and I'd say the box was a good 2" thick. It looks awkward. I can't imagine taking the time to put every individual french fry into a little slot. I also can't imagine having to clean out the four little condiment squares if the dish was not washed immediately.

I did laugh at a few of the bullet points on the bottom left-hand side of the box. "Make healthier"? I think they could have worded that more betterer. And one of my pet peeves is the misuse of "less" when it should be "fewer" so I wanted to scratch out "less calories" and change it to "fewer calories". I get the same urge at a grocery store if the express lane has a "12 items or less" sign. (My grammar is far from perfect but that doesn't stop me from getting sanctimonious about the few mistakes that irritate me.)

One more point: there were two of these, one on top of the other, on the shelf. I wonder if, somehow, these items came from two separate people and ended up being donated to the same thrift chain at around the same time. I don't know why I wonder that, I just do.

Sad dolly

Dolly is sad. Why is she sad, you ask? Well, because Dolly has a broken neck. Her plastic head has been half-wrenched from her cloth body. I wonder, will someone take Dolly home and fix her neck? (Not me.)

Spanish Conquistadors

I had to take this photo as sneakily as possible because there was another customer near me who seemed to love everything she saw. I know this because she kept making comments to her husband, who seemed equally enthralled. "Oh! Look at this honey! A plaster squirrel with a silver ball on its back! And look at this! A hand-painted angel on a hatbox! Someone spent a lot of time on that; it's beautiful!" To which her husband would reply something like, "And look at all the frogs! There's one here and here and here, and another one over here!" I was afraid they would ask me what I was doing if they saw me snapping a photo so I hid the camera under a pile of clothes I was carrying and did the best I could.

And as you can see, it was fully worth the effort. These wall hangings were pretty big, at least a foot tall and they must have weighed five pounds each. I can't really convey just how ugly they were but I can say they were even uglier in person. I  guess they were supposed to flank your giant painting of Cortes and his men laying siege to Tenochtitlan.

Be sure to click on the photo for an enlarged version. (You might regret it in this instance, but I had to throw it out there.) They did not come home with me.

Indianapolis Redskins

It seems there was a slight mix-up at the factory and these 75 "official NFL merchandise" Indianapolis Colts toothbrushes switched their allegiance to the Washington Redskins. Oops. (I'd make some kind of pithy comment here about one of the teams or the NFL in general but I know nothing about basketball.)

At least they were donated to Goodwill instead of destroyed.

Poor kid

My sister spotted this one in the basement of a Salvation Army Family Store today. Someone tore the other members of this child's family out of the photo, left the baby in the frame, then donated the frame. Bizarre.

Big Al

Big Al is one of the stars of the Country Bear Jamboree at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The attraction is cheesy but fun and Big Al is the best part, as he morbidly moans Tex Ritter's Blood On the Saddle.

A few weeks ago I was browsing at a local thrift store and came across an ancient Big Al bank with official Disney markings on the bottom. The condition was a little rough and the price was high ($2.99) but this find had to come home with me. He now sits proudly on the shelf above the computer desk forever ready to serenade us with a tale of cowboy blood and death.