I Racked Up!

I have a long history of ferreting out killer deals at thrift stores. I was raised on regular forays to the local Goodwill. My mother assembled a very nice collection of pink depression glass that she purchased at thrift stores before the prices on that stuff went through the roof. She put my girlhood bedroom suite of a twin bed together with bargain finds of a mirrored chifforobe and a cute little dresser that sported a three sided mirror and a backless bench. After all the pieces were painted butter yellow and antiqued they made a sweet bedroom set.

When my boys were young and we were....lacking money for extras....I thrifted regularly for gently worn blue jeans and shirts. I supplied my little readers with plenty of books that I found there as well. I've always gone straight to the book section first. Interesting books, art books, old grammar school text books, thrillers, spy novels....etc, etc, etc. When I decided to begin collecting Little Golden Books my best source was the thrift store. That is until other people got in on the act. Now if it's not Disney, it's hard to find. But that's okay...I've bought more than enough already.

But in recent years, I decided that I just don't need so much stuff. I've tried to pare down...and for a collector type personality that is not easy. So, I swore off regular visits to "the exclusive shop" as my mother likes to tell people when they ask her where she got her cute purse or jacket.

I'd sworn off that is until I got the notion that I would like to start a new collection. On Saturday I made the rounds to 3 stores looking for this:

That's right. My newest addiction is collecting game pieces. I'd love to have vintage game pieces, but plastic pieces have their appeal as well.

I imagine that my granddaughters will love to dump them out and play with them. Maybe they will invent a game that they can market when they grow up!

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I found these children's clothing patterns circa the 60s as well. For 25 cents I just couldn't leave them there. Especially after I thought about the seamstress who originally bought these and made outfits for her babies....45 years ago! Somewhere there are family photos of cute children with dimples and baby fat wearing what she made using these patterns. Maybe one of those dimpled children has grown up and makes clothes for her own kids now. For 75 cents I brought home a dose of a mother's love.

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When I saw this lying on the bottom shelf I pounced on it. MINE, I thought. Then I saw that it had no price. The management is funny about unpriced items at this shop, so I put it back and walked away thinking that it just wasn't meant for me. But at the check out counter, I decided to make sure their policy hadn't changed. The cashier pointed out the manager and encouraged me to tell him about the item and ask. I decided that I didn't have anything to lose. Yippee....it was mine for $1.99!

It is missing it's stand but that doesn't bother me. It's big...big as a big big beach ball. I brought it right in the house and stuck it on top of the entertainment center. Seeing it there entertains me.

I love globes...this is # 3. It looks like you might be able to boast in the future that you were there when it all began. You were at the epicenter of Steviewren's global collection fever/fervor.