Thrift Store Show and Tell: 2023 Edition

I used to shop thrift stores on the sly. When I got my teaching job in '92, the Goodwill was located in a strip mall right next to the Hy-Vee grocery store that employed about half of the UHS student population. I quickly learned that if a student spotted me walking into Goodwill, then I would be mocked in class the next day. There was a lot of "Too bad teachers don't make enough to buy new clothes..." kind of comments being thrown around.

I eventually learned where the thrift stores that weren't in Urbandale were. I had developed a pretty good route. I would usually leave on Saturday morning around nine, and I wouldn't get home until early afternoon. I was on a tight budget, but I would still have to make a couple of trips to get all my stuff into my apartment. 

Things sure have changed. You can now spot luxury cars in a thrift store parking lot. People brag about how little they paid for an item. I don't enjoy shopping on Saturdays because the lines to the registers are so long. And then there's the internet. With websites like shopgoodwill.com, you are not only competing against other customers in the store, but somebody in the back off the store is cherry-picking items to be put in an online auction. You are competing with the entire U. S. thrifting community.

Also, people don't donate like they used to. It's not too hard to take unwanted items and sell them to a speciality store. Half-Price Books and Game Stop are happy to buy your used video games, video game systems, Blu-rays, LPs, and books and sell them for a profit. 

I typically walk out of a thrift stores empty handed; the pickings are so slim. So, why still go? I still get a kick of finding something "cool." It's the thrill of the hunt. You just never know... mistakes get made. Not everyone who works in the back knows what they're doing. I don't have a "Me vs. The Store" mentality, but if an "auctionable" item is mistakenly placed on a shelf, then I think it's fair game. 

The deals are still out there. You just have to be patient and diligent. 

I used to be able to write a "Thrift Store Show and Tell" post about what I found over a weekend. This post is going to cover a span of a few months of hunting, and I won't include everything I found. My topics are music, books, movies, and odds and ends.

Music

I love records, but CDs sound much better than streaming music, so I have no problem picking up a CD for a buck or two.

I've been on a bit of a grunge revival, and I noticed I didn't have any Alice In Chains in my collection. Their 1994 Jar of Flies was a welcome find. I ditched the generic, black CD tray for a clear one to reveal the inside case artwork. 

House of Large Sizes is my favorite Iowan band (sorry, Slipknot). I already have a copy of this promo CD from 1994, but this one is in better shape.

Fountains of Wayne is another band favorite, and I didn't have 2005's double CD of B-sides and outtakes.

I was lamenting that I didn't have any Eagles in my record collection, so finding this 2020 reissue was pretty cool. It's a German pressing.

Here's another reissue: Supertramp's Breakfast in America. I'm not sure of the year.

Stevie Nicks' Stand Back is a double LP compilation from 2019 and was also pressed in Germany. 

Pat Benatar's Crimes of Passion (1980). This is one of those records that I buy just because I found it in good shape. Turns out there are more songs on here that I like than I thought.

Billy Idol's Vital Idol is a remix album released in the US in 1987. I remember when this first came out because I'm old.

I bought this just so I could frame it for my wall. I like the psychedelic design, and An Audio Obstacle Course is an awesome title. To me it's one of those LPs that celebrates the act of playing records.

I found this LP while sifting through a pile of 20 dirty and beat up children's records on the floor. It was the only "adult" record shoved in the middle of the pile. I think someone tried to hide this 1967 reissue of The Freewhellin' Bob Dylan in hopes of coming back to get it. Hiding stuff doesn't work out very often.

Honey Cones' Soul Tapestry. I think this is a 1971 DJ promo copy. 

Dick Dale and his Del-Tones. I like to listen to The King of Surf Guitar (1963) and pretend I'm in a Quentin Tarantino film.

I had to take some broadcast journalism classes in college. I recorded an assignment on a cheap Classics IV tape that I bought at a truck stop when I ran out of blank cassette tapes. My professor gave me an F for recording over The Classics IV, but he changed it to an A when I explained that lead singer Dennis Yost wasn't on the tape. He said, "Okay, good choice. The Classics are nothing without Yost." Yost is on 1967's Mamas and Papas/ Soul Train, and that's why I like almost every track on this LP.

On the Temptations' All Directions (1972), most people would recognize "Papa was a Rolling Stone," but I think "Do Your Thing" (written by Isaac Hayes) is the standout track. The outer record sleeve isn't in the best shape, but the vinyl is good.

Here's another LP with a rough, outer sleeve that holds an record that is in really nice shape. Dr. Pepper Presents The Sounds of '73 is my favorite compilation find so far.  

I bought The Beatles' 20 Greatest Hits and Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life even though the records were in terrible condition. The sleeves were what I wanted. They were in better condition than what I had at home. The "new" sleeves are on the left. 

Check out how dirty and scratched the Beatles vinyl is. The "clean" mark at 8 o'clock is from pulling the record out of the sleeve with my thumb and finger. I tried to clean the surface, but the amount of scratches and scuffs made it a lost cause.

Speaking of bad vinyl, I found this Black Sabbath LP unprotected in a box. It did not have a sleeve at all that I could find. I bought the record to see if it could be saved. It's now clean, but the crackles overpower the music at the beginning and ending of each track (Neither John nor Debbie took very good care of this). With that in mind, I've listened to this much more than I thought I would. I wonder if I'll miss the pops and crackles when I find a decent copy?

On the other side of the coin is 1984's Legend by Bob Marley & the Wailers. I found this in the same box. It also did not have the outer sleeve artwork, but it was in an inner paper sleeve. Apparently that was enough protection because this vinyl is in really nice shape. Not sure how that happened, but now I'm on the lookout for a matching outer sleeve.

Books

I was shocked to see Hot Rod by Henry Gregor Felsen just lying by itself on a Goodwill shelf. Obviously someone had removed the book from the stacks, looked at it, and then left Hot Rod behind for me. Thanks, buddy! This is my favorite find of the year. I have been looking for a hardcover copy since I was a teenager. Seriously.

I loved reading this book from our local library even though the story of Bud Crayne was already 30 years old when I first discovered it in 5th grade. I remember my mom getting really upset when she saw Hot Rod on our kitchen table. She had mistaken the cover for a book that she knew was too mature for me. She calmed down when she realized her mistake, but that took a lot of talking on my part.

By the way, Bud Crayne never wore a suit while driving. This cover is a lie.

Now here are some books that should be taken from a ten-year-old... 

I've written about horror paperback books before, and now I have a few more to add to my collection. 

1987's The Dollkeeper: "Despite the mysterious disappearance of nearly a dozen of the town's children, no one seems to notice Emma Prescott's collection of dolls look exactly like the missing children..." (Amazon).

1992's When Darkness Falls: "Unconcerned by the series of wolf attacks that have terrorized the community, a teacher takes a job in Petittville and meets Charlie, a shy misfit who believes the wolf attacks are part of an ancient legend" (Amazon).

1980's The Nest: "It was just an ordinary garbage dump on peaceful Cape Cod. No one ever imagined that conditions were perfect for breeding, that it was a warm womb, fetid, moist, and with food so plentiful that everything creeping, crawling, and slithering could gorge to satiation. Then a change in poison control was made, resulting in an unforeseen mutation. Now the giant mutant cockroaches are ready to leave their nest—in search of human flesh!" (Amazon).

First released in 1985, The Bachman Books by Stephen King is not a goofy, "Paperback from Hell." This is where I discovered my favorite story by Mr. King: The Long Walk.  He wrote it when he was a freshman at college and he hit it out of the park. 

 

"In a dystopian America, a major source of entertainment is the Long Walk, in which one hundred teenage boys walk without rest along U. S. Route 1. Each Walker must stay above four miles per hour. If a Walker drops below this speed for thirty seconds, he gets a warning. A Walker can lose a warning if he walks for an hour without getting another warning. If a Walker gets four warnings, he is shot dead by soldiers. The last surviving Walker earns a large sum of money and a 'Prize' of his choice" (Wikipedia). 

I didn't like the ending until I realized that it is an allegory for The Vietnam War. I bought this 1986 paperback (again) because this copy was in such nice shape.

Movies

My Blu-ray of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly has all of the video supplements that are on this Special Edition DVD set. So, why did I buy this for $2?

I wanted the eight page booklet and the mini posters from five different countries! 

For a movie fan, I think these are the adult equivalent to a Happy Meal toy.

I have a small collection of Spaghetti Westerns, and these two will fit in nicely:

Odds and Ends

My old GE alarm clock radio stopped playing music and would only emit static. I retired it and bought another GE from the 80s. The thing is, even though the previous clock's radio broke, it never lost or gained time. It really was "set it and forget it." So far, the same goes for this bad boy. (I bought Daphne one of the most recommended clocks on Amazon a few years ago, and that clock is currently six minutes fast.) Yes, I could use my phone, but this just feels right.

Speaking of time, I picked up this perpetual flip calendar for my desk at school. It's fun, vintage, and shiny, so it checks all the boxes for me.

I found two new "YETI Rambler 12 oz. Colster Can Insulators for Standard Size Cans." I'm just going to call them "koozies."  The fake advertising cans in the koozies still have their Yeti stickers, so that's a bonus, too.

Char and I spotted a DIY project where you turn an old boot into a planter for your porch. Char found these two boots at Goodwill.

They're boots for a child. I wasn't sure they be right for the project, but Char assured me that they would work. She was right. I have to admit that having small boots outside of our house makes me smile. I get to pretend that we still have a little one living here. (Hi, Ellie.)

Okay, here's the last thing for today. Last weekend Char and I went thrift shopping, and when I showed her this shirt, she told me I had to buy it. It made us both laugh, so it came home with us.

Okay! That felt good. I haven't been blogging for a minute, and I miss it.