Comments on: Oddities abound

By: Horse N Buggy

Horse N Buggy — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:24:08 +0000

My father’s still living with his hoard of stuff, but I can already tell you one of the things I’m going to have to throw out. My nephew was over at my father’s house helping him do something in one of his “sheds” (I use the term loosely). My father pointed to a five gallon bucket and asked my nephew to bring it over to him. My nephew tried to casually pick up the bucket, thinking it was a little left over paint…or something reasonable. My nephew couldn’t even budge the thing. It was full of broken lead sinkers…a 5 gallon bucket. My father, who is in his 70s and has Parkinson’s disease, thinks he’s going to have some emergency where he needs to melt down those broken sinkers. He doesn’t have anything to melt them in or any molds to cast the lead into any useful shape. But, by all that’s holy, he’s got the raw materials at the ready!

By: Jackie

Jackie — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 05:01:11 +0000

Dorothy has the right idea for specific collections. My husband was involved in amateur radio. When he died, some of his fellow amateurs came by, cleanded out his radio room, and took the stuff to a local hamfest.
It was wonderful, and I was so thankful. The money was wonderful too.

By: M.R.

M.R. — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:56:12 +0000

When evacuating right before last hurricane, I found some “juicy” diaries I had written in junior high school. I was appalled at what I considered important at the time. Thank goodness I found my own diaries though; I promptly shredded them.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:56:58 +0000

@JT, good point about collections. Here’s my take. I think collectors should have a friend who shares the interest and who will take responsibility for the collection when the collector goes: take it away, keep, it, give it away, sell it and give the money to the family — whatever the collector wants.

I’m a quilter and know quilters with MASSIVE amounts of fabric. Many of them have a “quilter’s will” which involves a couple friends who will come in and clear out their studios when they’re gone. This saves the family the trouble, and the “Stuff” can go to someone who will use it. We’ve all heard stories of quilters whose families throw their fabric and tools away because they just don’t know how to dispose of it.

By: JT

JT — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:28:39 +0000

The father in the New York Times is a bit different than the usual case of a packrat. Most of his stuff mentioned in the article had a historical connection, not just mounds of newspapers or bins of empty jugs.

Perhaps the moral of the story with the article is that if you collect, you should catelog and organize what you collect.

By: gypsypacker

gypsypacker — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:44:42 +0000

Tim–Here is where an estate dealer can really make you some money. Get bids as soon as they pass away. The dealer will appraise, clean, and sell for a cut of the final take. Failing that, start looking at the arcana as a serious way to clean out, a few items at a time or a multitude, on eBay. Junk isn’t always junk–old coffee tins, of long-gone brands, will fetch up to a Benjamin on the bay.
Vintage fish baits and flys are another junk pile with great potential.

Start asking for stuff now, and sell it. I am drooling at the thought of that cleanup, and would almost move back into the old pickup for the chance to sift through the trash and market the treasures…

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:11:03 +0000

oh Deb…
“begin negotiations with” _______________fill in the blank…that is a priceless comment…and one I will use to my children for some strange thing.

perhaps it is just late…but that got me giggling…I do love this site, and I really love the comments!

By: Deb

Deb — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:55:18 +0000

@timgray

Now is the time to begin negotiations with some home improvement TV show producer who can come in and Clean Sweep it all as the season finale or something!

By: timgray

timgray — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:44:35 +0000

All of you have it easy… I dread the day that the inlaws pass.

on their property… we have .. 2300 sq foot home full, 1900 sq foot home full, 10,000 sq foot shop full, 8000 sq foot barn full, and a 24,000 sq foot cider mill FULL…

and when I say full I mean full floor to ceiling and walkways. Many attempts to get them to simply pay to have it all hauled away or even let us help to get rid of it are to no avail…. You name it and it’s there. buried under other stuff. It will take a fleet of dumpster trucks months to unclutter it all.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:04:49 +0000

I found an old film canister in my Dad’s stuff – the whole story is told here: http://monkeyfilter.com/link.php/10740

(my username is muteboy, btw)

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:41:53 +0000

My grandparents’ home was a trove of memorobilia – family photos, documents, heirlooms.

My parents were surprised to find a pornographic magazine hidden under the corners of almost every rug in the house.

They were shocked to find pornographic video tapes hidden above the ceiling tiles in the basement. This from the people who claimed they had no idea how to work their VCR …