Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Frugal Living => Topic started by: Thrift on October 31, 2010, 11:09
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I wonder do junk shops still exist in England or were they eclipsed by antique shops?
I furnished our first cottage in the sixties entirely from junk shops and still have many items today. I did a weekly circuit of 5 or 6 shops, mainly around Hillfields in Coventry and also visited a few in Rugby.
Amongst my finds was an oval breakfast table in elm for £5, copper kerb for the fireplace 10s, copper coal scuttle 25s, oak bureau £5 and (against all principles oak side table £10 :ohmy: All had to be cleaned, sanded, polished etc. ( part of the fun ) and are still in use today. Curtains were homemade from wonderful market stall fabrics by Warner and Baker at £3 a yard.
Happy times :)
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Yes, there are still junk shops about. I did a upholstery course so made it my business to find them locally :) Local auctions are usually a good source too. Freecycle is also a boon :D
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Same here Thrift, still got and still in daily use many bits picked up from junk shops in the 60s and wouldn't part with any of them. :happy:
Suppose car boot sales have taken over from the junk shop we remember ::)
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And "collectors" fairs. We have several Antique and Collector centres around here, stuff that I had as a young bride in the 70s and threw out a couple of years later, is making silly money in these places. It's very rare that junk as we knew it then is found at a reasonable price. As Spana said car boots are probably the best bet for that kind of stuff, but you have to be early and fight the dealers. We did a car boot for the first time this year and were quite intimidated by the dealers who were sorting through our stuff almost before we stopped the engine! Scary.
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If you do boot fairs I listened to an old friend who did them regularly.Turn up,sit in the car and drink a cuppa until there are more cars there and then unload your treasure/toot.The dealers will be hassling other people further down the site and you can set up far more easily.