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Where did it all begin??
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Rick
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Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:10 am    Post subject: Where did it all begin?? Reply with quote

.. your interest in preserving or rescuing old stuff?

I was pondering this while watching the Antiques Roadshow on TV the other evening. My two earliest recollections of saving old junk are as follows:

1. Old wooden writing box
When I was 7 or 8 I found a wooden writing box perched on some rubble in a skip. A Victorian house behind where my folks live was being refurbished, and this had been slung out. The wooden base wasn't too clever, but the rest of it was quite tidy. I think I must have been fascinated by all the little compartments and old ink pens and nibs inside.

2. Raleigh Chopper
A pal of mine's dad was going to take this rusty old bike to the tip (I must have been about 9 or 10 at the time), so I kindly took it off their hands and painted it up. I think I brush painted it silver at one point, then found an aerosol of pale blue so used some of that on it. Another aerosol, this time maroon, appeared from somewhere so I proceeded to spray red spots over the front of it. I used that bike for a few years, perhaps the best modification was fitting a small radio to the crossbar and wiring in a speaker on the curved loop behind the seat. I think it also had one of those battery-powered sirens that had a choice of sounds (eg Police).

Now, most recent junk find. A very tidy and quite large metal and enamel container with FLOUR on it (perhaps from a shop or bakery?), found a couple of months back on top of the metal recycling skip at the local tip, err 'recycling point'.

Rick
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buzzy bee
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi

Well, my first view of old cars was either noddy or brum, they have changed my life! hehe

Old things was simmilar to rick, when I was about 10, no maybe 13 well somewhere close to that, me and my mate discovered a bottle tip from the victorian times, so we dug it and must have dug about 3000 bottles out of it. it was in the middle of a wood, so a sytem of carrier bags, push bikes loaded like donkeys were set up to the lane, and then I used to ring my parents. They would arive and take me about a mile back home. They were less than impressed with the amount we collected, I seem to remember multiple trips in the car. I think I even tried to carry some on my bike, but had jelly legs for days as it was all up hill!

I think this has started my hoarding tendinces and it has go on from there.

There are other bits but I don't have time just now!

Cheers

Dave
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Rick
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Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What did you do with all those bottles???? take them to the bottle bank? Wink

R
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buzzy bee
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi

Some of them did disapear????? Probably as you say! Crying or Very sad

Some I still have, the loft has some and about one or two hundred are in the lounge unit!

Cheers

Dave
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Old-Nail
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Being poor as a child! Smile

During my formative years it was quite normal to be surrounded by 'old' stuff, the radiogramme passed down from grandparents, the ornaments from 'junk' shops etc.

Also there was never enough money to replace things when they wore out so a little ingenuity was required, I think it stemmed from the generations before that simply passed on the 'make do and mend' mentality, something that has all but died out now.

Finally, being British gives me the tendency to think things 'not as good as they used to be' so preferring old things because of their quality of manufacture is part of my national make-up!
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Job-Rated
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My parents weren't exactly well off, so my mother was always at bazaars, fetes & jumble sales, often with me in toe.
I was surprised & at the same time thankful at the quality of things people chucked out.
I was a teenager when I first came across the hot rod/custom/dragster scene & was hooked, so much so that in 1981 I went & bought a 1959 Ford Pop with a seized sidevalve for £150. It never ran & was sold on after a year or two as I hadn't the resources to restore or customize it.
Having loved cars all my life, it wasn't until many, many years later that I found myself with both the time & the money to 'do' a project.

No turning back now...
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old gto
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

old nail`s experience sounds a bit like mine.....hanging around grandparents who lived through the "great depression" of the late 20s - early 30s.
We grew up with the understanding that there was no such thing as "junk".... everything had one use or another, and for a creative mind, many items were "multi-purpose".
My wife & I together started collecting antiques & collectible memorabilia over 20 years ago. We both have an appreciation for the simple .... but amazingly well designed & well built .... articles from the past. And we share similar tastes in automotive history & artifact too.
I know I`ve mentioned it before, but my favorites are the early radiator caps, with the fascinating styles, the use of mythical creatures, Gods & Godesses. The styles of the cars themselves....created by artists, compared to today`s computer generated blobs.
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