Old postcards, such as these 1939 World’s Fair cards, are keepsakes for the right person.
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Case in point: this Pierre Trudeau pin.
Today’s column relates to a whole lot of us who are at that stage of life where we’re decluttering and downsizing but don’t know what to do with the stuff.
A reader who read a column in which I touched on some of these challenges emailed me with her conundrum, asking for help.
"Laurie, I just counted more than 60 comic books from the ’50s and ’60s, including two Barbie and Ken, I have original paintings (including a Samuel Cousins), records including an unopened original set featuring Richard Burton narrating War of the Worlds, vintage children’s books, sheet music, boxes of china and lots more. I’m hoping you might be able to help me evaluate and rehome the worthwhile stuff, while also telling me what to throw out."
She asked that if I chose to do a column on her situation, to please keep her name and location a secret.
Can you keep a secret? So can I. So if you’d like to contact her, please just email me and we’ll take it from there.
Common questions and concerns of people going through this process include: my kids aren’t going to want most of this, so how do I determine what has value, what doesn’t, and how do I sell the things that are worth putting on the market?
Many vulnerable couples, and especially single seniors, don’t want strangers coming to their home, even to do an appraisal. It just doesn’t feel safe. Sadly, in this day and age, that is certainly a valid concern.
I say buy a 357 Magnum and any "stranger" that sets off your spidey senses, blow ’em off the front steps, Dirty Harry style.
Might make your day. Most people, however, don’t find that suggestion helpful.
What probably should happen if you have grown children is that they help you go through the stuff now, identify what they’d like held onto, or just take that stuff home now, then help you safely evaluate (sourcing expert advice/information) and sell, give away or throw out stuff that you want to part with.
No question, this decluttering/downsizing move can be quite the challenge. But with the help of the right people, it can be a ton of fun and even lucrative, so yes, very worth diving into.
And the stories attached to some of these keepsakes, priceless. Take, for example, today’s downsizer, "Lucretia" (a fine fake name). Not only does she have some old Howdy Doody books from when she was a kid, but telling me about them resulted in her remembering that when she was about eight, she was in Toronto at a taping of the Howdy Doody Show, and got ejected from the Peanut Gallery because she wouldn’t stop crying! Who gets thrown off Howdy Doody? That’s a great claim to fame!
Also in the mix of her cool stuff was an actual Pierre Trudeau "Fuddle Duddle" pin. I think that one should go up for auction. Some drunk old-school Liberal would probably pay a big buck for the honour of wearing that to the local watering hole, or maybe even a sober souvenir hunter that just wants the bragging rights of owning it. Very cool.
Lucretia also has a stack of great old postcards from the first half of the last century that includes minty sets from the 1939 World’s Fair, along with interesting (but musty-smelling) old magazines with fascinating stories and ads, collector pins and buttons (campaign/advertising) of various sorts... stuff you don’t want to throw out but you just don’t have an efficient way to assess and part with.
Probably the best big-picture suggestion on how to approach this safely is just to network under the radar through people you know you can trust. You don’t want to put your safety at risk, be taken advantage of in some way or, perhaps worst of all according to my Scottish roots, get RIPPED OFF by some slimy, dishonest opportunist!
I’m having a blast checking some of these requests out, meeting some great people, eating delicious homemade cakes washed down by hot coffee or tea, all while making some interesting new friends. I mean, I now personally know someone who got booted from the Howdy Doody Show. An honour.
I’m still waiting for THAT message: "Laurie, we/I have an old car in our garage that hasn’t been started in 30 years and is buried under a huge pile of junk, could you come and help us determine if it has any value because we’d like it and everything else gone so we can actually use our garage for the car we’re driving!!!"
Oh, what a column that will make. I will be SO there.
Comments or feedback, love to hear from you!
lmustard1948@gmail.com
