You know that guy who is at every flea market? You know the one. The guy with 80 cardboard boxes full of breakable goodies in the back of his pickup truck, that he faithfully “loads” and “unloads” every weekend without giving a care if the stuff inside gets broken and smashed. Thrown around without regard to the contents, the boxes contain everything from 1960s packages of pantyhose to heavy antique sledgehammers, all rolling around on top of breakable ceramics.
The cardboard boxes thrown out on the wet grass, soaking up the dew into their contents, full of daddy longlegs, dirty old junk, and maybe a treasure or two. It was from that guy that I rescued this planter. He’s not too chipped up, despite belonging to that guy, the one who doesn’t care if his boxes full of junk get smashed and trashed week after week.
Mr. Gentleman Cat will probably look as good as new after I touch up his paint in the parts where he’s chipped. I am always amazed at these folks who don’t care that they are smashing treasures they could make good money on. You have to be willing to dig and not be afraid of dirt or creepy crawlies when you buy stuff from that guy. Can’t be too picky about condition, either, since everything will inevitably be damaged in one way or another.
Unlike many planters, this one is painted on the back, too.
For 50 cents, that guy made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.
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Allee Willis
I definitely know THAT GUY! I feel the same way about people who work at thrift shops and stick price stickers on top of paint that you know will peel off when you try and get the sticker off. I don’t know what it is with these people. They must know that they cut too many corners and I would bet live overall sloppy lives as they’re slapping mildew, spider filled boxes in and out of their stationwagons every week and not enjoying a nice picnic or ballgame with their families.
As for the pipe sucking kitty cat, he/she is adorable. The little chips do not diminish his/her beauty and $.50 was a fantastic fee in order to be able to adopt him/her.
k2dtw
What a cute guy…he has so much personality.. I’m so glad you saved him.
I see them too…I guess they’re everwhere, it just breaks my heart. When something has been loved and cared for all these years, and then someone with no regard gets ahold of them??
The other people who make me crazy, are the ones who are ruining all their beautiful vintage textiles (chenille bedspreads) by displaying them out in the sun all day, so they have a big fat giant sun fade where it was folded.. What are they thinking???….sigh
Allee Willis
The people who do that to fabric make me nuttier then anyone. Do they not have a bone of common sense in their head???
denny
The flea market in Wellfleet (on Cape Cod) has several vendors that pull out these insanely stuffed boxes out of their trucks. It sometimes takes me one hour to rummage through one vendors stock! I often get the best things from those guys.