I Like Thrift Shops

I was never a big fan of these garage sale knockoffs, they started popping up all over Minnesota the last ten years or so and they really didn’t hold my attention after visiting a couple different ones because all they seemed to have were all the things people didn’t sell at a garage sale. So it was all the real crap out of a bunch of junk someone else didn’t want. Whoever said one mans trash is another mans treasure obviously wasn’t looking at the same trash I was. Well it just so happens that the town we live in has a local thrift shop that is part of this whole chain thats popping up everywhere. Its located right in town and everyone goes there. Now I admit I have gone in there in search of something that I didn’t want to run all the way to Walmart for, but more times then not they had nothing I needed.

It was on one of these occasions I struck gold. It was around Halloween and I had been looking for a cape or something for my daughters vampire costume, well I didn’t find anything but I did notice a book rack with some Horror themed books on it. I don’t know if I have mentioned it but I am a huge book enthusiast, amature collector, and mostly it’s horror I am in to. Clive Barker, Dean Koontz, Ann Rice and of course “The King” Stephen that is. My eye’s happen upon a strange green seventies looking dust cover, I picked it up and realized I was holding a mint condition 1977 copyright edition of The Shining, I clutched it against my chest looked around warily sure some store clerk would snatch it away and realize the mistake they had made. As I let my eyes greedily scan the rest of the shelf I see a mint Deadzone copyright 1979 and a Tommyknockers straight from 1987. I scurry to the sales counter and with dread anticipation hold my breath as the lady rings up my purchases, I hand her the six dollars and practically sprint from the store sure they are hot on my heels. No, I get home and call everyone I know to tell them I just bought the equivalent of diamonds (to me anyway) for two dollars apiece.

Now I of course have done some checking and on the open market these books are not worth a fortune, to a collector or a few rare book stores a little more valuable, but to me these are some true treasures. I would never have forked out much money for these originals, like I said I am an amature collector at most relying on gifts and new releases to fill my shelves and I am very happy with the little gems people have given me over the years. These three little beauties were just pure dumb luck or maybe something more, whatever the case I now really like thrift shops and usually peruse the book section any chance I get.