Thrift: Secondhand Community Stories

On Sustainability

Thrift Podcast — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 13:56:48 GMT

I started following Gaia Rattazzi on Instagram last year, and I’ve learned a lot about the fashion industry and what sustainability might look like from her very thoughtful posts. Each post is carefully crafted to explain how where our clothes are made and where we buy them has a profound impact on the people who make them and the environment.

Gaia is based in Italy but was studying in the U.K. before the pandemic hit. She completed a thesis about water pollution is the result of the fashion industry’s model of encouraging overconsumption. Gaia is dedicated to spreading awareness about these different issues in the fashion industry through her Instagram account and website.

I talked with Gaia about how she built her following and why this topic is so important to her. Our full interview is out now, but you can also read some of my favorite snippets below.

Cheers,Maggie

Maggie: The first question I have, and not even really a question, just honestly wanted you to tell me a little bit about your love of clothes and fashion and how that maybe led you to reexamine your shopping habits.

Gaia: I’ve always been a big fan of fashion, and I’ve always wanted to create my own style. You know I spend so much time in the morning trying to create outfits. Yeah, it’s something that’s always interested me and, at the same time, I’ve always been interested in sustainability. I guess my parents really got me into it. Since I was little they encouraged recycling and making things last. We have solar panels on our home, we’re getting an electric car, so my parents are really into it and I guess that’s really what influenced me.

At the beginning I was really more into the food industry, like I was trying to be vegan and trying to lower my impact in that side of my lifestyle. But at the same time I was accumulating lots of fast fashion and accumulating lots of clothes that I didn’t really use and they lasted so little; I would wear them once and then donate them, and I realized that can’t be sustainable. So I tried to incorporate both sustainability and fashion into my life.

Maggie: Sometimes I think that we almost think of thrifting and secondhand shopping as something that exists outside of capitalism, like we found a way to stick it to the man.

Gaia: And I think that, you know, it’s the fact that we have so many items in thrift stores and that so many items get donated, I think that it’s kind of a byproduct of the fast fashion industry. So as we’re buying a lot of clothes, as a lot of clothes are being produced, then charity shops become overwhelmed and they get so many donations, so that’s a good thing, obviously, because we can give a new life to things instead of buying new, but at the same time if we bought less fast fashion there probably wouldn’t be as many clothes in charity shops and thrift stores.

I felt like I was buying a lot of things because I felt, ‘OK, that’s good, so I can buy as much as I want.’ But then I thought, on one side we might be taking clothes away from poor people because a lot of people from low-income neighborhoods really rely on these shops and if we just go there and do thrift hauls then they might be left with— Not with nothing, because there’s a lot of stock, but maybe the best things will be gone, and then the people who rely on it would—

Maggie: Like their size would be gone or something?

Gaia: Yeah, and then I was [thinking] about how it basically encourages overconsumption because I saw a lot of thrift hauls, as I said. We’re going to thrift stores, we’re going to the charity shop, and I noticed that people were buying just anything, basically, without even thinking, and I thought, ‘Is that really sustainable?’ I think it’s all in the mindset, as well. It’s not just about where you shop from, it’s how you shop.

Maggie: What do you mean when you say overconsumption? Is it that thrifting isn’t breaking the habit, which is the ultimate underlying problem?

I think that was becoming a bit toxic, and so I thought that even if I switch this to secondhand shopping, is that really an improvement or is that just the same thing but just in a different place? Obviously that’s better, but you’re not really fixing the underlying problem that we— I feel like sustainability just means that we need to do as much as possible with what we have and not depleting the resources we have. That requires a different kind of consumption, and it’s hard, but we do need to be thinking more when we shop.

I feel like with low prices in thrift shops it kind of becomes a bit like, you know, fast fashion because you just buy it because it’s cheap, and then if it’s going to be sitting in your wardrobe where it’s not used, then it probably could serve someone else better than— It would probably be better to change your habits.

Maggie: I’m sure a good quality t-shirt costs anywhere from like $35-$40. Maybe a little less than that, in the $20 range, but I could foresee myself getting a little price tag shock about a single t-shirt costing that much money.

Gaia: Before globalization everything was made locally and clothes were so expensive that we would buy so few and make them last. That was a totally different way of shopping from what we do now, and, obviously, that doesn’t mean you have to be a minimalist because I, myself, like to adopt that mentality, but at the same time I like to have variety in my closet.

I feel like we need to question price tags more, because, yes, it is a lot—like what you’re saying, a t-shirt in the $20-$30 range, absolutely—but, at the same time, clothing requires a lot of resources and so many steps, and it goes around the world for the cotton to be produced, and then to be turned into fiber, and the fiber into garment, and then dyed and finished. So many steps go into that, and if you think about how those steps can be condensed into a price tag of $5, then that can’t be sustainable, someone is paying that price.

There is a possibility of making sustainable fashion cheaper, especially if you do everything in-house and you don’t have to pay a lot for shipping costs. What I guess those brands are able to do, fast fashion, they’re able to just mass produce, which drives down the price. At the same time, there’s so much pressure on the suppliers to produce as fast as possible, as cheap as possible, and so someone is being exploited along the way, and that’s obviously not sustainable. I think that it is possible for something to be more affordable but still sustainable, but we do need to change our mindset as to what we’re accustomed to when it comes to pricing with clothes.

Maggie: What do you think is the Western, whitewashed definition of sustainability?

Gaia: I think it’s all got to do with consumption and what we can buy, and that’s actually, I don’t know if you’ve heard of her, but Elizabeth Cline wrote a couple of books on sustainable fashion, and she wrote an article recently talking about how we often think consumption and consuming in a more mindful way is the best thing to do, but really she gives a different point of view. We’ve kind of lost the collective action driver that really created real change throughout history, and so what she basically was saying is that we need to understand the root of the problem and organize against the biggest polluters, instead of taking it upon ourselves to change the system. I always say that small actions make a difference over time, but she said in her article that it created this ethical consumerism, this alternative market, rather than changing fast-fashion brands, and that’s so true! We’ve seen a lot of small businesses start and grow, which is awesome, but isn’t really changing the brands that hold the most power?

So I think the whitewashed view of sustainability still has to do with consumption, and also a sort of white saviorism. Especially with ethical brands, like there are lots of brands that basically start and their whole mission is about empowering communities in the global south, but it should be more about helping them find their voices rather than putting yourself at the center of it and wanting people to think you’re a good person when we have so much to learn from these communities. They should be put at the forefront. They should have the profit they deserve from making the clothes, instead of just getting photos taken and put on a website.

Maggie: Do you see your blog and Instagram account as ways of using your privilege to bring notice to these different lenses?

Gaia: Yeah, absolutely! I mean, I’m trying to do that. I don’t know if I’m doing enough yet; I think that there are definitely things I can improve. I was actually thinking recently about how maybe I want to get more people to talk to me, maybe people of color sharing their experiences. Maybe thinking about how they [people of color] think the industry can be racist or, yeah, getting more diverse voices because I obviously can’t be an expert in everything, I can’t know every single aspect of sustainable fashion so it’s good to get different perspectives.

I guess everyone has their own view and their own experience with sustainability, so it’s good to see the different views on it and the different ways to incorporate it in our lives. But, yeah, I do try to raise awareness about things, and hopefully that does make a difference. It’s not easy balancing it, especially with Uni and stuff, but I’m always looking for ways to improve.

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Episode 22: On Sustainability - An Interview with Sustainable Fashion Expert Gaia

Thrift Podcast — Sat, 05 Jun 2021 17:36:54 GMT

This is a special episode that’s available to all subscribers—paid and free—on Substack. Interested in becoming a paid subscriber? You can read more about the perks here.

Episode show notes

CreditsHost: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same nameBackground music: Night In Venice by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5763-night-in-veniceLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

n this special profile episode, I chat with sustainable fashion expert Gaia about some of the inherent problems in the fashion industry. We talk about pollution, the gentrification of thrifting, and how we can change our mindset as consumers.

Here’s where you can follow Gaia’s work:

Instagram: @ssustainably_

Website: Sustainable Fashion

Instagram posts talked about in this episode: October 6, 2020, June 1, 2020

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Episode transcript

*Note about the transcript: Em dashes (‘—’) have been used to indicate when a speaker doesn’t finish a thought or when the conversation between 2 speakers overlaps. [Punctuation decision inspired by Greta Gerwig.]

INTRODUCTION

Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: Secondhand Community Stories. This is a podcast about thrifting, becoming a more community-minded citizen, and just getting out to explore your neighborhood.

[INTRO - 30 SECONDS]

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and in this special profile episode I talk with Gaia, the creator of the Instagram account and website ssustainably, about fashion and consumerism. Gaia lives in Italy, and she’s something of a sustainable fashion expert. Her Instagram account has 56K followers, and she uses it to spread awareness about topics people might not know about like the colonial roots of the fashion industry and how we can stop making impulse purchases.

I asked Gaia a number of questions about a few of her posts, as well as how she got into creating educational content around mindful consumerism. I’ll include links to those posts and Gaia’s online presence in the show notes, so you can follow her amazing content.

Here’s my interview with Gaia.

[INTERVIEW BEGINS]

Gaia: Yeah, of course. So, I’ve always been a big fan of fashion, and I’ve always wanted to create my own style. You know I spend so much time in the morning trying to create outfits. Yeah, it’s something that’s always interested me and, at the same time, I’ve always been interested in sustainability. I guess my parents really got me into it. Since I was little they encouraged recycling and making things last. We have solar panels on our home, we’re getting an electric car, so my parents are really into it and I guess that’s really what influenced me.

I did the IB for my high school diploma. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It’s a 2-year program where we choose 6 subjects and, yeah, it’s basically this high school program that I did just because I wanted to study in the U.K. and needed that diploma in order to get into university, and we had to do a sort of thesis to graduate. I decided to do that on the water pollution caused by the fashion industry. I tried to combine business and science, looking at the business side of fashion and the problems with that, like how it encourages overconsumption and how that leads to other environmental problems like water pollution. It was really interesting; I learned so much while researching, and so I decided that I would want to raise awareness around this, because it felt like lots of people didn’t know.

In November 2019, I started my Instagram account. It was just a part-time thing at the beginning, I didn’t really expect the growth it got to. I think we should all know the impacts of our clothes since we all wear clothes.

Maggie: Yeah, so, why Instagram? Why did you start there? And when did you realize, ‘Oh, I’m gaining quite a following here’?

Gaia: Yeah, so I chose Instagram because it was social media I knew how to use. It felt like the easiest, and I was able to publish these graphics in order to communicate information in a very simple way and easy to understand. It’s quite engaging as well, because I noticed people have really short attention spans, and so the best way, I guess, to just get information across was to write small sentences in the carousels on Instagram. So, yeah, that’s why I chose the platform.

As quarantine began, the first one in 2020, I noticed the growth on my account because I was spending so much time on it. I was very consistent with posting, and I posted one post that went viral. It was actually related to thrifting and the gentrification of thrifting and the negative side of it, just because I thought it was interesting to explore. That was a bit of a controversial post, I got so much hate on that, as well, but—

Maggie: Really?

Gaia: Yeah—

Maggie: I had actually started to think about the gentrification of thrifting around the time I discovered that post and your account.

Gaia: Yeah, I mean, I don’t know how it reached so many people, but it got like 73,000 likes, so— Yeah, that was kind of the moment where lots of people started noticing my page, and I got a lot of engagement and following, and my following increased. As I said it was a bit controversial because people felt like in the sustainability movement that there’s nothing you can do because everything has some impact, and so they felt quite frustrated with the fact that, you know, you’re telling us not to buy fast fashion, you’re telling us that thrifting is not as good as we thought, and that’s obviously not what I wanted to get across. It was just— I think it’s all about doing everything in moderation and that’s kind of what I wanted to get across.

Maggie: I want to take a step back and ask you to define sustainability, but now that you brought up that post I’m just curious… So, sometimes I think that we almost think of thrifting and secondhand shopping as something that exists outside of capitalism almost, like we found a way to stick it to the man. Do you think that’s why there was backlash?

Gaia: Yeah, totally. And I think that, you know, it’s the fact that we have so many items in thrift stores and that so many items get donated, I think that it’s kind of a byproduct of the fast fashion industry. So as we’re buying a lot of clothes, as a lot of clothes are being produced, then charity shops become overwhelmed and they get so many donations, so that’s a good thing, obviously, because we can give a new life to things instead of buying new, but at the same time if we bought less fast fashion there probably wouldn’t be as many clothes in charity shops and thrift stores.

So that’s kind of the point I was making and also I was saying that since something is sustainable, like thrifting, obviously, is a more sustainable way to shop since you’re using what’s already been produced, you’re not using more resources, you’re not making really any impact especially if you’re shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. I felt like I was buying a lot of things because I felt, ‘OK, that’s good, so I can buy as much as I want.’ But then I thought, on one side we might be taking clothes away from poor people because a lot of people from low-income neighborhoods really rely on these shops and if we just go there and do thrift hauls then they might be left with— Not with nothing, because there’s a lot of stock, but maybe the best things will be gone, and then the people who rely on it would—

Maggie: Like their size would be gone or something. Yeah—

Gaia: Yeah, and then I was talking about how it basically encourages overconsumption because I saw a lot of thrift hauls, as I said. We’re going to thrift stores, we’re going to the charity shop, and I noticed that people were buying just anything, basically, without even thinking, and I thought, ‘Is that really sustainable?’ I think it’s all in the mindset, as well. It’s not just about where you shop from, it’s how you shop. And so that’s what I was trying to say with that post.

Maggie: I’m just going to jump to the question that I had about that post, too, now that we’re talking about it. So, you posted it on October 6, 2020, and it consisted of a carousel of different graphics that broke down the issue of this gentrification of thrifting where— Like in New York City, especially the way I understand it, too, and it was a little bit of how you were describing it, when we’re shopping secondhand we drive up the prices in neighborhoods of different thrift shops. And then people who actually need them and it’s necessary for, it becomes unaffordable. You had this great quote: ‘Giving up fast fashion for good is a privilege. Giving up overconsumption isn’t.’ I love that. And then, so, the difference between— I wonder if this is where the backlash was coming from, too. So what do you mean when you say ‘overconsumption?’ Is it that thrifting isn’t breaking the habit, which is the ultimate underlying problem?

Gaia: Yeah, exactly. To me, overconsumption is— I mean, it’s still something I struggle with even though it’s something that I know impacts— I feel like it’s so easy now, especially because of all the marketing and advertising that we’re subject to through social media, email marketing, you know, banners everywhere. There’s this culture all around us that we’re sucked into overconsumption where we’re just told to buy things that we don’t really need and that was quite overwhelming to me even from a mental health point of view, because I felt like there was never enough, I always needed to chase the next best thing. What I had was trendy now, but then in a week I would see what someone else was wearing and be like, ‘Oh wow, I need to have that.’ I think that was becoming a bit toxic, and so I thought that even if I switch this to secondhand shopping, is that really an improvement or is that just the same thing but just in a different place? Obviously that’s better, but you’re not really fixing the underlying problem that we— I feel like sustainability just means that we need to do as much as possible with what we have and not depleting the resources we have. That requires a different kind of consumption, and it’s hard, but we do need to be thinking more when we shop.

I did get backlash because people don’t really want to be told what to do, and that’s obviously not what I was trying to do. I was just trying to give my point of view around that and— I didn’t say don’t thrift shop, absolutely, like I think that’s great. I just said do it mindfully. If you need something, just look in thrift stores first. But also be mindful of other people. For example, instead of getting an XXL t-shirt if you’re a skinny person, then maybe get your size. There’s the problem with sizing as well where, you know, plus size people are often left with no clothes because there isn’t much stock and often people just get huge things and tailor them, which is fine but, you know, again people might be left out.

You really need to ask yourself questions, and that’s not what we do. I feel like that’s hard, just because everything is so quick.

Maggie: Yeah, when you’re going shopping it’s all about, ‘I want, I want.’ Bookstores are my downfall, like used bookstores, where it’s cheap books—

Gaia: Oh yeah—

Maggie: And then I just buy— I’ve never looked into the environmental impact of the book industry, but I like to think it’s not as bad as the fast-fashion industry—

Gaia: Of course, yeah. And, also, we can’t be perfect, so that’s important to remember also.

Maggie: There was another post, too, that I also really appreciated. I had never heard of this person before but have since started following her on Twitter and reading stuff she puts out there, Aja Barber. You quoted her— She’s also a sustainability and fashion expert, and she had this quote about how we as a society really need to stop blaming poor people for fast-fashion consumption. I had honestly never really thought about that before. Could you talk about that quote a little more?

Gaia: I hear that a lot of the time when I post about fast fashion. People are like, ‘ I can’t afford anything else,’ and, you know, one thing is to not afford— I think it’s all about quantity, like that’s basically the main thing that they’re saying. So, yeah, Aja made a few other posts about this, where she basically talked about stop using the excuse that you’re poor for buying fast fashion every week, because obviously if you buy a lot of clothes every week then you have enough money to invest in a more sustainable piece. Obviously everyone does what they want with their money, so that’s up to you, it’s just, you know, think about your choices. If you can buy 5 fast-fashion t-shirts, you can probably invest in a good quality t-shirt from a sustainable brand that would probably be better. What she was saying, Aja, is that you can’t really blame poor people for the fast-fashion growth. People who are truly poor and can’t afford anything else will buy 1-2 things from fast fashion and will make them last. But often people don’t do that, and they say, ‘Oh, I can’t afford anything else.’ But if you can buy a lot, then you probably could afford something else.

Maggie: Do you think it’s, I mean, I guess we’ve just become accustomed to quantity over quality and— Like I wonder, too— I feel like I would be taken aback if— I’m sure a good quality t-shirt costs anywhere from like $35-$40. Maybe a little less than that, in the $20 range, but I could foresee myself getting a little price tag shock about a single t-shirt costing that much money.

Gaia: Because we’re so used to cheap clothes, and we’ve lost the understanding of what true value is. I posted about how clothing shopping did use up most of our income. Before globalization everything was made locally and clothes were so expensive that we would buy so few and make them last. That was a totally different way of shopping from what we do now, and, obviously, that doesn’t mean you have to be a minimalist because I, myself, like to adopt that mentality, but at the same time I like to have variety in my closet.

Maggie: One more question about another Instagram post. So in this post you talked about what you called ‘the role of indigenous knowledge’ in the sustainability conversation. Would you mind explaining what that means a little more? I think you were giving some recommendations for indigenous fashion designers that people should look out for.

Gaia: So I saw this article in Vogue where the writer interviewed lots of indigenous designers and it really interested me because I was reading a lot about how the sustainability movement is quite whitewashed and I totally saw that. Especially on social media you can see that the main people talking about this were white people and, I mean, I myself am part of the problem. But we’re seeing sustainability only from one lens. It’s good to include other cultures because we all have something to bring to the table, and so we should obviously include as many people as possible and diversify the conversations. The Western view isn’t necessarily the best one, and we can all learn something from listening to other people.

What I noticed in the quotes that I included in that post was that indigenous designers, indigenous people in general, really do have a better connection to the land, and so they value resources more. They’re more intune with the earth and its rhythms, and so instead of exploiting natural resources they use them in a more sustainable way that can be replenished. They talk about sustainability being their lifestyle for survival, so it wasn’t some extra effort like we put in kind of. They also talked about how lots of natives still hold that concept and still operate that way where they don’t overproduce and just make the most of what they have. They make sure they respect the earth, which is something we can really learn from. With fast fashion especially, we've totally lost that connection with the earth, we’ve lost the knowledge of where our clothes come from, what’s in them, and what we’re wearing. It’s good to go back to the basics and learn about this, and it’s also important that we’re told this by brands. It all goes back to what I was talking about before about knowing the true value of resources.

Maggie: What do you think is the Western, whitewashed definition of sustainability?

Gaia: I think it’s all got to do with consumption and what we can buy, and that’s actually, I don’t know if you’ve heard of her, but Elizabeth Kline, she wrote a couple of books on sustainable fashion, and she wrote an article recently talking about how we often think consumption and consuming in a more mindful way is the best thing to do, but really she gives a different point of view. We’ve kind of lost the collective action driver that really created real change throughout history, and so what she basically was saying is that we need to understand the root of the problem and organize against the biggest polluters, instead of taking it upon ourselves to change the system. I always say that small actions make a difference over time, but she said in her article that it created this ethical consumerism, this alternative market, rather than changing fast-fashion brands, and that’s so true! We’ve seen a lot of small businesses start and grow, which is awesome, but isn’t really changing the brands that hold the most power?

That’s what I think about the whitewashing, but I’m still trying to educate myself. I don’t know everything; I’m not perfect. I’m also trying to talk about this more on my page, because I think it’s something that’s often overlooked.

Maggie: Speaking of privilege, do you see your blog and Instagram account as ways of using your privilege to bring notice to these different lenses?

Gaia: Yeah, absolutely! I mean, I’m trying to do that. I don’t know if I’m doing enough yet, I think that there are definitely things I can improve. I was actually thinking recently about how maybe I want to get more people to talk to me, maybe people of color sharing their experiences. Maybe thinking about how they [people of color] think the industry can be racist or, yeah, getting more diverse voices because I obviously can’t be an expert in everything, I can’t know every single aspect of sustainable fashion so it’s good to get different perspectives.

Maggie: Do you still enjoy thrifting? Can we still enjoy shopping?

Gaia: Absolutely! I mean, of course, I love fashion, and I think it’s such a fun way and probably the best way to express our style and ourselves, as well. What I love about thrifting is that I can be unique, you know, my self can be unique, and nobody really will look like me because they can’t really buy the same thing, or at least it’s very rare. But it’s obviously something that’s very human, as well: trying to portray ourselves through what we wear, and that’s the first thing we see, you know, that’s the first thing we see on other people and the first thing we judge people on, I guess. It is such a big thing.

I really miss shopping in a store, but yes, absolutely. I think knowing the impacts of the industry can be overwhelming and can get us to kind of hate shopping in a way, but it’s actually a way to do some good, because we can keep clothes away from landfills, we can support small businesses, we can redistribute money as well, because if we support smaller companies, we do give them a chance to grow and a chance to create their own thing and their own unique style and— For sure, it’s obviously possible, and I obviously want to communicate that on my

Profile, as well. That it’s totally fine to enjoy shopping, and you should enjoy shopping.

Maggie: You’re much more well-versed on the subject of sustainability and the role fashion has to play in it than I am, but I guess I’ve personally noticed that it seems to be mostly women having these conversations. I guess I wanted to know, from your perspective, whether that seems true. Do you think that this is something that only women care about and should women be responsible for leading this conversation?

Gaia: I think that’s something that I’ve noticed, and I think that’s something I’m not too happy about, because obviously the more people who are included in this conversation the better. But I think that people are really only interested in this conversation if they’re interested in style and fashion. A lot of men might just wear clothes just for, you know, utility purposes, just to cover their bodies. A lot of men, and women as well, might not put as much thought into their clothing choices, so if they don’t particularly love style and aren’t particularly passionate about fashion, they might not think that they should be included in the conversation; they might not think that it’s their job.

But what I always try to point out is that when you buy clothes we all contribute to it, so, you know, I think it is something that we all should be together trying to do better. Not just buying better, but also from a collective action point of view. Call companies out, be informed about where your clothes come from. Who makes them? Be curious and ask questions. This is basically what Fashion Revolution says. I love their organization. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it?

Maggie: I don’t think so. What is it?

Gaia: It’s this really big nonprofit organization that was born in 2013 after the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh. Lots of garment workers died, I think it was more than a thousand, because of the fast-fashion rhythm where they were pressured to produce a lot, so they weren’t working in safe conditions, and this organization started to bring more transparency to the industry, more accountability. So they create transparency reports every year where they highlight the most transparent companies, and during Fashion Revolution Week, which falls on the day of Rana Plaza, they encourage people to post on Instagram a graphic that asks ‘Who made my clothes?’ So showing the tag of a t-shirt and holding up the sign ‘Who made my clothes?’, and tagging the company that made your garment. I think that’s something that we all should get involved in, I think that’s a great initiative.

Yeah, I definitely want to see more people involved in sustainable fashion. So, hopefully, everyone will slowly start to realize their impact. You don’t have to dedicate your whole life to it, but even just small changes can go a long way.

Maggie: In Italy, do you find that thrifting and sustainable fashion are more a part of the culture now?

Gaia: Unfortunately, no. In Italy I haven’t seen a lot of progress just because, first of all, we don’t really have thrift stores here. We only have vintage stores, which have very fancy, designer pieces. Unique luxury pieces, which, obviously, are expensive. You can find clothes there, for sure, but the average person doesn’t buy from there because it’s very pricey. They’re obviously good quality clothes, but they’re not accessible to everyone.

That’s a big obstacle, because we have used clothes bins, but most of that clothing ends up in landfills. I think there needs to be a culture change here when it comes to the perception of used clothes, because it’s still seen as a bit of a taboo. I mean, even my parents at first were like, ‘Why are you buying something that someone else wore?’ And there’s also superstition around it, as well, like what if I’m wearing something that belonged to a dead person, like that might bring evil spirits and stuff, so there are a lot of misconceptions and myths around that.

But I am seeing a bit of a rise in people using apps like Depop or Vintage and other secondhand shopping apps, so that’s good. But, unfortunately, as fast fashion becomes cheaper, even used clothes might sometimes seem more expensive. You might see a vintage t-shirt that’s like 10 Euros, and if you go to Zara you can find one for 5, so it’s very competitive in a way and some people— Since we don’t have thrift stores, [people] might be a little more reluctant to buy online, and they prefer stores. You know, it’s much easier to just go to Zara and H&M to buy whatever you need. There needs to be improvements around this. But, yeah, I guess we kind of are on the right track, especially with the younger generation.

I recently spoke at my high school with my old classmates and spoke about what I do, and it was great to see people being like, ‘Oh, wow, I never thought of that. I think I will start buying used more, so I think education really goes a long way.

Maggie: In the U.S. I've noticed that some larger brands have started to have an upcycled line of clothing, which on the one hand is good but it feels more like these brands have just realized that this is another way they can make a profit in the market.

Gaia: There’s always profits behind what fash fashion does, so that’s why boycotting brands is a bit of a good way, because if it hits their bottom line they will have to change things, so that’s kind of the way I see it.

Maggie: Right. But, again to your point before, only the people who care about these issues are going to be the ones to boycott, and is that enough?

Gaia: Exactly. Like, for example, global warming and increasing temperatures is seen as everyone’s responsibility. But fashion isn’t. Fashion is seen as a very girly thing and something very frivolous, not something very important and significant. But it is very significant, it does have huge impacts, it’s a huge industry, so I think the general interpretation needs to change a little bit.

Maggie: So, with COVID, what sort of an impact do you think it’s had on the fashion industry and shopping secondhand?

Gaia: There have been some concerns about germs and stuff when it comes to secondhand clothes, especially now with the pandemic, so I think some people have definitely gotten into it as they realize the impacts of the industry, but I think other people have been a bit reluctant just because they felt like it was a bit unsafe during this time to buy secondhand clothing. But I think these are short-term impacts. I think that everything will go back to normal, hopefully soon or, at least— A new normality, I guess. I think people will buy a lot, just because I think they will want to go back to what they used to do before, and they’ve probably felt like they were missing out on a lot. But, on the other hand, I feel like people have realized that they have so many clothes. Having been at home for so long we’ve realized, me included, that my wardrobe is full of items. I’ve done a bit of decluttering and organizing, and I realize that I probably shouldn’t buy anything else. And hopefully other people have felt the same way and, you know, will probably change their habits afterwards.

In the long-term, I think that change will definitely happen, and for fashion brands as well, because we’ve seen how catastrophic it’s been for brands to have this excess stock and not know what to do with it. It’s a waste of money, as well, so they will probably realize that they have to do things in a different way. So, hopefully from a consumer and brand point of view things will start to change for the better.

[END OF INTERVIEW CLIP]

CONCLUSION

Maggie: What do you all think? Are we headed to a more sustainable future in terms of fashion? What would it mean for you to think more about how you shop, what you wear, where you go to shop? What would that look like for you on an individual level? What could this look like at a large scale?

Gaia’s view is that any small changes you make to your shopping habits can make a difference, but she also cites Elizabeth Kline’s point that to make real change we have to identify the root of the problem and rally against it—rally against the brands that are the biggest polluters. Both of these ideas are true, and both are necessary. Change needs to be the responsibility of consumers and the companies we shop from.

I highly recommend following Gaia on Instagram @ssustainably__ and her website, which I link to in the show notes. I promise you’ll learn a lot and, with any luck, will start thinking differently about how you shop for clothes.

And if you want to follow me, there will be links in the show notes for where you can do that, as well.

Thanks for listening!

[OUTRO, 10 SECONDS]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 21: Eat the Rich, B*****s - An Interview with Alesha Bales

Thrift Podcast — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 00:09:31 GMT

Full episodes are available to everyone through Apple Podcasts on Thursdays. Paid subscribers get early access to new episodes right here on Substack. Interested in becoming a paid subscriber? You can read more about the perks here.

Episode show notes

Maggie profiles Alesha Bales, owner of the feminist art brand Mimsy Ello. Alesha talks about why she’s an artist not a crafter, how she came up with the name for her store, and what it was like starting her online business.

You can shop at Alesha's store here.

The podcast has just undergone a rebrand to be more inclusive of its new mission. You can read more about what’s changed on Substack.

You can find Thrift: Secondhand Community Stories in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast

Episode transcript

INTRODUCTION

Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: Secondhand Community Stories. This is a podcast about thrifting, becoming a more community-minded citizen, and just getting out to explore your neighborhood.

[INTRO - 30 SECONDS]

Maggie: Hi everyone, I am, as always, your host Maggie Blaha. I know it’s been a minute since I released a new episode, and I can only apologize for that. I’ve been working on and launching some new ventures that have been taking my attention away from the podcast.

I’m afraid that new episodes will be a little more sporadic than usual as I concentrate on some other projects, but I do have new content ideas planned for Thrift that will hopefully fill the void of having fewer podcast episodes. You’ll mainly be able to access this content by signing up for my Substack newsletter, which you’ll find a link for in the show notes. And for my lovely paid subscribers, there will be some extra content for you, as well, so don’t worry.

Now, these sporadic episodes I’ll be doing will cover lots of different topics and stories. There will be profiles of thrift store owners, like the ones I’ve done of Obocho’s Closet, Dial V for Vintage, and Miss Master’s Closet; stoop, yard, garage, and estate sale interviews; and discussions with interesting people in my neighborhood and elsewhere about cool stuff they’re doing in their communities. Plus, I want to start producing episodes that focus on and explore issues like sustainability, gentrification, and social justice. I hope you’ll continue to join me on this journey.

Before I get into what this episode is about, I also want to point out that Thrift is going through a rebrand. You might have noticed in the opening that Thrift has a new name, new tagline, new logo, and new purpose. I’ve started to talk about this in other episodes and newsletters, and I’ve also written a post on Substack that goes into more detail about why I’m making these changes. You’ll find a link to that post in the show notes.

Oh, and one final plug: Please subscribe to the newsletter and podcast I’m doing about quarantine. The podcast is called Quarantine: Voices in Social Isolation, and the newsletter is called Quarantine Reviews.

OK, let’s get into the episode.

[LIGHT BACKGROUND MUSIC]

For this small business profile, I wanted to interview Alesha Bales, the owner and creator of Mimsy Ello. Alesha is a Queens-based artist and, full disclosure, I actually met her over the summer before she launched her online store at a craft stoop sale she was having with friends Sonia and Kaitlyn. The goal was to release that interview as an episode, but of course I suck at podcasting and the audio just couldn’t compete with the sound of the busy street they live on. So, sadly, I couldn’t turn this interview into an episode.

When I saw that Alesha had recently launched an online store to sell her work, I decided to reach out again to talk about the store brand, her process as an artist, and other interesting things about having a side hustle.

[CLIP OF INTERVIEW]

Maggie: So the first question I have is where does the name Mimsy Ello come from?

Alesha: So mimsy is actually a word that, historically, has been used in a derogatory way towards women, particularly revolving around witchcraft and vaginas in general it’s been used as a derogatory term. And I thought that it was just such a beautiful word and that it’s something we don’t use anymore, like I don’t ever hear anybody using that word, so why not use it as someone who’s pushing a feminist message through for all of the things I’m doing. And then ello as kind of a hello, like this is a new thing to combine both that witchcraft and feminism, which are the core beliefs of what I’m trying to do through my crafts.

Maggie: Interesting. So mimsy was kind of historically like c**t?

Alesha: Yeah, it was like a floozy person. A bit of a derogatory term for women who they thought weren’t smart or for who weren’t doing what they thought they should be doing.

Maggie: How long have you had the online store?

Alesha: I just launched it on Small Business Saturday, which was earlier last month, so that was my first time opening an online store. Primarily before that I’d just been selling through direct messages or through actual sales—stoop sales, markets, things like that.

Maggie: How did the process of setting up an online store go? Was it daunting or— Was it something you always wanted to do?

Alesha: It has been something I’ve always wanted to do. Honestly, as far back as I can remember in my life I’ve always been a creator and somebody who, even as a child, was setting up little sales. I had a little weird graphic design business out of my dad’s office when I was 12-years-old when we first started getting computers. But I’ve always wanted to put my art out there. My day job is actually working in advertising and marketing and in that digital space, so it was a really cool opportunity to use the skills I’ve learned through my daytime career path in this passion project and a side project of mine.

Maggie: Do you still do things like stoop sales to sell your products?

Alesha: I do. Obviously it’s been a little slow the past couple weeks because of the holidays, but right before the holidays I partnered with Til Death Coffee in Bushwick, they had a big creators’ market; a holiday sale for people to come sell gifts for people to buy for their friends and family instead of just ordering everything on Amazon.

Til Death also did an awesome thing where they had a booth set up where people could print all of the shipping information, box it up, and Til Death took all of the things to the post office for everybody, so you could get a one-stop-shop for all of your Christmas shopping and support local creators. So, I have been doing that. I’m hoping to do it again once the weather permits, and once the pandemic permits.

Maggie: Did it seem like the pandemic had an impact on the number of people who attended the holiday market? I know this was your first time doing it.

Alesha: Honestly there were a lot of people there. It was an outdoor market where there was plenty of space, and so I think people felt very comfortable coming to that and it also happened to fall on one of the most beautiful weekends in December. So it was a nice opportunity for people to just come out, get some coffee, check out the different vendors that were there. But it was all safe, everybody was required to wear a mask. I think every single vendor had hand sanitizer at their little table, so it was a nice way to do it. Typically those types of things are indoors, but we’ve been able to do it outside and it’s worked great.

Maggie: Yeah, I wonder if sales for small businesses have been up because, well, because they’re hurting and people want to support them, but also because 2020 seems to have been a year of just like...class warfare. A war on Bezos, basically.

Alesha: Yes! Absolutely. One of the things I’ve learned through joining what I call this creator’s system in the Bushwick and Ridgewood area is that everyone is so supportive. Everyone wants each business to be successful. I honestly think most of us spent just as much as we made on everybody else’s stuff, because we wanted to support each other.

And also we have noticed that, from the community, I’ve seen so many small businesses that actually have been able to open second locations or increase their product line because looking at what’s happening with Amazon and all of those big-box retailers, it’s just not something many of us want to support anymore.

You’re right, I think it’s exploded more this year than in the past because of everything that’s been going on. That’s part of the reason why I made those ‘Eat the Rich’ cross-stitches. [Laughing]

Maggie: I do have a question about that, because I bought one and it hangs in my kitchen. Yeah, and I think that a report came out that, basically, billionaires just got richer during the pandemic, while the rest of us have just stayed the same or have obviously floundered or you’re not making as much as you did last year. And yet the government has literally given us only one stimulus check. Why is it important for your art to have a feminist message?

Alesha: I’d say the 3 main pillars that I push through my work are feminism, witchcraft, and mental health, and I think all of those really intertwine with each other. When you look back on the history of witchcraft, and it’s a lot of where my name came from and everything, it’s a lot of women being prosecuted for normal things or for them standing up for the things that they want, and I think that that’s amazing, that’s what I want, not just women, but all people to be able to stand up and do the things that they want to do.

So combining all those messages is really important to me. I also— I’m somebody who feels [that] I have to put good out into the world, it makes me feel good if I’m doing that, so it’s an opportunity for me to push that message out to more people. I’m personally from the Midwest and so I’m still advertising my stuff to the people I know there, and they’re like, ‘Oh, Eat the Rich, what’s…,’ You know, it starts conversations. We kind of live in a bubble sometimes here in New York, so it’s a way for me to get that message outside of this wonderful bubble we have here.

Maggie: How does that conversation go? Particularly with someone in the Midwest, because I feel this has been the conversation since the 2016 election. We’re all in our own little bubbles, specifically on the East Coast, and in New York say. Are you finding that it’s easy to have these conversations?

Alesha: It’s possible, not always. You know, I don’t like to have conversations just in comments on social media platforms, and I never think that just giving facts is ever going to sway anyone’s opinion, so what I really try to do with those friends is just try to meet them where they’re at. Understand where they’re coming from in hopes that they can give me that same message back so that I can share where I’m coming from and they can learn a little bit more about it.

Unfortunately, you can’t always be so direct with those things, even though you would like to be, ‘that’s racist, you can’t say that.’ Having a little bit gentler of a touch, especially with friends, you don’t want those people to dig their heels in further. So, just creating these messages, and I’m not pushing any of this on anybody, but I post it on my social media and often get messages like, ‘Oh, what does that mean? What is this?’ I love that.

Maggie: Do you have a specific example of a piece of art that you’ve maybe shared that someone has DM’d you with a question about?

Alesha: Actually, this is kind of funny. I had done a little drawing about anti-MLMs. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with multi-level marketing and pyramid schemes and things like that. Last week I had somebody message me saying, ‘Oh, why are you against them? What’s your problem with them?’ And we were able to have a discussion and share information like, ‘Oh, I have so many people asking me all the time, and I just want to support my friends.’ I was able to explain that, you know, there are other ways that you can support your friends, because through this is not a way to do that. And it was a really nice discussion. That person came away thinking, ‘OK, I understand this more,’ when they were on the fence. Those are very predatory companies; they attack people. So if I can help at least one person, that makes me very happy.

Maggie: How would you describe the items that you have for sale on your website?

Alesha: They’re all handmade, so that’s the first thing. All do all of it on my own, so I’m not outsourcing any of the things. No shame to anyone who does, you know, you run your business how you like. But I’m doing all the stuff by hand. Most of it is stitching work, so that’s cross-stitch and embroidery. I do the basic hoops that you see everybody do, but I also do totes, makeup bags, and a lot of the totes and bags that I do have boobs on them. That’s a major focus in a lot of my art, and usually that is the most popular thing in my art. A lot of boob-themed things.

Maggie: Where do you get your inspiration from?

Alesha: Everywhere. I’m somebody who likes to keep a lot of lists, and I like to walk around and take photos of different things. And culture, what’s happening right now, what are the issues that need to be talked about. And then I put them in my art, and that’s another way to get people to talk about them.

Maggie: I feel like cross-stitch is having a moment now, but when did you first learn it?

Alesha: I’ve actually only been doing it for about a year-and-a-half. A friend of mine taught me how to do it, and I just fell in love with it. It was so satisfying for me. It’s a nice way to get away from screen time; I’m not looking at my phone, not looking at my iPad, computer, TV. I’m literally having to look at a physical item and work with my hands, and I just loved that so I ran with it. I’ve started to add in different types of products, as well. But I just love working with my hands.

Maggie: With cross-stitch, do you think it’s funny or empowering or something else to see these messages like ‘Eat the Rich’ stitched into a hoop?

Alesha: It’s a centuries-old artform that has predominantly been done by women and it’s— For me, personally, throughout my life all I’ve seen is the typical here’s a little family or some animals or some flowers, and those are absolutely beautiful. But taking something that is centuries old and putting such a modern message to it is this contrast in balance that I find fascinating and amazing. And I also think, like you said, there’s also, not just a comeback in cross-stitch, but also just in general for vintage [and] retro things. Especially for the Millennial generation who really clings to a lot of those. Myself, personally, I’m a part of that.

Maggie: Do you think there is a division or some sort of distinction between an artist and a crafter?

Alesha: It’s a very personal thing for each person. I think for me I definitely consider myself an artist. I think art is a way of expressing yourself through something, anything, body movement— You know, I was a dancer for a really long time, and that was my art form.

You know, singing, acting, any type of art form where you are portraying some type of feeling or emotion through it, or [are] looking to cause some type of feeling or emotion for someone else. I think that’s art, and I don’t like when there’s gatekeeping around it.

Anything can be art. People who do my art, they're artists, as well. My nail technician, [they’re] an artist, as well. Anything where you are putting your heart and soul into it, I think it’s art.

Maggie: Out of the things that you’ve created or have available in the store right now, what are some of your favorites?

Alesha: I the tit tote, as I call it. It is a tote bag, you know a canvas tote bag, but I embroider a bunch of different sizes and different types of boobs on it. There’s all different kinds. There are different nipple colors, different nipple sizes, I even have some without breasts to signify people who do not have breasts but might associate with tits or breasts in general, so I just wanted [it] to be a really inclusive thing.

And that’s what started my business off is that I made one of those for myself and wore it around the neighborhood and had so many people ask about it. So I decided, OK, this is you getting over, you know, being insecure about your art. Do it! And I did, and it’s been great.

Some of the other art I have in there, I’ve been starting to create a lot of things around feminism, so putting feminists just on art or— I had some embroideries that said ‘anxiety’ or different things that kind of bring an awareness to mental health again. I really have a rotating inventory of things, I’m somebody who likes to jump around. So whenever I’m like, ‘You know, I want to try doing this type of form of art,’ and I do it.

Maggie: How long have you lived in New York City?

Alesha: I’ve lived here for almost 3 years.

Maggie: So relatively new.

Alesha: Yes.

Maggie: And you’re in Queens?

Alesha: Yes, I’m in Ridgewood in Queens.

Maggie: And have you always been in that area?

Alesha: Yes, I’ve been in the same apartment this whole time.

Maggie: So what’s it been like being an independent artist in the city?

Alesha: Wonderful. I moved here from Chicago, and I loved Chicago, I lived there for 8 years. It was a wonderful time, but the sense of community that I feel, specifically in my neighborhood in Ridgewood and in Bushwick, is unmatched. I often was scared to put my art out there because there’s a lot of competition, a lot of insecure people who feel like if you’re [being] successful, that means that I’m not. And I don’t like that, that’s not helpful for anyone. So, being in this community, here, where people prop each other up, they help each other, they buy each other’s products, is awesome. It makes you brush away those insecurities and do things you never thought you could do, which is awesome.

Maggie: Did you feel like you didn’t have that type of community in Chicago?

Alesha: I didn't. I was in a very big transition in my life. I graduated college when I first moved to Chicago and was still figuring myself out, and I know there’re all those fairy tale dreams about moving to New York and figuring yourself out, and how much of that is a placebo versus the city— Who knows and who cares? Because moving here did that for me. It made me be able to be myself and to pursue things that I was way too terrified to even try in the past.

Maggie: Do you find that— I kind of love the hustle culture of New York.

Alesha: Yes, I love the hustle culture. I do, yes.

Maggie: Everyone’s got one. So, who are some other local artists who you admire?

Alesha: One of my favorites is Elaine’s Candles. She actually was at one of the stoop sales that I had that you had stopped by. She unfortunately wasn’t there— She was working, so we were just helping her out. Again, artists helping artists. If she can’t come, then we’ll sell her products. If I can’t come, then they’ll help out. She makes wonderful candles, she’s local to the Ridgewood area. Tons of scents, always transitioning scents out. You can buy them online.

And then, my neighbor, Sonia Belonia, she has been creating amazing masks and actually just started making fanny packs that are so cool, and they say, ‘F**k’ on the front of them. And as somebody who likes to put fun messages on their art, I love that she’s doing that. So those are two artists that I do really, really admire in the area. And they actually were some of the people that helped me to get some confidence, because I saw them doing it.

Maggie: I know I originally met you, Sonia, and Katelyn at that summer craft stoop sale. Were you able to do more stoop sales since that one?

Alesha: We have not done anymore stoop sales, but I have partaken in 2 markets. So, Myrtle Point was a new bar that was in Ridgewood that we were able to do a holiday pop-up event at, as well. And then, of course, the Tilde Death holiday market I did a few weeks ago. But many more planned this spring.

Maggie: With a full-time job and everything, how do you make time to craft? Or does it not feel like you’re having to make time?

Alesha: It doesn’t. And I’ve always been someone to hustle, as they say. I’ve rarely ever had just one job. Before I moved to New York, I was working a full-time job, and then, also, I was a dance teacher at night. So this is nothing new for me to work a day job and then work at night, but at least with this one I can do it from my couch. So it’s been perfect during this time. Unfortunately, I know a lot of performance artists are having a lot of issues right now, which is just devastating to me as somebody who used to work in that, so my heart goes out to them. I feel very fortunate that my craft right now is something that I can do from home.

[END OF INTERVIEW CLIP]

CONCLUSION

Maggie: Hope you all enjoyed that interview with Alesha, and that you’ll check out her store Mimsy Ello for her feminist-themed art. There’s a link to her online shop in the show notes. Especially now it’s really important to support independent artists and small businesses.

That’s all for this episode. Thanks for listening.

[OUTRO 30 SECONDS]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 20: Personalia

Thrift Podcast — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 12:30:05 GMT

Episode show notes

Personalia: n. Personal allusions, belongings, writings, information, etc.

This episode is titled Personalia, because it examines what a person’s belongings convey about them. Maggie talks with Brooke again—who you might remember from the season 3 premiere episode about her love of estate sales. What Brooke likes most about estate sales is being able to see a person’s stuff in the context of their home, which helps give you a sense of what the person—who is usually dead—was like.

But Brooke also makes a very interesting point about estate sales: They seem to be a natural part of the human circle of life. We all own things, something needs to be done with those things when we’re gone. Brooke’s responses help Maggie examine loss she’s experienced in her own life, and how stuff often acts as a stand-in for the people who have left us.

You can follow Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You a few different places across the internet:

* On Facebook & Instagram @thriftpodcast

Lastly, my online thrift store is live, and I’m slowly adding more items as I get them. You can find the Thrift Online Shop on Poshmark at the handle @thrift_podcast. You’ll also find updates about the store on Facebook at @thriftpodcastshop and on Instagram @thriftpodcaststore.

Thanks for listening!

Episode transcript

[OPENING - CLIP BEGINS]

Brooke: This is just my distinction, but to me estate sales are more often about kind of getting to see the inside of the house itself, which is honestly a big part of the appeal. And a lot of times an estate sale happens because someone’s died or a family has to move for some reason. So it’s generally something that happens indoors and it’s kind of “everything must go.” But yard sales are more outside and tend to be a little, like, a smaller selection of stuff and, I don’t know, when I see a yard sale I don’t typically think that someone has definitely died, but with estate sales that’s kind of where your mind goes.

[CLIP ENDS]

[INTRODUCTION]

Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores how we can all be more community-minded citizens through thrifting.

[THEME MUSIC, 30 SECONDS]

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, your host as always, and for this episode I wanted to talk more about estate sales with Brooke, who you heard in the opening clip. You might also remember Brooke, who lives in Atlanta, GA, from this season’s premiere episode. Here’s a clip from that episode to remind you.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Brooke: I mean all the ones I’ve been to, which has only been 3, have been very clear about masks being mandatory, distancing being required, only a certain number of people allowed in the home, and not being able to pay with cash, stuff like that. I’ll usually also bring an extra pair of gloves just to be extra careful.

But I do worry, and the last couple we’ve been to have felt safe in the exact same ways, we’ve had masks and all that stuff. But I just, in some ways, wonder if it’s me wanting it to be safe rather than truly knowing that it can be 100% safe.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: In that premiere episode Brooke was specifically talking about going to estate sales in the age of COVID-19, but in this episode I want to expand on an interesting point she made in our interview over the summer: that estate sales seems to be a natural part of the circle of human life.

One of the first questions I asked Brooke was whether she thinks there’s a difference between estate sales and yard sales, and what she finds so appealing about estate sales.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Brooke: Seeing their house. I love it when there’s an estate sale listing for a house you’ve driven by a bunch and just think it’s really neat and cool. I think as I’ve gotten older that’s become more of the appeal. When I was a kid it was just like, ‘why are we going into these other houses?’ Now it is really kind of interesting to see these full, enormous mansions. Or, to see a house that looks pretty small from the street, but then you get in it, and it’s like huge and has a bunch of interesting stuff in it.

In the last few years—not that I’m elderly or anything—but you know as you get older you think more about death and you see family go through it and think more about it. You would definitely get clues about who the person was based on what was for sale. A lot of times in offices you’ll find work documents, or documents from volunteer work they did or school, and it kind of helps you paint a picture of who the person was.

Like there was a woman at an estate sale a couple weeks ago— I mean, she wasn’t there because I assume she was dead. She was like a Jewish radiologist who really had a thing for costume jewelry, and her husband had this enormous woodshop in the basement of this really interesting house up in Chamblee, so you just wonder what an interesting couple they must have been. Like they had some posters of art festivals in the 80s and 90s, so you just kind of get a sense of who they are in a way that’s a little bittersweet because usually by the time you’re there they’re gone.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: I came across the word personalia the other day. It’s from North America and the mid 19th century, and it means “personal allusions, belongings, writings, information.” I like thinking of stuff as a personal allusion, as objects that stand in and remind us of the person they belonged to.

I’ve been reading Elena Ferrante’s Frantumaglia, a collection of letters and interviews from the famously anonymous Italian author that give readers an insight into Ferrante’s journey as a writer. In every interview included in the book, which took the form of written Q&A exchanges, the interviewer would ask why Ferrante decided not to become a public personage. “Why won’t you tell us who you are?” every interviewer demands. Ferrante always replies that she has already told us everything we need to know about who she is in her work.

Ferrante doesn’t mean that there’s some great mystery for us to solve, that she’s left clues about her true identity in everything she’s written. The writer puts it this way: “When one offers oneself to the public as a pure and simple act of writing—the only thing that really counts in literature—that self becomes inextricably part of the story or the verse, part of the fiction.” Put even more simply, we place too much attention on the author as someone who exists outside of the work, rather than the work itself.

I’ll admit that it’s a little upsetting that there may never be an Elena Ferrante writer’s house that I can make a pilgrimage to. We’ll likely never even know when the woman who is Elena Ferrante dies; her writing will just cease for good.

For a writer, their name even becomes a personal allusion. If Ferrante continues to succeed with concealing her identity, her name will only ever remind us of her work.

Brooke’s visit to an estate sale in Chamblee, Georgia, left her feeling bittersweet. Bittersweet because, as a stranger at an estate sale, you’re left only with a person’s belongings and a space to fill with your impression of who that person was in life. This empty space is actually what makes you feel like you know the person, what makes you feel close to them. Even though the stuff they left behind is as close as you’ll ever get.

This seems to be what frustrates members of the media who want to write profiles about Ferrante. They want to feel like they know who the real Elena Ferrante is, they want a tweet or photo to latch onto. Instead of reading the writer’s work very closely, they’d rather dig up personal details to fill the space Ferrante leaves.

I love this response that Elena Ferrante gave to an interviewer from a Brazilian publication’s question about who she is when she’s not writing:

“Ferrante: Someone who always carries a book and a notebook in her purse as she goes about her daily life.”

[CLIP BEGINS]

Brooke: I guess in some ways the estate sale feels like part of the circle of life. Now that they’re gone, their stuff must disseminate and doesn’t need to get dumped in a landfill. So I guess the estate sale just feels like part of that process.

I know when my mom died we had a yard sale to get rid of a lot of her stuff and it was more of an emotional undertaking than I anticipated, which of course is stupid like of course it was going to be emotional.

And, ultimately, I don’t even really remember how much we sold versus how much we ended up just taking to Goodwill. It felt like part of the steps you take after you lose someone. They still have stuff, and it’s good stuff, it’s not necessarily stuff that needs to get thrown away. And they enjoyed it, so you want it to go to other people that might.

Maggie: I think you probably do want to think that it’s really just stuff, but once you start going through it I can imagine that it’s hard to keep that separation.

Brooke: Yeah, I mean, once they’re really gone their stuff is all you have. There’s stuff of my mom’s that I kept that I didn’t really like that much, but because it was hers I just couldn’t really get rid of it.

So when I go to an estate sale, having gone through that, I can see it through that lens of this is probably a bittersweet thing for the family. No matter what they’re having to leave this place and can’t take the bulk of their possessions with them.

It feels like you’re part of some bittersweet ritual, but it also feels like— I’m imagining these people like I would imagine my mother and grandmother, and they would want their stuff to go to people who will appreciate and enjoy it. And, also, it feels like you’re doing something for them in a weird way, too.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: We really do spend a lot of time trying to define people, trying to know people, trying to fill the void of what we don’t know with an identity that makes sense. We do this even when we’re people watching, when we couldn’t possibly know what a stranger walking down the street is really like; we can only speculate.

But I would argue that we can only speculate about the lives of the people we know and love. We never know them fully; they remain strangers to us on some level.

So the process of going through a loved one’s belongings after they’ve passed is, maybe, an attempt at trying to get to know them better. As Brooke says, the stuff is really all you have left of a person once they’re gone. And maybe we comfort ourselves by thinking that a parent, a grandparent, a friend held onto something for so long because they want us to find it. They want us to find all the clues and solve the mystery of who they were.

My grandpa is the person closest to me who I’ve lost. We never really went through his belongings because my grandma survived him and continued to live in the house they shared down by the Jersey Shore. It wasn’t my dad and uncle’s childhood home, but my grandparents have been in that house for at least as long as I’ve been alive.

Which means… Geez, that means that at some point my grandparents decided to move all their possessions from one home to another. Everything kept, nothing thrown away.

After my grandpa died—it’s been about 12 years now—my grandma moved out of the bedroom she shared with him to the guest room (we’ve always called it ‘the flower room,’ because it’s decorated with a lot of flowers—from the wallpaper to the curtains. She hasn’t slept in that bed ever since and only goes into that room for her clothes and jewelry.

Looking back on it, we probably should have helped my grandma through the grieving process a little better. Going through my grandpa’s stuff might have helped. We could have gone down memory lane with her. We could have donated or sold things that were still in good condition. I guess we always assumed that my grandma would never be ready to let go.

Having an estate sale, going through a loved one’s belongings means that you’ve accepted, at least on some level, that you have to let someone go. You have to accept the forever-distance between you. On a more practical level, you know you need to do something with the stuff that doesn’t require a dumpster.

From the stuff our loved ones keep we might be able to uncover something meaningful when they’re gone. But the truth is that my grandpa held onto so much stuff because he’s hard-wired to do so. We all are. Research has shown that feeling like we’re connected to objects is part of human nature. Known as the endowment effect, we tend to place a high value on things we view as our own. Of course modern Western culture has impacted how we relate to things, but from childhood we tend to perceive objects as having a magical essence, and that carries into adulthood.

I want to take ownership of things that once belonged to my grandpa because, subconsciously, I think that they’re imbibed with his essence. That must be why my grandpa held onto every gift (no matter how lame—I’m talking race car nail clippers, here) I ever gave him: because when someone we love gives us a gift, the object seems to hold a piece of the spirit of that person.

Recently, my cousin found a faux leather checkbook with a Celtic design I apparently gave my grandpa for Christmas one year while she was going through his things. He kept a snippet of the wrapping paper with the gift tag inside of the checkbook:

TO: GrandpaFROM: Maggie

I don’t know if this means that he never used the checkbook. Now I use it, and I’ve kept the gift tag inside it just as he did.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Brooke: Sometimes there are just some possessions that you just have to ask, ‘who was this person?

Like there was one a few years ago, I don’t remember where it was, but I just remember the basement seemed like it might have been an old office or something, and there was a lot of old newspaper memorabilia. Apparently this guy had been a member of the Georgia Press Association, and so there were all these type-written scripts from the Georgia Press Association’s big, political roast they would do every year that had all these musical numbers about the Atlanta politics of 1981.

And there was also a framed photo of 2 men from when the Atlanta Constitution and the Atlanta Journal combined. It’s a picture of the 2, I guess, publishers of the paper. It's a picture of them like holding up their papers, so you could just tell you this was someone who is deeply involved in Atlanta political journalism. It seemed like there was, I don't remember exactly what else was at the sale, but you could just tell this was an interesting guy.

Maggie: Have you ever been to an estate sale where someone seemed completely boring?

Brooke: Yeah, I mean, not every estate sale stands out as like, 'Oh, they must have been such an interesting person!' And I'll say, not even every estate gives you a sense, really, of who they were because if you come on the last day sometimes everything is so wiped out that there's just not much to go on.

But, yeah, I would say that more often than not you do get a sense of that person just because so much stuff is for sale. And the ones that I'm also really interested in are the crafters and the quilters and the women who have like just closets full of finished craft projects. My grandmother who is still alive actually went to an estate sale for the first time since COVID and this woman actually had some unfinished quilts, and my grandmother’s finishing them. And I know other people who are into that type of fiber arts, who when they find something that’s unfinished at an estate sale they kind of want to get it to the finish line for whoever the person is.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: Whether it’s an estate sale or a regular ol’ stoop sale, you always get this sense that people have them because their stuff has unfinished business. I think that’s why people come back as ghosts in the movie Casper, right? Unfinished business?

Of course we’re talking about inanimate objects, but the point of a secondhand sale is to pass objects from one life to another, to save them from the fate of ending up in a landfill.

With an estate sale, you actually get to see a person’s belongings in the context of their home. I’m sure everything isn’t exactly as the person left it, but you like to think it is. A setting with the person removed from it.

I’ve been obsessed with what my possessions might say about me in my absence for as long as I can remember. I think it dates back to an episode of Boy Meets World where Sean breaks up with Angela because he’s obsessed with finding the girl who lost a purse he’s been holding onto, only to discover that Angela is the owner. Sean was convinced that the owner of the purse was the girl of his dreams, just based on the items he found within the bag.

I often find myself looking at my stuff and thinking about it as though I weren’t around. What would it say?

[CLIP BEGINS]

Brooke: I guess, subconsciously, that's why you decorate a place: to kind of convey yourself within it. I think subconsciously, probably. But I’ve also thought that if I die, and it's not suddenly and I have some runway, I definitely want to give certain things to certain people. But if I just kick the bucket, I tell my friends to take what they want, and then to take the rest to Goodwill. You know, pay it forward. I feel like that’s how I’ve gotten so many lovely things in my own life that…

Maggie: It sounds like your love of thrifting has been handed down to you by your mom and grandma, which is kind of cool.

Brooke: Yeah, cool in the sense that now I go to my grandma’s house and it’s just overflowing with the s**t she’s bought over the years, and I’m like that is my future as a hoarder.

And my dad is a neat guy and doesn’t like a lot of junk, and I think he saw my mom’s tendencies as something she got from her mom and just had to deal with. My mom always referred to the stuff you find at an estate sale as treasures. I guess I’ve always had an appetite for treasures. And it’s kind of fun and interesting, it’s like spelunking in a weird way.

[CLIP ENDS]

[CONCLUSION]

Maggie: This year, my family decided that it was time to move my grandma into an assisted living facility. She’s in her mid 90s and her memory is going. She dips back and forth in time a lot—sometimes she’s a child again, sometimes she’s just started dating my grandpa.

We’re not entirely sure she even knows who any of us are. My dad and uncle she seems to always know, but she squints at the rest of us—my mom and aunt, my sister, my cousins, me—like she’s trying to remember where she knows us from.

We haven’t done anything with my grandparents’ house yet. For years we’ve understood that the arduous task of cleaning out a house that’s basically a museum to a couple who had been together for more than 50 years awaited us. We’ve slowly started the process.

Back in October, my uncle rented a dumpster and he and my cousins managed to clear out a lot of...let’s just say stuff that no one would want. (Apparently my grandparents’ shed was filled, floor to ceiling, with old Tupperware.)

I went one weekend to see if I could find anything that Brooke’s mom would call treasures. In my grandpa’s office, my aunt found an old, beat up Underwood typewriter that I’m hoping to get repaired (if I can ever lift it). My heart is set on inheriting my grandpa’s desk if I ever live somewhere bigger than a shoebox.

That weekend I was able to take home a really nice folding table that I can put up whenever guests come over for dinner, 2 small framed paintings that I’ve hung on my wall, and an old metal business card holder with my grandpa’s name on it:

L. J. Blaha

I like opening it up to see business cards with my name on them inside:

Maggie BlahaHas 78+ tabs open in her browser right now.

I feel like I’m helping this thin, little case complete its unfinished business in some way. And with business cards that bear my name inside a card holder that bears my grandpa’s name, the forever-distance between us doesn’t feel that great.

[BACKGROUND MUSIC]

You can follow Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You a few different places across the internet:

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Thanks for listening!

[OUTRO]

[THEME MUSIC, 30 SECONDS]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Did You Know There's a Museum Under Your Sink?

Thrift Podcast — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 23:32:54 GMT

Q&A with Katrina Cobain, Curator of The Plastic Bag Museum

Thrift podcast: How did you start collecting bags, and how did the idea of creating a museum come about?

Katrina: My name’s Katrina Cobain, [and] I am an artist that works in Glasgow. I created The Plastic Bag Museum, which is currently an online-only museum for plastic bags. It only went online back in May of 2020, because the whole idea in my head has been rattling around for a year or 2, and I’ve been collecting bags for about 2 years, but I only really got the time during the lockdown here to really create the site and photograph all the bags, which was quite a good project for quarantine.

I guess it was a very random idea to begin with. I started to receive all these bags through my door in the post in envelopes, and I thought, “Where are all these coming from?” They’re all handwritten and addressed to me and, about a week or so before that, I’d had the flu, so I had a really bad fever. And then I looked in my phone notes and discovered this manifesto for the plastic bag museum, and how plastic bags were these great things that would tell us so much about the future.

Then, the more I thought about it, I was thinking a lot about Egyptian objects, because in a lot of museums around the world people love to look at Egyptian objects cuz it’s this kind of civilization that was lost and we have sort of unpacked all this information about their lives and their society from the interesting objects.

I was thinking a little bit about, “Well, if something were to happen to us”—this was before the pandemic, so it’s not as dark— “what would be left to learn about us?” And then I was thinking a lot about landfill sites and how the only things that would be surviving in the landfill site would be made of plastic cuz they will outlast everything else. And I was thinking about digging up all this plastic and what it would mean, and there are so many interesting ways to spin off on that. Like there’s a whole section of archaeology called gamer archaeology where they dig up old games that were mass buried in 1980s LA because they weren’t very successful.

So the bag museum has just been kind of developing from there with other people getting involved sending bags. A lot of it was started just from my own collection, which I kind of gathered from a range of places: some of them are bags I’ve purchased on eBay from other collectors, some of them are bags that I sort of happened upon or that friends have given me. And then since the site’s gone live, we’ve received a lot more posted donations, which has been fantastic, cuz then I can get bags from much further afield, which is obviously very difficult in the current pandemic context. So, it’s been really wonderful just people’s response to it and wanting to engage with it.

Thrift: You say on the museum website that single-use plastic bags can tell us a lot about ourselves and our social history. Can you expand on that?

Katrina: Yeah, so, plastic bags, definitely from the 1960s onwards, are amazing items just to tell us a little bit more about the development of capitalism and consumption in the Western world. We can really see this kind of steep incline in use and, also, a variation in plastic bags, which really kind of mirrors consumption in our society. We can also see, hand-in-hand with that, how brands and franchises develop and become huge players in, not only on our high streets, but also as icons that people know and recognize from advertising.

A good way to look at plastic bags is that they can really chart our spending habits, what types of bags people have kept over the years, cuz not all of them have survived, obviously. And, also, they do document businesses that don’t exist anymore that maybe have been lost due to recessions; the kind of boom-and-bust cycles of capitalism. But then, as well as the obvious kind of links to business, they really chart public opinion about certain items.

As a 24-year-old who didn’t grow up around much tobacco advertising, cuz it was really clamped down upon in the U.K. and in Europe, it’s mental to think that there were all these different brands with all this really powerful advertising, like the Marlboro cowboy. So it’s really interesting to chart that huge shift in public opinion around cigarettes and tobacco.

Then, also, another good thing that it charts is, of course, the public perception of the climate crisis and the environment. On all the bags throughout the 80s and 90s there’s nothing at all about ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.’

Since the year 2000, there have been big shifts in public opinion about looking after the environment and threats of climate change. You can see this creeping into plastic bags and onto their designs, because they’ll have these kind of, you know, half-assed sentences like, “Oh, you can recycle this bag!” Even the bags that you can get today here in Scotland, you would be very hard-pressed to find a bag that doesn’t have that kind of statement on it. It’s really remarkable how [plastic bags] chart that shift as well, and, eventually, the final charting of that will be their complete disappearance from our day-to-day.

Thrift: Is there a psychological aspect to how a business chooses their bag? A Disney one, for example, I imagine would be bigger because they want you to buy more stuff.

Katrina: Throughout the whole collection there’s a real marked difference in types of plastic. It’s interesting that you mention the Disney bags. We do have some Disney bags in the collection from about as early as the 1980s, and whenever you go to a place like Disney World everything becomes a souvenir.

[This is] because of the branding, because, you know, you went there and you wanna remember all the stuff from your trip. So that’s why people collect things like napkins, or plastic bags will often fall into this category. You don’t really see this so much now, but definitely when I was growing up people would reuse plastic bags as a kind of souvenir status thing. So it would be like, “Oh yeah, I’m gonna bring my Disney World bag, just so everyone knows that I went to Disney World.”

You can actually see this reflected in the plastic bags you get from Disney World, because some of them actually have hard plastic handles and then a bag attached underneath, which obviously indicates reuse but not from a sustainability standpoint. It’s more like, “You want everyone to know you went to Disney World and so do we, so we’re gonna make sure this bag is fit for the job.”

A lot of the bags that have been donated in recent months since the site has gained a bit of exposure have been bags that have been kept as souvenirs, which is another thing that’s interesting about human beings in general. We would never keep a flimsy plastic bag from the corner shop around the corner, but if I was to visit the bodega around the corner from your apartment I would keep that plastic bag because I’d be like, “Oh, it’s from New York! It’s amazing!” You might say the same about a random shop here in Glasgow and Scotland. And that obviously is reflected in the collection, as well. Those are the bags that survive, which ultimately can be collected into something like this.

Thrift: Tell me about eBay. Are there a lot of plastic bags for sale on eBay?

Katrina: eBay is one of my favorite things. If I could just have a job where I’m just on eBay all day long, I think I would just—I’d be happy. I think eBay is the ultimate rummage sale and anything, even the most random thing, you can find it on eBay. It’s just brilliant. But, yeah, there is a plastic bag scene on eBay.

There are bags that are on my watchlist in the US actually, so there are definitely US sellers. I’ve never committed to buying one because postage is so expensive, but maybe someday. I think there are a lot of people who collect plastic bags out there, it’s definitely not just me. They’re quite fun things to collect because [they’re] very accessible. It’s not like collecting art or even some records that are very expensive. The most I’ve ever paid for a bag is about 5 GBP, and other ones you can get for about 2GBP, and they can still be very interesting and could be like 30 years old.

Thrift: What is Scotland’s relationship to plastic bags?

Katrina: I think that the relationship to plastic bags here is changing slowly, and it kind of goes hand-in-hand with things like plastic water bottles. Maybe 5 or 7 years ago people wouldn’t think twice about buying a bottle of water with their lunch every day, whereas now people are much more likely to carry a proper water bottle to fill up and reuse. But obviously the biggest change to all of that is the pandemic, which has really increased people’s plastic use here and around the world.

But I think after this once-in-a-lifetime event, we’re on the road to phasing them out and they’re definitely used much, much, much less than they were. And I think a lot of people really do make a conscious effort to carry their reusable tote bag.

Also some shops here have started to use paper bags, which I know is common in the US, but it’s never really been a thing here. But there are some grocery stores that are now using paper bags, which people are very up for using, so that’s good as well. Once the COVID-19 impact is over, it would probably be good to take some more steps in reducing the use of them.

Thrift: Where are most of the bags in the collection from? And how can people submit a bag to you?

Katrina: Most of the bags are from the UK, because they’ve been the easiest to get a hold of. But, recently, I’ve been receiving a lot more bags from abroad through the post, which has been absolutely fantastic.

In recent weeks, there have been a lot more bags from across Europe. I think we’ve got a bag from nearly every European country now, and we do have some bags from the United States. We are starting to get a little bit more from East Asia. We’ve got a few from Japan, a few from New Zealand. A lovely lady in New Zealand sent me some bags that she had collected as souvenirs from her own travels, so they were from very interesting places like Mongolia, Iran.

I don’t think there are any bags currently from South America, which is interesting. I don’t think there are any bags from Africa, there might be one from South Africa, but I’m not entirely sure. Ideally it would be great to have bags from really different places on a global scale.

The way to get in touch is on the website.

Thrift: What do you see as the mission of The Plastic Bag Museum?

Katrina: I think that the Plastic Bag Museum and the project is really about a positive outlook about something which can seem like a very overwhelming environmental crisis.

Thinking about how placing these items in the past can be, with a bit of care and attention, something that actually is an asset to our lives in getting rid of them. And changing people’s perceptions about them in a fun way, rather than a very bleak way, I think often changing people’s minds is about a combination of both.

If you think of a plastic bag as a museum object, as well as thinking of it as something that really harms the environment for animals or coral reefs, you’ll eventually get there in not using them anymore. I think participation is something that is embedded within that, because it makes it accessible to people. Museums are sometimes seen as places which can be unwelcoming and inaccessible to all different types of people, whereas with the Plastic Bag Museum it’s literally trash. Anyone’s trash can be exhibited and be part of the collection with absolute pride of place.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and I am that man.

Explore The Plastic Bag Museum online and on Instagram.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 19: Consider the Plastic Bag

Thrift Podcast — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 00:24:36 GMT

Episode show notes

CreditsHost: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

Have you ever considered the plastic bag? That’s OK, Maggie hadn’t either. At least she’d never considered or really noticed how they tend to get stuck in trees around the city. But some people, like the Carroll Gardens Plastic Bagman, make it their mission to rid NYC trees of bags and other debris.

Maggie’s also never thought of plastic bags as artifacts that can tell us a lot about our social history. At least she hadn’t until she spoke with Glasgow-based artist Katrina Cobain about the online plastic bag museum she started earlier this year.

In this episode, Maggie considers plastic bags from a few different angles to help us think about how we might, one day, rid the world of them.

Want to check out the Plastic Bag Museum or donate a bag to the collection? You can do that, here. You can also follow them on Instagram @plasticbagmuseum.

To see what the Plastic Bagman is up to or report a bag in the tree in the Carroll Gardens area, follow @plastic_bagman on Instagram.

Want to consider plastic bags some more? Here are some resources I used for this episode:

From Birth to Ban: A History of the Plastic Shopping Bag

Plastic Pollution Reaching Historic Levels in the Arctic

Plastic waste building up in the arctic

eBay vintage plastic shopping bag search

Single-use plastic bag ban might be tougher for men

Tilting Tree Bags

Bag Snaggers website

YouTube video about bag snaggers

Tweet of an add from grocery store owners upset by plastic bag ban

Plastic ban critics fear chaos

Reduction law details on state website

Trash and overcrowding on Mt. Everest

Gamer Archaeology

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Episode transcript

[OPENING - CLIP BEGINS]

Taylor: I’m going to have a QR code made that goes directly to the Google form—

Maggie: Oh, that’s a good idea—

Taylor: And then have those made out as stickers that say, “See a bag in a tree in this neighborhood, I’ll get it,” and then just the QR code. I can stick them everywhere, I can vandalize the neighborhood in the service of a greater cause.

[CLIP ENDS]

[INTRODUCTION]

Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores how we can all be more community-minded citizens through thrifting.

[THEME MUSIC, 30 SECONDS]

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and in this episode I ask you to consider the plastic bag. I ask this even though I’ve never really considered the plastic bag. That is not until I met the Plastic Bagman, who you heard in the opening clip of this episode. Taylor Mali is a 10th-generation New Yorker, a husband, father, slam poet, humorist, teacher, voiceover artist. But he also renders a service to the Carroll Gardens area that likely doesn’t get the full appreciation or notice that it should: He removes the plastic bags, shredded mylar balloons, and other debris that get lodged in neighborhood trees with the help of a very interesting tool.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Taylor: So in a second we’re going to see the bag; it might be a mylar thing, I have no idea whether we’ll get it, but I’m holding— I’ve got the snatchelator with me right here—

Maggie: OK, and this is what—

Taylor: Imagine if you were painting the ceiling of a room, you would have this, which is a painter’s hook, I mean a paint roll, it’s just a short one. And then I’ve jerry-rigged it with a couple of L braces and thumbscrews, so this just is— This’ll get up in the business of a plastic bag and literally nothing else.

Maggie: To get this design right, did it take a few failed tries?

Taylor: Yes, sure, I used a sort of a bundle of hangers all tied together in a snarly nest, but that didn’t really hook the bag and I used some other things. And then it got, it was loose when I was out in the field, so then I thought, “Oh, wingnuts and thumbscrews are the way that I can tighten it by hand when I’m doing it.”

Maggie: And this can reach pretty high? I think I saw that you had gotten one as high as 27 feet?

Taylor: Well, this is a telescoping pole that I bought at Home Depot, and it says it’s from 8 to 23 feet, and I’m 6 feet, so if I put my hand over my head and hold the thing that is then hard to twist— and twisting is necessary to snag the bag—I can get close to something 30-feet high. I don’t have a whole lot of control then. Sometimes branches come down in addition to the bag, but I always feel like the tree doesn’t mind.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: Turns out that Taylor isn’t the first plastic bag vigilante. In the 90s, writer Ian Frazier and his friends Tim and Bill McClelland started snagging bags from trees in NYC and around the country. In 1993, they traveled to the Mississippi River after some devastating floods to help clean debris out of trees. The tool they invented, similar in size and shape to Taylor’s Snatchelator, is called the Bag Snagger, and until fairly recently they were available to order online. Volunteers for Bette Midler’s New York Restoration Project even use Bag Snaggers to clean up some of the city’s neglected parks.

I feel a little guilty that I’ve never really thought of plastic bags in trees as a problem. It certainly didn’t make me angry the way it makes Taylor and Ian Frazier angry. But now I can’t help noticing when a bag or Mylar balloon are flapping around in a tree. As Frazier wrote in a Mother Jones article, “Once you begin seeing the bags, you become aware of all the other stuff that’s stuck in trees.”

Once I found Taylor’s Instagram account, I couldn’t stop seeing stuff in trees, like the plastic bag in the tree outside my bedroom window. I didn’t fill out the Google Form on Taylor’s page to notify him about the bag right away. I let a few weeks go by, allowing the bag to make itself at home in the tree’s limbs. I watched it grow heavier as it filled with rainwater, turn brown from city dust and dirt. By the time Taylor came to snatch it, it didn’t even resemble a bag anymore.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: So how does it work? Do you just get a notification on your phone when someone fills out the form? And how long does it take you to respond?

Taylor: My record is less than an hour. There’s a bag in a tree on Nevins Street that might be slightly beyond your territory, and it’s driving me crazy. And I’ve had it in less than an hour, just because I happened to be going out that way.

But it’s easier to let the Google form collect about 10 and then sort of organize them, so you can hit 3 one day and 7 the next day.

Maggie: So on the form I know you ask people to make the distinction between a bag or a balloon, does that make a difference in how difficult it is to get out?

Taylor: No, and I should probably take that off the form. I was just playing around, new to Google Forms and thought, “Ooh, how about we start with this little button that says bag or balloon?” No it doesn’t make any difference whatsoever, so it should be— As I told you, I just added a question to the form that says, “Would you mind if a blogger or podcaster or journalist contacted you in the future?” So that’s more important to know than whether it’s a balloon or a— I also said “Leave a name,” but it doesn’t have to be your name. Which is not necessary, actually, so maybe I should take that off. I rewrote the number asking for a textable cell phone number, because that’s actually very useful. I’ll get to a place and I can’t find the bag…

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: The day I interviewed Taylor as he removed the plastic bag from my tree and a Mylar balloon from another, it was gray and drizzling. Taylor was a sight to behold in his raincoat and boots, standing with the snatchelator in hand like a farmer with a pitchfork.

There’s something whimsical, even romantic, about the Plastic Bagman’s work. I think that’s a big part of the appeal.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Taylor: People stop me all the time. Once or twice a police officer just to say, “What are you doing? Do you work for the city?” “No.” “You mean you’re just a guy, a private citizen, who removes bags from trees?” “Yes!” “OK, carry on.” You know, and then a journalist will say, “Oh my god, I’ve got to get your name, I’ve got to do a story about this. It’s usually also somebody else who hates bags.

But when people know that I’m coming, I get knocks on the window, so I often take 1 assistant with me who’s 3 or 5, depending on who’s awake. But sometimes it’s 7:30 or 8 o’clock in the morning on a weekend. So people aren’t up but they see the snatchelator getting the bag in the tree, they bang on the window, they open the windows, they cheer.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: We’re all aware that plastic bags are bad for the environment. They’re notorious for collecting at natural landmarks where tourists frequent, like the top of Mt. Everest. In 1997, researcher Charles Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, one of the largest gyres in the ocean where large amounts of garbage have accumulated. And this large-scale pollution has led to the death of lots of wildlife.

On March 1 of this year, New York became the 8th state to enforce a ban on single-use plastic bags. The new law forbids retailers from handing out plastic shopping bags to customers and requires a 5-cent fee for the use of paper ones.

In New York City alone, residents use more than 10 billion carryout bags every year, and it costs more than $12 million annually for the city to dispose of them. Nonetheless, the ban comes with a fair number of critics, particularly shop owners who are concerned that forcing people to carry their own bags will impact business. One blog post in an online publication called West Side Rag even hinted that getting used to carrying around a reusable shopping bag might be tougher for men, since they don’t always have a place to carry it.

But most New Yorkers, I think, welcome the opportunity to carry around a reusable shopping tote as a status symbol.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: That’s interesting what you say about plastic bags being a status symbol. It makes me think of tote bags that are sold here in New York for places like The Strand or The New Yorker. These bags have a functional purpose, but they also indicate that the people carrying them either shop at The Strand or subscribe to The New Yorker.

Katrina: That’s such a thing here, and even The New Yorker tote bags I see them everywhere here, and I live in Scotland for goodness sake. But the tote bag thing is really interesting and quite funny. It’s almost as well as being a “oh, look where I went,” it also becomes this thing of like— It’s taboo to be seen without your organic cotton tote cuz, you know, God forbid you forgot it one day and you have to use a plastic bag. So, as well as being status symbols of where you’ve been and the life you lead, they also are symbols of having a more environmentalist attitude, which people want at the minute.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: That’s Katrina Cobain, the creator of the Plastic Bag Museum, an art project she started back when Glasgow first went into lockdown.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: Have you noticed from different bags that you’ve either collected or seen, are there different categories— Does the quality of the plastic bag fit like a certain brand, while others are flimsier? Or even the size, like a Disney one, for example, I imagine would be bigger because they want you to buy more stuff. Is there like a psychological aspect to how a business chooses their bag?

Katrina: Well, yeah, definitely. Throughout the whole collection there’s a real marked difference in types of plastic, so it will be really thick plastic. It’s interesting that you mention the Disney bags because I think the plastic bag— We do have some Disney bags in the collection from about as early as the 1980s, and whenever you go to a place like Disney World or somewhere like that everything becomes a souvenir. [This is] because of the branding, because, you know, you went there and you wanna remember all the stuff from your trip. So that’s why people collect things like napkins or plastic bags will often fall into this category. You don’t really see this so much now, but definitely when I was growing up people would reuse plastic bags as a kind of souvenir status thing. So it would be like, “Oh yeah, I’m gonna bring my Disney World bag, just so everyone knows that I went to Disney World.”

You can actually see this reflected in the plastic bags you get from Disney World, because some of them actually have hard plastic handles and then a bag attached underneath, which obviously indicates reuse, and it’s built to be reused, but not from an environmental and sustainability standpoint. It’s more like, “You want everyone to know you went to Disney World and so do we, so we’re gonna make sure this bag is fit for the job.” A lot of the bags that have been donated in recent months since the site has gained a bit of exposure have been bags that have been kept as souvenirs, which is another thing that’s interesting about human beings in general. We would never keep a flimsy plastic bag from the corner shop around the corner, but if I was to visit the bodega around the corner from your apartment I would keep that plastic bag because I’d be like, “Oh, it’s from New York! It’s amazing!” You might say the same about a random shop here in Glasgow and Scotland. And that obviously is reflected in the collection, as well. Those are the bags that survive, which ultimately can be collected into something like this.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: When I found The Plastic Bag Museum, which is currently an online exhibit of all the bags Katrina has collected or received from followers through the mail, I was intrigued because it was presenting these bags as pieces of social history, as artifacts of the past 40 years or so.

A timeline put together by the UN Environment Programme dates the appearance of the plastic shopping bags we know and feel morally conflicted about to 1965. It was patented by the Swedish company Celloplast and designed by Sten Gustaf Thulin, who actually improved on the company’s original design by suggesting that the opening of the bag should have handles to make them easier to carry. Without Thulin, we would have had to carry full bags of groceries in our arms.

By 1979, single-use shopping bags controlled 80% of the bag market in Europe, and throughout the 80s more and more US grocery chains switched to plastic. And Katrina believes that these plastic bags can tell us a lot about this very recent past.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Katrina: Yeah, so, plastic bags definitely from the 1960s onwards are amazing items just to tell us a little bit more about the development of Capitalism and consumption in the Western world. We can really see this kind of steep incline in use and, also, a variation in plastic bags, which really kind of mirrors consumption in our society. And, you know, we can also see, hand-in-hand with that, how brands and franchises develop, and become huge players in, not only on our high streets, but also as icons that people know and recognize from advertising.

Plastic bags seem to have this amazing ability to chart these changes in multiple pockets of our society, because they’re so intrinsically linked with multiple aspects of our lives. And also they do document businesses that don’t exist anymore, like maybe have been lost due to recessions, the kind of boom-and-bust cycles of capitalism. But then also, as well as the obvious kind of links to business, they really chart public opinion about certain items.

For example, a really good one is tobacco use, which has just completely taken a u-turn in the last 20 years. So we’ve got a collection on the site which is solely dedicated to tobacco and tobacco marketing and the plastic bags that are linked to that. As a 24-year-old who didn’t grow up around much tobacco advertising, cuz it was really clamped down upon in the U.K. and in Europe, it’s mental to think that there were all these different brands with all these really powerful advertising, like the Marlboro cowboy. So it’s really interesting to chart that huge shift in public opinion around cigarettes and tobacco.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: That’s another thing I didn’t consider about plastic bags: how they’re essentially walking billboards for businesses. But, also, during their very brief existence they’ve inadvertently documented just how quickly public opinion about different things can change. Ironically, they show how the public opinion about plastic bags has shifted.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Katrina: On all the bags throughout the 80s and 90s there’s nothing at all about ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,’ there’s nothing about plastic but obviously we know— Since the year 2000, there have been big shifts in public opinion about looking after the environment and threats of climate change. You can see this creeping into plastic bags and onto their designs, because they’ll have these kind of, you know, half-assed sentences like, “Oh, you can recycle this bag!” And then you kind of see in some of the bags that they’re literally used by their businesses as ways to communicate with their customers, to say, “Listen, we’re doing all we can; this bag was made out of such-and-such percentage of plastic.” Even the bags that you can get today here, in Scotland, you would be very hard-pressed to find a bag that doesn’t have that kind of statement on it. Or it says that they’re donating to an organization that has something to do with forests or the ocean or something. It’s really remarkable how [plastic bags] chart that shift as well, and, eventually, the final charting of that will be their complete disappearance from our day to day.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: It feels very human that even though public opinion can change quickly, it takes us ages to act. This isn’t the first time a ban on plastic bags has been proposed for New York, but the law has only gone into effect earlier this year. I do wonder if this will have an impact on the number of bags that end up in landfills, that end up in trees.

In a 2004 New Yorker article written by Ian Frazier about his work as a bag snagger, he writes that a lot of what ends up in the city’s trees doesn’t land there accidentally or with the help of the wind and animals; it’s thrown in.

“People get mad and chuck other people’s stuff out the window,” Frazier writes. “Sometimes as we removed a series of objects—walkman, t-shirt, sneakers, underpants, pajama bottoms—we understood that they had all once been the possessions of the same unfortunate guy.”

Even with a plastic bag ban, I guess the question really is, “Can we trust that humans won’t throw s**t in trees, anymore? Can we trust that humans will do the right thing?”

[CLIP BEGINS]

Katrina: I was thinking a little bit about, “Well, if something were to happen to us”—this was before the pandemic, so it’s not as dark—”what would be left to learn about us?” And then I was thinking a lot about landfill sites and how the only things that would be surviving in the landfill site would be made of plastic cuz they will outlast everything else.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: That’s Katrina again, talking about her inspiration for the museum. If you check out the collections, which I highly recommend, you’ll be able to dig into the database and see the different bags she’s been collecting from around the world.

I think there’s something about being an artist that makes Katrina optimistic about the future of plastic bags: that one day we’ll stop using them.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Katrina: I think that the Plastic Bag Museum and the project is really about a positive outlook about something which can seem like a very overwhelming environmental crisis. Thinking about how placing these items in the past can be, with a bit of care and attention, can be something that actually is an asset to our lives in getting rid of them. And changing people’s perceptions about them in a fun way, rather than a very bleak way, I think often changing people’s minds is about a combination of both.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: I feel like art, poetry, is also part of what compels Taylor Mali to snatch bags from trees in his neighborhood. You have to admit that there is something poetic about it. Though wouldn’t it be great if it didn’t seem poetic? If ridding the world of environmentally harmful substances didn’t have to rest solely on the shoulders of artists?

[CLIP BEGINS]

Taylor: I haven’t written a poem about it yet, but I think you’re absolutely right. I think it is a literal extension of a kind of desire to bring order and beauty to the world, which is the job of a poet, I think. So, I never thought about it that way, but yes, of course.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: You can check out the podcast, store, and newsletter a few places on the internet, which you can learn more about in the show notes for this episode. You’ll also find links to different resources I read and discovered, like The Plastic Bag Museum.

You can even donate a bag to Katrina’s collections by getting in touch through the contact info on the museum site, or on Instagram.

I’d like to end this episode with Taylor reading his poem about giving stuff away after a divorce.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Taylor: For Maggie Blaha on a drizzly Tuesday, on the drizzly Tuesday, we decided to go take plastic bags out of trees. And there’s that poem.

This is a poem from the book of mine Bouquet of Red Flags. It’s called “Give It Away, Or Put It Away, Or Throw It Away.”

At the end of the marriage, whatever stuff is left—like crutches or rustic toolsyou rarely used, tight shoes,dusty books, or even love—whatever lies pile on the flooryou have to find a way to store after the divorce. Unlessof course before that day you took the time to give away

or sell (at a tag sale or on eBay)all that did not break apartin the course of breaking upyour home and heart,some of it, no doubt, crackedfrom the start, or elseabandoned in the name of moving on and living;everything must be given away,or in some other way forgiven.

What’s left must be stored somewhere,be it in the flood-cursed basementof a friend, or worse, the rented metal room where love, like wine,goes to improve but never does. Or, at least, the body, let loosein memory’s uncharted attic, or left undressed in some emptychamber, say, the 5 by 10 containerin the middle of your chest.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: Thanks for listening.

[OUTRO 30 SECONDS]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 18: Addicted to Collecting

Thrift Podcast — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 22:48:27 GMT

Episode show notes

In this episode, Maggie once again talks with David and Celeste of Dial V for Vintage. This time, they discuss what it’s like to be collectors and what it takes to feed that obsession. From finding unique ways to display all their collections to their strategy for visiting thrift stores and vintage shops, this episode should help you understand how you, too, can become a collector.

Check out the Dial V for Vintage store, or follow them on Instagram.

You can also listen to episode 15 again to hear how David and Celeste launched their store during the pandemic.

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:Instagram: @thriftpodcastFacebook: @thriftpodcast

And please be sure to rate and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Episode transcript

OPENING

Maggie: That’s awesome! So, can I ask about the elephants in the background there?

Celeste: Yeah, we love pink elephants.

David: We’ve been collecting pink elephants for years—

Celeste: Forever.

David: I just love the idea that in the 1950s a pink elephant represented getting drunk and having cocktails, and it’s just a fantastic little icon of the time.

Celeste: So that’s our bar!

INTRODUCTION

Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores how we can all be more community-minded citizens through thrifting.

[THEME MUSIC, 30 SECONDS]

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: So you have lots of different collections then?

Celeste: Oh my gosh, yes. It’s probably easier to say what we don’t collect. Oh my god. I feel like we collect a little bit of everything. Do you really want me to go through all of this? Do you have time for this?

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: That was Celeste of Dial V for Vintage, asking if I really wanted her to list all the collections she and her husband David have built over the years. And I’m Maggie Blaha, the host of this podcast as always.

If you listened to episode 16, the second episode released this season, you’ll remember hearing about how David and Celeste managed to launch their online vintage store during a pandemic. But I wanted to have a separate episode where David and Celeste could really nerd out about their passion: collecting.

When it comes to thrifting, antiquing, secondhand shopping in general, I’ll admit that I’m a novice. Sure, I love casually browsing through vintage shops and happily stumbling upon something I’ll probably never actually need, but I’m not driven to go hunting. The ‘thrill of the hunt’ is something I’ve heard David, Celeste, and other collectors talk about. I just don’t think I can commit to the life of a collector.

I have commitment issues generally, especially when it comes to sticking to one project or focusing on and really developing just one of my interests. Could I actually commit to completing or trying to complete a collection? Would the search to find all the items I need for the said collection thrill me?

And what sort of collection would I even start? I actually have a few gnome statues—could I collect gnomes? I have 1 typewriter, and I suppose I could add more. Books would probably make the most sense, given that I have so many, but all the books I own aren’t exactly vintage. Plus, antiquarian books tend to be out of my price range.

David and Celeste walked me through some of their own collections.

[CLIP BEGINS]

David: All right, well I like circus stuff, and circus stuff is extremely hard to find anymore. So I’m in a pickle with those because that stuff is impossible to find, but we just love everything—

Celeste: We just love everything from mid-century— I have a lot of pinup-related paraphernalia because of my business.

Maggie: How does a collection start, and when does it turn into an obsession? Would you say that it’s an obsession at this point?

Celeste: Oh, 100% it’s an obsession.

David: I find myself buying stuff not because I’m into it per se, but I’m like I need to get this because I already have a few things and it’s in front of me now. And I don’t know when I’ll see it again, so if I don’t buy it I’m in trouble. A part of my brain just won’t let me walk away from it.

It’s just like, I don’t know, something sparks. You’re walking in a flea market and there’s just this certain aesthetic to something—

Celeste: Yeah, it catches your eye.

David: And once you get rolling with it, then you’re— It’s almost like a game where you’re like, I need to find this. When you find it it’s like hitting the jackpot on a slot machine. Like you play forever, and then once you hit it you’re like, OK, now I’m addicted. I want to hit it again.

Celeste: And I also feel like sometimes, moreso lately, that I’ll find one thing that I love. I don’t know, we’ve been finding some really cool mid-century lamps lately, television ones. And I would buy one, and then all of a sudden the next week I’d find another one, and then another one. And it’s almost like you bought the one, and you put it out in the universe, and the universe just brought all of them to you.

And then you’re like, OK, well now I have to start collecting these, because I don’t ever see them but for some reason now that I bought one I’m seeing them all the time. So I feel like it’s that way sometimes, too.

David: Well, you don’t have to buy them—

Celeste: I don’t have to buy them. But, you know, if it’s a good price, I can’t leave it.

Maggie: And then do you start to learn more about the stuff you’re collecting until you’re almost experts? Is that how it works?

David: I think so. I think there’s stuff that we know now that we didn’t know maybe 5 or 10 years ago.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: So it sounds like collecting is a kind of addiction, and you have to embrace it in order to be good at it. It doesn’t sound like it’s particularly detrimental to your health—maybe just your wallet. And I imagine finding a place to store your collection could become a nightmare.

In my Brooklyn apartment, I would say that most of my space is accounted for. There’s no more room under my bed, in my closet, on my shelves. My book obsession has resulted in my building towers from the floor up against a wall in my bedroom.

How do David and Celeste find room for everything?

[CLIP BEGINS]

Celeste: We started our shop Dial V for Vintage pretty recently. We’re both artists. So I’ve been a photographer, I started my business about 17 years ago, and really before that is when I started collecting.

My business is vintage portraiture, so mainly I take pictures of women as 1950s pinups. That’s how I really started collecting a lot of the items, and that’s really what led us to start Dial V for Vintage. Plus, we’re just huge collectors.

David: We accumulated more stuff than we could keep, so we decided to share that with other people. We’ve definitely been running out of space, but we love buying so it was inevitable. And we talked to a lot of older dealers who were like, yeah, that’s how we got started. We just love buying and to fuel that buying, you have to sell stuff at a certain point.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: I want to reflect on the last thing David said for a moment: “To fuel that buying, you have to sell stuff at a certain point.” I take that to mean that you really shouldn’t become too attached to anything you buy. Everything has a moment in your life, and you need to know when it’s time to let go.

This is something I’ve been working through when picking out items to sell in my online thrift store. With clothes it’s pretty simple—I just get rid of anything I haven’t worn in a while and don’t plan on wearing. But other items just don’t have that practical, utilitarian purpose. It comes down to knowing that an object’s life with you is over, and that it’s time to make space for new things in your life. I feel like the stuff we let go of can say a lot about us. Possibly more than the stuff we keep.

I will say that I’m definitely at odds with Celeste and David about how easy it is to give up books. Not sure what that says about me.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: What kind of stuff is it easy for you both to let go of?

Celeste: Books. Some books. It was finally time for us to decide what books we really loved and were going to display or read, and what ones we could let other people enjoy.

David: They were sitting in boxes. We had really nice vintage bird books and garden books—

Celeste: Some really nice antique books.

David: Yeah, antique books. It’s just better to have someone else enjoy them.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: This concept of letting other people enjoy your pre-loved stuff that always comes up...am I just selfish when it comes to books?

Not that I have the same volume of stuff as David and Celeste, but I do sympathize with having to find creative ways to display certain possessions. For me, it’s books. For them...well...I asked them about all the typewriters they were posting pictures of on their Instagram page.

[CLIP BEGINS]

David: Typewriters seem to find us, because they’re heavy and I don’t need any. But I am attracted to the old technology and the look of them—

Celeste: And they’re great display pieces.

David: We actually took our typewriters and hung them on a wall, because a lot of the old typewriters, the portable ones, would have a hook on the back that allowed them to sit inside their case nicely. But nobody’s ever thought, oh, I can use that hook to hang them on a wall, and I think they display really nicely.

Celeste: And we were running out of space, so we had to figure out a new way to display them.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: If you remember back to episode 9—Our Clutter, Ourselves—when I interviewed professional organizer Francesco Pirredu, he said that as long as you can find creative ways to display your stuff, you’re fine. That’s definitely not exactly what he said, but I think I’ve captured the gist.

So, how challenging and thrilling is the hunt that David and Celeste often go on?

[CLIP BEGINS]

David: Finding stuff is just running around. Thrift stores, flea markets, auctions—

Celeste: Estate sales—

David: Estate sales. It’s a lot of—

Celeste: Trash picking.

David: It’s a lot of pounding the pavement and just knowing that some days you’re going to completely strike out and not find anything, and other days you’re going to fill your car.

Maggie: How much time do you put into the hunt?

Celeste: Oh my gosh, a lot! I’d say we’re probably shopping 3 full days. It depends on whether or not there are great sales for us to hit from week to week.

Maggie: Do you bring people with you?

Celeste: No.

David: We tried to bring her mom with us once, and she just wasn’t fast enough for us. We were like, we’ve got seven other stores we need to hit, we’ve gotta go!

Celeste: We definitely have a math of how we handle it all.

David: We’ve been together for over 20 years now, so we totally work on the same level. But you bring somebody else and they look at us like we’re weirdos.

Maggie: What’s the criteria for what you pick up? Does it have to count as vintage?

David: It’s funny you say that because I’m confused about what vintage is now. Somebody has recently bought some 80s vases, and I was like, what are you doing? But 80s, that’s like 50 years old now. But that’s vintage to people. Songs that I grew up to are now playing on the oldies station.

Vintage can be, I would think, anything prior to the 90s. We like the look and aesthetic of mid-century, but there’s definitely people who consider the 80s very vintage.

Celeste: We typically buy things, I would say, from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. And once in a while, just because we’re children of the 80s, we’ll grab that super-cool E.T. tray, you know, just something for nostalgia.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: Thrifting is relatively new for me. I didn’t really do it when I was younger. Maybe that’s why I lack a certain drive and passion for it that other guests on the podcast seem to have. Brooke from an earlier episode this season remembers attending yard sales with her mom. Jess Master of Miss Master’s Closet always hit up The Salvation Army as a teen. And David and Celeste have been thrifting for forever, as well.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Celeste: My mom is a big collector as well, and we used to go to antique malls definitely. I guess I started thrifting really in high school, because I loved to buy vintage clothes and accessories and wear them… I think I got it from my mom.

David: So you were shopping in antique stores, I was from the other side of the tracks. I was shopping in Salvation Army—

Celeste: I was there, too!

David: I grew up an alternative kid.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: To recap, let’s go over what you’ll need to consider if you want to become a collector:

1. Find your passion, get obsessed with it 2. You’ll need some space to store or display your collection 3. You’ll need to find a way to fuel your passion for buying, like opening an online store to sell stuff you’re ready to part with 4. You’ll need to put in the time and effort to find stuff for your collection, and you have to be ready to accept that all that time and effort might turn up nothing 5. Finally, you’ll have to set some standards for what you spend your money on; you can’t just buy everything that might be a good fit for your collection

If you want to hear or read more from Thrift, there are a few places you can find the podcast on the internet.

On Facebook and Instagram, we’re @thriftpodcast. You can also follow the online thrift store on Instagram @thriftpodcaststore, or Facebook @thriftpodcastshop. We’ve also got a newsletter, which you can find at https://thriftpodcast.substack.com.

That concludes another episode of Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You. Thanks for listening!

[OUTRO, 30 SECONDS]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 17: A Thrifting Superhero

Thrift Podcast — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:41:36 GMT

Episode show notes

Maggie first heard about Obocho Peters and his thrift store on Good Morning America, and she knew she wanted to interview him about his mission on this season of the podcast. With the help of his mom, Sasha, the 11-year-old entrepreneur was able to set up an online and brick-and-mortar thrift store to help parents buy affordable clothes for their children.

The cost of thrifting has been on the rise in recent years, especially in cities like New York. This can have a negative impact on the people and families who rely on being able to buy secondhand clothes. Obocho was able to recognize this problem, and that’s why he opened a store where all the items are available for $10 or less. This episode is a great introduction to the topic of the gentrification of thrifting, which will be covered in later episodes this season.

Check out Obocho’s closet for yourself: www.obochoscloset.com

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast

Facebook: @thriftpodcast

Twitter: @thrift_pod

And please be sure to rate and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Episode transcript

[OPENING]

Maggie: I feel like there are people who might think that it’s crazy for an 11-year-old to be running their own business. Did you ever feel like you couldn’t do it or lose faith in doing it, or have you always felt as confident as you are now?

Obocho: There were many times when I felt discouraged. There were 2 times when I felt the most discouraged. One when I first started my business—in the beginning I thought that I didn’t see people believing in me at first, and I thought that because I didn’t know a lot about business and didn’t know a lot about helping the community and how hard it was going to be. But once I started learning about business and how people helping you and supporting you works, then I learned what I need to do to get my business out there and how people will pay attention to my business and learn about my business.

The 2nd time I got really discouraged was when COVID hit, and I thought because a lot of major businesses have to close down their stores that there’s no reason for me to have my store anymore. On my birthday December 18th, 2019, my 11th birthday, that was the grand opening of this brick-and-mortar store. Then 3 months after that, in March, COVID hit, so I was thinking about closing the store completely, but then me and my mom had a long conversation about whether we should close or downsize the store. Then we decided on downsizing the store, so— Because now we have an online store, an online website, and the website is www.iamobocho.com—

Sasha: It’s Obocho’s Closet, sorry—

Obocho: www.obochoscloset.com

[INTRODUCTION]

Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores how we can all be more community-minded citizens through thrifting.

[THEME MUSIC, 30 SECONDS]

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and in that opening clip you heard from Obocho Peters, an 11-year-old entrepreneur in Brooklyn, and his mom and business partner Sasha, coming in at the end to make sure Obocho was giving the right URL for his online store, Obocho’s Closet.

Over the summer, I got to interview the amazing Obocho about his online and brick-and-mortar thrift store, which he opened to sell donated children’s apparel for under $10. I love this interview because 1.) Obocho’s work is so inspiring and 2.) it’s a great way to start a larger conversation about the gentrification of thrifting and how expensive it’s become.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: How and why did you decide to start your own business?

Obocho: I decided to start my own business because on April 27, 2018, I wanted 8 toys from the movie Avengers: Affinity War, but my mom couldn’t afford [them] and she didn’t have the money to get the toys because at that time she had just finished paying all the bills. So I decided to sell all my clothes and shoes that didn’t fit me in order to get the money for the toys that I wanted.

Maggie: Is The Avengers your favorite movie? Or favorite superhero movie?

Obocho: Yeah, it’s my favorite superhero movie.

Maggie: And they’re the inspiration to what lead you—

Obocho: Yeah, they’re the inspiration for the business. The toys [were] a part of the reason that I wanted to help my community and start the business, but another reason is because watching the movie I looked up to the superheroes because they’re always helping people in need, so I wanted to do that too and make someone’s day and make someone else happy.

Maggie: Why have you focused on children’s clothes?

Obocho: There are a lot of children that grow very fast because a lot of children, especially me, grow super fast, and a lot of parents don’t have enough money to get their children clothes that fast because at stores they’re selling clothes and shoes at a high price. So at Obocho’s Closet, we’re selling clothes and shoes at an affordable price, where no matter how fast your child grows, you can still get the amount of clothes that you need for your child.

Maggie: When did you realize that the high cost of clothes was a problem?

Obocho: I realized that the high cost of children’s clothes was a problem when my mom bought me my clothes at a young age before I had the idea to start my business, and I realized the very high cost, especially when my mom goes to thrift stores. My mom loves going to thrift stores and always used to say, “Why are the clothes so expensive?” So the clothes were super expensive even at thrift stores. It was super hard for families, even her to buy clothes for me because I was growing super fast at the time.

Maggie: Why do you think the prices at thrift stores and used clothing stores are so high?

Obocho: I think it’s super high because a lot of people that own the stores need to get money for their store, because in order to have the store they need to pay rent and stuff. But the people on the other side, the parents that are buying the clothes, they don’t know how hard it is to own a store. The people that own the store they need the money to keep the store they have, whether it’s a thrift store or any kind of store that sells children’s clothes. So with that money they can pay rent and all that stuff. And the money, especially if it’s name brand clothes, they need to put the right price for the right clothing piece they have in their store. So, if it’s like a big brand, they need to have a big price for the higher quality. The people who are buying clothes for their children, they don’t know how hard it is for the owner of the store… they even have to pay their employees. That’s why I think they put their clothes at a high price.

Maggie: Yeah, it’s a hard problem to solve on all angles

Obocho: Yes.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: Of course this isn’t a problem that Obocho can solve on his own, but he decided that he could play a part in solving it in his own community.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: How did you come to think, ‘Oh, I think I can solve this problem?’ Or at least try to.

Obocho: I figured out how to solve that problem by asking my family and friends for donations if they had clothes that their children had grown out of. That’s how I started, along with my clothes that all added together to be the clothes that I used to give to families, so that they could buy them for their children.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: With the help of his mom, Sasha, they rented a space through Brooklyn Commons on Flatbush Avenue at the end of 2019, and they’ve since downsized their brick-and-mortar location to a smaller space in the same building. The small storefront is where Obocho and I had our interview while sitting 6 feet apart and masked.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: Did you start with an online store? A brick-and-mortar store?

Obocho: I started with an online store because at first I needed an online store to sell my clothes. While I was getting together all the clothes that didn’t fit me and donations, my mom was doing all the editing and setting up the website for me, so we were doing 2 different things. And then we put it all together by taking pictures of the clothes and putting them on the website. When someone on Instagram DM’d us that they wanted to purchase some clothes, then we would package the clothes and ship them to a customer’s address or have them come and pick them up.

Maggie: So your mom’s your business partner then?

Obocho: Yes.

Maggie: Why was it important for you to open this brick-and-mortar store?

Obocho: All the donations that were coming in were being piled up in our house, and at one point we didn’t have enough room to fit everything. Once we got the brick-and-mortar store, we were going to put all the clothes on racks and set it up in the way we wanted to set it up, so we were just waiting for the right time to get the brick-and-mortar store. So we needed a place to put all the clothes in.

Maggie: Can you tell me a little bit about the space here? How did you choose this location?

Obocho: It’s not too far away from my house, and also at the time it wasn’t too far away from my school. So right after school— From 8:20-2:40 I would go to school, and then after my mom would pick me up and then we would come straight to the store and deal with the business. But now… That is the pandemic we’ve… This year I’m getting homeschooled, so I would wake up, then do my online learning, and then I would come straight to the store and do the business stuff.

Maggie: How do you go about pricing different items so that they’re affordable?

Obocho: Well, we look on different websites and see what their price is, and then we actually take our price down to 50% off or 75% off. It depends on what we want to put the price as because nothing in my store goes above $9.99.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: To say that Obocho is ambitious would be an understatement. Not only does he have plans for the future of his business, he also has a big heart, and that means everything.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Obocho: My main goal is to make my business worldwide so families can spend less on their children’s clothes and shoes and spend more on their children’s college fund.

Maggie: So you want to keep the business running for a long time?

Obocho: Yes, for a long time, because I know it’s never gonna stop. Families are always going to need help with something, and families are always going to need to know about business, need to know how to manage their money better, and I always think it’s best to learn that stuff while you’re young, so when you get older you can be ahead of your time and know the materials and the things that you need to know in order to manage your money better.

Maggie: So I see that you’re wearing a Spider-Man [face] mask—

Obocho: Yes.

Maggie: And I know there’s this quote that ‘with great power comes great responsibility’—

Obocho: Yes.

Maggie: As an entrepreneur, do you think you have a great responsibility within your community?

Obocho: Yes...sometimes. Because the responsibility really is to— If you say you’re going to do something, you have to stick up to your word. Like there’s this date and time where I put out new masks every week, because me and my mom go to the fabric store, pick out the fabric we want to put on the mask, and then my mom sews the mask, and I also help my mom sew the mask. So we put out the masks every week on one specific day, and we put on Instagram that the masks have launched today, here’s the 4 new masks that we’ve put out today. Then people see the new masks, they order the new masks, and then they tell us which masks they want.

Maggie: Right, so producing face masks felt like something you needed to take on?

Obocho: Yeah, I started producing the masks on March 28, and I started selling the masks on April 1.

[CLIP ENDS]

[CONCLUSION]

Maggie: If you want to hear or read more from Thrift, there are a few places you can find the podcast on the internet.

That concludes another episode of Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You. Thanks for listening!

[OUTRO, 30 SECONDS]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 16: My Biggest Regret Is That I Didn't Get That Karaoke Machine

Thrift Podcast — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 01:48:11 GMT

Episode show notes

This is the first stoop sale interview of season 3. Maggie talks with 3 friends—Mark, Sophia, and Liz—about their stoop sale. Liz was getting ready to move, Mark and Sophia wanted to get rid of stuff they’d looked at for too long in quarantine. The stories that came out of this interview are funny, heartfelt, and worth a listen.

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast Twitter: @thrift_pod

And please be sure to rate and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Episode transcript

ANNOUNCEMENT

Maggie: Hi friends, I wanted to take a moment to point out that there are some rough spots in the audio for this episode. This is an interview with the hosts of the first stoop sale I attended since COVID restrictions were lifted in NYC. It was a little windy that day, and there were other background noises that have made the interview audio sound a bit scratchy. Despite these blips, I really enjoyed this interview with Mark, Sophia, and Liz. I hope you do, too.

INTRO

Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores how we can all be more community-minded citizens through thrifting.

[THEME MUSIC, 30 SECONDS]

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and I’m going to start this episode by talking about a donut. A sweet corn pudding flavored donut that was made by Sophia, a food stylist and one of the hosts of the stoop sale. Sophia sometimes sells her Khmer-inspired donuts at pop-up events around the city, but this time she was selling them to drive foot traffic to the stoop sale she was hosting with her friends.

This donut was heavenly. After our interview, I stopped at the first bench I could find so I could sit and pretend I was alone with this sticky, sweet, and savory pillow of fried dough. I’m being very serious—Sophia makes life-altering donuts.

Offering delicious donuts was just one of the ideas Sophia and her husband Mark had for drawing a crowd to the stoop sale they were helping their friends Liz and Todd throw. Throughout the interview, Mark shared a few different gimmicks he thought might get people to stop and browse. Like this one:

[CLIP BEGINS]

Liz: It’s kind of a weird one, but I’m trying to sell this karaoke machine that I used to use at parties, but I haven’t used it in a decade at least.But it was a gift from my younger brother and his then girlfriend on my birthday shortly after our mother passed away, because I loved karaoke so much. It was like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna have this big party with a karaoke theme.’ And so I feel a little heartbroken about giving it up, but—

Mark: We should give it one more use right now.

Liz: We can bust it out!

Mark: Like in The Simpsons, doesn’t he do that?

Liz & Sophia: Yeah.

Mark: Homer’s like dancing around—

Sophia: Singing ‘Staying Alive.’

Mark: [SINGS] ‘Hey big spender…’

Sophia: And ‘Big Spender.’

Maggie: I think that’s a great idea, and I really hope you do that.

Mark: One free song with every purchase.

Sophia: Oh, I like that.

Liz: Or to stop singing.

Mark: Yeah, we’ll shut up if you… Make our neighbors buy everything—

Sophia: Make it be Mark, because he’s probably the worst singer out of all of us.

Mark: Oh, I’m really bad.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: I don’t know if they actually used Liz’s karaoke machine to sing songs out on the stoop, but I hope they did. Having at least one thing to draw people’s attention to the stoop sale seemed important to Mark. He mentioned an item that he brought out for a previous stoop sale the group held over the summer that was meant to increase their foot traffic.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Mark: Oh, well, I didn’t bring it out today, but last time I was trying to sell this trumpet, and it’s this nice, old trumpet that I don’t know how to play, and it was more like that it attracted people and then they started looking around. Today I decided not to bring it out because I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to part with it,’ even though I don’t know how to play it.

Maggie: Got it. But if it had sold last time—

Mark: It would have been gone, and I probably wouldn’t be here talking about it. And I bring it up today, because it is like people stopped to say, ‘Oh, cool, a trumpet,’ which shows that you’ve got good stuff.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: You’ve already heard from Liz, Sophia, and Mark, but let me back up a bit to provide some backstory for this stoop sale. First, it was a beautiful Saturday early in September, a kind of false fall. I say false because we actually still had many hot and humid days that followed what I thought—at the time—was finally the end of summer weather. Two other stoop sales were happening in the neighborhood, and people were walking around and enjoying the day. It was almost like things were normal.

This was just one of the stoop sales the group of friends had to help Liz and Todd unload all the stuff they want to get rid of before they move.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: So is this sale a collection of all your stuff?

Sophia: Yeah.

Liz: Yes.

Mark: Sophia and I live here, and they’re [Liz & Jonathan] our friends who live down the block.

Maggie: So, this is mainly a stoop sale for Liz who is moving soon, is that right?

Liz: Sort of, yeah, that was the impetus for it.

Maggie: And you’re just borrowing your friends’ stoop?

Liz: Yeah.

Sophia: We have more space.

Mark: And we’re close to the farmer’s market that gets a lot of foot traffic.

Maggie: So you don’t have a stoop at your place, or—

Liz: We have a stoop, but the family that owns the building is very nervous about COVID and didn’t want the foot traffic to attract more people to their front yard. And we’ve done a stoop sale with Mark and Sophia before, so we were just hanging out with them talking and were like, ‘Hey, we’re trying to get rid of all this stuff to move, can we maybe do another stoop sale?’

Mark: And you guys don’t have like the fenced in, right? Your stoop goes right to the street—

Sophia: No, it’s just open, right?

Liz: Well, we do have a fenced-in part, but it's a little different than this. It’s like a little side area instead of the whole front.

Maggie: Yeah, and with COVID were you nervous about that or are you doing extra stuff to make sure you’re all staying… Oh, OK, there we go, you got Clorox—

Mark: If you buy anything we’ll wipe it down for you, and we have hand sanitizer for people to use—

Sophia: As you can see we’re all masked up—

Liz: We’re all masked—

Mark: My hands have just been getting dirty from the dust and stuff, so I’ve been sanitizing just for that reason. But it helps to… Like I think showing it just makes people feel better. If they see it like, oh, they’re doing it right.

Maggie: So, I know you said that you’ve lived in your place for 16 years—

Liz: Yes.

Maggie: For Sophia and Mark, what’s the impetus behind the stuff you’re getting rid of? Is it just spring cleaning or something else?

Sophia: For us it’s spring cleaning. You know we’ve been stuck inside looking at all of the same stuff for a few months, and I just wanna get rid of it at this point. Maybe buy some new stuff from one of the other stoop sales that are happening on this block.

Mark: Or some beer.

Sophia: Or beer. Yeah, I guess we could do that. But I’m more interested in decluttering after months of looking at the same stuff.

Maggie: Would you guys say you hold onto stuff for too long?

Sophia: Definitely between the 2 of us—

Mark: Yeah.

Sophia: He has some of his great-grandmother’s stuff that I—

Mark: She was a—

Sophia: That I found in a bucket of change, and I was like come on…

Mark: Ma was like a pack rat, too, and she passed away. We were going through her stuff, and she just had all kinds of random junk in her basement for years and years, so I come from a family of pack rats that can’t throw anything away.

Liz: Yeah, I’m totally the same way. Like, cleaning— As you know, we have so many books, as you’ve seen, and just cleaning out our book storage area I found I had stacks of magazines from the 90s that I’ve been holding onto since I was 16. Finally I was like, OK, this is getting into hoarding territory—

Maggie: Yeah, yeah—

Liz: I just had to say goodbye. I held onto a couple of them, because I was like, oh, this could be fun to look at.

Maggie: Did you just throw them away, then?

Liz: Yeah, recycled.

Maggie: You also gave me a bag of yarn that apparently belonged to your grandma in the 70s.

Liz: Yes. [LAUGHS]

Sophia: Wow.

Liz: I’m glad that it’s going to a good home. Someone who is going to use it.

Maggie: Yeah, I’ll either use it or it will sit in my closet.

Mark: You can make it into something, bring it to our next stoop sale, and sell it.

Maggie: There we go. I’ll make a blanket and—

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: Apart from the yarn that Liz gave me for free, I also bought about 10 books from the boxes of hardcovers and paperbacks she decided she could part with. Since she works in publishing, I imagine that deciding which books to let go of wasn’t an easy feat.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Liz: I think some stuff we’ll donate, and some stuff I’m going to try to sell again. We just have so many books and I have already brought a couple of boxes to Molasses books in Bushwick, which is one of the few used bookstores still buying. They’re so nice and lovely, and the buyer there was like, ‘Oh, bring me back whatever you have,’ so I might try my luck there with any books that don’t sell. There’s some stuff that maybe I’ll try to sell on eBay but that’s a whole process that I… Feels like too much work while I’m trying to move.

Maggie: You mentioned that you work in publishing. How did you decide which books to part with?

Liz: It was a real mix of what is sentimental, what is valuable, and stuff that I’ve worked on. I do have a big box of books for teens because I worked in teen publishing for a long time, but I’m trying to look for a good place to donate them.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: Liz had a lot of unique stuff for sale, like a vintage poodle tape measure, which Liz had just finished selling when I arrived. Here’s a clip of Sophia asking Liz about the poodle.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Sophia: Oh, you sold your poodle?

Liz: Yeah, the same guy who bought those sunglasses—

Mark: Those orange sunglasses—

Sophia: Really, those were Janelle’s.

Mark: No, they’re mine—

Sophia: Oh no she gave them to you.

Mark: —I’ve had them for 10 years, they’re now mine.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: It’s always fun when you have stuff that you’re really not sure who it belongs to. But Liz was looking to get rid of something even more interesting than the poodle.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: Can I ask about the mannequin? Is it actually for sale?

Liz: Yeah, it’s absolutely for sale—

Mark: You want it?

Maggie: I’m considering the karaoke machine, I just don’t know if I can carry it.

Liz: You can come back. I can save it for you later. Um, the mannequin was a birthday gift to me. I was having, way pre-COVID times, a birthday get-together with friends in a bar, and a friend of all of ours—who’s a comedian—walked in with this thing. He was like, ‘Happy Birthday, Liz!’ Like, I guess he found it on the street that day, and it was my birthday gift from him.

Mark: I feel like he said he found it on the street, but he actually went out and bought it so he could be funny and show up with a mannequin. He just didn’t want to admit that it was deliberate.

Liz: But I brought it home and it was sitting in our guest bedroom, creepily looking at guests for the past, I dunno, maybe like 6 or 7 years.

Maggie: Did it have clothes on it? Hats?

Liz: No. Well, oh, in our guestroom, yeah. This leather jacket sometimes. We like mixed it up a little bit, but—

Sophia: We’ve been joking about how it’s Liz’s emotional support mannequin, and that she’s really sad to part with it.

Mark: Oh, I can put it in the passenger seat, then we can ride in the restricted lane during rush hour.

Liz: That’s a great idea, you wanna buy it, Mark?

Mark: No.

Liz: I’ll sell it to you for–

Sophia: But that is a good selling point: Get in the HOV lane with this mannequin—

Mark: Yeah, the dino lane with the mannequin.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: I have to say, Liz gets great birthday presents. No one bought the mannequin while I was there, and I wonder if Liz, Sophia, or Mark would be surprised if someone did. They were all surprised about one thing that some people were buying.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Sophia: And then, I was also surprised by people who are buying DVDs still.

Mark: DVDs, yeah.

Sophia: I was like, ‘Who watches DVDs?’

Liz: My most surprising sale so far today was The Royal Tenenbaums on DVD—

Sophia: I love that movie—

Mark: It’s a great movie—

Liz: It’s a great movie, for sure, but, I dunno, we don’t really use DVDs.

Sophia: Yeah, I only watch The Simpsons on DVD.

Liz: I saved our Simpsons!

Sophia: Yeah, that’s the only acceptable DVDs to have in our house. But I was really surprised there was an elderly couple that came by and bought ‘There Will Be Blood’—

Mark: No, ‘No Country for Old Men’—

Maggie: The book or the movie?

Sophia: The movie! The DVD and a pair of chandelier earrings. That’s an interesting combination. I was like, ‘You know, make it a date night, that sounds right’—

Mark: They were like, ‘We’re gonna go watch this tonight!’

Sophia: Yeah, they were like, ‘This is gonna be a great night.’ She’s gonna wear her earrings, they’re gonna pop in the DVD—

Maggie: That’s just what COVID is now—

Sophia: I guess, it was just interesting.

Maggie: The pandemic is ‘There Will Be Blood’ and chandelier earrings.

Sophia: Yeah, a fun, sexy time.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: What I loved most about this stoop sale interview was how much it was a testament to friendship.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Sophia: Here’s another interesting COVID fact about our living situation: Our downstairs neighbors have been gone, so we’ve been storing all of our junk in there in preparation for this stoop sale—

Mark: Watering their plants, so we’re also putting stuff in there. But for this one I’ve been going upstairs into my closet and pulling stuff out, because I did not do any preparation for this.

Sophia: Oh, I’ve been taking stuff out of the closet and putting it downstairs for this.

Mark: Today I did that, but this was more of a Liz show.

Sophia: Yeah, this was mainly for Liz and Todd.

Liz: Which we appreciate so much, and I guess use your stoop.

Sophia: I mean, there are very few people I like hanging out with during COVID, but you 2 are in the top 5. It’s been a weird time to figure out when to do a stoop sale. I was like are people going to be not wanting to come because of COVID. I thought maybe, you know, people would think it was too weird. But I see that there are 2 other stoop sales on this block today, which is pretty great.

Mark: This neighborhood got really quiet the first couple months of COVID. It’s slowly been coming back.

Sophia: That’s when we really got to know our neighbors, because we’re always out on the stoop regardless of stoop sale. We’re always out here having breakfast or drinking coffee or something. Our other neighbors around see us, and then we just finally introduced ourselves to each other and became friends.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: That seems like the perfect place to end this episode.

If you want to hear or read more from Thrift, there are a few places you can find the podcast on the internet.

That concludes another episode of Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You. Thanks for listening!

[OUTRO, 30 SECONDS]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 15: Thrifting in the Age of COVID-19

Thrift Podcast — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 16:09:32 GMT

Episode show notes

Season 3 opens with an episode about the future of estate sales and thrifting in a COVID-19 world. Maggie’s guests share their perspectives:

* Brooke, an estate sale enthusiast based in Atlanta

* Jess Master, the owner of vintage clothing store Miss Master’s Closet based in Brooklyn

* David and Celeste, the husband-and-wife business Dial V for Vintage based in Philadelphia

And please be sure to rate and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Episode transcript

INTROMaggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores how we can all be more community-minded citizens through thrifting.

[THEME SONG 30 SECONDS]

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and in this episode I want to start exploring how COVID-19 has impacted, and might continue to impact, secondhand shopping.

In the opening clip you heard Brooke talking about a few things she bought in the midst of this pandemic when she finally returned to estate sales. Brooke is a good friend who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and I really wanted to get her on the show to talk about all the secondhand shopping she does. We’ll be hearing more from Brooke on a later episode this season, but on this episode we talked specifically about going back to estate sales in the age of COVID.

I haven’t really talked about estate sales on this podcast before. I’ve actually never been to one, so I’m going to rely on Brooke to explain how an estate sale typically differs from a yard sale.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Brooke: I have been a long-time fan of the estatesales.net search for the metro Atlanta area, and I’ve been kind of a hardcore thrift store person since my mom and grandma took me to yard sales as a kid.

This is just my distinction, but to me estate sales are more often about kind of getting to see the inside of the house itself, which is honestly a big part of the appeal. And a lot of times an estate sale happens because someone’s died or a family has to move for some reason. So it’s generally something that happens indoors and it’s kind of everything must go.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: With estate sales, you do usually assume that the home and things within it belong to someone who has died. I asked Brooke if death is part of what makes estate sales interesting.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Brooke: Definitely part of the appeal is just creeping hard on other people’s possessions and the place where their possessions have been for generally a long time. But, lately, I will say that it does feel a little more morbid, just because death is a little more omnipresent and on everyone’s minds because of COVID.

Maggie: Do you know if any of the estate sales you’ve gone to have been for victims of COVID-19?

Brooke: Yeah, I don’t know. Sometimes if you hang around the front table, you’ll hear people asking what happened. But I’ve only been to maybe 3 since all this started, and I didn’t overhear anyone and I didn’t ask. My guess is that even if they had they probably wouldn’t tell us, because that might be off putting.

Maggie: It does seem like it would be a weird question to ask.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: I tried to do some research on whether or not the number of people who have died from COVID in the US has had an impact on estate sales, but I only found information about some estate sales going virtual or how they’re safely starting up again. I can’t help thinking about how many of the families of COVID-19 victims are now having to cope with their loved ones belongings. What will happen to the stuff that once belonged to the more than 200,000 souls we’ve lost during this pandemic?

And in this new-normal world, how many of us will want to wear or own things that once belonged to someone else? COVID is a virus that makes it difficult to be present in a tangible world, to experience anything that requires a physical human interaction. Most stores you go into now have plexiglass barriers between you and a cashier. Libraries in Brooklyn are still only open for grab-and-go service, and only a handful of bookstores have opened for browsing. The majority of physical places you want to go encourage you to make online reservations and orders beforehand.

I wasn’t sure how many people would be having stoop sales this summer and fall. But after Governor Cuomo lifted the ban on yard sales on June 12, I slowly started to see the familiar signs for stoop sales written in chalk on sidewalks or posted on telephone poles. The #stoopsale is once again populated with listings on Instagram.

That’s how I found out about the stoop sales Jess Master started hosting over the summer to help raise money for charities like the Breonna Taylor GoFundMe, United Negro College Fund, and Urban Indigenous Collective. Jess is the owner of Miss Master’s Closet, and you might remember her from the season 2 episode ‘The Art of Bringing Clothes Back to Life.’ We’ll be hearing from Jess a lot this season, but for this first episode I wanted to hear how her vintage clothing business has been fairing during the pandemic.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: How do you think COVID might end up changing fashion and the fashion industry?

Jess: Well, I think that you have to think of it in a broader sense, like COVID is going to change everything. I think it’s going to change the way that people think and behave, and that will trickle down into art and then fashion.

I’m not really sure how it’s going to change things, I’m hoping that maybe more people will be open to buying secondhand and gently-used items. I’m hoping that some of the subscription wardrobe apps or subscription fashion apps like Wardrobe and StitchFix that people will start using them more because of the convenience of it—being able to select what you want online, having it sent to you. And places like Wardrobe that are actually, you know, promoting recycling. It’s kind of like Rent the Runway where you’re only wearing something for a certain amount of time, and then you choose when you’re done with it and you send it back and somebody else gets to use it. That is the mentality we should have about pretty much everything.

Maggie: Do you think that’s going to be something people are willing to do for a while? Wear something and pass it on to someone else?

Jess: You know, I’m really not sure. We’re still discovering more about the virus all the time. In the beginning I think we were being very cautious about how it reacts on surfaces, and we’re learning that that’s not as crazy. You know, we don’t have to leave our groceries in the pantry for 3 days before we can touch them again.

I think we’re going to get to know this virus better, we’re going to become more comfortable, it’s going to be the new normal, and hopefully eventually all of the germiness behind it will subside a little bit, so that we can have a little bit more of a life. I’m fine with the masks, let’s keep wearing masks as long as we have to, be washing our hands, disinfecting—

Maggie: All the things we probably should have been doing before the virus.

Jess: Yeah, but I do think there’s a bit more of a hyper awareness and a little bit of a germophobia that was already present but I think now will be exacerbated.

I’m not one of those people. Obviously working with vintage clothing you cannot be scared of germs, you cannot be scared of dirt. The things that you find in pockets it’s...I won’t even get into it.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: The fashion industry has taken a hit during this pandemic—it turns out it was a bubble ready to pop like everything else in our society. But according to data published by Rachel Koning Beals for Market Watch back in June, the secondhand clothing market is still going strong. In fact, thredUp saw an increase in site activity during lockdown.

Despite the world being on fire and no one really needing to buy clothes, the online secondhand market is projected to grow 27% this year, while the broader retail sector is likely to shrink to 23%, based on this Market Watch report.

thredUP also reports that eco-brands like Patagonia and Allbirds have been generating 57% more interest on their site since COVID-19, which is probably because climate change is on all our minds.

David and Celeste, the owners of the vintage brand Dial V for Vintage in Philadelphia, actually opened their online store during the pandemic.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: You mentioned that Dial V for Vintage is a new business. What prompted you to get started?

David: We’ve been talking about it for years because we’ve definitely been running out of space, but we love buying so it was inevitable. And we talked to a lot of dealers who were like yeah, that’s how we got started. We just love buying, and to fuel that buying you have to sell stuff at a certain point.

And then, also, the pandemic helped push it because with being quarantined and Celeste, you know, not being able to see clients, it kind of forced us to put this ahead of everything and start seeing what we can do. And that’s really where that first push came from to start selling stuff.

Celeste: We had been doing in-person markets last year. Starting an Etsy story was always on the list of things to do, but we finally had time over quarantine to actually do it.

Maggie: Got it. I was going to ask about the Etsy store and whether you’d always planned to open one.

Celeste: We did. We were always just struggling to find the time to actually do it. I hated the quarantine but, thankfully, it let us be able to do something that had been on our to-do list for a couple years.

David: There are some positive things that come out of the world being put on pause. You don’t have all the stresses that you’re used to, and all of sudden you have time to figure out other things in your life that were being pushed aside.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: Jess has also found more time to focus on projects for her vintage store, but that’s mainly because her main source of income in the restaurant industry was put on pause.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Jess: It’s been the biggest positive by far with this experience. The level of work I’ve been able to do, the level of concentration and depth that I’ve been able to get into things that I never had before because I always worked another job. This was the first time having my business that the business got to take first place, and I got to really concentrate on it, I got to work on more wacky projects that had been sitting on the backburner for a long time but were really ready to go. Luckily I have a lot of supplies that I’ve gathered over the years, and so I was pretty much self-sustained and able to do a lot of intensive creative repairs. And they’re still ongoing, absolutely.

I’m pushing myself to finish one piece that’s a 1920s devore or burnout velvet that was originally a dress that got converted into a top and a lot of the beading has gone missing over the years, so I’m rehabbing it. I gave it a very gentle wash, and I’ve spent at least 20, maybe 25 hours, re-beading it. I found a woman in Arizona who had vintage beads, and she was able to match the beads exactly for me. I’ve just been putting in about 5 hours every week, sitting and re-beading this top with these little silver glass beads.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: While Jess has had more time for backburner projects, she definitely noticed a downturn in sales during the darkest days of lockdown.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: During lockdown, did you notice a downturn in sales?

Jess: Oh, absolutely. I mean, the end of winter / beginning of spring is normally the best quarter, the best time of year for my business. It was really starting to build up a bit right before and even while things were happening, and I was actually hitting a good personal business goal in the weeks before we went into real lockdown, and then everything just dropped off. I’ve been lucky to have a few sales here and there, and they’re starting to become more regular, which is nice.

[END OF JESS CLIP]

[CLIP BEGINS]

Celeste: I feel like our sales have been doing well. It’s hard to compare since we didn’t have the store open in advance. But, I mean, I know I’m super happy with the sales. And, you know, thankfully people are buying. Maybe that was it, that people are stuck at home. I know I was looking online for stuff since you couldn’t go anywhere.

It’ll be interesting to see what sales are like during the holiday season, since we didn’t have the store open during the last holiday season.

David: I think you’re right. I think with people being home and having nowhere to go, that definitely jump started things.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: That was David and Celeste, talking about how their store has been doing since they launched. I certainly did a fair amount of online shopping while everything was closed, but I mostly shopped for antiques and home decor, not clothes, which is probably where David and Celeste have an advantage.

As we transition more and more experiences that we would normally have IRL online, I’m sure we’re all finding that there are just some things that don’t translate very well to the virtual world. Virtual yard and rummage sales aren’t anything new, nor are online estate sale auctions. Facebook alone has hundreds of groups dedicated to people in a community posting stuff for sale that they’re looking to get rid of.

But it’s just not the same as visiting a stoop sale or vintage store in person. I talked with Brooke about how much she was missing estate and yard sales.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Maggie: Did yard sales and estate sales in Atlanta stop for a while due to COVID?

Brooke: They still are limited, and I’ve seen a lot more online auctions for estate sales. But we hadn’t gone to one until maybe May, because it was right before Memorial Day, when COVID numbers had started to drop before they went back up again.

I mean all the ones I’ve been to, which has only been 3, have been very clear about masks being mandatory, distancing being required, only a certain number of people allowed in the home, and not being able to pay with cash, stuff like that. I’ll usually also bring an extra pair of gloves just to be extra careful.

I don’t know… I feel a little irresponsible saying it out loud that I’m not, that I don’t always feel 100% sure about it. It was something I missed so much when we straight up couldn’t do it, and I feel… Not to sort of hedge, but nothing in life can be 100%.

I think as long as I get there and it seems like the distancing is being taken seriously and that I see masks… And, also, all of them have hand sanitizer when you walk in. I mean we definitely try to get in and out, and not spend a ton of time there. It feels as safe as going to the grocery store. Probably safer because there are fewer people.

Maggie: I personally don’t feel unsafe about it. I mean, hell, I’m going out and picking up free books off the sidewalk.

Brooke: It doesn’t sound like COVID is something that really lives on surface areas for that long, so once that was something that we were kind of clear about we felt a lot better about secondhand shopping, because I missed it!

Maggie: How were you filling the void during that time?

Brooke: I discovered, well, I’ve known about Poshmark for a while now, but there was this J. Crew cardigan that for the full price was more than I would have wanted to pay for a cardigan, and I found 3 of them in 3 different colors for very affordable colors.

I guess I sort of filled the void with online shopping, but I also filled the void by just staring out the window and wondering when it’s all gonna burn.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: Of course for David and Celeste there are benefits to running their business online versus setting up stalls at in-person events…

[CLIP BEGINS]

Celeste: I love doing in-person, too. I miss it! It’s so fun to talk to the people and see them get so excited when they see a piece.

I don’t foresee us doing another outdoor market until maybe next year. I’m not at that comfort level to get started with them again.

David: I’d much rather sit in my pajamas and sell stuff to people instead of loading up a truck and driving it somewhere.

Celeste: Yeah, I don’t miss that. It’s about the thrill of the hunt. It’s so different hunting for something and finding it unexpectedly than going online and just searching. It’s just not the same feeling at all.

David: But at the same time, you know, we’ve been working hard on the Etsy shop trying to fill— Like we have over 200 items on there right now, we’re still filling out more because the more you add, the more people like the look of the store, the more likely they are to come in and browse. It’s the same as if they like our booth. We have an eclectic amount of things so that you can maybe find something in our shop that you didn’t think you needed but, all of a sudden, there it is.

Celeste: With the internet, it’s nice to have access to things that you wouldn’t normally have access to. Ages ago when I first started collecting, you’d have to hope that you would find the piece somewhere, and it could take you forever. I’m OK with this, but it’s also nice sometimes when you just really want that piece or you’re buying it as a present, it is nice to just go online, find it, and buy it.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: For Jess, she had to take a chance that people in NYC were ready to get back to stoop sales.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Jess: It was something that I was very thoughtful about. I would have liked to have started having them again sooner than I felt people were ready for. I waited until the end of June—

Hi guys!

Customers: Hi!

Jess: Everything’s 50% off.

Customers: Oh, cool.

Jess: Um, it’s tough because when you have a stoop sale you might have people congregate, and one of my main concerns was how am I going to regulate the social distancing. So I tried to be very thoughtful about how I set up the space so that people could social distance from one another, and that you can have one group come in while another group was already browsing. And then always have sanitizer options, so hand sanitizer and sanitizer wipes so that I can wipe stuff down after people have looked. And then people have the option of using hand sanitizer themselves.

I’ve kind of been feeling it out over these months and haven’t had any issues, people have been really good about— Or maybe I’ve just been lucky with timing. I’ve had people come by without masks on…

Maggie: Have you had to turn them away?

Jess: No, because luckily they were already in the space, and no one else tried to come into the space while they were there. But it was something I was prepared for. I mean, you should at least carry a mask on you, even if you’re riding your bike because you never know when you’re going to stop.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: What came through in my interviews with Brooke, Miss Master’s Closet, and Dial V for Vintage is something we already know but aren’t sure what it’s going to look like just yet: We’ll need to get used to living with the threat of COVID-19.

It’s going to mean being open and willing to change. It’s going to mean taking steps to keep our communities safe.

I asked Jess, Brooke, David, and Celeste what they think the future of vintage and secondhand shopping will look like. I guess I have concerns that the beauty of browsing used bookstores, stoop sales, vintage shops will be lost to COVID-19. But everyone I interviewed in this episode is hopeful about what’s to come.

I think Brooke puts it best.

[CLIP BEGINS]

Brooke: I think in the time of this b******t people are still going to die and need to get rid of their stuff, so my hope is that that stuff doesn’t just get dumped into a landfill. My hope is that that stuff is displayed in a way where people who appreciate the beauty of whatever it is can kind of take it and not create more waste.

I hope it’s something that’s able to happen safely, and I certainly do enjoy getting to creep on the inside of people’s homes, and it also feels more convenient for the people selling to be able to set up shop there.

It just seems like the reason for an estate sale to happen, which is that someone dies or a family needs to get rid of all their stuff for whatever reason is still going to happen. So I’d hate for it all to go to waste when it can instead go to my house.

[CLIP ENDS]

Maggie: Despite this pandemic, life goes on. If you can do so safely, I hope that you’re able to get back to stoop sales, shopping second hand, and doing other things you love soon.

[Where people can find the podcast]

Thanks for listening!

[OUTRO 30 SECONDS]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 15: Figuring It All Out

Thrift Podcast — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 15:40:59 GMT

Episode show notes

In this episode, Maggie introduces what’s in store for season 3. There are a lot of interesting topics and guests already planned, but, for the most part, she’s still figuring things out (hence the title of this episode).

Season 3 will officially kick off in a couple weeks, so stay tuned. Be safe and thanks for listening.

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast Twitter: @thrift_pod

And please be sure to rate and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Episode transcript

INTROMaggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores how shopping local makes our communities better places to live.

[THEME MUSIC]

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and I’m back with a new season of the podcast. I want to kick things off with an episode about how this podcast is still figuring out what it wants to be.

I still want to visit stoop sales and yard sales to discover the stories behind things people are giving away, but I also want to talk to people who sell vintage clothes and antiques for a living. And I want to profile the interesting characters who people my neighborhood. I want to stop strangers in thrift stores or walking down the street in their magnificent outfits to ask them about their style, about where they shop.

[BACKGROUND MUSIC STARTS]

Through this podcast, I want to tell a lot of different stories. What ties them all together is our desire to express ourselves, to connect with our communities.

I’ll be officially launching the 3rd season in a few weeks. This season, we’ll once again hear from Jess Master of Miss Master’s Closet, who will sort of be acting as the podcast’s resident vintage and thrifting expert. We’ll also be hearing from the owners of Dial V for Vintage and the amazing 11-year-old entrepreneur Obocho Peters, just to name a few.

In terms of topics, I’m planning to talk about yard sales in the age of COVID-19, the history of NYC stoops, and the gentrification of thrifting.

But, for the most part, I’m still figuring out what the driving force for this season should be. I’m still figuring out what this podcast should be. Ultimately, I want Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You to be more than a podcast; I just don’t know what that means yet.

I’ll stop rambling now and just say that I’m really happy to be back in New York. I spent a few months in New Jersey when we first went into lockdown, and I returned around the end of July. Brooklyn isn’t exactly it’s old self, but it feels alive again. It’s figuring out what it wants to be in this new normal world.

[BACKGROUND MUSIC ENDS]

I hope you’ll join me while I continue to figure this podcast out. Stay tuned for the start of season 3.

You can follow Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You a few different places across the internet:

* On Facebook @thriftpodcast

* On Instagram @thriftpodcast

* Sign up for the newsletter at https://thriftpodcast.substack.com to receive show notes and extra content related to the podcast. You can also become a paid subscriber to receive even more bonus content, plus early access to new episodes. Signing up for a paid subscription would really help me out a lot, but I know that it’s not something everyone can swing right now. That’s why I’ve got a ‘The-world-is-on-fire’ discount running for the foreseeable future, which allows you to take 30% off of the original cost of a subscription plan, which you can get for $5/month or $30/year.

Lastly, my online thrift store is live, and I’m slowly adding more items as I get them. I’ll be using Poshmark as my e-commerce platform until I have a more permanent home for Thrift content. You can find the Thrift Online Shop on Poshmark at the handle @thrift_podcast. You’ll also find updates about the store on Facebook at @thriftpodcastshop and on Instagram @thriftpodcaststore.

That covers everything. Thanks for listening!

[OUTRO]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 13: We'll Probably Give This Period in Time a Latin Name

Thrift Podcast — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 22:47:18 GMT

Full episodes are available to everyone through Apple Podcasts and other platforms on Thursdays. Paid subscribers get early access to new episodes right here on Substack. Interested in becoming a paid subscriber? You can read more about the perks here.

CreditsHost: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same nameAdditional music: "New York, New York" composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb, and performed by Frank Sinatra

This episode concludes season 2 of the podcast. I talk with Jeff Ogiba—one of the co-owners of Black Gold Records in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn—about what his hopes are for his business and the city after we start to reopen.

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast Twitter: @thrift_pod

And please be sure to rate and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Transcript

[AUDIO CLIP]

INTRODUCTION Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores how shopping local makes our communities better places to live.

[INTRO MUSIC - 30 SECONDS]

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and this is the final part of my New York: The After series. This also concludes the 2nd season of the podcast. It’s been quite a journey: I covered topics like a tiny yard sale, selling vintage clothes, raising money for the homeless in Ireland, hiring a professional organizer to help you declutter, and lots of random yard sales.

This season I also learned that my podcast could be about more than the stuff we hold on to. Something Karen Anderson Singer said in our interview about her tiny yard sale made me realize that what I really want to talk about is my community, and my neighbors.

[AUDIO CLIP FROM 1st EPISODE OF SEASON 2]

Before the pandemic happened, I was going to start making this shift with a few new neighborhood-focused episodes. I wanted to talk about some of the people who make up my beloved Carroll Gardens.

Carroll Gardens could be my entire world if I wanted or needed it to be. I live across from the F train, a block from my gym, between 2 bodegas. Anything else I could possibly need takes about 5 minutes or less to walk to.

More than anything else about my neighborhood, I love being a regular. In a city that’s so big and often so lonely, it’s nice to feel a kind of friendship with the baristas at your local coffee shop, the person you always see working behind the counter at the bodega.

In New York, your world is built around these daily interactions with people you don’t really know. But you’re connected, if only briefly, by the fact that you’re inhabiting the same space. The spaces these interactions happen in are known as 3rd spaces, and they’re essential for most New Yorkers who don’t have much room in their 1st spaces—their homes.

During lockdown, these 3rd spaces have come to seem even more important, because most of them have been off limits.

In Carroll Gardens, there’s a great little coffee/record/taxidermy shop called Black Gold Records. They sell coffee and records online as well, which has definitely worked in their favor during all this, but it just doesn’t compare to stepping inside the dimly-lit brick-and-mortar and flipping through bins of records while you wait for your coffee.

Jeff Ogiba, one of the co-owners of Black Gold Records, agreed to be interviewed in an episode I was making about the neighborhood. We planned to record this episode back in March.

Then, you know what happened...

[AUDIO CLIP]

Maggie: Like Kate Covey of The Screen Door who I talked to a couple weeks ago, Jeff’s first obstacle was figuring out whether it was possible to keep Black Gold Records open. Would it be safe for his employees and the community they serve?

Because it was such an important decision that would impact a lot of people, I love that Jeff and his business partner, Mike, asked their employees whether they would feel safe working in the store with a virus raging through the city.

I think it shows that they take the role they play in their community seriously.

[AUDIO CLIP]

Maggie: Black Gold Records is a very Brooklyn shop. They’re known for their coffee, they’re known for their records, they’re known for their taxidermy collection. Jeff and Mike are passionate about their coffee and the records they sell.

You need to have passion to open a business in New York City. Surprise, surprise, the city makes it tough. Being passionate doesn’t make it easier, but it does help if business owners love what they do.

[AUDIO CLIP]

Maggie: I always hear stories from people who have lived in New York for a long time about what their neighborhood used to be like, especially in Brooklyn.

As more people have moved to Brooklyn over the years, many neighborhoods have seen rapid and drastic change. Whether all these changes are good or right is debatable. They often mean that certain communities end up getting pushed out.

The Carroll Gardens I know today is a really nice place to live, but 10 years ago it took some imagination for Jeff and his friends to see the neighborhood’s potential as a home for their business. And they weren’t the only ones to see its potential. Lots of the bars and shops and restaurants in the area grew up together.

[AUDIO CLIP]

Maggie: For Jeff, the line between customer and friend is practically nonexistent. He cares about his customers, and they care about the shop. I’ve been seeing this happen a lot during the outbreak: People are supporting their favorite spots in any way they can, hoping they’ll still be around in the after.

[AUDIO CLIP]

Maggie: Something I already miss: Crawling on my hands and knees around a used bookstore with well-loved books stacked from floor to ceiling.

I also miss flipping through bins of vinyl, perusing clothing racks at a thrift store.

I miss not needing something, then going into a store and finding something that I never knew I needed.

[AUDIO CLIP]

Maggie: Jeff feels terrible for all his friends in the restaurant business. There was just no way for them to foresee something as devastating as this.

Jeff is determined to make it through. Black Gold Records has to make it through.

This is something I hope for, too.

[AUDIO CLIP]

Maggie: At the time of this episode’s release, New York City will be in its 2nd or 3rd phase of reopening, and it comes with warmer weather. I was back in Carroll Gardens on the eve of restaurants and bars getting ready for outdoor dining. It was the most lively I’ve seen it since February. It almost felt like a normal summer day in the city, except that everyone was wearing a mask and lots of stores were still shuttered.

What I’m saying is that maybe the ‘new normal’ won’t be so bad. Maybe we really are on the path to getting through it.

[AUDIO CLIP]

CONCLUSIONMaggie: The thing about New York is that it makes you feel like everyone’s in it together. This it can be a lot of things—waiting forever for the F train; paying too much for a one-bedroom apartment because you like the neighborhood; crying for no good reason while walking around late Sunday night (early Monday morning), only to lock eyes with another soul who’s been doing the same thing. Most people who come to New York and love New York and stay in New York want to be in the it.

I love the corner of Brooklyn I’ve started to call home. I love the connection I feel to all the people I happen to be surrounded by when we’re in it together.

The best part of New York is being out and about in the city. It’s kind of the point.

[FRANK SINATRA’S NEW YORK, NEW YORK STARTS PLAYING]

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast Twitter: @thrift_pod

And please be sure to rate and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

That concludes the 2nd season of Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You. I’ll be back in a few months with brand new episodes.

For now, please stay safe out there. And thanks for listening.

[MUSIC ENDS]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 12: My NYC Coulda, Woulda, Shouldas

Thrift Podcast — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 12:05:11 GMT

Episode show notes

CreditsHost: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same nameAdditional music: "New York, New York" composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb, and performed by Frank Sinatra

This is part 2 of a 3-part series Maggie is calling 'New York: The After,' where she talks to 3 New Yorkers about how they're handling quarantine, what they miss, and what they think the city will be like when we start to enter a "new normal."

In this episode, Maggie talks to Kate Covey, the owner of a small ice cream shop called The Screen Door in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The Screen Door happens to be one of the many places Maggie was always meaning to try in the before times. Listen in as Maggie and Kate chat over Zoom.

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast Twitter: @thrift_pod Email: hello@thriftpodcast.com

And please be sure to subscribe to and rate the show on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Background

The beauty of New York is that it feels like everyone, all of us, is in it together. This it can be a lot of things—waiting forever for the F train; paying too much for a one-bedroom apartment because you like the neighborhood; crying for no good reason while walking around late Sunday night (early Monday morning), only to lock eyes with another soul who’s been doing the same thing. Most people who come to New York and love New York and stay in New York want to be in the it.

Of course my its are different from the its of lots of New Yorkers. My its are also privileged. I have the means to survive New York, even when it feels like the city is eating me alive. New York also doesn’t trap me; I can leave when and if I need to.

Having said that, I love New York. I love the corner of Brooklyn I’ve started to call home. I love the connection I feel to all the people I happen to be surrounded by when we’re in it together. I love being a regular at my favorite restaurants and coffee shops and bars and bodegas and bookstores. I love the relationships I’ve formed with people who own or work at those aforementioned establishments. I love reading the subway and walking around in search of something to do (then realizing that the walk was something to do).

I love meeting friends for a drink after work on a Monday and behaving like it’s a Friday. I love the feeling of relief when I’ve been walking through the freezing cold or the heat of Hades and finally arrive at the bar or bookstore I’ve selected to protect me from the elements.

The best part of New York is being out and about in the city. It’s kind of the point.

. . . .

A few years down the road, when New Yorkers are looking back at this time, there will be a division between the ones who stayed and the ones who left.

I’m one of the New Yorkers who left (at least during the first wave).

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 11: Your Extroverted Friends Are Not OK

Thrift Podcast — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 23:24:00 GMT

Episode show notes

CreditsHost: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same nameAdditional music: "New York, New York" composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb, and performed by Frank Sinatra

This is part 1 of a 3-part series Maggie's calling 'New York: The After,' where she talks to 3 New Yorkers about how they're handling quarantine, what they miss, and what they think the city will be like when we start to enter a "new normal."

In this episode, Maggie checks in on her friend Yanin. Yanin is very extroverted and loves talking to people, so quarantine has certainly been a struggle. Listen in as Maggie and Yanin catch up over a Zoom chat.

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast Twitter: @thrift_pod Email: hello@thriftpodcast.com

And please be sure to subscribe to and rate the show on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Background

The best part of New York is being out and about in the city. It’s kind of the point.

. . . .

A few years down the road, when New Yorkers are looking back at this time, there will be a division between the ones who stayed and the ones who left.

I’m one of the New Yorkers who left (at least during the first wave).

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

A New Podcast About Social Distancing

Thrift Podcast — Sat, 11 Apr 2020 01:55:27 GMT

Listen to the trailer right here on Substack!

A podcast story told through voicemail messages from people like you.

We'd like to feature your stories about social distancing. Leave us a message at (929) 314-3175.

FAQ

1. What is Quarantine: Voices in Social Isolation? A daily podcast that shares a curated collection of voicemails that tell the story about what life is like while social distancing. 2. Who are these voicemails from?From you, of course. From anyone. From all of us. 3. Can my message really be about anything?Yes, it can. Though we do ask that you refrain, if at all possible, from talking about Trump. 4. How long should my message be?Please keep it short. A minute or less is ideal. 5. How long will this podcast run for?As long as it feels necessary.

Visit the podcast website for more details.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

New Episode: Stay Home and Wash Your Hands

Thrift Podcast — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 11:37:31 GMT

Hello everyone,

I know the world looks pretty grim right now, and there’s honestly no way of knowing how this pandemic will end. That said, I hope you’re all finding ways to keep your spirits up. If you’re in search of some cool things to occupy your time, here’s a list of what’s keeping me sane:

* Free nightly streams from the Metropolitan Opera. These are great because I normally wouldn’t be able to afford the opera. At least not decent seats.

* NPR’s 6 hours of soothing music. Just close your eyes and let yourself be taken to the isle of calm.

* Other podcasts that deserve a listen: Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway have started an “emergency podcast” called Homecooking; the awesome ladies behind the Mueller, She Wrote podcast have started a daily one called The Daily Beans (its schadenfreude segment, alone, makes me feel better about life); whether you’re a fan of the American Girl dolls or not, this podcast is worth a listen; and nothing brings me more joy on a Sunday than listening to Lauren Laverne cast away celebrities and public figures to a desert island with their 8 desert island discs.

* Consider creating a travel journal for your home. Need some inspiration? You can read Xavier de Maistre’s Voyage Autour de Ma Chambre on the Public Domain Review’s website.

Quick photo interlude:

This is NOT how to practice social distancing

Kissing during a flu epidemic (1937). Photographer: Unknown. Taken from Retronaut.

This is a better attempt

A mother seeks to prevent her child from catching flu (c. 1930). Taken from Retronaut.

I released a new episode of the podcast yesterday, which you can check out at the top of this post, in the episode show notes and transcript, or on Apple Podcasts. (Wherever you listen, please be sure to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or whatever platform you use.) I’ll admit that it’s a bit sloppy. It’s just a long-winded monologue, and the episode really isn’t put together very well (I’ll just think of it as my punk rock episode). But I felt I needed to get something out about the Coronavirus.

I mentioned in the episode that I’m going to start sending a newsletter 3 days a week with a list of the different ways you can help during the pandemic. This newsletter is for all subscribers and will be sent every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. But I’ll need some help keeping up with all the ways you can contribute money, resources, etc.

Here are the ways you can contact me with information:

Email: hello@thriftpodcast.com Facebook: @thriftpodcastInstagram: @thriftpodcastTwitter: @Thrift_Pod

Stay safe out there.

Consider shopping at Miss Master’s Closet

You might remember Jess Master from an episode I released earlier this season. She restores vintage clothes and sells them online, but her main source of income comes from bar tending. Now that all the bars in NYC are closed, her only source of income is her online store.

Love vintage clothes and antiques? Want to help out a small business owner? Check out Miss Master’s Closet.

A new project I’m working on

More details coming soon!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 10: Stay Home and Wash Your Hands

Thrift Podcast — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 09:48:45 GMT

This full episode is available for everyone to listen to on Substack, but you can also listen, rate, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. This is a perk usually only available to paid subscribers, but that didn’t feel like the right thing to do right now. If you’d like to support the podcast financially, you can read more about what you’ll get here.

Episode show notes

CreditsHost: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on all our lives. Maggie just wanted to put out a quick episode to address that.

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast Twitter: @thrift_pod

And please be sure to rate and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Episode transcript

INTRO

Maggie: For most of us, daily life probably looks very different right now. If your job can be done remotely, you’ve probably been asked to work from home. If you have children, they’re probably forced to learn from home for the rest of the school year. In New York, New Jersey, and a few other states, bars and restaurants have been forced to close, with only a handful staying open to provide takeout. In San Francisco, residents have been asked to shelter in place.

Sporting events have come to a halt. Major festivals, SAT testing, and even some states’ presidential primaries have been postponed. Gatherings of more than 10 people are banned, and we’re being asked to leave our homes only if absolutely necessary.

“Social distancing” it’s been called, and part of me wonders if that term is part of the reason why people aren’t taking it seriously.

All this to help stop the spread and #flattenthecurve of COVID-19, which the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic on March 12th. I won’t try to quantify the spread of this virus and how devastating it’s been; it changes daily. What’s clear is that we should all expect our lives to be very different for the foreseeable future.

You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, and this episode is NOT about yard sales or the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.

[Theme music, 30 seconds]

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and I’m going to start this episode by saying that I feel a little guilty about abandoning New York City during this outbreak. It feels like that’s what I’ve done—abandon it.

I left last Thursday when it was clear my company was going to make work from home mandatory. I have terrible WiFi in my apartment. Now it looks like I might be in NJ for the next few weeks.

Why do I feel guilty? I guess it’s because I feel like I should be part of my community more than ever, even if it’s just sitting in my apartment all day and staring out the window. Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens is my home, my neighborhood, and I hope it’s OK.

This week my Instagram and other social feeds have been a steady stream of all the places I love frequenting announcing that they’ll be closing their doors. A lot of them are independent businesses and mom-and-pop shops, and I know they’re hurting financially. Many of them started reducing their hours and limiting their customer capacity before it was mandatory, understanding how important it is to protect their employees and the community they serve.

I’ve been doing some thinking about this podcast. I’m still going to call it Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, and it’s still going to largely be about the stories behind our stuff, but it’s also about something more than that: It’s about neighborhoods, community, people.

The topics I talk about on the podcast are going to start shifting to reflect that. This is why I wanted to talk about COVID-19. It’s affecting neighborhoods around the world, and we’re all being called to protect the most vulnerable among us. We know that this virus is particularly deadly for the elderly and people with underlying conditions, so young people should stop being dicks about their healthy immune systems and care about the fact that they could kill people if they spread the virus.

But I don’t want this to be a rant. It’s just important that we all care enough about each other to #staythefuckhome.

In the US, it’s become apparent that we haven’t been doing a good job taking care of our most vulnerable, and I don’t just mean the elderly. Let’s start with the obvious: According to census.gov, about 28,566,000 people were uninsured in 2018, and private insurance continues to be more prevalent than public coverage. For those of us who have insurance, 55.1% are covered through our employers.

Congress has even had to draft a Coronavirus relief bill in order to give the American people what we should have had already like paid sick leave (there are still a lot of restrictions, though), free coronavirus testing (if you can get one, but it doesn’t help you actually get treatment), increased funding for food assistance programs (Trump was actually planning to cut funding just days ago), and strengthened unemployment insurance benefits.

This pandemic has made it abundantly clear that we haven’t been taking care of the most vulnerable among us—workers, students, people of color, people with disabilities, people living below the poverty line—and it’s sad that it’s taken an outbreak to force lawmakers to take any kind of action, even a small one.

When this is over, I hope it seems like we overreacted. For now, we have to isolate ourselves to protect our communities. It’s going to take a toll on all of us. You might be starting to feel stir crazy—I know I am. You might be feeling helpless, looking for ways you can give back and help those who are less fortunate at this time.

I’m going to start sending newsletters 3 times a week to all subscribers with some ideas for how we can all help and where we can send donations. I’ll include links to organizations you can make a contribution to at a national level, and I’ll include links to some local efforts in different states as well.

Obviously you know your community better than I do, so please let me know if there are any organizations or causes I should be highlighting. Send them to me through email at hello@thriftpodcast.com, on Facebook and Instagram at @thriftpodcast, or on Twitter @Thrift_Pod. I’ll also post a thread on Substack where you can leave suggestions in the comments.

For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be re-releasing episodes from the back catalog. I hope to be back with new episodes soon, but I’ll have to play it by ear.

In the meantime, be good to each other. Be kind to people who can’t stay home and have to keep things running, like people who work at your local grocery store or pharmacy. Enjoy your quarantine snacks and keep your frequently washed fingers crossed that store shelves are stocked with toilet paper again soon.

Thanks for listening.

[Outro, 10 seconds]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 9: Our Clutter, Ourselves

Thrift Podcast — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 13:31:37 GMT

Episode show notes

CreditsHost: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

In this episode, Maggie explores the concept of decluttering. She talks with artist July Laban about moving on, letting go, and starting fresh. She also interviews professional organizer Francesco Pireddu about how he helps his clients do more than just get rid of stuff; he helps them make space in their lives for what they really want.

Looking for some ceramics to decorate your space? Shop guest July Laban’s collection. You can also find her on Instagram @julybkny.

As for Francesco, he doesn’t have a website. He should really get on that.

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast Twitter: @thrift_pod

And please be sure to rate and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Episode transcript

INTRO

Maggie: On October 20, 2019, July Laban picked, quite possibly, the worst day to have a moving sale. It was pouring down rain; not even an umbrella could save you. And the air was still coated with the stickiness of summer, so wearing rain boots and a coat would only make you more miserable.

The rain didn’t deter her, though. And it didn’t deter people from stopping by and checking out the ceramics, books, and other random items she had for sale. Living on a busy street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn probably worked in her favor.

[Jumps back in time to interview with July Laban]

July: So I’m literally on the border of Bed-Stuy and Clinton Hill, Franklin Avenue. It’s famous. And I’ve been in this apartment for 8 ½ years. The only apartment I— I moved in here when I moved to New York, so I’ve never lived anywhere else here.

Maggie: Right, right, right. And you moved from Californ—

July: From Miami. I was born in California, but I grew up in Miami.

Maggie: What was it like moving to New York?

July: It was so much easier, I had way less stuff. I was, you know, 22 or 24 or something, and I graduated college shortly beforehand, and I stuck everything in the back of a minivan—

(Sound of rainwater falling from the top of the tent that was covering us and hitting the ground)

July: Yeah, the tent’s raining down. Um, everything fit in the back of a minivan, I didn’t really have furniture, I just had my belongings. So, yeah, it was a lot easier.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: In this episode of Thrift, I’ll dive into the concept of decluttering. Why is it such a popular trend in the US right now? Why should we want to do it? And why do we tend to avoid it?

You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores the stories behind the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.

[Theme music, 30 seconds]

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and I’m happy to be back with a new episode after taking a short break. I’ve been working on some admin for the podcast, and I recently launched my own online thrift store, which you can find on Facebook and Instagram @thriftpodcastststore. I’ll have a more permanent home for the store and podcast at some point, but for now I’m selling stuff only on my social channels. So follow my social pages, see if there’s anything you like, and buy my junk.

Now let’s get back to July’s moving sale. What I found interesting about our conversation was how different moments of transition in her life seemed to affect her relationship with her stuff. She’s moved, she’s settled down, she’s left her 20s behind and entered her 30s, which is probably the biggest transition of all. And now she was about to move again, but the experience was proving to be drastically different from her first move. She had built a life in New York, and building a life tends to come with a lot of stuff.

[Jumps back in time to interview with July]

Maggie: This isn’t just a yard sale, it’s a moving sale—

July: It’s a moving sale, yeah. There’s actually a lot more junk in the house, but I’m not moving for another 3 weeks and I still have to sort through it, so I’ll be having another one of these probably the first week of November.

Maggie: What’s prompting you to move to North Carolina? Just, like, because of expenses in New York, or—

July: Um, you know, I’m doing fine here. I’m a paralegal by day, and I’m doing fine here, but I also feel like I’ve been here for 8 ½ years, I love New York, but I also want to spend some of my 30s in a new town. Just so I can look back at my life and say that I lived in a few places. And I wanted something that was completely the opposite of New York. You can’t, like, leave New York and go to another big city because it’s never going to live up to New York. But you can move to a small town and it won’t live up to New York, but just because it’s different, you know?

So I wanted something that was like a total lifestyle change. Moving here from Miami was like—not having a car, all that stuff—a total lifestyle change. So now I’m doing that in a small town. I’m excited to have a car again, especially as a potter. It’s going to be a big change, but I’m excited. And scared.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: Despite loving New York, July wanted to move to a new place with a “clean slate,” so to speak. For many of us, starting over usually means getting rid of stuff, whether it’s a book that once belonged to your ex or a pair of jeans from high school that you’ve finally accepted you’ll never (and probably shouldn’t) fit into again.

[Jumps back in time to interview with July]

July: I want to start fresh. I’ve been wanting to declutter for years, but because I haven’t moved it’s like, you know, you never get around to it. I thought about actually just getting one of those pods and pretending like I was moving out, and then moving right back into the same place just so I could have a reason to go through everything. But that never happened, of course.

So, yeah, it’s a little bit of both. [A] fresh start and, every time I pick up something and think “Oh, but I really like this,—” You know what, it’d be nice to buy that couch that I’ve really always wanted, not the one that was handed down but I really like. I want to walk into my living room and it’s a different color palette, you know?

Maggie: So it sounds like you might fall more on the hoarder side rather than the constant declutterer.

July: Oh, yeah. I mean, I’m really good at helping other people declutter, I actually do that for a lot of friends and am known to be good at it. But when it’s my stuff… It started because of this big house. I didn’t have enough furniture to fill it because, you know, I was a young 20-year-old, and so I’d be like, “Oh, you’re getting rid of that? Yeah, I’ll take it! I still need some chairs to fill up this corner and that corner.” I just always took people’s furniture, and then I realized, “Why do I have 17 chairs in my house?” A lot of them being right out here, and there are still enough to sit in.

Maggie: Did you ever use all of your chairs, though?

July: Oh, yeah. So my house was the house— Like I’ve hosted Christmas dinner here, I’ve hosted a Passover, I’ve hosted a lot of big dinner parties, so I had to pull every chair out for those parties, because I like to have sit-down dinners, and I like to have everyone be able to sit. So I definitely used all the chairs.

Maggie: I mean that’s something.

July: Yeah.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: It’s funny, but not at all surprising, that July can easily help her friends declutter. When it comes to her own stuff, though, the attachment she has to it gets in the way. We can all use an objective eye to help us decide what to get rid of and what to keep. That’s why you might want to enlist the help of a professional organizer like Francesco Pireddu.

[Jumps back in time to interview with Francesco Pireddu]

Francesco: My job is an organizer. Just simply an organizer. I help people to organize their space, and that means anything from the bedroom, the living room, the office space. So, yeah, basically the living space in general.

Maggie: So why do you think a lot of people feel like they can’t organize their stuff themselves? Why do they think they need another person to come in and see how they organize their stuff?

Francesco: I think that the moment they realize that they need help is that moment when they look around in their apartment, house, office, wherever, and they see that there is so much that they cannot find anything, even their phone or small things. So that’s the point where they realize OK, I need help. Because literally, you know, you look around and you say, OK, I have too much, I don’t know how to handle this. That’s really the point when they realize that it’s important to have a third party.

Maggie: Do you help people with different severities of— Like some people who maybe just need...are there some people who are worse off than others, I guess, when it comes to the space they need help with?

Francesco: Well, sometimes there are situations which are very, very extreme, and maybe in that case those people need a different type of help. And I realize in that case that I’m probably not the person you’re looking for, you know. But in general, I’m pretty open and I’m ready to help anybody, even if I see that the situation is really, really over the top.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: I reached out to Francesco after I came across a flier advertising his services on a community bulletin board while I was walking around the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn. The flier was simple, minimally designed, which I guess is something you’d expect from a decluttering expert.

The flier read:

Be organized!

No more clutter

Make space

Create freedom

Give yourself the opportunity to create the bright and radiant space you deserve

I look forward to meet you, help you and work with you!

I was curious about what Francesco’s work actually entails. Most of us are probably familiar with the KonMari method espoused by Marie Kondo, and how we should only be holding on to things that spark joy. I’ll admit that I’ve been a little cynical of this decluttering philosophy, which seems to be the latest trend in the self-help world. As someone with OCD tendencies, I understand the importance of having a place for everything, but I couldn’t help feeling like this new organizing and decluttering industry was only formed to make a profit off of people’s domestic anxieties.

But after talking with Francesco, I could see how passionate he is about helping his clients “make space” in their lives for more than just stuff.

[Jumps back in time to interview with Francesco]

Francesco: I talk to them first. There is a consultation, there is a meeting, so, you know, we get to know each other and see what happens. So it’s not just a question of organizing stuff, it’s a question of also—

Maggie: Their life.

Francesco: Right, interaction, communication…

Maggie: What sort of questions do you ask in this consultation? What do you want to know before you decide whether or not you can help someone?

Francesco: Well, I don’t start the conversation talking about clutter right away. No, I don’t go there. We start— We talk about so many things, yeah. I, you know, very simple things such as where are you from? What do you do? Did you see that play? That movie? Oh, I lived in that neighborhood? You know. So I get a sense— Then, slowly, we talk about the clutter.

But it’s very simple, actually, the conversation. There’s nothing really dramatic or over complicated, you know. They simply say, I need help. So, what do you think we should do? Where do you think we should start? You know, which part of the apartment—

Maggie: So, it sounds like you’re saying that it’s not about the clutter even, like there’s something more than—

Francesco: Right, there’s always something more, there’s always something more. It’s actually not even my job to go so deep to understand what’s going on there. And certainly I’m not, you know, asking very, very private questions right at the beginning. Things have to unfold spontaneously.

Maggie: Do you think that going through this process of decluttering your apartment or organizing your space could be a first step in getting yourself to a place where you could seek the further help that maybe you need? For instance, like if you’re holding on to things and you’re having a hard time letting them go, I’m assuming there’s something emotional and psychological there, and so maybe like decluttering your space could be a good first step to being like, ‘Oh OK, I’m ready now to get the further help that I need?’

Francesco: Yes, yes. That helps, yeah. The thing about reorganizing your living space is that while you’re working on it, you realize that you’re ready to go further in many different directions. So, search for help as you said, or many people go back to dating. Other people also organize dinner parties, they invite their friends. So you see, because you’re really opening up your space to so many possibilities. Finally everything is in place, organized, clear, so your friends can come and have fun.

And, also, what else? They go back to exercising. That’s another thing, yeah, they feel inspired, free!

Maggie: Not weighed down.

Francesco: Not weighed down. So time to go back to the gym.

Maggie: Would you say most of your clients are women?

Francesco: No. It has nothing to do with being a man or a woman. I will actually say that women are more courageous in the sense that they’re brave enough to say, ‘I need help.’ Actually all my clients are women, but they’re actually open and ready and courageous, and brave, as I said. Men are a bit more—

Maggie: Yeah. Or they might not even realize it’s a problem or—

Francesco: Yeah. One thing, it just came to my mind now, one of my clients, after we were working on it, she lost weight.

Maggie: Wow.

Francesco: She lost weight. She was trying to lose weight for so long and, we were talking about it, and she said, ‘I don’t know what’s going on here—

Maggie: You should put that on your flier!

(Laughter)

Francesco: I should! I should! You’re right, you’re right. I never thought about it. And she said to me, she said, ‘You know what this thing is magic, I even lost weight. But I don’t know why.’ And then I said, ‘Don’t ask, don’t ask. Just keep doing it.

(More laughter)

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: One of my criticisms of the decluttering trend has been that it seems to be targeted toward women, which is why I asked Francesco whether most of his clients are women. While it may be true that women are more open and willing to ask for help, I think that many women could take this call to declutter as just another thing that’s wrong with us, that we need to fix.

According to a survey of 3,000 US adults conducted by Offers.com in January 2019, about 30% of respondents said they had a decluttering project planned for the new year, and 60% of those responses were from women.

I’m not the only one who thinks that this decluttering trend is a feminist issue. Journalist Kate Washington published an article in the online magazine Dame in February 2018 about how the popularity of decluttering is just another way the patriarchy is telling women that “less is more.” Washington draws a comparison between how women are told to maintain their homes and their bodies.

“Minimalist homes and thin bodies have become the reigning aesthetic over the past century for similar reasons,” she writes. “In a culture of plenty, paring down is a hard-to-achieve status symbol. Getting rid of both so-called extra flesh and extra stuff is a burden falling disproportionately on women.”

For July Laban, decluttering has been a slow process since she hasn’t had a real reason to do it until she decided to move. I asked her what percentage of her stuff she would say she was trying to sell that day.

[Jumps back in time to interview with July]

July: So I have a 3-bedroom, 2-storey house here, and I haven’t even gone into one of the rooms that has the 2 big storage closets, and I haven’t looked under the stairs, which is where probably so much of it is. But this is like maybe 10% or less of my belongings. This is like not even 1 room in my house worth of stuff. But I also still have people living here, so I can’t be getting rid of the big stuff yet. So I have a lot more in there that can be sold.

Maggie: Do you rent out rooms or something?

July: Yeah, I was Airbnb-ing 2 rooms for a while, and then 1 room turned into my studio, and I have 1 guest room still. I moved here with roommates and I had roommates for a long time, but they were, you know, slowly getting married and doing their thing, moving out, and I tried some Craig’s List roommates and that was awful. So I decided that I don’t want roommates anymore but I don’t want to leave this house, because I have a yard and 2 dogs so I couldn’t let this go.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: Sure, July had a lot of stuff, but she also had the space to store it, which is a rarity in New York City. Still, she had thought about decluttering plenty of times before, but it never felt urgent because she wasn’t being suffocated by her belongings.

[Jumps back in time to interview with July]

July: As the move gets closer I’m like, ‘I really don’t need this.’ In the beginning it was like, ‘Oh, I need every— and, no, I’m gonna keep this, and then…’ As it gets closer and I really look around at everything I have, I’m like, ‘OK, no, I can get rid of this, I can get rid of this.’

Maggie: Do you have that fear in the back of your head that I think is what keeps a lot of people from throwing things away that’s like, ‘I’m afraid I’m going to miss this one day?’

July: Yeah, like one day I’m going to need this! Yeah, no, I know, there’s definitely that. Also, I’m an artist, so I feel like artists also hoard things because we’re like, ‘We can make art out of this one day,’ and I do a lot of different mediums. I started out as a painter and photographer, and I’ve done, you know, like weaving [and] crafting stuff. So I have like a whole bin of yarn, but I’m keeping that because, you know— Yeah, I feel like in North Carolina I’m going to have all this time on my hands for some reason, and I’m just going to sit on the porch in a rocking chair, weaving something or knitting.

Maggie: Like you do in the South.

July: Yeah, but I definitely feel like I’m one of those people, because I had the space for it. Like about a year ago I thought about just trying to rent a 1-bedroom or big studio apartment so I had a reason to be like I’m only going to keep what I need, you know.

Maggie: So you’ve actually gone out of your way to like find reasons to—

July: So that I could declutter, yeah. A big reason to declutter. Because it’s so hard when you have the space it’s so hard to be like, ‘Well, it’s not hurting me by keeping it, like I have the closet space for it. But I literally would close that closet door and never look at it again until I’m decluttering again one day.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: I want to return to the line I quoted earlier from Kate Washington’s article: “In a culture of plenty, paring down is a hard-to-achieve status symbol.” It’s interesting to think that not only do we buy things because they’re status symbols, but the very act of decluttering can, itself, be a status symbol. Lately I have been thinking about the privilege of yard sales. They do show your neighbors how much you own and how much you can afford to get rid of.

And having the means to hire a professional organizer is certainly a privilege. I didn’t ask Francesco how much he charges for his services during our interview, but I did email him a few days later to see if this was information he’d be comfortable with me sharing on the podcast. He says that it depends on the client and situation he’s working with. Sometimes he’ll charge per hour or per project, and he takes into consideration how far he’d have to travel and the type of work he would need to do.

According to Salary.com, professional organizers make anywhere between $48,000 and $64,000 a year. And a 2019 New York Times article cites that most organizers will charge an hourly rate of $30 to $300 based on the type of work required.

Francesco makes the case for acquiring a mindset where you stop to really evaluate whether you need something before you buy it. I asked him if this is something he has to do when the temptation to buy something is overwhelming. I also wanted to know how organized he would say his own space is.

[Jumps back in time to interview with Francesco]

Maggie: Are you, um, what does your own space look like? Are you a very organized person yourself?

Francesco: I am. I am really organized, yeah. I am very organized and I don’t have much. I have—

Maggie: OK, that was going to be my next question.

Francesco: I don’t have much. I have what’s necessary.

Maggie: So what does that mean?

Francesco: That means that I have what I need, which is actually more than enough. And I often find myself interested in buying something, and I always ask myself, ‘Do I actually need this?’ And most of the time the answer is no I don’t, so I don’t buy it. So I don’t need it for many reasons. Maybe because I have it already, or because it’s something that doesn’t actually do anything to me. But maybe I want to buy it because it’s trendy or other people have it or whatever, you know.

Maggie: So what type of things— Like what’s the last thing that you saw that you thought about buying but then decided that you didn’t need? Like what types of things does that usually happen with?

Francesco: It was shoes.

Maggie: Shoes?

Francesco: Shoes. [Laughs] Shoes. It was actually a beautiful pair of shoes, you know, boots. Really, really nice. And then I was like I actually have them, I actually don’t need them right now. So they can wait and that was fine. I’m going to use the ones I have—

Maggie: The moment passes and then—

Francesco: The moment passes and then it’s forgotten. Yeah, you don’t think about it anymore. Because actually in that moment you think, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to get them. They are on sale, that’s one of the things, so I won’t find them next time. Why not? I deserve them.’ [Laughs] I deserve them—

Maggie: But don’t you deserve them?

Francesco: I do but, you know, I— No, it’s—

Maggie: Having the money is probably better.

Francesco: Right. And, anyway, I decided not to.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: Since Francesco is from Italy, I was curious if he thought there might be cultural differences that make it easier for him to be more minimalistic than most Americans.

[Jumps back in time to interview with Francesco]

Maggie: So I know you’re from Italy, would you say that it’s a part of Italian culture to be more minimalistic? Like now that you’ve been living in the US for how many years?

Francesco: 9 years.

Maggie: Comparing the 2 cultures, would you say that we are more consumer-driven here than say Italians.

Francesco: Well, I think you are, I think you are, yes, but we are too. I think it’s, um, in the end it’s not really a question of culture or country or— It’s a question of personality. So, it’s really who you are, not where you are. So I would say that here, in the US, yes, I think people have more, but you actually have more. You have so much more than we do.

Maggie: Like more to buy?

Francesco: More to buy, more work, and you really have more possibilities on so many levels, so I perfectly understand that it’s not a fault, and there’s nothing wrong with that. So, it depends how you are, it’s your personality. Because I have friends, for instance, here who have very good jobs, they make a lot of money, and they are minimalistic. And I have friends who are doing OK, right, and they have so much stuff, so much, so you see it’s a question of who you are really.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: I would agree with Francesco that it comes down to personality. I mean, there are a lot of other complex factors that come into play—like where you’re from, what you do, how much you make, what’s available to you—but, ultimately, who we are has a great impact on our relationship with our stuff. It certainly has an impact on what we think is worth keeping

[Jumps back in time to interview with July]

July: I do have some things I’m sentimental about. I do try to weed— Like every few years that sentimental pile gets smaller and smaller, but I do have, like I have a pair of jeans in a Ziplock bag that I wore every single day in Europe for 3 months hitchhiking across Europe, and they were never washed and they smell like that, you know, dirty punk smell, and I love it. But I keep it in a Ziplock bag and it’s like they were brand-new blue jeans when I bought them, and they look like those brown distressed jeans now. Crotchless pretty much. But I’ll never throw that away, you know. And it’s not something I hang up or anything to look at, but I could never give that away.

So I have things like that. I have like my grandmother’s jewelry, and a lot of it isn’t fancy or worth anything, but I feel like I’m not allowed to get rid of it even though I’m never going to wear it. But I actually did put a few pieces out today and tried to keep only the ones that seem like I might maybe wear them or they’re still in good enough condition that I can maybe one day pass them onto someone else. The stuff that had tarnished so bad I just got rid of.

Other sentimental items? I definitely— I was a painter, so I have a lot of paintings that I can’t part with. My ceramics I can make things and get rid of them and it’s so easy to get rid of that art, and I think it’s because they’re functional pieces, and if they’re just sitting somewhere and not being used, then they’re pointless. Like what’s the point? An art piece is just something to hang on the wall and look at, but it’s not as functional. With my ceramics and stuff they’re only— They’re not living their full potential until they’re being used.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: That’s all the stuff July couldn’t part with, but what about the stuff she was selling? How long had she owned most of the items? What are some stories behind them?

[Jumps back in time to interview with July]

July: Since I was a teenager. Like I had some patches that I made that my friend bought— Um, they’re from the Bush administration, and they’re still useful today, because— They sat in the closet all during the Obama administration, and then during this current administration they were able to come back out and still be relevant. So, that angry teenager that I was back then came back out.

And then I have a lot of college textbooks because I was an art major, and I also took a lot of electives that were about people and anthropology and sex & gender. I thought that those textbooks were interesting, so I hung on to them. Like, the math books I got rid of, but— So I have, I have some of those— That’s like the oldest thing I have, I don’t even know—

I have like a cigarette, a metal cigarette case that I bought, I think when I was 16. I was an early adopter of smoking, I guess. I just thought it was really cool or classy. But that’s old. Um, I have one of the first ever generation electronic cigarettes.

So, yeah, I’ve had a lot of stuff for probably since I was a teenager. But I did, when I moved here, I did get rid of a lot, and I do have stuff at my dad’s garage, like some real old stuff but—

I’m selling these books, and the funniest part is that I didn’t pay for most of them. A lot of them I picked up on people’s stoops that they were giving away for free, but I just threw them in with the books I did buy and just said, you know, a quarter a piece.

Maggie: Have you ever ready any of the stoop books you picked up?

(July laughs)

I’m just asking, because I pick them up all the time—

July: Probably not. I know, I know. Cuz a lot of them aren’t even novels, they’re like— I have one that’s like a craft book, Thinking Through Craft, and a lot of them are more like reference books, so I end up never really reading them.

Maggie: Because they’re books that no one has ever wanted.

July: Yeah, because it’s just a cycle. Who knows how many people have actually had ‘em? If I’m now giving them away and people are buying them, you know? They’re at least on their 3rd owner.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: The way I feel about decluttering has definitely changed since I talked to Francesco: I no longer see it as just some reality TV show ploy. It’s not always about getting rid of stuff, either; It’s about making room.

In a world of plenty, we all have our vices. We’re all likely to have—or to at least be tempted to have—too much. What Francesco provides his clients is a release, a way to navigate the psychology of their clutter.

For all you fellow book hoarders, I’ll leave you with these reassuring words from Francesco.

[Jumps back in time to interview with Francesco]

Maggie: In your experience, what are the things that most people hold on to most?

Francesco: Clothes and shoes. Clothes, shoes, and then I would say books. But, actually, books it’s fine. Even if you have a huge amount of books, they’re actually easy to organize and to place them in a really graceful and nice way.

Maggie: I’m very curious, what are the methods— As you see I have a lot of books. What methods do you recommend for organizing books?

Francesco: You see, books are beautiful. Also because they are colorful, and you can divide them on subject, and you can place them wherever you want in the apartment and they look nice. You know, sometimes you see, even if you go to hotels or Airbnb rooms or whatever, you go to the bathroom and there are books placed in a certain way, and it looks amazing. So that’s a nice thing. Actually, books you can place them everywhere, and you can play with it, because there are so many colors, shapes, you can place them in different directions, and they really, really look amazing.

So, you can play as much as you can. That’s actually the easiest thing. And then of course, you know, when my clients say that it’s time to organize their books, we go through all of them, and there is always some that they don’t need anymore, so we’ll bring them to Salvation Army or, you know, gifts.

[Jumps back to Maggie’s monologue]

Maggie: I hope you enjoyed these interviews with professional organizer Francesco Pireddu and artist July Laban. Earlier this year, I interviewed another artist, Karen Anderson Singer, about her tiny yard sale. You’ll find that episode plus the full, unedited interview in the back catalogue for the show if you’d like to listen.

That concludes another episode of Thrift. Thanks for listening.

[Outro 10 seconds]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 8: Challenging Homelessness with Yard Sales

Thrift Podcast — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 19:00:07 GMT

Episode show notes

Credits Host: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

Yard sales don’t just have to be a way to unload stuff you don’t want anymore; they can be a source for good, too.

At least that’s what Lexie Dellaney—a 10-year-old girl living in County Offaly, Ireland—discovered when she was looking for ways to raise money to help homeless charities in Ireland. Her first yard sale was a huge success, bringing in over 400 Euro that she used to purchase items different charities could provide homeless people across the country.

Since hosting a yard sale fundraiser when she was 7, Lexie’s moved on to other methods of collecting donations like Lexie’s Homeless Appeal, a Facebook fundraiser her parents helped her run.

Maggie talks with Lexie about all the volunteer work she’s accomplished and tells you how to run your own yard sale fundraiser.

Learn more about Lexie’s Homeless Appeal fundraiser, here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/482974398935650/

Charities mentioned in this episode: Inner City Helping Homeless: https://ichh.ie/North Dublin Bay Housing Crisis: http://irishhousingnetwork.org/Feed Our Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/feedourhomeless

Resources: ‘5 Steps to Informed Giving’‘Questions to Ask Charities Before Donating’Focus Ireland’s research on homelessness

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

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Photos of Lexie doing her fundraising work

Episode transcript

INTRO Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores the stories behind the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.

THEME MUSIC [30 seconds]

Maggie: Happy New Year, everyone! And for any other holidays you all might have recently celebrated, I hope they were happy and joyous. I’m Maggie Blaha, and I’m back with another episode about why we hold on to stuff and when we decide it’s time to sell that stuff at a yard sale.

Since the holidays just ended and we all likely still have a generous and giving spirit, I thought I’d treat you all to this episode about running a yard sale to raise money for a charitable cause. I released an episode last season called, A Yard Sale for a Cause about a church in Atlanta that was hosting yard sales to raise money for a mission trip to Mexico. You’ll find that episode in the archive if you want to check it out.

In this episode, I go into more detail about picking a charity and setting up a yard sale fundraiser. The episode includes a very special interview with Lexie Dellaney, a 10-year-old girl from Ireland who has been raising money for the homeless population in her community since she was 7. Her very first fundraiser was a yard sale, and she’s since started to use social media to help raise awareness about the different charities she wants to help.

I talked to both Lexie and her mom, Lillian, over the phone, so it may be a little hard to hear at times. I’ll interject to clarify where I can. I’ve mostly kept this interview in its original Q&A format, which is different from most of the episodes I’ve released.

Now here’s my interview with Lexie Dellaney.

INTERVIEWMaggie: I came across an article about Lexie and all the money she’s raised for local homeless charities in an Irish online publication a few months ago, and I reached out to Lillian Dellaney to see if Lexie would be interested in being interviewed on the podcast. Considering that this is a humble little podcast based in the United States, I’m very honored that they were both willing to set aside time to talk to me.

[Sound of a phone being picked up]

Lillian Dellaney: Hello?

Maggie: Hi, is this Lillian?

Lillian: Yeah, speaking, how are you?

Maggie: Hi, I’m Maggie. Yes, it’s great to talk to you, finally.

Lillian: Finally! (Laughs)

Maggie: Is now still a good time? Can you hear me OK?

Lillian: Yeah, we can hear you perfect.

Maggie: Great. So I just wanted to start by introducing myself again. My name’s Maggie, and I have a podcast based in the US about yard sales, and I just came across some articles about Lexie and how she was using yard sales, at least at one point, to fundraise for the homeless community in Ireland, and I just wanted to interview you.

[Maggie, as narrator, interjects]

Maggie: Just thought I’d pop in to mention that it took us a while to find a good time to schedule the interview. For one, there’s about a 5-hour time difference, and Lexie is pretty busy with school and Irish step dancing practice.

[Back to the phone interview]

Lillian: Yeah, that’s no problem at all. I’ll just put Lexie on here now.

Lexie: Hello.

Maggie: Hi Lexie, how are you?

Lexie: Good.

Maggie: Where do you live?

Lexie: In County Offaly in Ireland.

Maggie: And what’s it like to live there?

Lexie: It’s very nice. We’re sort of in the middle and in the countryside, so..

Maggie: Nice. I’ve only been to Ireland once to visit some family there. Beautiful country. What do you like about the area you live in?

Lexie: I like it because it’s kind of small. It’s not too big and it’s not too small, so it’s in the middle.

Maggie: So it feels like it’s just right, basically?

Lexie: Yeah.

Maggie: Got it. I know you started raising money for the homeless community in your area, so how old were you when you started doing that?

Lexie: I was 7.

Maggie: 7? That’s a pretty big thing to take on. How did you get started with fundraising and decide that’s what you wanted to do?

Lexie: So we were in Grafton Street and saw a homeless boy who was around 16, and I wanted to help him, so we went to Burger King to buy a meal that we gave him. Then my mom and dad tried to talk to me about what it meant, and I wanted to do this ever since.

[Maggie, narrator, interjects]

Maggie: Lexie’s being modest; there’s more to her story than that. According to Lillian Dellaney, Lexie’s mom, it was clear that seeing the young homeless boy in Dublin really affected her. In fact, about 2 weeks after this event, Lexie was lucky enough to win 300 Euro in the lottery, and she decided she wanted to buy things for the homeless.

Lillian happened to have a friend who worked for the Inner City Helping Homeless charity in Ireland, so they reached out to the organization to see how they could help. That’s when the idea for the yard sale came about. Since then, Lexie has collected donations and held fundraisers for charities such as the North Dublin Bay Housing Crisis, Dublin Homeless Awareness, Feed Our Homeless, and the Ken Smollen Food Appeal. She’s even writing a letter to the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, to highlight the homeless situation in the country.

And all the hard work Lexie’s done hasn’t gone unnoticed. She was the youngest person nominated for 2019’s Volunteer Ireland Award, and she finished in the top 3.

[Back to phone interview]

Maggie: You mentioned that the homeless person was 16, is poverty and homelessness a big problem in Ireland?

Lexie: Yes.

Maggie: It is. Is it particularly bad among young people?

Lexie: Yeah.

[Maggie, narrator, interjects]

Maggie: According to Focus Ireland—a nonprofit organization that aims to prevent and challenge homelessness—there were over 900 people under the age of 25 living in emergency homeless accommodation at the end of October 2019, a 106% increase from October 2014. And 64% of these homeless young people were living in Dublin.

Young people 18-24 who grew up in state care are particularly vulnerable to homelessness, and Focus Ireland tries to raise awareness about the need for more support services for these individuals.

But across all age groups, more than 10,000 people throughout Ireland were homeless at some point in 2019.

[Back to the phone interview]

Maggie: Was a yard sale the first thing you did to start raising money, and why did you decide to do one?

Lexie: Well, we were looking to clear out some stuff anyway, so we just thought we’d have a yard sale. And a lot of people turned out to support me.

[Maggie, narrator, interjects]

Maggie: Lexie’s first yard sale did pretty well, bringing in 400 Euro, which would be about $447.

[Back to the phone interview]

Maggie: So how many yard sales have you had, or was that the only one?

Lexie: That was the only yard sale, and then we also go to market sometimes.

Maggie: Can you explain what that means? What does ‘go to market’ mean?

Lexie: A car boot sale.

Maggie: Got it, a car boot sale. So, I think those are unique to Europe, is that just when a lot of people are out with the boots of their cars open and they sell stuff?

Lexie: Yeah, sometimes they actually have stalls as well.

Maggie: So you’ve raised money at car boot sales as well to donate to the homeless?

Lexie: Yes.

Maggie: For the first sale, was it just you, your mom, your dad, and other members of your family who set up the yard sale, or did you have people from the community donate stuff to sell as well?

Lexie: No, it was just me, my mom, and my dad.

Maggie: And did you pick a specific charity to raise money for?

Lexie: My mom knows a few people from Inner City Helping Homeless, so I went out with all the money I raised and bought stuff and donated it to them.

Maggie: What other types of fundraising do you do besides yard sales and car boot sales?

Lexie: We do Facebook fundraisers, as well, and GoFundMe.

[Maggie, narrator, interjects]

Maggie: Since Lexie isn’t old enough to be on Facebook, her parents set up and manage the fundraiser on her behalf. I’ll include a link to the Facebook page for Lexie’s Homeless Appeal in the show notes if you’d like to make a contribution. Thus far, Lexie’s appeal has brought in around 1,000 Euro, with donations coming in from all over the world.

[Back to phone interview]

Maggie: What’s the furthest place you’ve gotten donations from?

Lexie: New York.

Maggie: Oh, that’s actually where I live.

Lexie: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Miami, Australia…

Maggie: Do you think people in your community think about homelessness more now than they did before you started doing this?

Lexie: Yes, because, actually in my school my Principal Mr. Duffy says that I’m a great ambassador for the school.

Maggie: I would say so, yeah. Do all of your friends help out now, too?

Lexie: Yeah.

Maggie: If someone were to say to you, ‘Oh, I really want to help the homeless but it just seems too hard,’ what kind of advice would you give them?

Lexie: Basically, you have to find a good charity first, because you want to make sure you’re giving to a good charity. And if you get some other people to help and just put your mind to it, then you can do it.

Maggie: Do you think you’d recommend that people should do a yard sale to fundraise?

Lexie: Yeah, well, you just have to spread the word, and then it’ll be good.

[Maggie, narrator, interjects]

Maggie: Setting up a yard sale fundraiser is probably a lot easier than you think, especially if you take Lexie’s advice and get other people to help you. Here are some tips to help you plan a successful yard sale fundraiser:

* Go through all the things you’d like to get rid off, but be sure to ask friends and family if they have any items they’d like to donate, as well. Give them a deadline for when they should drop their stuff off or, better yet, get them to help out with the actual sale.

* Make it clear that you’re raising money in your advertising. This will help ensure people come ready to make some sort of donation if they aren’t interested in buying anything. Consider the following advertising methods:

* Social posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

* Creating a Facebook page with a map and directions, so people know how to find you

* Submitting an ad on Craig’s list with all the necessary details

* Get artsy! Hang up cardboard signs or promote your sale in chalk on the sidewalk

* Don’t be afraid to price things generously. And since it’s for charity, people should be less likely to haggle with you.

* Create ‘thank you’ receipts to hand people when they make a purchase. These receipts should include your contact information, as well as a website URL for the charity you’re raising money for. It’s good to give people the option to learn more about an organization.

* Don’t limit your fundraiser to a yard sale. Consider selling baked goods or lemonade. In the episode, ‘A Yard Sale for a Cause,’ the congregation even had a barbecue and sold hot dogs, hamburgers, and pulled pork sandwiches.

* Last but not least, put out a donation jar for folks who want to make a contribution but don’t wish to buy anything.

[Back to phone interview]

Maggie: What do you want to be when you get older? Do you think you’ll continue to find ways to help the homeless?

Lexie: I want to be an Irish dancing teacher when I grow up, and I think I will continue with my homeless stuff when I’m older.

Maggie: Are there any specific charities that you’d like to mention that people listening could possibly reach out to?

Lexie: Inner City Helping Homeless, North Dublin Bay Housing Crisis, Feed Our Homeless, and the Ken Smollen Food Appeal

[Maggie, narrator, interjects]

Maggie: In case it was too difficult to hear Lexie, the charities she mentioned were Inner City Helping Homeless, North Dublin Bay Housing Crisis, Feed Our Homeless, and the Ken Smollen Food Appeal

[Back to phone interview]

Maggie: One last question, Lexie. I know you mentioned that the first thing you should do is make sure that you’re choosing a good charity. How should people go about doing that?

Lexie: Yeah, you need to research.

[Maggie, narrator, interjects]

Maggie: Researching a charity is definitely important, especially if you want to ensure that your donation will be used effectively. Charity Navigator is a great online service for comparing how different charities and nonprofits are performing financially. They also require every organization listed on their site to be a tax exempt 501(c)(3) public charity, so you don’t have to worry about potentially choosing an unaccredited charity.

Charity Navigator has some great tips for research and informed giving. First, you should ask any charities you’re considering supporting these 5 questions:

* What’s your organization’s mission? This will help you decide whether a charity’s mission aligns with what you’d like your donation to be put toward.

* How do you measure success?

* What are your goals?

* What progress is your organization making towards its goals? You want to make sure that a charity is spending their money effectively.

* What sources are available to increase my confidence in your work? Look for things like published research, an annual report, and tax forms like a form 990.

While doing your research, you’ll also want to evaluate what your giving goals are. Charity Navigator’s got some tips for that, as well:

* Be clear about what your philanthropic priorities are. This will come in handy when you’re reading through organizations’ mission statements.

* Create a budget for how much you plan to give throughout the year, and trust the charities you’re supporting to determine the best way to spend your contribution.

* Follow up with charities to see how they’re doing. If they don’t seem to be achieving their stated goals, then you might want to reconsider future donations. It’s best to support organizations that have a more concrete impact plan.

CONCLUSIONMaggie: That’s it for this week’s episode of Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You. I hope learning about Lexie Dellaney’s work will inspire you to go out and run your own yard sale fundraisers. I’ll be including some links to where you can find out more about Lexie’s Homeless Appeal, as well as the charities listed in this episode, in the show notes. This information will also be included in the newsletter, which you’ll find a link to sign up for in the show notes.

There are a few other places on the internet where you can find Thrift. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook @thriftpodcast, and on Twitter @Thrift_Pod. And feel free to drop me a line at hello@thriftpodcast.com.

I’d also love it if you could take some time to rate the podcast and leave a review, as it will help more people find it. I’m on all the standard platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Welp, here’s to the new year. Thanks for listening.

OUTRO MUSIC [30 Seconds]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 7: The Art of Bringing Clothes Back to Life

Thrift Podcast — Sun, 22 Dec 2019 04:02:26 GMT

Episode show notes

Credits

Host: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

In Brooklyn, most people don’t have yards—but they do have stoops, so you’ll often see stoop sales being hosted around the city. For Jess Master, stoop sales act as a physical storefront for her vintage clothing business, Miss Master’s Closet. And she hosts them right outside her apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Maggie talks to Jess about the ups and downs of selling vintage clothes online, and why it’s so hard to manage a brick-and-mortar store in New York City.

Be sure to check out Miss Master’s Closet on Instagram @missmasterscloset and on Ebay at https://www.ebay.com/str/missmasterscloset.

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast Twitter: @thrift_pod

And please be sure to rate and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, which will help other people find Thrift.

Check out photos from the stoop sale

Episode transcript

OPENING. [Clip of Jess Master talking about why she started thrifting at a young age, and how she found herself through it]

Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores the stories behind the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.

THEME MUSIC. [30 seconds]

INTRO.

Maggie: Hello everyone! I’m your host Maggie Blaha, and I have to say that I’m excited that the week is almost over. As many of you know, I juggle this podcast with a full-time job and a few other creative projects, so I’m always in a constant state of exhaustion. But I’m passionate about the stories I’m able to tell on each episode of Thrift, and that keeps me going.

Before I introduce my guest, Jess Master, who you heard speaking in the opening clip, I want to take a moment to run through a few changes that will be happening this season.

First of all, I’ve recently launched an online thrift store, where I’m selling anything in my closet that I haven’t looked at or worn in at least 6 months. It’s not just clothing; I’m selling lots of jewelry and bags and shoes, as well, so please go check it out. Any amount you spend in the store will help me keep creating this podcast. Apart from my blood, sweat, and tears, I do have to spend money to put out new episodes of the podcast, so any support you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Other ways you can support the podcast? Starting in January 2020, the Thrift newsletter will be switching to a paid subscription model, which means that I’m going to start publishing content that only paid subscribers can access. This content will include full unedited interviews from each episode, early access to new episodes before they’re released in the general podcast feed, and updates on what’s new in the thrift store. Subscriptions cost $3 a month, but if you’re already a subscriber or sign up any time before the end of January, you’ll only have to pay $1 a month to access this content.

Don’t worry, I’m going to continue to send and publish free content, as well. And if you can’t afford to financially support the podcast right now, spreading the word on social media or by leaving a review on Apple podcasts would greatly benefit this little passion project of mine.

THE STORY

PT. I

Maggie: Thanks for letting me get all that out. Actually this is the perfect segway to introduce the theme of this week’s episode. I interviewed Jess Master, the owner of the online vintage clothing store Miss Master’s Closet, about how she turned her love of thrifting and all things vintage into a profitable side hustle.

I met Jess through Instagram, which seems to be the social channel to be on if you want to sell second-hand or vintage clothes online. It makes sense: Instagram makes thrifting easier, eliminating the hassle of browsing through crowded clothing racks. That’s why stores and apps like ThredUp have become so popular. That’s why online shopping, in general, is so popular. To encourage people to buy second-hand more often, thrift stores have to sell online.

Jess posts on Instagram at least once a day, highlighting the latest vintage finds she’s spent hours restoring and bringing back to life. I can tell you right now that there are at least 6 pieces I’ve been eyeing on her Instagram feed, which may or may not include a Gothic Victorian cape and a 1950’s style lorgnette. But my first purchase from Miss Master’s Closet now hangs over my mantle in my 1-bedroom Carroll Gardens apartment. If you follow the podcast on Instagram, you might have seen it: It’s the Rembrandt painting ‘Young Woman at an Open Half-Door.’

Jess doesn’t only sell her stuff online. In true Brooklyn fashion, she hosts regular stoop sales from her apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant (or Bed-Stuy for short). Stoop sales are the yard sales of New York City—pretty much no one has a yard, but lots of people have stoops.

PT. 2

Maggie: I went to check out a Miss Master’s Closet stoop sale one windy Saturday in late August. You will definitely hear the wind blowing in the background a few times during this interview. Jess lives on a lively street in Bed-Stuy that’s lined with beautiful, old brownstones. Her neighbors were having a big barbeque that Saturday, too, so you’ll also hear some laughter and music in the background.

The first question I asked Jess was simply, “What is vintage?”

[CLIP]

Jess: So technically, and it depends on who you ask, vintage will be 15-20 years old, and then antique is 100 years or older. So those are the technical… and I’m a little loose with it, I do have some 90s things that I will go ahead and call vintage. It’s fine, it’s vintage now.

[END CLIP]

Maggie: 15-20 years seems pretty young for something to be considered ‘vintage,’ but a lot can change in that period of time. Though, to me, an article of clothing that’s 15 years-old usually looks more dated than vintage.

I love the fact that stoop sales are a part of Jess’s marketing strategy. The stoop sale I attended had a very boutique feel.

I wanted to know more about the business.

[CLIP]

Jess: Let’s see, do I need to give you a year or can I just talk about it? I have no idea what year it was, I just know that I had a lot of time free during the day and a little bit of money burning a hole in my pocket because I was bartending at night, and I would kill some time by going to my local Salvation Army and spending literally 2-3 hours combing through that store from wall to wall. And any time I found something I thought a friend would like I would pick it up, and then eventually a conversation with a close friend gave me the idea…

[Sound of neighbors yelling, having a good time]

Maggie: Love the background noise. [Laughs]

Jess: Welcome to Bed-Stuy! Um, and then eventually a conversation with a friend gave me the idea to turn what I love doing as a daily hobby into an actual business. Ebay was the first stepping stone for that.

Maggie: So, it sounds like you’ve been doing this as a hobby for a while, but it also sounds like it was a business for a while?

Jess: Definitely. [I] sold on Eay for several years, had random pop-ups on the sidewalk in Fort Greene where I lived at the time, and [I] always had the, you know, the goal in mind to open up a brick and mortar because that seemed to be the kind of the plateau, the big step. I eventually did that in 2011, had the store Miss Master’s Closet here in Bed-Stuy for 5 years, and shut it down and decided to simplify things and just sell online, which is what I do today.

[END CLIP]

Maggie: Running a brick and mortar in New York City is not easy. In fact, I think it takes a tremendous amount of courage to open one in the first place. Plus, a vintage clothing business comes with some unique challenges. I had recently read an article about all the time that goes into simply finding pieces to sell in a vintage shop, and I wanted to know about some of the challenges Jess has faced over the years, like the decision to give up her brick and mortar.

[CLIP]

Jess: Basically, just to be perfectly blunt, having a business in New York City, especially when you’re just 1 person, can be extremely difficult. After doing it for about 5 years I realized that it wasn’t where my happiness was, and I needed to take my vintage clothing business and find my happiness in a new and different way.

Maggie: And is it your main business would you say, or is it kind of a side hustle?

Jess: I wish it to be my main business. I certainly need to work another job in order to support myself, but every day I work towards the goal of making this business my entire life.

[END CLIP]

Maggie: While giving up her brick and mortar has brought Jess more happiness, I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision. But stoop sales make it possible for Miss Master’s Closet to remain a permanent fixture of the Bed-Stuy neighborhood.

[CLIP]

Jess: At this point, yeah, I’ve lived in Bed-Stuy for 15 years, I love this neighborhood and have definitely become a part of it. There’s always a lot of beautiful noise and action going on, and I just discovered through happenstance that having a stoop sale was actually a really amazing way to not only get to meet and get to know other people from the neighborhood a little bit better, but also bring my business outside and have people know that I’m here.

[END CLIP]

Maggie: But there’s so much work that goes on behind the scenes before Jess can even post items to sell. I asked her to walk me through the process of finding and restoring vintage clothing and accessories.

[CLIP]

Jess: Well the process is the best part. It’s so much fun the hunt, the thrill of the hunt, actually. Anywhere I go my eyes are just always open to opportunities to pick up vintage things or to learn about vintage things. And as [I] buy and collect things, I will always research them when I get home with them because I’m just filled with so much excitement to learn about the piece, and basically begin the process of giving it a new life.

[This is] really how I feel about doing this as a business. I’m taking some trash, I’m turning it into treasure, and [I’m] just giving it a new life for someone that’s going to appreciate it. It’s just thrilling every step of the way. A lot of mistakes are made, especially when you’re cleaning and repairing these pieces, and it can be a headache but…

Maggie: So you do have to repair them sometimes?

Jess: Oh, absolutely! There’s so much repair involved. People usually really do not understand the lengths to which someone like me goes to so that every piece is brought back to its original beauty and looks as good as possible for the new life it’s going to live.

Maggie: How do you decide what to bring out for a stoop sale?

Jess: For the stoop sales it’s definitely going to be a lot more wearable items, stuff that people can mix up with modern pieces, or just completely go vintage all together. Obviously I like color and texture and patterns, so I try to come up with a good mixture of that to bring buyers in.

[END CLIP]

Maggie: Since these stoop sales act as a storefront for Jess’s business, I questioned whether they’re a reflection of who she is, the way most yard sales reflect the people who have them.

[CLIP]

Jess: Whenever I get a weekend day off is when I basically pop up and am here. And the inventory rotates; as I get new items in a week or two, I will bring some new things out. But yeah, the price point is definitely different for the stoop sale. I’m definitely not going to bring out a 1920s dress, but those are upstairs is anyone wants to take a look or play dress up. So this is really just the wearable stuff to lure [people] in and get them to learn about the business.

Maggie: How do you go about pricing things?

Jess: There are so many factors that go into it: the rarity of the piece, the sizability, wearability, the condition it’s in, the era it’s from, and how much work I have to put in. As an example, there’s a dress upstairs that everyday I think I’m done with, and then I find one more little thing to fix. It’s a dress from the 1930s [and] it had been through a lot.

Maggie: So that will probably cost a lot once it’s ready?

Jess: Yeah, I mean the price is a justification of the amount of time put into it and the beauty and rarity of the piece. It’s a 1930s gown brought to fairly good condition, well, excellent condition if I do say so myself. But I do have kind of a high standard, some people might call me a perfectionist, but I just want it to be the best that it can be, so if that means working on it for just 1 more week before listing it or putting it out there, it’s worth it for me.

Maggie: The pieces you have out here today, have you ever owned them or worn them yourself?

Jess: Oh, yes, that’s one of the perks of having this kind of business is that you get to take things for a test drive, and because all items are gently worn and I’m very careful with all of my clothing, sometimes I’ll wear something a few times and decide it’s not for me or the fit isn’t quite right or the color is not right, and then it goes out for the next life that it’s going to live. But, yeah, you can see that I really like color, because when you look at the rack it’s bursting with color.

[END CLIP]

Maggie: Throughout the interview, Jess occasionally had to stop to talk with shoppers. There was one woman who walked by Jess’s stoop twice because she couldn’t get a bright-yellow caftan that looked so magical blowing in the wind out of her mind. The 3rd time this woman walked by, she decided to buy it.

Part of the fun of Jess’s job is that she gets to come up with stories for people she thinks would love to buy certain pieces. They’re kind of like personas for her ideal customers

[CLIP]

Jess: Well, this yellow caftan that everyone loves…

Shopper: It’s so pretty!

Jess: Isn’t it? So, I made up a story about [the caftan]. In my head I like to imagine where these things come from, where have they been, and what kind of person wore them, or in this instance created them because this caftan has an entirely hand-painted print on it with earth-toned arrows running in different directions and wavy lines in the middle.

When I looked at it for the first time, I immediately got the sense that this was a pattern or print to represent power and energy, and that the person wearing it would be increasing their energy flow based on this print and the colors that are on this caftan. So it feels magical to me, it feels like someone kind of witchy or sorcery-ish would particularly enjoy it and appreciate it, and perhaps created it.

Maggie: It definitely looks magical blowing in this wind right now. Were there any other pieces you wanted to talk about?

Jess: This is an interesting [jewelry] set. I sometimes am called in to go to a person’s personal space when a loved one has passed away, and the family member is ready to finally let go of the deceased member’s personal items. It’s a very sensitive, beautiful process, and I had gone to this gentleman’s house after his wife died, and she had such an amazing and whimsical sense of style. We went through item by item, and anything that peaked some sentimentality in him I just ignored, and then anything he was absolutely ready to let go of came back with me to the store.

Maggie: How did you get involved in that, going to talk to people who have lost a loved one?

Jess: When I had the brick and mortar there was definitely a lot of interaction with the neighborhood, and this gentleman had come into the store, had kind of noticed that I had a good appreciation for vintage and older things, and so a lot of the time when people are ready to let these things go that once belonged to their deceased loved ones, it really helps them to know that these items aren’t just going to a Salvation Army or Goodwill but are actually kind of being passed on to people who will appreciate them. I think that really helps with the process of letting go.

It’s really tough because you have to be very patient and very sensitive, but it’s really a beautiful thing to be a part of that process, and I was able to do that a couple of times for people.

[END CLIP]

CONCLUSIONMaggie: I wasn’t expecting this episode to end on such a beautiful, poignant note. Letting go can be hard for all of us, but it’s especially tough when you’re letting go of something that once belonged to a deceased loved one. But it’s also a big step for making peace with loss.

That’s it for this week’s episode of Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You. You can find this week’s guest Jess Master on Instagram @missmasterscloset, where you’ll also find a link to her eBay store. As for me, you can find the podcast on Facebook and Instagram at the handle @thriftpodcast, and on Twitter @Thrift_Pod. You can also drop me a line at hello@thriftpodcast.com, and please don’t forget to check out my online store.

You’ve all be wonderful. Thanks for listening.

OUTRO

[10 seconds]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Season 2 Premiere: The Tiniest Yard Sale

Thrift Podcast — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 12:04:13 GMT

Episode show notes

Credits

Host: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same nameFeatured music: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” (1967) written and performed by Fred M. Rogers

Ever been to a tiny yard sale? We’re pretty sure Karen Anderson Singer, the Founder and Principal Artist of Tiny Doors ATL, invented the concept. And the turnout for her small-scale event is a testament to how much Atlanta loves the Tiny Doors brand.

In this season 2 premiere of Thrift, Maggie talks to Karen about what goes into planning and setting up a tiny yard sale.

Learn more about Tiny Doors ATL on their website, and follow them on Instagram @tinydoorsatl to see what Karen and her team dream up next.

You can find Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You in a few different places on the internet. Choose how you want to follow and engage with us:

Instagram: @thriftpodcast Facebook: @thriftpodcast Twitter: @thrift_pod

Episode transcript

OPENING. Maggie: Since you started Tiny Doors in 2014, you’ve probably been asked what your inspiration was over and over, so I thought I’d try to rephrase it a little, um, why do you want people to have to look down?

Karen Anderson Singer (podcast guest): You know, I want people to look around them and expect art everywhere or anywhere, and down is just the most accessible point. It’s somewhere that everyone can reach, and when I say everyone, I often think about people who are on wheels for various reasons, one of them being wheelchairs. So one of the doors, which has a ladder leading up to it, is actually literally the most wheelchair accessible because it’s a couple feet off the ground.

So one of the things I try to consider is what it means to be super accessible, and I don’t want to put it way up in a tree, I don’t want it to be accessible to no one, I want it to be the most accessible to everyone. So it’s more about accessibility than it is about down.

Maggie: That was Karen Anderson Singer, principal artist and director of Tiny Doors ATL in Atlanta, Georgia, and my guest on this season 2 premiere episode of the podcast. If you’re not from Atlanta or haven’t lived there since 2014, when Karen started installing 7-inch tall doors in neighborhoods across the city, you might not understand the impact seeing a tiny door can have on your day.

I didn’t have a car the last year or so that I lived in Atlanta, so I would walk about 4.5 miles to work every day. My journey always began in the darkness of the morning and ended just as the sun was starting to warm everything up. By the time I would reach the BeltLine—a huge walking path that cuts across different sections of the city and would signal that the end of my walk was nigh—I would be sweaty and hungry and thirsty and tired and ready for whatever day of the week it was to be over.

But then I would catch sight of Door #13 placed high up on the wall of a tunnel with its tiny little rope ladder dangling beneath it, or the vibrant red Door #6 in front of the store Paris on Ponce, and they would remind me to appreciate my walk. I mean, you can’t suddenly happen upon a tiny door when you’re stuck in rush hour traffic. Beyond helping me appreciate my long walk, tiny doors always reminded me to pay attention to my surroundings, to see the art in the everyday.

In this episode, Karen and I will be discussing a unique yard sale she held over the summer, and how yard sales can be considered art.

You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores the stories behind the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.

THEME MUSIC. [30 SECONDS]

INTRO. Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and I’m excited to be back with some new episodes that I really can’t wait to share with all of you. If you tuned in for the first season, welcome back. If this is your first time listening, I’m glad to have you, and I hope you’ll go back and listen to last season’s episodes to learn more about why I started this podcast.

The short of it is that I found a copy of Judith Martin’s Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior with an interesting inscription on the first page at a library book sale, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about the person it belonged to and the story behind it. I decided I wanted to start a podcast to tell the stories behind the stuff we’ve had for a while and, for whatever reason, decide to get rid off. Visiting yard sales and talking to people about what they’re selling seemed like the best way to do this.

In this episode, I explore how yard sales could be considered an art form by talking to an artist about replicating a yard sale on a tiny scale. Karen hosted a tiny yard sale in Atlanta over the summer, and I’m really bummed I couldn’t actually be there for the event. I caught up with her a couple weeks later to talk about how it went, but she did send me lots of pictures that I’ll be sharing on social, on the website, and in the newsletter, so be sure to check those out; I’ll tell you how to do that at the end of the episode.

PT. 1 - What does a tiny yard sale look like?

Maggie: So what is a tiny yard sale? What is the point? How would someone even go about setting one up? Like any regular scale yard sale, a tiny yard sale is about getting rid of stuff you don’t need and engaging with your community.

But is a tiny yard just as hard, if not harder, to set up than your average yard sale? I’ll let Karen answer that.

[CLIP]

Karen: So the tiny yard sale was a total dream. It was one of those things, you know sometimes, [after] 5 years of doing Tiny Doors, I want to try new things, and it’s as much to maintain my own interest as it is to maintain my audience or any of that other stuff social media people will say about fresh content. It’s really about my own curiosity.

Before I’ve done things like a tiny parade float at the front of the Pride Parade or the giant door, you know, things that I was like, “Can it, can it happen?” And what does it look like if it does happen. The yard sale was one of those things. I thought, “Can a tiny yard sale happen, an actual one?” And I don’t think it has ever, ever happened before. There were no examples. You know, you could make a fake tiny yard sale, set up one with props; that’s been done. Or just selling miniatures if you’re a dollhouse store, you know, like outside.

[Maggie interjects]

Maggie: Did you consider contacting [The] Guinness Book of World Records or something?

Karen: No, I just needed to see it done. So then this was a first; there weren’t examples, I couldn’t Pinterest it. And that’s a problem that I have all the time. I can’t really Pinterest all these big ideas, I can’t look them up. I have to decide what it looks like, which is a fun challenge, but I thought, “OK, it’s gotta be a yard. So what does the yard look like?” Well, if you put it on an actual yard, the grass is going to dwarf these less-than-an-inch-high items. So I need astroturf, but I need good astroturf, because the really fake stuff is gonna look really fake when you get close up.

So I had 12 feet of tables and 12 feet of astroturf, and it’s just on the BeltLine, and I’m like, “That’s not enough. I need to really sell it. It needs to feel like a yard.” So I went to the dollhouse store where I’ve known the owners for years, because they’ve watched me come and buy tiny things, and they loaned me a dollhouse. It was actually this gorgeous 4-story, $1,500 dollhouse, that took up the entire back of my SUV. It was terrifying to move. I was scared of 2 things: 1.) that I would break it and 2.) that I would buy it. Or break it and then have to buy it.

The next morning we set up—12 feet of astroturf, a giant dollhouse, and all these tiny items—and I spent the whole night before making tables. The items were things like tiny guitars and tiny teddy bears, and they’re all leftover from projects, so I didn’t buy things to sell at the yard sale. It’s not beyond me to do something like that, but I didn’t in this case. I really had all these items leftover.

So I had to think about display. I couldn’t just lay everything out in the grass, I had to think about what an actual yard sale looks like. So I had to make a lot of tables kind of in a hurry. I used the tops of birch boxes and dowels, and I hot glued a bunch of tables.

[END CLIP]

Maggie: The challenge for Karen was taking all the elements of a typical yard sale and reproducing them in a way that felt real on a small scale. Even though the sale was real—Karen was really looking to get rid of a lot of miniature items. But she had to put a lot of thought into recreating all the details that would make this tiny yard sale recognizable. That’s part of what makes her tiny doors so delightful: We get a chance to see what our world would look like in miniature.

[CLIP]

Maggie: Did you get to a point where you were putting a lot of fake colored stickers on things?

Karen: Thought about it, decided against it. What I did do was make, I thought about, you know, I’m from a small town in Michigan, and I thought about how everywhere you go there are boxes of kittens and puppies. Hopefully that’s improving, but I made some little cardboard ‘Adopt Me’ boxes and put tiny animals in them, and they all found homes really quickly.

It was really fun to sort of play with that. Someone said, “Do you have any tiny babies?” And I was like, “No. I do, but I didn’t bring them because it’s a yard sale and you can’t sell babies.” They were like, “Oh, I guess you gotta draw the line.” I was like, “Yeah…”

[END CLIP]

PT. 2 - Who goes to a tiny yard sale?

Maggie: Karen estimates that around 200 people showed up at 8am on a Saturday morning for a tiny yard sale on the BeltLine. And people really got into the spirit of what Karen was trying to do, bringing cake and popcorn to turn the sale into a kind of neighborhood block party. It just shows how much people really love the Tiny Doors brand.

But I think the turnout for this event also says something about Atlanta. Having lived in Atlanta for 5 years, I attended my fair share of unique events. When I saw the invite to Karen’s tiny yard sale pop up in my Facebook feed, it felt very Atlanta to me.

[CLIP]

Karen: One of my favorite things that I’ve ever heard said about Atlanta is, “We didn’t invent it, we just made it better.” Like we didn’t invent hip hop, we just took it to another level. We didn’t invent, I mean, there are so many examples of that, but one of them is we didn’t invent small doors, we just took it to another level. Fairy doors have existed for so long, but Atlanta believed in this and has followed me along on this and has been like, “OK, what are we doing now? We’re doing a yard sale? Cool.”

I love that about Atlanta! Their belief that we can make anything better. Anything! We can take train tracks and make it into 1 of the best sidewalks in the world. We can just improve it, and I think that’s cool. There’s a lot to improve, but it’s a lovely city that really does believe in sort of the unexpected.

[END CLIP]

Maggie: Even though Atlanta is a cool city that’s pretty much open for anything, I wondered if Karen had an ideal audience for this yard sale.

[CLIP]

Karen: You know, that’s a good question about the audience. I really kind of didn’t know, because it was very much a flash yard sale. It was 2 hours on a Saturday morning, that’s it. You know sometimes it’ll be like 8am-3pm on Saturday. No. This was 2 hours, because I had to staff it. I had to make this yard sale happen, so it was quick, and it was a quick turnaround.

So I figured that it would be a really specific group of people who could get it together early on a Saturday morning and kind of lived close enough. I was surprised to hear how many people drove to come to this yard sale. And I also didn’t want to do it later in the day because there’s just a lot of people on the BeltLine and the parking gets hard, and I figured that it was just an easy way to do that.

There were like 30 people waiting when it opened, and then it was really intense for about an hour, and then it started pouring rain. What I’m surprised by is that a 1-hour yard sale—because, let’s be real, when it started raining people stopped coming—ended up being really successful.

Maggie: And it seems like it wasn’t necessarily artists coming to buy the stuff?

Karen: I think it was neighbors who live there and thought, “Oh cool, I can go down there and get some tiny things.” I didn’t meet a lot of artists who told me that they were artists, so I don’t know necessarily what people are planning to do with that tiny stuff, but I look forward to seeing pictures if they do do something fun.

[END CLIP]

Maggie: So most people who stopped by just wanted to see what a tiny yard sale would look like; they didn’t really need to buy anything. But that’s kind of true of all yard sales. I didn’t need to pick up an ice cream maker from a neighbor’s moving sale a couple months ago or buy a book about the lives of a cell from a stoop sale. In the moment I felt like I needed those things, but I also wanted to help my neighbors out, to take part in my community, even in a small way.

That seems to be the art, the beauty of all yard sales.

[CLIP]

Karen: Yeah, you know, I think people have yard sales as a way to purge their stuff, but it also demonstrates that you’re not afraid of your neighbors or your neighborhood; that you welcome them into your yard, into your space. You welcome them to see your stuff. It’s really a brave thing to do, to let people see who you are and the things you don’t want. It’s kind of intimate and fascinating.

I could not stop talking to people about the stuff they were buying. I was like, “I need to shut up.” People were buying these tiny canvases and I’m going, “Those were leftover from a project I did with Wolfgang Puck where I made 200 tiny paintings and they took them to his place in Washington, D.C., and people were like, ‘OK, cool.’”

Also, nothing at the yard sale was over $5. Even though, if you went online, a lot of the things I sold would cost more than $5. I had them leftover, I sold them for cheap. I didn’t treat it like a tiny profit machine. I kind of didn’t know how to handle it when people were haggling. I was unprepared for that yard-sale etiquette. As an artist, I didn’t know how to handle people haggling me. Is that what it’s called?

Maggie: Yeah, and it happens all the time at yard sales.

Karen: Yeah, that’s not, I had no idea. I was really ill-prepared for that. I just was like, “What? You want to pay less? But if you bought that online it would be $12, but I want you to be happy. I don’t know what to do!” So that was a little tricky…

Maggie: So, how did you overcome that? Did you just let them take it for what they were asking?

Karen: Yeah. I kind of was just like, “I don’t know, it’s to support Tiny Doors ATL, pay what you want.” They were like, “Oh, OK.” I’m doing this to raise money to support the maintenance of the doors with this old stuff. What was funny was that my wife saw all this old stuff leaving the house in the morning and she was like, “Oh, is this gonna free up space in the studio?” My studio is 8’ X 8’, it is extremely small. I was like, “Nope, this is just stuff that’s in boxes. Those boxes are still there. I’m just gonna put more stuff in them.”

Maggie: I mean, with yard sales you’re never really getting rid of things, you’re just making room for more stuff.

[ADVERTISEMENT]

Maggie: My name is Maggie, and I’m a struggling artist. Why am I interrupting the podcast to tell you this? Well, because I’d like to ask all you lovely listeners for your support. Putting out a podcast takes a lot of time, energy, and, yes, it requires a little money, too. Starting this month, I’m going to be introducing a few different ways you can support the podcast, whether you have the financial means to do so or not. Every little bit helps, and I’d certainly appreciate any way you can help me spread the word about Thrift. Now back to the episode.

[END ADVERTISEMENT]

[PLAY MR. ROGERS THEME MUSIC]

PT. 3 - It’s a lovely day in the neighborhood

Maggie: “Won’t you be my neighbor?” In this current political climate where everyone seems divided and unable to trust one another, I think that having a yard sale can be a simple way to ask people in your community, ‘Won’t you be my neighbor?’ It’s like Karen said: Having a yard sale is a way to show that you aren’t afraid of your neighbors.

Karen is someone who really loves Atlanta and the neighborhood she lives in, and this shows in her art. She won’t install a tiny door in any location around the city unless it’s been invited. Once it has, she spends a lot of time talking to people and getting a sense of what kind of door she should build to reflect a specific neighborhood.

She likes to attend yard sales that are a reflection of their neighborhoods, too.

[CLIP]

Maggie: Do you shop at yard sales yourself?

Karen: I do shop at yard sales. I really enjoy, the same thing people enjoyed about my yard sale, is when they’re in my neighborhood and I can just walk to it. To me that makes it feel really local and fun.

[END CLIP]

Maggie: Another thing Karen likes about yard sales, and this includes her own, is something we’ve heard before on this podcast: You get to learn the stories behind the things you’re buying or tell people the stories behind the things you’re selling.

[CLIP]

Karen: I think it’s fun when you’re exploring a yard sale to think about who it belonged to and what they did with it. Although sometimes that prevents me from wanting to buy it. You know, because you just don’t know. But with the tiny yard sale I think it was kinda fun because everything had a story, and I was there to tell it and excited to tell it. A lot of the items had already, you had seen them online in one way or another, so that was kinda fun.

But I do think that those kind of stories tie in also to tiny doors, in people using their imagination to go, “OK, why is this here? Who put this here? Who else is interacting with it? And are they thinking the same thing I am?”

[END CLIP]

Maggie: One thing I was curious about was whether Karen had a hard time letting anything go. Since this was a yard sale mainly intended to engage people in her community, I wondered if that meant that she didn’t have any attachment to the miniatures she was selling.

[CLIP]

Karen: That’s a good question, whether or not it was hard to let the tiny items go. It was difficult to part with some things like canvases and guitars and things I have other ideas for, because everything in my studio has a reason that it’s there, and the reason that it’s there is that I believe in its potential to be something else. That’s what stuff in a studio is. It’s stuff you’re gonna use to make other things. But I let them go, and I’m glad that I did, because there’s a little more room in the studio. But mostly it was for the community engagement factor, and that might be what separates the tiny yard sale from other yard sales is that it’s not like I was getting rid of the treadmill that was taking up half the living room and now I can buy an ottoman. It was like letting go of things so that other people could enjoy them, too.

The stuff that didn’t sell I brought back to the studio and put in a box marked ‘yard sale.’ And it’s shoebox size, you know, because nothing was terribly big. And that is, so that next time, if we want to do another yard sale, I can, and I have that stuff there. I think it probably would have sold if it didn’t rain the last hour of the yard sale, but I’m saving it. I would do another yard sale again.

[END CLIP]

PT. 4 - What about stuff in your own home? Maggie: So, learning about this tiny yard sale was great and all, but I wanted to know what sort of things Karen would have to part with if she were to host a regular-scale yard sale. One where she’s selling stuff from her home and not from her studio.

[CLIP]

Karen: Probably kitchen items. I think we accumulate too many kitchen items. I’m gonna totally put my wife on blast here in that she saves sauce jars to use as cups, even though we have so many cups! So, the sauce jars...either the sauce jars or the cups would go. In her defense, they’re cool and they make great glasses, it’s just that it gets to a critical mass.

And linens. My yard sale would mostly be kitchen stuff and linens.

Maggie: I would go to that yard sale.

Karen: It would be good. I collect linens, and then, you know, don’t use them. I go to Final Cut, which is where they sell all the Anthropologie stuff from the catalogue. So they like use it in the actual shoot, and then they can’t sell it in the store, so they send all the stuff to this warehouse-style thrift store. It’s in Augusta, so it’s a couple hours away. But they have all these amazing Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters bedspreads and sheets for really cheap, so I buy them. I’m like, “We can use them for the guest beds.” We don’t have guest beds, we just have couches.

We have too many linens! That’s me putting myself on blast. I’m a collector of linens, my wife collects sauce jars. None of it’s criminal, but it would all end up in a yard sale.

[END CLIP]

CONCLUSION Maggie: Thanks so much! Is there anything that you would want to plug, or how can people support Tiny Doors ATL? Where can people learn more about Tiny Doors?

Karen: Sure, a really good way to connect with Tiny Doors ATL is through Instagram, it’s just @tinydoorsatl. I also have a Patreon, which is a fun way, if you want any of these tiny items, some of the items from the yard sale were previously part of projects that I made and shipped to all my patrons. So there are a couple ways you can connect with Tiny Doors ATL, no matter where you live.

OUTRO.

[10 SECONDS]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

It's October...So Where's Season 2?

Thrift Podcast — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 00:42:19 GMT

I know, I know, Season 2 should be out by now. In my defense, October isn’t over yet. But…I’m going to have to push the release date back to November.

As many of you know, this podcast is one of my side hustles, and, unfortunately, it often has to take a backseat to my full-time job. I was also traveling the entire month of September, which messed up my recording and planning schedule a bit. So, that’s why there are still no new episodes.

To make up for it, I’m going to share a teaser for the season premiere episode, where I talk with the creator of Tiny Doors ATL, Karen Anderson Singer, about a very unique yard sale she hosted over the summer.

Photo courtesy of Tiny Doors ATL

It’s a great interview to kick off the new season, and I can’t wait for you all to hear it. For now, here’s a sneak peek. I’ll update you all soon with a new launch date!

Cheers, Maggie

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Season 2 is Coming in October

Thrift Podcast — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 23:40:22 GMT

I’m excited to announce that the 2nd season of Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You will be available in all your favorite places for downloading and listening to podcasts in October.

For now, I’m re-treating you to my favorite episode from season 1, ‘The Things Everyone Should Have for a Minute.’ This was my first interview episode, and I couldn’t have asked for better guests. Coco and Sarah were funny, insightful, and possibly a little drunk—a winning combination. Hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did.

Now, onto other important topics. What’s everyone going to be for Halloween? (It’s almost Labor Day, so this really should be top of mind for all of you.) I’ll be sure to send some thrifting Halloween tips soon.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Season Finale: How We Curate Our Lives

Thrift Podcast — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 11:55:07 GMT

Credits Host: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

In this season finale episode, I recap what I’ve learned from visiting 4 different types of garage sales. Featuring clips and interviews from episodes 1, 2, and 4, I attempt to uncover why our possessions often become so important to us, even if we don’t use them on a regular basis.

To learn more about Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Oh, and be sure to sign up for the newsletter!

Twitter: @Thrift_Pod Facebook: @ThriftPodcastInstagram: @ThriftPodcast

Episode transcript

INTRO.Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores the stories behind the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.

THEME MUSIC. (30 seconds)

Maggie: Hello everyone and thanks so much for tuning in to this final episode of the first season of Thrift. In case this is the first time you’re listening to the podcast, my name is Maggie Blaha, and in each episode I visit a yard sale and interview people about the stuff they’re selling or buying.

I thought that talking about yard sales would be a good way to explore our relationship to stuff—the things we own that don’t exactly serve a purpose in our lives, why we hold on to them, and when (if ever) we decide to let them go.

If you’re new to the podcast and you like what you hear, I hope you’ll stick around and start listening from the beginning. There are only 6 episodes and each one is about 10-15 minutes long, so you can pretty much binge them all in a single 60-minute workout session. Though I would recommend listening while doing more leisurely things like drinking a cup of coffee or glass of wine, cooking dinner, or maybe sorting through things you’d like to sell at your own yard sale.

Just a heads up that I’m going to be taking a short break to work on season 2, but I’d love to hear from you while I’m away. Please feel free to share your questions about the podcast and ideas for future episodes by sending an email to hello@thriftpodcast.com. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I’ll share my usernames in the show notes. And even though I won’t be putting out new episodes during the break, there will be some extra-special content that I’ll be sharing with newsletter subscribers—you’ll find a link to sign up in the show notes, as well, and thank you to everyone who has already subscribed.

II. For the season finale, I want to recap what I’ve learned while creating the last 5 episodes. After visiting a variety of yard sales, I think that the people I talked to had some unique perspectives on why we hold on to stuff and why we would even bother to have a yard sale.

At the time that I am recording this episode I will be in the process of moving from Atlanta, Georgia—my home for the past 5 years—to Brooklyn, New York. Next season, most of my episodes will be based out of New York and New Jersey, but the point I’m making here is that moving has forced me to sort through my possessions and decide what’s worth keeping, even though I’m not actually having a yard sale.

I had accumulated a lot of stuff after 5 years in Atlanta, and deciding what I was going to throw away or donate wasn’t as challenging as I thought it would be. Mainly because I just wanted the ordeal of moving to be over. I noticed that I didn’t have a problem parting with furniture or kitchen appliances or clothes—they’re all replaceable, and I don’t find myself missing them on a daily basis.

Not that whether or not you use or even see something on a daily basis should be a litmus test for what you keep or throw away. The things I couldn’t part with were my journals and notebooks and college papers; post-its and index cards with random notes scribbled on them; planners that help establish a timeline for the past 10 years; postcards and knick knacks and mementos from traveling and other poignant moments in my life. I wanted to hold on to these things, but I don’t look at them every day, every month, or ever, really. I couldn’t even bring myself to look through my old journals when I was packing (it would’ve been too emotional).

III.There are some things you shouldn’t throw away—journals are one of those things. And then there are all the books I keep accumulating faster than I can read them. So I have a fairly extensive unread library, an “anti-library,” as Umberto Eco would say. I’m still on the fence about whether I should continue trying to read them all or just accept that if I’ve had a book for more than 2 years and still haven’t read it I never will. This was one conclusion that Coco came to in the first episode.

AUDIO CLIP #1

When I was packing to move, I found Coco’s method of not thinking about what she was getting rid of helpful when it came to my closet, but my books… I couldn’t let go of any of them. And you know what? That gives me joy. As for the journals I’ll most likely never read again, I think that parting with them would be too much like parting with previous versions of myself.

Only I’m not sure how real or authentic the person who is depicted on thousands of pages of notebook paper actually is. After reading The Diary of Anne Frank at a young age, I’ve always had this awareness while journaling that my diaries might one day be found and read and, dare I say, published as if I were somebody. In this image or fantasy (I’m not sure what to call it) I have about my diaries being discovered, I am dead. This is never made explicit in my imaginings. I’m just gone, gone after a short life. A life interrupted.

IV. For me, my diaries are tied up with my own mortality. My diaries are written records, whether they’re factual or not, that will remain after I die. This is the pressure I feel when I write—my words have significant weight because they will be my life after death. I think I also feel this way about other things I own, particularly my books. I can technically die at any moment. If I do, what books do I want to be found on my shelves? What sort of life do I want people to imagine I had based on my possessions?

We all want to leave behind a record of ourselves, and the things we buy or collect at different points in our lives is our way of “writing” that record. I’ll go as far as to say that it’s the surest way we can maintain control over our narratives after we die. We’re curating the stuff that surrounds us for a purpose.

AUDIO CLIP #2

V. Linda has experienced first hand what it’s like to sort through the things a loved one leaves behind. She helped her friend Georgia go through her late mother’s storage locker. Linda even made the very difficult decision to sell a few items that once belonged to her own mother. When someone dies and their possessions are all that remain, it can feel like you’re giving away pieces of that person.

What Linda learned from going through her mother’s belongings is that stuff really is just stuff. Your stuff is not you. And this lesson helped her part with a lot of her own stuff that she didn’t need anymore

AUDIO CLIP #3

VI. At the Atlanta Cosplay yard sale, it was very important for the vendors I spoke with to find good homes for their old costumes. They couldn’t just donate them to Goodwill or a thrift store; they needed to find cosplayers who would appreciate them.

AUDIO CLIP #4

VII.This was the first episode where my interviewees explicitly mentioned wanting to find a “good home” for their stuff, but I think it’s what’s at the heart of a yard sale.

Maybe if I had planned to have a yard sale before I moved I would have been more willing to give up some of my books. Or maybe I’m hopeless.

In case you were wondering, pretty much everyone I talked to said there was an expiration date for the things they wanted to sell.

AUDIO CLIP #5

That wraps up the first season of Thrift. Thanks for listening!

OUTRO. (5 seconds)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 4 - A Yard Sale for a Cause

Thrift Podcast — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 12:19:55 GMT

Credits Host: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

The Church at Ponce & Highland in Atlanta, Georgia, started hosting yard sales on their front lawn to raise money for mission trips. It also just seemed like a nice way to bring the congregation and community together.

Siblings Chuck and Linda Warren took the lead on organizing these sales, not only asking parishioners and people in the neighborhood to donate items, but also going through and offering up their own stuff.

For Chuck, it was an opportunity for him and his wife to do some light spring cleaning. But for Linda, it was a chance to purge all the things that were becoming a burden for her and could one day become a burden for someone else.

I like how the congregation was using a yard sale to raise money for something greater than themselves, but I feel like all yard sales, in a way, are about people helping people—whether it’s raising money for a cause, helping a friend go through a deceased loved one’s belongings, or buying something to take off of a stranger’s hands.

To learn more about Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Oh, and be sure to sign up for the newsletter!

Twitter: @Thrift_Pod Facebook: @ThriftPodcastInstagram: @ThriftPodcast

Episode transcript

INTRO. Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores the stories behind the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.

THEME MUSIC. (30 seconds)

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and in each episode of the podcast I’ll be checking out a garage sale in the Atlanta area (and sometimes outside of it) to talk to people about the things they’re selling and buying.

This week, I’m sharing the story of the Church at Ponce & Highland, a small church in Atlanta that doesn’t give itself a denominational label. Instead, they focus on creating a welcoming community for anyone who comes to worship. I talked with 2 longtime members of the congregation who played a big role in organizing the yard sale to raise money for a mission trip to Mexico.

AUDIO CLIP #1

I thought it was interesting that Chuck and the other parishioners looking to raise money for mission trips chose to organize a yard sale to do this. Thinking back to the yard sales my parents used to have when I was a kid, it just doesn’t seem like it would be a very lucrative fundraiser. But Chuck pointed out that a yard sale was a great way for the church to both raise money for their mission and give back to their community.

AUDIO CLIP #2

Chuck turns to other members of his church and anyone in the Poncey-Highland community of Atlanta to donate things that can be sold at these yard sales. And hosting this sale also prompted Chuck, his wife, and his sister Linda to look through all the stuff they’ve been accumulating.

AUDIO CLIP #3

I have to say that, like Chuck’s wife, I did hold on to a lot of my college papers, but my mom has probably thrown them out at this point. Clearly I don’t miss them and didn’t care enough to bring them with me when I moved from New Jersey to Georgia. There is this one paper I wrote in my junior year that I wish I could find and read again; I’m quite fond of it. It was about the narrative structure in Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast and Paul Fussell’s Doing Battle.

I wish I got the chance to ask Chuck’s wife whether she ever read through some of her old papers. I’m sure she holds on to them for the same reason I still have all my old notebooks and journals and planners from different points in my life: So I can randomly find them when I’m feeling sentimental and visit with different versions of myself.

But maybe that kind of sentimentality is what makes stuff, as Chuck says, a trap. If you have too much of it, I suppose it can hold you back in the past.

AUDIO CLIP #4

That’s Linda Warren, Chuck’s sister. I like how she’s kind of calling Chuck’s wife out a bit for being a packrat. As Linda’s gotten older, her view of stuff has changed. She seems to live by my mom’s philosophy that having less stuff is liberating, but after talking to Linda a bit, I realized that the emotional and psychological root of why some people need to hold onto things and some need to get rid of them is pretty much the same; it just manifests itself differently in different people.

Take Linda’s friend Georgia, for example.

AUDIO CLIP #5

Georgia was holding on to things that once belonged to her mother, which is something most people do. I know my grandma still has closets full of my grandpa’s suits and shoes, and he passed away about 6 or 7 years ago now. Letting go of things that used to belong to our loved ones is painful because we feel like we’re letting go of so much more. It’s kind of like losing that person again.

This experience helping her friend seems to be what led Linda to think that owning fewer things is liberating. She says she realized that someone would one day be taxed with the job of going through everything she owns and deciding what to get rid of, and she’d just rather not put anyone through that.

AUDIO CLIP #6

When I left the yard sale, there wasn’t much left but some odd knick knacks and old movie posters. Chuck was pretty confident they had reached their goal, though all the money hadn’t been counted yet. It’s a nice idea, having a yard sale to raise money for a cause, and it sounds like it really brought the community together.

In a way, all yard sales are about community more than anything else. They’re about people helping people, whether it’s raising money for a cause, helping a friend go through their belongings, or buying something to take it off a stranger’s hands.

That’s it for this week’s episode of Thrift. Thanks for listening!

OUTRO. (5 seconds)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

3. An Unsentimental Yard Sale

Thrift Podcast — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 12:29:57 GMT

Credits Host: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

Greg’s yard sale lacked personality. Everything he was selling was very generic, and he had no attachment to any of it.

While Greg had never been to any sort of yard or rummage sale before, he knew he wanted to have one once he moved into his new home in a sleepy Atlanta suburb.

Are you wondering if this episode of the podcast is going to be as boring as Greg is? Tune in to find out.

To learn more about Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Oh, and be sure to sign up for the newsletter!

Twitter: @Thrift_Pod Facebook: @ThriftPodcast Instagram: @ThriftPodcast

Episode transcript

INTRO. Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores the stories behind the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.

THEME MUSIC. (30 seconds)

This week, I’m sharing Greg’s story. Greg is not this yard sale host’s real name. Before I interview people, I ask them if they’re comfortable with my using their name on the podcast. If they’re not, I like to give them a pseudonym that I think captures who they are.

Greg just seemed like a good name for this athletic, brownish-blonde-haired man who, if I had to guess, makes a living as a personal trainer. A lot of the things he was selling were related to health and fitness: workout DVDs, dumbbells and other exercise equipment, books about nutrition. Apart from this stuff, Greg’s yard sale sort of lacked personality.

He was very unsentimental about what he was selling, and his lack of attachment made his stuff seem, well, boring. I usually like to buy one thing from the people I interview, and the only thing I had any interest in was a book of cocktail recipes called New American Bartender’s Handbook. It now sits on top of the little cart where I store my alcohol in the corner of my small studio apartment. Maybe one of these days I’ll have people over for Manhattans.

But I digress… Let’s actually hear from Greg about why he and his partner decided to have a garage sale.

AUDIO CLIP #1

I thought it was interesting that Greg moved things he knew he didn’t want to keep from his old house into his new one. He even moved with the intention of having a garage sale once he was settled in his new place, which took about a year. I don’t think it was because Greg was secretly trying to hold onto his stuff a little longer. Honestly, I think he just didn’t really want to be bothered with organizing a garage sale.

AUDIO CLIP #2

I get the sense that everything Greg owns serves a purpose. If I were to walk around inside his house, I’m sure I wouldn’t find any clutter. There would be nothing that shouldn’t be there. Even the stuff he was selling, for the most part, clearly once served a purpose in his daily life.

But that’s what we should all aspire to, right? To have less stuff, to only acquire and hold onto what we need? I must be passing this judgment that Greg somehow lacks personality or character because he’s not like me. He would never buy a tea set decorated with an Ancient Greek design or Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood fridge magnets for the hell of it. He doesn’t understand why someone would want to own those things, and that’s something I can’t understand.

AUDIO CLIP #3

It turns out that there was one piece of furniture Greg had some sentimental attachment to: a credenza that was originally worth $5,000. But it was damaged, and it’s one of those things you never get around to fixing, so it just made sense to sell it. He also ended our interview on a profound note: It’s not the things we own that hold our memories. When we get rid of our things, the memories are still there.

Now I think that Greg is a philosopher.

That’s it for this week’s episode of Thrift. Thanks for listening!

OUTRO. (5 seconds)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

2. A Cosplay Yard Sale

Thrift Podcast — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 12:30:52 GMT

CreditsHost: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

It was the month before DragonCon when I visited Atlanta’s first-ever cosplay yard sale in 2017. The event gave local cosplayers a chance to rid their closets of costumes and props they’d been holding on to for years or find something new to complete their ensembles for upcoming conventions.

I talked with Cindy and Laura, 2 young women who were very active in the cosplaying community, about some of the pieces they were selling. Both of them had been holding on to most of their stuff for at least 10 years, and they expressed a desire to find their old costume pieces “good homes.” I thought this was interesting, and I wonder if it’s a sentiment that’s at the heart of all garage sales: you want your treasured possessions to have a new life with someone who will truly appreciate them.

To find out more about Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Oh, and be sure to sign up for the newsletter!

Twitter: @Thrift_Pod Facebook: @ThriftPodcastInstagram: @ThriftPodcast

Episode transcript

INTRO.Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores the stories behind the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.

THEME MUSIC. (30 seconds)

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and in each episode of the podcast I’ll be checking out a garage in the Atlanta area (and sometimes outside of it) to talk to people about the things they’re selling.

In this episode, I’m going to be talking about a different kind of yard sale that I visited in August 2017. It was different in the sense that it wasn’t hosted in the front yard of someone’s home in a small, suburban neighborhood, but in 2 conference rooms of a Courtyard hotel here in Atlanta. It was also different because the rooms were lined with tables and booths that were set up by people looking to find a good home for their Japanese katanas, Wonder Woman costumes, and comic book character figurines.

I learned about the first-ever Atlanta Cosplay Yard Sale on Facebook—I believe a friend of mine indicated they were interested in attending, which is why it showed up in my feed—and I figured I’d go and see if anyone would be willing to talk with me.

It was about a month before DragonCon, which is a huge multi-genre convention that takes place every year in downtown Atlanta over Labor Day weekend, so it was the perfect time for a cosplay yard sale. The event post I found read:

It's almost time for DragonCon! Don't have your costume ready? Need to pick up a few items for the one you're working on?

Or maybe you need some extra money for DragonCon and it's time to sell off some of those pieces that you've been looking to get rid of.

This is the first Atlanta Cosplay Yard Sale. All vendors are welcomed and space is very limited!

I’ve never been to DragonCon myself, but I have a lot of friends who go every year, and I’ve been to Comic Con in New York a few times, so I know how much time, effort, and money go into putting a costume together. And for people who really get into cosplay and attend multiple events around the world, props and wigs and makeup can accumulate quickly.

Most of the vendors had racks and boxes full of clothing for sale. A few even had pictures of models wearing different costumes they were selling so people could get a better idea of what they would look like. I have to admit that the event wasn’t quite what I was expecting. For one, it was smaller than I thought it would be—a lot smaller. And I also thought it would feel more like a comic book convention, but it didn’t. It kind of just felt like any other rummage sale.

But for many of the vendors, like Cindy who spent some time working as a Vaudeville and cabaret performer, the event was a great way to make sure all the costumes they’d been holding onto for years went to a good home.

AUDIO CLIP #1

One question that’s really at the heart of this podcast is, “Why a garage sale?” As in, “Why bother having a garage sale to sell things you don’t need anymore or never needed to begin with when you’re not exactly going to make a ton of money for it?” The Atlanta Cosplay yard sale is a little different, of course, as it’s just a yard sale in name only and most vendors could get away with charging a decent amount for their costumes and props. But I got the sense that while some of the vendors were ready to let go, they still wanted to make sure that these pieces they had made by hand or went on a quest to find would continue their legacy of being worn at different nerdy conventions.

AUDIO CLIP #2

Says Laura, a young woman who’s been cosplaying for 15 years and seems to have attended every convention there is in the U.S. at least once.

AUDIO CLIP #3

AUDIO CLIP #4

That was Cindy again, telling me about some of the pieces she was selling: how long she had them for, how she found them. Turns out she’s more of a dancer than a cosplayer, but both have to put a lot of thought and work into crafting a persona.

AUDIO CLIP #5

To me, a Jane Austen fan, this coat Cindy’s talking about looks like something a brooding Mr. Darcy in any film adaptation or at any Austen festival would wear. It was Steampunk-inspired. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction that uses a historical setting and features some form of anachronistic technology, like steam-powered machinery. The genre has not only influenced its own convention, but has also spread into the world of comic books. A quick Google search will pull up images of steampunk Spider-Man, steampunk Batman, steampunk Green Lantern, and so on.

One of the pieces Cindy was selling was once worn by a local Atlanta legend.

AUDIO CLIP #6

I had actually never heard of Torchy Taboo, but, then, I’m not an Atlanta native. Torchy’s had an amazing life and career as a burlesque performer. Her signature act, according to interviews I’ve read, was lighting her beaded bras on fire. I’m not sure if the bra Cindy bought was one of those bras; it didn’t look like there were any burns on it.

For both Cindy and Laura, there was a real desire to find a new and better life for the things they were selling, as though they were trying to find people to adopt a child or pet they couldn’t take care of anymore.

Well, for Laura, maybe there were a few things she was having a little trouble parting with.

AUDIO CLIP #7

I’ll just say one thing about this R2-D2 dress: This was the only thing I had any desire to buy. It didn’t look like a costume at all. It was this retro 1950s-style party dress with a full skirt that would fly through the air if you spun around in it and an adorable blue bow that tied in the back to cinch the waist.

Laura also told me about a few other really interesting pieces she was selling.

AUDIO CLIP #8

I’ve been thinking about how cosplayers tend to be, well, not taken seriously would probably be the nice way to put it. I’m not sure that I took this yard sale very seriously. I thought it was a laugh, a yard sale I could cover in a very tongue-in-cheek fashion. But I ended up meeting 2 interesting characters who helped me better understand the craft and art of cosplay.

That’s it for this week’s episode of Thrift. Thanks for listening.

OUTRO MUSIC (5 seconds)

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1. The Things Everyone Should Have for a Minute

Thrift Podcast — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 02:02:52 GMT

Credits

Host: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

I learned about Coco and Sarah’s yard sale on Facebook, and the description piqued my curiosity:

“I’m moving down the street after 6 years, countless roommates, and a few squatters, and Sarah and I are selling some precious items and a few pieces of trash. Records! Books! Furniture! Artwork! Kitchenware! Clothing! Some things that may actually belong to you! Appliances! Electronics! Kitsch! Souls/soles! Bikes! Potentially a car! We’ll have beer and bloodies if you prefer to just browse and help us ring in a new chapter. Tell your friends.”

While only Coco was moving, the landlord suggested that both Coco and Sarah do something about the sheer volume of stuff accumulating in their basement. And so, they decided to have a yard sale.

From a Jane Fonda workout record to dishes right out of a 1970s dinner party, Coco didn’t really feel any regret about what she was practically giving away. There were a few items—like some mid-century furniture pieces and an old turntable—that sold for less than they were worth, though, and Coco admitted that it felt a little strange.

Coco and Sarah are self-proclaimed hoarders who realized that it was time to give up a lot of their stuff. According to Coco, “Everyone should own [certain things] for a minute.”

To find out more about Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Oh, and be sure to sign up for the newsletter!

Twitter: @Thrift_Pod Facebook: @ThriftPodcastInstagram: @ThriftPodcast

Episode transcript

INTRO. Maggie: You’re listening to Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, a podcast that explores the stories behind the things we once loved and are ready to let go of.

THEME MUSIC. (30 seconds)

Maggie: I’m Maggie Blaha, and if you tuned into last week’s introductory episode, you know that the idea for this podcast came from finding an old inscription in a second-hand copy of Judith Martin’s Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior that I bought at a local library book sale. While I really love old etiquette books, I only bought Miss Manners because of the inscription and have yet to read it. I was curious—curious about the previous owner, curious about the man (Doug) who gave it to her. And this curiosity inspired me to start a podcast about the stories behind the things people decide to sell at garage sales.

A couple weekends ago, I found a Facebook event page for a moving sale that two young women—Coco and Sarah—were having in the Inman Park area of Atlanta. The page description read:

I'm moving down the street after 6 years, countless roommates, and a few squatters, and Sarah and I are selling some precious items and few pieces of trash. Records! Books! Furniture! Artwork! Kitchenware! Clothing! Some things that may actually belong to you! Appliances! Electronics! Kitsch! Souls/soles! Bikes! Potentially a car! We'll have beer and bloodies if you prefer to just browse and help us ring in a new chapter. Tell your friends.

The post was funny. It had personality, and I knew that I wanted Coco and Sarah to be my first guests on the podcast.

TRANSITION MUSIC. (10-15 seconds)

Maggie: It was 2 in the afternoon on one of the hottest days we’ve had this summer when I pulled up to Coco and Sarah’s house. Although the yard sale started at 10am, there still seemed to be a lot of unsold items, which either means that they just had a lot of stuff to unload or that not many people were out and about on a sweltering Saturday to stumble upon the sale.

The handful of people who were there when I arrived all seemed knew Coco and Sarah: Coco’s parents were buying a lot of kitschy knick knacks they probably didn’t need; a woman was running in and out of the house, trying on different skirts and tops that were hanging on the clothing rack; and a couple of guys were standing around drinking beer.

I figured it was only right for me to make a purchase before I asked for an interview, so I started perusing the book table. It was an eclectic array of tattered paperbacks, from obscure books of literary criticism to The Bell Jar. And every book on the table, at least at 2pm, was selling for under a $1. I bought a vintage copy of the Nancy Drew mystery The Clue of the Leaning Chimney and a Eudora Welty memoir of sorts called One Writer’s Beginnings. (I regret not buying a Jane Fonda workout record and a set of dishes straight out of a 1970s dinner party, but I was too broke even for a yard sale.)

For Coco and Sarah, this yard sale was a vital and necessary purge.

AUDIO CLIP #1

Maggie: I think most of us use a basement, an attic, a garage to dump all our things that have what Coco and Sarah call “questionable origins.” Either we’ve had something for so long that we don’t remember how we got it, or maybe it never actually belonged to us. Have you ever borrowed something from a friend but forgot to give it back? Or has a friend ever asked you to store something for them, but over time you forget it’s not yours?

Just a quick ethical question to ponder: Is it okay to sell your friends’ stuff if you’ve been holding onto it for so long that you can’t remember whose it is?

AUDIO CLIP #2

Maggie: So why do we hold onto stuff that we no longer and possibly never needed? I mean, the fact that we shove these things into the bowels and extensions of our homes proves that we don’t use them, don’t even want to look at them. Yet, it takes us forever to actually get rid of stuff.

AUDIO CLIP #3

Maggie: Coco was ready to sell everything she’d been holding onto for years. There weren’t too many regrets about what she was practically giving away to strangers. And she knew that many of the things she sold were about to start a new life that she could never give them.

AUDIO CLIP #4

AUDIO CLIP #5

Maggie: As I mentioned in the first episode, the beauty of buying things second-hand is that they almost always carry surprises from their previous owners—books especially. Our books often become receptacles for ticket stubs and receipts, a place to hide love letters and postcards from prying eyes, and wallets for spare cash we never think we’ll need. Coco and Sarah didn’t go through any of the books before they stickered and tabled them, leaving them to wonder if they could have left anything potentially incriminating between the pages.

AUDIO CLIP #6

Maggie: Even though Coco was ready to let all the things she was selling go, she and Sarah admit that it was hard for them to get to that point. It’s hard to go through your possessions and learn to accept the fact that they’ll belong to someone else.

AUDIO CLIP #7

Maggie: That’s it for this week’s episode of Thrift. Thanks for listening.

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Why I Started a Podcast About Garage Sales

Thrift Podcast — Thu, 23 May 2019 01:23:22 GMT

CreditsHost: Maggie BlahaTheme music: “Thanks for the Memory” written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 film of the same name

Maybe you’ve heard the word tsundoku; it’s kind of trendy. Tsundoku is the Japanese word for buying more books than you can possibly read. If you’re anything like me, then this is something you’re definitely “guilty” of. I can always buy more books, no matter how many I have waiting to be read.

I buy most of my books secondhand for a few reasons:

* It’s cheaper

* It’s easier to buy books in bulk

* I usually end up learning something interesting about the previous owner

That last reason is what inspired me to create this podcast. I found a copy of Judith Martin’s Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior at a library book sale that had a curious inscription ‘To a Classy Broad’ from a man named Doug. The Classy Broad received this book as a Christmas gift from Doug in 1989.

I started to wonder why the Classy Broad decided to give the book away. What makes any of us decide to give things away? When do we finally decide it’s time to give things away that we’ve been holding on to for years? Visiting garage sales and interviewing the sellers and buyers seemed like a great way to explore the stories behind the possessions we once loved and are ready to let go of. Hope you’ll tune in for future episodes.

To find out more about Thrift: What Your Garage Sale Says About You, you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Oh, and be sure to sign up for the newsletter!

Twitter: @Thrift_Pod Facebook: @ThriftPodcastInstagram: @ThriftPodcast

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thriftpodcast.substack.com/subscribe