Thread Number: 2808
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Post# 75639   7/29/2005 at 16:59 (6,816 days old) by Junqueboi (Leasburg, NC)   |   | |
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This will sound familiar, but I just feel so much more comfortable in my abnormality now that I found other people that share this interest! Anyway, "hi". I'm Joel. My sister started calling me Junkboy because of all the funky stuff I've been collecting over the years... I've evolved into Junqueboi over the years - ha! When I was three or four, I'd break free from Mom & usually be found in the light-bulb section of the supermarket, drug-store, etc. When I got a bicycle (a Schwinn Stingray - WOW!) I started riding over to neighbors yardsales & bringing all sorts of obsolete but cool stuff home. Never saved my allowance... I do remember being about four & becoming really mesmerized by cars as well -- and when I was five, my father took me to an automobile junkyard. He was there for a little over two hours-- I had managed to completely plunder through two or three cars during the time. He had to nearly drag me out of there. It seemed so cruel because I had only gotten to play in two cars -- there were at least a couple hundred to go! I was born in '71 & still remember some of the weirdest stuff as a kid. I cherish those memories... in Lombard Illinois, there was a huge junkyard...a Sanford & Son type junkyard about two or three miles down Roosevelt Road. It was probably about the size of a Wal-Mart I guess -- it was mostly outside -- they had tons of old appliances, windows, tires, basically anything! When I was about twentyish, my father opened up a scrap-metal yard in a small town in Alabama. It did quite well & I went crazy. He stayed angry with me because I wanted to save all this good stuff while he was there to crush it! Imagine someone driving an old car in there & having to be the one to destroy it.. I had to smash tons of old appliances & load them into trailers to go to the mill in Birmingham. I begged him to not sell out, but he did anyway -- I was actually to blame in his eyes. That business was the ultimate appliance (& car connection)! You would not believe the stuff that people throw away.. Anyway, the yard added fuel to my "eccentricity" & once I ended up on my own, my collection started... Mostly cars, but also insulators, Western Electric phones, funky lamps, etc. I got a job at the local Thrift Store fixing small appliances. It was so much fun I'd actually forget to go on break & I'd sometimes work right through lunch. That was the most fun working, next to the scrapyard. I'd still work there today, but the pay was five bucks an hour. Anyway, enough babble. I just wanted to become a part of this group -- you people seem so much more open-minded, friendly, & less competitive than the people on the car-forums. It's really nice to know that some of you are car people as well! That '61 Oldsmobile is stunning. Seeing the '69 Fleetwood was a real treat too. I'd like to share some shots of my stuff; much of it is in disrepair, but it's got character! I'm just starting to learn about some of the appliances that I remember as a child. There is so much to learn here. Wow, washers, vacuums, fans, blenders, cars...it's all good. I hope you all don't mind, but I'll probably hijack a few threads now that I'm a member. Thanks for the read, Joel |
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Post# 75693 , Reply# 2   7/29/2005 at 21:35 (6,816 days old) by drmitch ()   |   | |
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Hello Joel, and a welcome from another junk lover! |
Post# 75731 , Reply# 3   7/30/2005 at 00:01 (6,816 days old) by rickr (.)   |   | |
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Welcome Joel,glad you could find us! And thank you for the compliment on my Olds. I started this hobby at ten years old,so I can understand your passion. Collecting vintage "junque" (as I like to call it) can pay off very well sometimes. Plus you tend to "earn" a reputation for saving unusual "useless" items,and all kinds of people start "throwing" things your way. Most people do not enjoy throwing perfectly good things away,and they tend to feel better if they "find" a good home for their old "stuff" This morning I walked into my office,and on my desk was a box with a small, very early Westinghouse oscilating fan. The fan was all there,except the cord had rotted off. I knew a co-worked had put it there,but which one?? (Everyone there knows my hobbies) It was mid-afternoon,when I ran into an employee in the breakroom,and he said,"did you get that fan I put on your desk"? I replied,well...yes,do you want me to restore it for you"? He said," NAAAA! It was in my mother-in-laws garage,and I thought it was right up your alley"!! And that is how it works. Have fun here! Rick |