The Roots of My Picking

How does one become a picker?  What exactly is a picker, anyway?  I used to think it was a not so nice word for antique dealers.  Now I realize there is nothing wrong with the word and picking is exactly what dealers of all sorts actually do.  They pick (over) items offered to them, whether in an actual store setting or by hitting all the neighborhood garage sales. 

  I became a picker in another way.  It is a long standing family tradition.  It's in my blood.  My grandfather headed north to the gold fields in the late 1800's.  While he didn't find gold, he was one of the few folks to locate tin ore in the continental United States.  Essentially he was a picker, a miner, always on the lookout for the next big find.   He and my father mined the area of Alaska known as the Bering Peninsula, the "nose" of Alaska.  In a family history book my father wrote, is a small piece of paper with the tin claims sketched out in pencil.  One I remember was named The Yankee Girl.  (Hummm, I wonder if that piece has any value?)
  Alaska contributed much to our family's picking efforts.  In the 1940's, you didn't run to the mall for the next new thing.  Your choice was to order from the Sears catalog and wait six months.  (It came by boat).  Or you found a second hand store. 
  When we moved outside, (leaving Alaska term), my parents struggled to feed and clothe four kids on little income.  (Mining doesn't always pay good).  So second hand it was. 
  I picked later as a young bride with two children and a husband in the military.  Mostly walked to the one possibility in town with the kids in a well used baby carriage; plenty of room for two active children AND stuff. 
  At one point, married to a man who occupation had been as a clean up guy.  He'd come to your house and clean out your attic or garage.  This before so many folks out of work took it up as a profession.  This husband was a saver; a collector of sorts.  That's when I discovered eBay and what to do with all the stuff I (and that husband) had been saving and collecting over the years. 
  When I moved to Arizona my daughter suggested I may need to find another hobby, as there was little to "shop", (my daughter is a mall person), in Phoenix.  Little does she know.  I think I could easily set up a map, much as those maps of the stars homes, so popular in California. 
  I pick to stay active; because I like knowing about stuff and as a second income.  Though at times the 'stuff' threatens to take over my home, I still love to shop, to pick in the odd corner or dusty shop.  It's who I am. 

I pick, therefore I am-the A to Z Saga

  I call myself a picker, an urban picker, since I live in a large city.  I;m a little old lady who knows about stuff and is trying to keep herself busy and active by finding other people trash and turning it into treasure.  The plus side of being old is knowing about old stuff; what it might be and how it might be used.  I find a amazing variety of old things that folks no longer want and find another person who has been looking for that self same item.  Often I resell on line. 
  I'm trying to keep my brain active and my body functioning, though at times both tend to argue with the LOL factor.
  I realize I need to learn about stuff in order to describe it properly in a sales setting.  That is the brain part.  I know I need to keep moving, the physical part, so the slow walks through thrift shops and garage sales has a two-fold purpose.  And I'm stretching my income and having fun.   I find good stuff and great prices on ah, pre-owned items that I use or resell.  Sometimes the items go to family members....'Where did you get that amazing sweater?'  A: 'Ah, my grandmother knows this little ah, boutique'. 
  I live in northeast Phoenix and am within easy driving distance of eight or nine Goodwills, a St Vinnies, (St Vincent de Paul), two animal rescues thrift store, a church charity shop and a Savers.
  Depending on how I map my trip, I can easily hit a large circle of stores, all close to home, without driving any distance.  What I shop, I concentrate on specific categories of stuff; things I know about.  OR can teach myself about.  In addition to the thrift stores, there are a constant round of estate sales, garage sales, a few live auctions and the occasional church rummage sale. 
  Rule number one:  when shopping for resale: buy what you know about,
  Rule number two:  If it's a quarter or a buck, you probably cannot be hurt.
Memorize both!
  The good news about such shopping is that you are creating yourself a real job and one that allows you to work from home, as I do.  I recall the day, that with a visiting younger sister in tow, I located an estate sale, a very odd estate sale I discover, as sis asked what exactly we are doing.  Sis isn't big on used.  (Am I related to her?), as we walk through tables and tables filled to over flowing the pots and pans.  That's it.  Pots and pans: cookware, cast iron, stainless steel, enamel, frying pans, large and even larger pots; someone was a collector. 
  One of my passions over the years is for vintage Revere Ware.  My mother received a set as a wedding gift in 1939.  I bought my own pieces from the Rome, NY factory outlet store in the early 60's.  I love to cook in it.  I love to clean those shiny copper bottoms and hang them on a rack.  I like how it cooks and how it cleans up. 
  It was obvious, this day, that I'd found my pot of gold.  I told sis:  "Look for copper bottoms, anything with copper bottoms".  The woman running the sale kept an eye on our pile, as it grew and grew.   Good thing I drive a station wagon.  I filled the back that day.   I know about Revere Ware, it's history, how to identify the vintage stuff, how to clean it and when not to buy it.  I know some tricks to cleaning the copper; I even bought a polisher to make the copper shine.
  At the top of my (mental) checklist when out shopping is Revere Ware.  This weekend, as an example, I found two lids.  Last weekend, it was three pans without lids.  At fifty cents each, I did not turn any away.  

Find of the week:  Four Fujimori Humoresque 7 1/2" salad plates, $2.00 at Goodwill, (50% off day), sold for more then $100.  How did I know to buy them, (as I am not a china expert?)  The plates were in excellent condition, had a very unusual shape and design AND did not say, 'made in China, dishwasher safe'.  And they were two bucks!

Ruth K Greene sells on eBay to keep busy.  An award winning fiber artist, she divides her time between her studio and computer.  She gives the occasional workshop or talk relating to her art.  Her writing includes columns and on-line journal publications including MAM magazine and Find Woodworking magazine.  You may contact her at rkgreene8@gmail.com.