Too Much "Stuff" - too many years . . . .

[DougVieyra]

Jeep44 : Let me know when you put out on the curb, your excess WW2 Jeep and/or parts. Two days notice would be nice.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

At the curb, a Guy sez, "Does this recliner work OK"?----"YEP"-------"Will you sit in it while I dash & get my truck"?---"YEP"
Bill Resting

[jeep44]

I'm still in acquisition mode on jeeps-I just brought home a complete 1946 frame with all running gear last week. I have vague plans of putting a reproduction tub on it

[holdover]

One of the reasons that I will never move, is because I don't want to tackle the clean up. Many items that were bought to use in the future, and some were, some I knew I had but couldn't find them, until right after I bought another one. I like old 67-72 ford pick-ups so whenever I am at a garage sale or swap meet that has a part at the right price, home it comes, same with Model A stuff ('29 coupe, '29 CCPU, 31 AA. I also fool around with classic Mustangs and you guessed it, have a bunch of that stuff also. Don't really want to sell any of it, and with a son and two grand-kids that like anything with wheels on it I am sure it will all be put to good use, at least that is what I tell myself. What I really need is a better system of where things are, I know i put everything in a place I could find it, just can't find that place!

[CarlG]

40' Connex, lighted & heated, shelves on both sides.

(Can't quite get my wife to buy into this perfect solution.)

[DougVieyra]

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Holdover, post #24:
"One of the reasons that I will never move, is because I don't want to tackle the clean up."
____________________

I have lived in my 1886 Victorian home for over thirty years. It has a full cement basement, a large double garage (well, really a Carriage House), large access to the rear of the estate - and is FULL of 'stuff', 90% Ford Model A.

I can't even imagine the immense hassle, time and work - just to move my Model A 'stuff', not counting the 'normal' house-hold 'stuff'. Like 'HoldOver', because of that fearful task, I don't expect to move in my lifetime.

But if a wealthy'connoisseur' can indulge himself in a fine wine, a classic oil painting, a great gastronomic treat - then I too can indulge myself in my own 'poor man's passion'. I'll have enjoyed the pleasure that my junk treasures have given me for a great many years.

I just need to remember to go visit them once in a while !

[al's28/33]

Great thread Doug...... I had at one point two storage units 10x20 each full of extra parts and stuff picked over from garage sales, flea markets and internet finds......only to realize I wont live to be 387 years old and have the time to replace and use every piece of extra stuff I had.........so I sold and traded 99% of it..........now I just have a steamer trunk size box of the rarest smaller parts that may still never see the light of day yet I just could not let them go.

[Capt Quahog]

Give it to Goodwill or some second hand store. There are military collectors that would also take it.

Simply put . . . I can't be bothered. It's a situation of "Been there - Done that!" This is an accumulation of 30 or more years. To sell the items, one needs to take the time and effort of sorting, inventory, writing text, placing ADs and burning up precious time. Then you wait for contact. After that people don't keep an appointment or even bother to show up at all. Trying to deal with these bottom feeding scavengers is too time consuming and frustrating. Just more needless aggravation. A couple of years ago I donated an Empire style couch to the Salvation Army. It was a fine piece taken from an old Inn. Unless a person lives in Norma Desmond's Gothic horror mansion on Sunset Boulevard, nobody wants some large cumbersome Victorian era sofa . . . even for free. They wasted my time and re-scheduled the pickup three times Needed to wait in all day for the truck to come . . . That soap opera went on for three-weeks. Forget about it! In the unlikely event of a "next time". it will be a chain-saw festival.

Strangely, I'm getting a sort of sadistic satisfaction in tossing into the swill some of these items. There are no doubt military vehicle fans who would weep openly to see some of this USGI radio material going into the trash. A couple of months ago, we threw out three(3) military teletype portable machines along with relay boxes, ribbon readers and connectors. I did keep one of floor model with stand teletype units for old times sake. The wife has the useful Singer 301s, 404 and 221 sewing machines up in her quilt room. Those really are beautiful high quality American made items. Four of those worthless ornately decorated early 20th Century Singers however went into the garbage abyss. How about hardly used late edition 1980s era IBM "Selectric" typewriters with early computer serial ports? Kept one of those babies and trashed the other two. Within a week or so that stuff will be bulldozed into the land fill dump at Wind Gap, PA.

Finally . . . .Free at last!

[Tom Wesenberg]

You could make a lot of money having a giant 3 day yard sale.
The "red eye" Singer will easily sell for $50 to $100.
It's a shame to destroy good stuff that people can use, or simply would take for free.
A 3 day yard sale with everything free on the third day is the way to go.

[Capt Quahog]

I'm still in acquisition mode on jeeps-I just brought home a complete 1946 frame with all running gear last week. I have vague plans of putting a reproduction tub on it

On Wednesday of this week, I took a look at a 1947 Willys CJ2A jeep. It's only three or so miles from here. Having restored a couple of WW2 jeeps long ago (GPW & MB), I sort of knew what to look for. The 47 CJ jeep was complete and he said that it was running a few years ago when he pushed it outside. The PA license plate tag was dated for year 1970. The body was straight. Tailgate, windshield, hood and grill were in good shape and not rotted. Underneath, the frame looked good and not corroded but of course the wood filled front body area under channel was rotted through beneath the floor as were the lower side body supports and usual spots. Tool compartment was totally gone. There was a wooden top which apparently protected the interior and the gauges were all there and not fogged or damaged. Still had the original engine but missing the air cleaner unit. Front seats with frames were original and traces of the original red paint were to be found in many places. He wanted a $1000 for it but I think it can be had for $700 or so. The guy will even delivery the jeep to my house. It also has a PA title!

The seller will not however pick up the expense for medical treatment after the wife gives me a solid beat down following discovery of another piece of junk in the yard.

Does anyone think at that price that this 1947 CJ2A is worthy of consideration to perhaps stash away for some later day project?

[700rpm]

I have found that very shortly after I get rid of something I've had for years, it's exactly the thing I need. So I have decided not to sell, throw, or give anything away unless it is patently, obviously unusable or irreparable, 'cuz sure as Aunt Betty I'll need it on my next project. What happens to it after I'm gone is somebody else's decision.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Capt Quahog

Brutal Spring Cleaning!

There comes a time when the most expeditious way to eliminate no longer useful stuff is to throw it away. Have a merciless trash disposal finally underway! Within the past week or so, I have finally thrown into the trash trailer decades long accumulation of stuff. Oddball car parts, boxes of military radio cables, microphones, electric motors, lights, lamps, vehicle fixtures, military garments, relic Singer sewing machines, typewriters, ancient radios, old photographic equipment, etc. etc. Have been saving this junk and moving it around for years and years. Next week. the load gets hauled down to the big land fill dump place.

There's probably enough crap to fill up several Flea Market spaces. Figure that my time is far too valuable than trying to sort and sell this material. The garage is now looking respectable and I am able to find needed items and get long overdue projects underway.


I love Blitzkreig Spring cleaning!

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

Give it to Goodwill or some second hand store. There are military collectors that would also take it.

Can't argue with that suggestion. Just as it once was important to you it can be important to someone else.

" old photographic equipment", If you come across any speed graphic equipment, tripods, flashes, 4x5 cameras, I'd be interested.

[DougVieyra]

Post #28 & Post #31 hit home with me.

P.S.- the 10 years (1960-'70) I owned and drove my all original '47 CJ2A were some of the happiest years of my young life, and that was one of my favorite vehicles, except for the 47 mile an hour 'top end' speed.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Capt Quahog

Within a week or so that stuff will be bulldozed into the land fill dump at Wind Gap, PA.

Finally . . . .Free at last!

near Wind Gap Pa there are several Military Surplus shops, you can ask for gas money and give them the stuff. The landfill will charge you.

Army & Navy Store
Army & Navy Surplus Shop
68 S Main St, Nazareth, PA 18064
(610) 759-2378

Sonny Hawkes Army/Navy
100 Foxmoor Dr, East Stroudsburg, PA
and 5002 Wickes Rd, Bushkill, PA
(570) 223-9347

Quakertown Army Navy
308 W Broad St, Quakertown, PA
(215) 892-1221

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Capt Quahog

Within a week or so that stuff will be bulldozed into the land fill dump at Wind Gap, PA.

Finally . . . .Free at last!

Take a look at ebay, the treadle bases alone are selling from $99.00 to $135.00.

near Wind Gap Pa there are several Military Surplus shops, you can ask for gas money and give them the stuff. The landfill will charge you.

Army & Navy Store
Army & Navy Surplus Shop
68 S Main St, Nazareth, PA 18064
(610) 759-2378

Sonny Hawkes Army/Navy
100 Foxmoor Dr, East Stroudsburg, PA
and 5002 Wickes Rd, Bushkill, PA
(570) 223-9347

Quakertown Army Navy
308 W Broad St, Quakertown, PA
(215) 892-1221

[Capt Quahog]

old photographic equipment", If you come across any speed graphic equipment, tripods, flashes, 4x5 cameras, I'd be interested.

Actually . . . the photo equipment that got tossed out into the trash was old "amateur" grade flashguns, filters, brackets and lesser junk. The material was picked up in lots of purchased Press Camera stuff back in the 1990s. Still have the pro-grade Heiland and Graflex guns along with a baby 2X3 Crown Graphic and 4X5 Pacemaker Speed. When sent out on my first real photo assignment back in 1960, they handed this kid a 4X5 Speed Graphic with big Heiland strobe gun and heavy battery pack. Yikes! Soon after, the Speed Graphics were replaced with Twin-lens MAMIYAFLEX medium-format cameras which were used pretty much throughout the 1960s.

Take a look at ebay, the treadle bases alone are selling from $99.00 to $135.00

Actually have one of those iron SINGER treadle bases right here near me now being being used for a TV stand. Put a wood a deck on top and it's really solid. The peddle mechanism still works with the pulley wheel that turns. Cool and useful thing.

near Wind Gap Pa there are several Military Surplus shops, you can ask for gas money and give them the stuff. The landfill will charge you

Have absolutely ZERO interest in bothering with some surplus dealers or whomever. Why should I burn up time and trouble myself with pointless dealings? I'm old and don't have much time left to squander in life. Far easier to throw the stuff into the trash trailer sitting out in the driveway. The land fill charges $35 for one-ton of trash. Already hauled two loads in the past weeks. My neighbor and me split the cost in half. It's a real good deal! The land fill run is so easy to manage. There, we toss the stuff into dumpsters that are on a lower level. Even have gravity on our side! That trailer is already loaded up too with the final remnants of an obsolete hot tub that was chopped up and steel tube supports from a soft Quonset hut shelter that collapsed from heavy snow last year.

[Mike V. Florida]

It's your stuff to do with as you please. Just thought you might be the kind of person willing to help others. I have my answer.

[jeep44]

Capt. Quahog: That $700 CJ2A is indeed well worth saving. The body sounds good enough, but very nice repop bodies are available which will drop right on the frame. A title makes that jeep especially attractive!

[2935ford]

I try real hard not to "collect" anything in the way of parts.........
Extra serviceable parts I have go to someone that needs them.
If it then turns out I need a part......I'll source, which doesn't take long to find.
Parts that are worn out and not repairable go in the trash or to those gathering metal to get a little extra cash.
When I'm gone......I don't want to leave a pile of "stuff" for someone to figure out what to do with it which usually gets tossed!

[Capt Quahog]

Just thought you might be the kind of person willing to help others. I have my answer.

You're obviously a generous person and the suggestions are appreciated. However, not to be unkind to "collectors" . . . but I'm not running some sort of junk hoarder helping-hand charity operation. To my long experience, militaria collectors for the most part are a horde of scavenging bottom feeders. In general, I don't like them.

Most of the stuff trashed recently is heavy oddball items not suitable as yard sale goods. How many military vehicle power mounts for RT524 radios does a person need? Got rid of the M151A2 radio jeep awhile back. The last of a dozen or so of those transceiver FM radios was sold off years ago. Though much is as new, the stuff is salable at scrap prices to a very narrow market of hardcore devotees. Got most of this USGI radio stuff from junk metal dumpsters for free over the years when working at various defense contractors. Have been managing and moving literally tons of this stuff from place to place for a long time. The material itself is worthless trash but the space occupied by it is valuable. It gets to a point where you don't own this crap but it in fact owns you.

With regards to the 1947 CJ2A jeep offered for $1,000 with title. The thing was apparently SOLD within two-days. Poof . . . it's gone! Must have been a good deal. My reluctance at the easy and cheap purchase was no doubt due to not wanting to accumulate any more junk and / or tentative future projects no matter how cool is the vehicle.

Now . . . a really nice 1926 Model T Ford sedan just popped up for sale not too far away with an asking price of $6,000. Was told that Tin Lizzie can be had for $5,000 cash . . . drive it home. Luckily, I recently handed over FIVE-GRAND from my "mad money" account to the wife to help bankroll a Co-Op apartment she just bought for us over in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Toys! Toys! Toys!