by Alice Rush
IN THE area around us when we lived in Maryland, there were a number of secondhand stores and consignment shops. We have the same thing in Maine, and I just love it. I’ve only been to one store like that in Holland, many years ago, and it was a kind of garden center that had nice rescued one-of-a-kind items.
When we visit later this year, I hope I get a chance to stop into one or two of these kinds of places in Holland. I’m told there are more now than in years past. There is a “thrill of the hunt” feeling that comes over me when I’m in the mood to peruse these kinds of stores. There is usually nothing that I want in particular, but I always find something. So it’s not a great way to save money exactly, and yet it is, as long as you will use what you purchase.
YESTERDAY I went shopping at a couple of my favorite spots here, one of the stores being more hardware and home-goods oriented. I picked up a ceramic planter pot for $2! These sell for $10 or more at the retail shops, and I know I will use it. They often have useful tools as well, and who couldn’t use a 2nd or 3rd hammer or pliers if the price is right?
There is a consignment shop where I have purchased a couple of purses and a book or two. Yesterday I went in seeking puzzles. A couple of us in my office are working on a puzzle during break times and it’s been fun (but challenging – 1000 pieces!). My supervisor picked up the puzzle in a secondhand store for next to nothing, and it turns out some of these puzzles have a little bit of collector value. So, I went looking yesterday, but I didn’t find anything to my liking.
At another store that deals mainly in clothing and housewares, I spent considerable time peeking through the dishes and glassware. People are donating so many older or even antique items to these kinds of places, and if you look carefully you can find special items. This might be more of a splurge than a savings, but it’s fun. I looked at a beautiful set of floral pattern dishes, really lovely, like a French country kind of design. I didn’t end up picking them up, but another lady did and we had a brief chat about the fun of finding items like these at such a discount.
MY LAST find from that shop was a set of 4 drinking glasses, the fine old-style thin glass on which the designs are hand-cut. So many don’t appreciate this kind of tableware anymore, but I do. They will go great with my great-grandmother’s china at the holidays, but I’ve used them infrequently outside of holidays as well.
I sometimes pick up old teacups and teapots too, but the teapots must be food safe and usable. In colder weather I sometimes like to make a full pot of tea. If I can safely carry it home in my luggage, maybe I’ll pick up another Dutch teacup or a teapot for my collection when we visit. Then when I’m enjoying a cup later I can remember the trip. It’s the little things sometimes, you know.
* Alice is a Maine realtor and a licensed helicopter and fixed wing pilot. She first met her Dutch husband in Maryland in 2005, and married him four years later.
