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Current news about Auctions, Books, Events, Rummage Sales, Second Hand Shopping, Thrift Stores, Miscellany.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN PLUS COSTUME SOURCES!

Did you realize that Halloween is second only to Christmas in popularity? And that it had its roots more than 2500 years ago when the Celts, a northern England cult, celebrated the end of each harvest with a huge feast and celebration? Originally more like Thanksgiving, the Celts dressed in elaborate costumes and celebrated the departure of local souls. Later, after Christianity spread throughout that area, this festival which occurred on Nov. 1 became known as "All Hallows Day" and the evening before celebration became known as "All Hallows Eve," which was eventually shortened to "Halloween."

Halloween parties became a ritual in America during the 1880’s and ‘90’s with almost everything homemade. It was not until 1910 that Americans began commercially creating such Halloween decorations as games, Halloween recipes and paper goods.

Halloween Collectibles. A 1950’s plastic manufacturer began making candy containers in black and orange which were meant for holding lollipops and other candies. He later added jack o’lanterns, black cats, witches, pumpkins and more. One of the most valuable is the witch-on-a-motorcycle which can sell for $500. And the least expensive candy baskets are valued over $18. Yet these are indeed scarce as many did not survive the activities of Halloween. Jack ’O Lanterns have always been popular and during the harvest in the old days, they were constructed of mainly fruits and vegetables, such as large turnips. As Europeans migrated here, they used American pumpkins in place of carved turnips.

It wasn’t until 1912 that Jack ‘O Lanterns were constructed of a plaster-like material. Later, manufacturers used papier mache and in the 1950’s, plastic emerged. Collectors can find unusual items ranging from $50 to over $1,000. Other popular collectibles are Halloween postcards (all the way up to $125+), vintage costumes, and party decorations. One of the best places to find Halloween collectibles is in thrift stores. (Check your local yellow pages under "thrift stores" or search our San Diego County thrift store locations on our web site)

The same is true for Halloween costumes; however, that will take lots of time and effort yet the rewards may outweigh buying or renting costumes from local retail stores. What costumes or masks are popular this year? According to an www.buycostumes.com, masked revelers this year "prefer Bush over Kerry" for Halloween masks. BuyCostumes.com goes on to say that Halloween sales figures from manufacturers, national store chains and its own efforts have accurately picked the last six presidential elections! If their predictions remain accurate, Bush will get a second term in office.  Other popular masks include Bill Clinton, Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell.

San Diego-based costumers report popularity in Spider Man, pirates, Egyptian costumes, California’s governor Ronald Swartzenegger, zoot suits and period costumes from the 1970’s. We found a huge variety of costumes at www.BuyCostumes.com  at reduced prices but we urge Halloween party-goers to start buying now as we noted many of the popular costumes are already on back order. Enjoy yourself and have a fun and safe Halloween! Also, see special HALLOWEEN EVENTS under our Events Calendar.

Sacramento, CA -- Miscellany: Governor Schwarzenegger’s two-day California Garage Sale drew the attention of over 1,000 bargain hunters, earning the state over $40,000+ which includes ebay’s big-ticket items of jewelry, camcorders, digital cameras and a 1995 Mustang.

Escondido, CA -- The Escondido, CA City Council, on a 4-1 vote on Sept. 22, agreed to limit the number of businesses in the East Valley Parkway area that cater to low-income customers in the hopes of revitalizing the commercial strip there. The list of prohibited businesses includes pawn shops, check-cashing outlets, 99-cent stores, swap meets, thrift stores, resale shops and equipment sales and rental outfits. Social service agencies are also prohibited from distributing goods or services but could have administrative offices in the area.

While the Council may be well-meaning, to assume that a thrift or resale shop exclusively attracts low-income buyers is unfounded. Many vintage buyers and collectors frequent these shops; however, to assume that low-income buyers are an unwanted part of society--certainly unwanted in the East Valley Parkway/Escondido area--may be indicative, in our opinion, of discrimination. We thought that laws like this were meant for alledgedly unsavory businesses -- such as poronograhic parlors, strip joints, "body bars," and the like.

This vote sadly lumps quality thrift stores and resale shops in with that group -- an image many of these businesses have been fighting for years. We wonder if any of the Council members who voted favorably on this issue have recently visited such thrift stores as the Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul or Goodwill Industries. These stores and many of Escondido’s resale shops sell quality items at fair or low prices -- a needed commodity in today’s economy. We urge you to contact every Council member (other than Tom D’Agosta who cast the lone vote against this measure), to tell them how discrimnatory this ban really is at these addresses: rnewman@ci.escondido.ca.us (Ron Newman) egallo@ci.escondido.ca.us (Ed Gallo); mwaldron@ci.escondido.ca.us (Marie Waldron); lpfeiler@ci.escondido.ca.us (Lori Holt Pfeiler-Mayor).

San Diego, CA -- Rummage Sale News: Sadly, after 57 years, the La Jolla Congregational Church cancelled its annual Rummage Sale. It is always difficult for churches to retain volunteer workers year in and year out, especially as many are aging. We will contact the Church again next year to see if this is only a temporary cancellation.

RUMMAGE SALE NEWS (San Diego, CA)

There are really two seasons for Rummage Sales in San Diego -- the Spring, when the Thursday Club hosts its Balboa Park Sale and the Fall, when St. James-By-The-Sea rolls out the red carpet for their La Jolla sale. In between, of course, there are other sales -- some medium-sized and some fairly small. Nevertheless, the largest is the Thursday Club, followed by the St. James sale.

Every year we have tried to visit these sales earlier than the previous year -- in order to give you, our web site visitor, an advance look at what is being sold. St. James-By-The-Sea always has a good sale and this year, they opened up the book sale on Sept. 14th due to the quantity and quality of books on hand. Personally speaking, I was a little disappointed. I do not believe it is beneficial for St. James to research books on the Internet or ask book dealers about collectible books and then price them around $20 or more. After all, this is a "rummage sale." Men and women participating in the book sale are looking for bargains -- not books priced at 50% of a bookseller’s retail value. And we also think that charging $2.00 for a hardback book is too high as well. Every other sale charges $1.00. We noticed that this year the prices were up not only in the book section but in the collectibles area as well. Yet, in defense of St. James it is a "see saw" kind of thing. Some prices are up, others are down. So one could say it all balances out. St. James-By-The-Sea must take care that they do not price themselves out of the market -- simply because the sale is in La Jolla where "everything" is higher than anywhere else. That being said, we saw lots of neat stuff in the antiques’ area: two oak dressers (one was probably a buffet), both with mirrors. The buffet was in excellent shape. The price? $1200. And the oak dresser was priced low, in our opinion, at only $450. Scattered throughout this area are chairs, lots of jewelry, ethnic items, silver, glassware, and such unusual items as a complete Samovar and a pair of old boots with metal "pull ups" and a Spanish helmet. That’s one thing we have noticed about St. James year in and year out. Lots of unusual, collectible items.

The artwork was not as good as it has been but we saw two rolled originals, one of a raccoon, that we suspect are very valuable. Lots of frames and original oils. One exceptional oil, located behind the jewelry. (And remember, St. James hosts their 5th Annual Presale Party on Thursday, Sept. 16th Sept. 16 where everything will be on sale with a $10 admission cost + 20% premium between 5 and 7 PM.)

Across the street from the antiques’ section is the main hall, which is full of the usual rummage sale items: household goods, quality clothing, Christmas items (front entrance), shoes, computers, and more. Children’s clothing and toys are located on the upper stage, above the computers and electrical goods. St. James is very good in the household area (pots, pans, dishes, appliances). They test almost all electricals so that means you can be sure you are buying something in working condition. This is a fabulous sale for anyone who needs any kind of household merchandise -- from a George Foreman grill to toasters. The sale is located in the heart of La Jolla at: 743 Prospect St., La Jolla, CA. (858) 459-3421. 9 AM - 2 PM Sept. 17 & 18.

CITY OF SAN DIEGO RECYCLING EVENTS

Recycle Old Tech Gear! Looking for a place to "download" your computer, monitor, TV’s or other electronic gear? The City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Division in cooperation with the County of San Diego will host a recycling day for those who live in the unincorporated areas such as Jamul, Lakeside, Spring Valley and Fallbrook. (If you live in an incorporated area outside the city of San Diego, for example San Marcos, Santee, El Cajon, National City, Vista, Carlsbad or Oceanside, you are ineligible for this program.)

Acceptable items include:Computer processing units (limit of five each), TV’s and computer monitors (limited to five each), printers, keyboards, mice and speakers.

Unacceptable items include: stereos, VCRs, copiers, telephone answering machines, cell phones, household hazardous waste, microwave and toaster ovens, fax machines, TV remotes and uninterruptible power supplies with batteries, and other small household applidances and electronic devices. These items are not accepted due to funding limitations; some recycling centers accept them for a fee. For more information., visit: http://www.sannet.gov/environmental-services/recycling/pdf/brochure.pdf or refer to Recycling & Reuse, San Diego on our website.

South Bay -- Oct. 2 Free Residential TV & Computer Recycling Event (Scheduling of appointments began Sept. 7; sign up right away as the City may close the event early if they quickly reach 500 participants). Event will be held at Southwest High School South Parking Lot, 1685 Hollister St., San Diego, CA 92154. 9 AM - 1 PM.  Open to residents in the cities of Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, National City, San Diego and the unincoporated areas of the County of San Diego. Appointments are required; call (858) 694-7000. 

Residents of cities located in the incorporated areas of the County of San Diego have separate electronics recycling facilities and will not be included in the upcoming electronics recycling events. Excluded cities are Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Coronado, Del Mar, El Cajon, Encinitas, Escondido, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, National City, Oceanside, Poway, San Marcos, Santee, Solana Beach, and Vista.

For more information on Residential Electronics Recycling Events, call ESD’s Customer Service at (858) 694-7000. Electronics Recycling Events are funded by a grant from the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB). All electronics dropped off will be recycled by Clean Harbors, the City’s contractor.

San Diego is a beautiful place, and people flock here to live, work and play, attracted by our natural resources. But everyone living, working, and playing here creates mounds of trash… over seven pounds per person per day. With a population of over 1.2 million, that adds up fast… to nearly 9 million pounds a day, or about 1.68 million tons annually. At this rate of waste disposal, the City's only landfill, the Miramar Landfill, will likely be filled to capacity and close in 2012. Unless we all work together to reduce and recycle our garbage we could trash the unique beauty of San Diego and risk squandering our tax dollars to pay fines of up to $10,000 per day for failure to meet California’s 50 percent waste diversion mandate.

So how will these wasteful ways impact our great city? San Diegans throw out enough recyclables to:

• pile in Petco Park, from infield to outfield… from dugout to nosebleeds, five times over each year. shorten the life of the landfill by seven months every year. risk our city being fined $10,000 per day by the State.

• waste resources needed to sustain future generations.

To maintain San Diego’s great quality of life, we need to work together. What can we do to avoid trashing San Diego?

• Facts About California’s Major Recycling Laws

• Get more information about recycling and the environment

Office Depot will begin accepting these items through Sept. 6: cell phones, monitors, keyboards, cell phones, mice, printers, scanners, desktop copiers, fax machines, TVs and TV/VCR combinations with screens 27" or smaller. One item per day can e dropped off at Office Depot stores. Hewlett Packard will do the actual recycling. For more information: http://www.officedepot.com/recycle.

Best Buy’s Mission Valley Store will accept computers, monitors, fax machines, inkjet cartridges, TV’s, stereo equipment, VCRs, DVDs, cell phones and rechargeable batteries from Oct. 15-16. (Unacceptable items include air conditioners, dehumidifiers, large appliances, smoke detectors and microwave ovens.) Best Buy charges $10 for recycling monitors and TVs up to 27" and $20 for TVs larger than that. Information: http://www.bestbuy.com. Look for company information, click on "Community Relations, then click on "recycling."