<p>I found something today that I won’t get rid of and I’m confessing here but y’all wont’ talk me out of it anyway. I was going through a box of pictures I had taken from my mom’s house after she passed and I found her war rations book from when she was 5 years old. There were still some ration stamps in it. I showed it to my S and he said “You’re not throwing that away, are you?” and I said “No way!” </p>
<p>No, you should not!
I have two falling apart scrapbooks that my mother kept during the war. Both kids took into their middle school and their high school classes. They are graphic and disturbing. All of their teachers thanked me for sharing.
Where do they go next? WW2 has become a think of the past for many.
I also have a creamer that my father took from Hitler’s summer home. One teacher was awed. I believe my father did bring it from Germany but is it of worth either monetarily or for a museum and how would I research this?
I did some and I think it is from a hotel that Hitler visited. It is the type of pottery that I could get images on line to view.
SO! just saying that getting rid of the lawn chairs in not in the same league as you mother’s ration book or my mother’s WW2 scrapbooks.
Still–who does keep this forever more. There is the ?</p>
<p>Agree with thumper about the plastic, bookworm. Wrap them in acid free tissue to protect them from dirt or the sheets suggested by oregon101.</p>
<p>My mom found a ration book from her childhood when cleaning her mother’s house out years ago, 2016BarnardMom. She was so excited about it and then she misplaced it and fretted over it for all her remaining years. Put yours in a safe place and tell your kids where it is 
</p>
<p>I actually love the idea of framing the one’s that have the most sentimental value. I have some framed colorful hand work from Mexico that I love. </p>
<p>Last night we said goodbye to 2,685 pounds. The car that has been in limbo in our driveway for almost a year, is gone. I’ll be happy to move back into clearing out the inside of the house. Those decisions are much, much easier.</p>
<p>If we are weighing our purging, that likely wins!!</p>
<p>Yard sale has been a good success today. Lots of nothing that has amounted to about $160 in my pocket. What doesn’t sell goes to the local church rummage sale next wel.</p>
<p>Did you sell or recycle the car? My sister has a car that HAS to go! I keep telling her to just junk it and be done!</p>
<p>Congratulations on making money on your yard sale. Were there types of things that people seemed particularly interested in buying?</p>
<p>We junked it. A comedy of errors - it needed a working battery to even see if it would drive. So once a battery was put in, the trans fluid was leaking - so it needed some to even drive - then the brake fluid was spewing out, and the oil leaked, and the guys lifted it to look at fixing the brake lines but it was so corroded and rusted and fragile, they were afraid the $160ish job was going to become over $600 for one small part of the car. And she (Mom) doesn’t drive anymore! (And I wouldn’t feel safe sending my kids out in the car, even “fixed”.) So we drove it literally 200 yards and parked it in a big parking lot - because the brakes didn’t work at all!. H called 4 junking places, picked one and they came the same day. It saved mom (really us) from another registration ($99), insurance ($186) and emissions test cycle, just to have it sit around, unused. Anyone need a brand new battery that was used for 2 starts? lol.</p>
<p>Sevmom, while I don’t want to encourage anyone here to hang onto things (defeats the purpose of this thread!) , I’m always surprised at the stuff people want. I fold all the clothing items - mostly either stuff of my daughters (age16) or mine- on a table and put a sign out “clothes, .50/piece” - always goes like mad. 30-40 pieces of clothes and that’s $20. Kitchen items go. My H put out extra small tools. Organization stuff, bulletin boards. We had an old lawnmowers that leaked some oil - GONE. Several baskets (of course! Look at my name!) </p>
<p>What really helped was that a few other neighbors also had sales - so good traffic and a picture perfect day. Things that men always ask for: records, fishing items, tools, clocks. I had 2 clocks - one old one that didn’t work and One 80’s wall clock- both gone!</p>
<p>As someone who embroiders and quilts, I would hang on to the linens and find a way to repurpose them. Pillows, wall hangings, framed, etc. You may be able to find someone who could do this for you. The cousin I just visited has a family quilt from 1837. I have two quilts that I thought my grandmother had made in the 30s – found out while talking to my dad’s sisters last week that my great-grandmother made them out of all the kids’ old clothes (which is why my search for 30s vintage fabrics was not coming up with anything close to the fabrics in these quilts). </p>
<p>Scrapbooks and ration coupons are historical info. My MIL and BIL had the sense to hang on to old family documents even though they thought they were useless. I have discovered relatives from DH’s side from those docs that I never would have found otherwise (they were from small shtetls in Galicia).</p>
<p>psychmama, I think that 2685 lbs. counts as more than one bag!</p>
<p>^^she could be done for the year, unless she wants to add a few more bags to win the Biggest Bagger bragging rights. :)</p>
<p>Countingdown, I also have quilts that my great-grandmother made, in the 1880s. They are crazy quilts made out of old silk ties, silk ribbons, and so forth. Unfortunately they are very dirty and tattered; many of the silk patches have rotted through the years. I know a nearby textile restoration workshop that could greatly improve the condition, but I expect rehab-ing the quilts would cost me thousands.</p>
<p>So I just hang on to them and hope to win the lottery one day.</p>
<p>Thanks, abasket. I haven’t had a yard sale for years but I do remember one guy showing up very early and asking if we had any old records. We do but told him we weren’t interested in parting with them. Now we have tons of old records, CD’s etc. Nobody probably wants old cassettes or VHS tapes anymore I would imagine. I’m holding on to old wooden puzzles, tons of Legos, Brio, books, etc. but neither son seems anywhere near marrying or having children any time soon (oldest and his GF of almost 3 years broke up recently) so hope they figure that out before we truly need to downsize!</p>
<p>Our local Goodwill will take VHS tapes still. This might vary by region of the country. However, we have taken a lot of our old tapes to Goodwill recently, and I think they will be put to use by someone.</p>
<p>Thanks, QM.</p>
<p>I put a bunch of VHS tapes in our sale - .25 cents each. About half of them disappeared. </p>
<p>14 boxes out in the trash today. None of them from the garage, though.</p>
<p>I have been inspired by this thread to do some off and on purging since January. Now that the school year is done though, I’m kicking it into a higher gear and just got back from dropping off 6 bags of clothes, shoes, etc. at the Salvation Army. Working on a batch of stuff to send to local auction house. There are some things that I just can’t bring myself to give away, but after I drop the stuff off there, I don’t care if I get $5.00 or $50.00. I just let it go and remind myself that it is easier that way than having a garage sale </p>