Thrift Shop & Yard Sale Guide
Vera's Tips for Hunting and Gathering
The prime directive of inexpensive reenacting is creative shopping. What is
creative shopping? The ability to see the Civil War era object hidden in the
modern item. Creative shopping requires research. Why? Because you must know
what you're looking for if you hope to find it in the wild. As in all good hunting
guides, Fannie and Vera send you out into the field prepared to track and capture
your wily prey.
Once you have perused the other helpful hints and timely tips at this site
you will have a basic idea of some of the items you need to create your persona.
The fiscally sound way to achieve your accouterments collection is in the steamy
jungles and wide-open plains of thrift shopping. Thrift, consignment and second
hand stores, yard and garage sales and rummage sales. The happy hunting ground
of the discount shopper. Think of it as low-cost antiquing.
Thrift, Consignment and Second Hand Stores
Of the three, thrift stores generally have the best prices. Get to know the
thrift stores in your town. Most have one day each month when everything in
the store is half price. Some have discounts one day per week or every weekend.
Others put up a notice of the daily special, often 50-75% off on everything
with a particular label. Spend time looking around and comparing the different
stores. Some have more house wares, while others only carry upscale clothing.
Look in the out of the way corners, under shelves, in nooks and boxes. Thrift
stores are a great source of sewing items. You can always find some boxes tucked
away with bias tape, hooks and eyes, buttons, wooden spools, laces and trims
for hats and shoes. Dig around; neatly of course, you will come home with a
lot of great stuff for very little money. Consignment stores can have wonderful
and unusual items, and although their prices are high, they are sometimes willing
to deal. Ask for a discount. Second Hand shops are a mixture of the thrift store
and the consignment shop.
Yard and Garage Sales
Yard sales are more of an iffy proposition. Some great finds can be made if
you have a lucky day. Once I was admiring some cute, handmade, teddy bear sized,
folding rocking chairs of a Civil War era style. I said to the gentleman who
made them I wished he had one in people size. Turned out he did and would part
with it for $25. Since then I have seen similar chairs at antique stores starting
at $60. The lesson here: be friendly, chat and ask questions. You never know
what might be hiding in the closet.
Yard sales come in four basic styles; estate sales, moving sales, baby gear
clearance and stuff overflow. Most newspapers print yard sale ads in the want
ads of the Friday and Saturday papers. Spend a few minutes looking for the tracks
of a promising sale. The best is the estate sale because there is a lot of stuff
to get rid of. Moving sales always have a number of things for sale and deserve
a look especially if they are in upper class neighborhoods. Any ad that starts
with the word baby should be avoided. Sales that highlight items such as 72
Vega, lazyboy that needs work or candles & crystals are unlikely to have
anything useful to the reenactor.
Church and Charity Rummage Sales
The original and best source of treasure hunting. With the advent of the garage
sale, rummage sales have lost some of their former glory. But they are still
a great place for the deals too good to be true. Be friendly and chatty, you
will get a better price in the end, plus the volunteers will often point out
an item you might have missed. There are two ways to shop at rummage sales.
Be the first one there to get the best stuff before its gone or wait until the
end and go for the $1 bag sale. Both have advantages. I have made some wonderful
buys in the $1 bag. Of course, the apex of hunting and gathering is coming home
with an array of reenactment gear all bought with the same dollar.
A Field Guide for the Creative Shopper
Lets start with clothing. First off, unless you are extremely lucky; it is
not likely that you will find an 1860's gown just waiting for you to trip over
it. Take heart. There are many ways to dress yourself for events with the help
of thrift shopping.
This is the best place to find material for petticoats. Find an all cotton
bed ruffle in white or solid color and make yourself a wonderful ruffled petticoat
following the instructions for our
$1, 1 hour petticoat. White cotton bed sheets make lovely plain
petticoats with an elastic or drawstring waist. Make one into a chemise. Bed
sheets also make dandy aprons and solid dark colors work well for these. Follow
the instructions for dandy drawers
to turn a pair of pillowcases into comfortable undergarments.
Look for white cotton shirts with big puffy sleeves. The sleeves can be cut
off and made into undersleeves.
Lace collars and crocheted collars can be found in the ‘nice’ dress section.
Just remove the dress and keep the collar. In the men's section, look
for the homespun style shirts that were popular in the past few years. If you
find a nice cotton men's shirt in a small stripe, check or plaid you can turn
it into a period shirt with a few simple modifications following our gentleman's
shirt instructions.
If you need a cape, then keep your eyes open for wool blankets. It will take
two blankets to make a full-length cape. Wool blankets in solid colors are useful
in camp on your bed or to cover up any farby gear. Check for natural fiber fabrics
in the sewing area. Sometimes you can find some large pieces. It is not impossible
to find enough for a complete dress, but you are more likely to find material
for shawls, wraps, throws,
carpet bags and totes. It never hurts to have an extra throw around the campsite.
They are ever so handy. Always keep in mind the colors and prints of the eras.
Do that research.
Hankies. You need them, lots of them, as they are one of the most useful
tools of a lady. Wave good-bye to your soldier boy and then wipe that tear.
You can "blood" stain them with blackberry give it to your soldier
for stanching his wounds. Test for gentlemen around you by dropping your hankie.
Nice plain white linen hankies, hankies with white lace or tatting, or if you
are in mourning a one inch black edging. They are cheap; get lots and share
with your friends.
Gloves. The nicer thrift stores have the best selection. Estates sales
are good too. Check our glove guidelines
Old furs can be used to make cuffs and collars as well as muffs. Granted,
most of our reenacting is done in the hottest months of the year, but don't
you want to look stunning at the winter ball?
Hats. Study the styles and then get creative. Hats and bonnets are an
under developed part of our outfits. Most were ornately decorated, but to a
fairly standard design. The hats found at thrift stores and yard sales can be
a good starting point. Keep your eyes open for well-made silk flowers, silk
ribbon and nice lace to decorate your bonnets. One source of lace, which is
now showing up at thrift stores, is the hand crafted lace fans and hearts. They
were all the rage a few years ago, but now are stale and dusty. Easily disassembled,
the lace can be hand washed in warm, soapy water and used to decorate your new
bonnet.
Jewelry can be had at very good prices. Mostly reproduction pieces,
but who wants to loose some valuable antique at a reenactment? The most important
advice of course is do some research. Brooches in cameo, jet, obsidian or locket
style are often seen. Decorative chains can be made into chatelaines. Bracelets,
earrings and necklaces are a bit harder to find but they are out there. Read
as much as you can about the topic before you shop.
Baskets are a great way to carry or hide your belongings and there is
a plethora of them at thrift stores. You might even come across that wicker
trunk large enough to put your ice chest in, I did.
Even
if you take Miss Vera's sound advice and never, ever cook a meal, you will still
need some kitchen gear. The first thing everyone needs is a cup. It is an anachronism
to be dressed ala 1860 and sit in camp swigging from a plastic bottle or aluminum
can. The soldiers have those wonderful, large metal cups that hold lots of ice
water or coffee. But how unlady-like! I suggest you get a nice teacup and saucer.
Make sure it's a period correct pattern and cup style.
Silver plate coffee or tea pots can be found fairly often at reasonable prices.
Plus they travel much better than porcelain.
You will also need a plate and silverware for meals. You may not be cooking
but somebody will. A nice white plate in a colonial style is a safe bet. Sometimes
you can find a nice period looking transfer ware design. These items are easy
to research as there are many books on dish and silverware collecting. Miss
Fanny is a bit clumsy and keeps breaking her china so she has chosen to outfit
herself with silver-plate bowls & chargers--an elegant, unbreakable solution
and most of the pieces were puchased for $1 each at thrift stores.
Other handy items are cheese crocks. These are the little brown or tan crocks
with a bail to keep the lid on. You can find them in small, medium and large
for 50 cents to $2. I see them at antique stores for $5 and up. They are great
storage for such as sugar, pickles, jelly or pate´ and look nice on the
camp table. Remember to remove the red, rubber ring before you set them out.
While you are looking, watch for some silver butter knives and little serving
tongs to use with your crocks.
Small wooden cutting boards, wooden serving bowls and silver plate salvers
are lovely ways to serve your luncheon. (see camp
safety - food). Avoid those pieces with a modern look. Wooden
bowls should not have a ring on the bottom. Look for the trencher style.
Now if you feel you must toss caution to the wind and cook in camp, then second
hand is the place to get your iron skillets. They turn up at thrift stores and
at yard sales with amazing regularity. Covers are a little harder to find, so
if you find a skillet or Dutch oven with the cover intact, grab it. Most times
they need to be cleaned up. An antique dealer once told me to use oven cleaner
to remove the grimy build up and it worked very well. If the pot is rusty, just
use the wire brush attachment of your power drill and it will be clean in no
time. Don't forget to season it before you start cooking.
Buckets
Every tent can use one or two. You can get a nice, metal pail in the paint
department of Wal-Mart for $10. Or you can hunt the yard sales. Most often you
will see a pail or small washtub sitting off to one side of the yard or buried
in the ivy. Ask. Most people will sell it to you for $1 or $5 for the bigger
sizes, especially if it's a moving sale. If you find it has a tiny hole in the
bottom you can repair it by threading a tiny bolt through the hole and securing
it with a tiny nut on the bottom. Or use a blob of JB Weld if the leak in on
a seam.
Tables, chairs and beds. Remember, everything you bring will be much
heavier and bulkier when packing up on Sunday afternoon. With that warning,
the easiest form of a table is a board over two barrels o
home made saw horses. Folding tables with wooden legs work well.
Don’t bring card tables with metal legs. It looks as bad as that soda
can.
Beds If you have your canvas tent floor you can throw a pad on
the ground and make it up with a few blankets and a quilt. Some people like
to sleep on cots. Old W.W.II wooden army cots are popular and if the modern
parts are well covered, they look pretty good. If you plan to bring an aluminum
cot, bring blankets enough to cover it up. Miss Fannie got to talking at one
yard sale and went home with an antique maple rope bed for free. Well sure,
she had to put it back together, but think how great itl looks in her tent.
Chairs Danish Modern was not a style much used in Civil
War era America. Period correct chairs are not that hard to find once you have
done the research. The Time Life book (its in the
reading list) has some great examples of period folding chairs. I
have found a number of 1860's camp photos that show men sitting in folding chairs
that look very, very much like the current day director chair. Some with canvas
covers, but most with seats and backs made from brocade upholstery fabric. I
have picked up some at a recent yard sale for 25 cents. The canvas is already
gone, saving me the effort of removal. I also have a few sling chair frames
that I got at thrift stores for 50 cent each. A long narrow strip of upholstery
fabric plus a bit of fringe if you like and you have yourself a chair not unlike
General Sheridan's.
Carpets Many reenactors like to bring an oriental carpet to spread
in their tent or under their fly. I have one under my fly and it is a great
way to keep small items from being lost in the grass as well as keeping grass
and dirt out of the tent. Mine of course, came from a yard sale. It was being
used as a surface to spread out items for sale. I offered them $5 for it and
they took it. Sure it's a little frayed at the edges and it was dirty; but I
rolled it out in the driveway and washed it with Ivory. Used a wet/dry vacuum
to clean it up and let it dry in the hot sun all day. It looks great now and
gives our set up a classy look.
Once you have your basic "house" set up in the "town" you
might feel the need for accessories. Wait until your second year so you have
a better idea of the direction your persona is taking. The goal is to have your
tent open for public viewing and therefore everything inside must be period
correct (or well hidden). The extra homey touches can include little things
such as books, candlesticks, a doll, a family bible or a framed picture. Grooming
items such as a pitcher and ewer, brush, comb and mirror set, jewelry or sewing
boxes. All of these can be found in a thrift store or yard sale.
Handbags / Carpet Bags
When you are ready for the next level of sewing for the cause, you might want
to tackle the carpetbag. To make one you will need to find a large gate mouth
bag and 1/2 yard of upholstery fabric. You will need the gate mouth frame and
if you get lucky the bag you find will have two leather handles just to make
your life easier. I looked for a gate mouth bag for 3 months with no luck, and
then in one Saturday safari found four.
Dress Forms
If you plan to sew your own fitted dresses and ball gowns, I recommend you
get a dress form. It will make fitting your dress immeasurably easier. I come
across nice, adjustable dress forms at yard sales once or twice a year. Thrifts
stores don't sell them; they keep them to display clothing. I have bought them
for $25 and $30. Before you buy, check to make sure the form will adjust to
your size. The first one I got was too small and I had to sell it and get another.
The Last Word
Why buy at thrift stores? Yes, it does save money and there is
the thrill of the hunt; but the best reason is the breakage factor. Reenacting
can be hard on your gear. Dishes get dropped. Silverware gets lost. A shade
fly falls down on windy days and busts up anything in their way. Really big
guys will sit on and break your fragile antique chair as soon as you walk over
to the sutlers. If you get your gear cheap then you can laugh at adversity.
If something breaks, ha! It only means you are off once again on the thrilling
hunt for the next perfect item at that unbelievable price.
*Thanks to our kindly reader, Barbara
Thomas of the 32nd Virginia Lady Beaureguards for
this tip!
I would like to mention that there is an eBay
category for Reenactment items, and the occasional bargain is to be had. I just
purchased two sets of boys clothes (short pants, jacket, shirt, stockings) for
an excellent price. But as with all purchases, the buyer must be wary, as there
are many items for sale that are not remotely period, and there are some sutlers
of questionable ethics auctioning items that can be purchased for less at events.
On eBay, reenactment items are specifically listed under Collectibles: Militaria:
Civil War: Reenactment-Reproduction. However, if you have the time to spare,
you kind find all sorts of things in various categories: metal buttons, sewing
notions, wooden toys, blankets, dishes, eyeglasses, collars....really just about
anything and everything you need. Just remember to factor in shipping costs
when you bid on an item. eBay does list the regional location of each seller,
so if there are, say, two bowls of equal interest to you, you can bid on the
one in a neighboring state, instead of the one in Europe.
