Call me lucky.



A midcentury modern Farberware toaster finds a new use
because using it as a toaster would have been disgusting (read story for details).

 Half of my house is furnished by a toney shop in an upscale college town. That would include the hammered, hand-burnished copper top dining room table, the loveseat called Baby Grand for its piano-like shape, the black leather coach and wrought iron coffee table. Five thousand dollars worth of furniture, all of it beautiful.

The rest of my furniture comes from Goodwill or Sal's (of Army fame), junk shops, and garage sales and, frankly, I like that stuff even better. Not because nothing cost more than fifty bucks. It's the thrill of the chase, the adrenaline rush of finding a perfect mid-century modern (MCM) sectional couch or an entire set of American Limoge Triumph china with the 50s pattern known as Bermuda.

Do you want to know where I live and shop?

I'll never tell. I'm not trying to be mean but please understand that one of the great advantages of living where I live is that it's a rare day I walk into a thrift store and find myself competing with some version of me, or a Brooklynite hipster trolling for an MCM fiberglass lampshade. When I'm on the hunt, the only shoppers are old guys looking for power tools, and big, loud families in search of cheap clothes. Like I said, I'm lucky.

In the case of the Farberware toaster, however, I guess I was only half-lucky: fortunate to find this old beauty with its fake woodgrain and sleek typeface ($6) but not-so-fortunate because when I fired it up it smelled like old men, dirty socks and stinky basement. I didn't worry (much) until I tasted the toast itself and guess what it tasted like? Yeah, you got it. Blech. But I had to figure out a way to work this cool piece into my life, and I did. What do you think? (BTW, I just found this toaster on ebay for $68. Presumably, it doesn't smell.)

I'll be regularly posting my finds. I look forward to hearing about your favorite thrift shop scores.

Happy Goodwill hunting!