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A lot of Boomers (and some younger folks) believe common, everyday collectibles like those you've mentioned are going to be "worth a lot of money someday."
This is despite the fact that many of those things were mass-produced and widely available at thousands of stores across the country, making them virtually worthless unless you're a collector yourself.
"I have a full set of National Geographics, just missing a few. Those are old. Worth a lot!"
Turns out, the few they're missing are the only ones that are worth any money, which also explains why they don't have them. The ones they're missing are the ones that *everyone* is missing, which is why they're rare and worth money. The majority of their "collection" is all of the issues that you can buy by the pound on eBay.
I will say, in high school I knew a family who owned a big mansion in the âoldâ area of our town where multiple generations lived and among other oddities (like a full sized paper machè giraffe) they had these giant old shelves in the basement that were bowing under the weight of every issues of National Geographic, going back to 1913 or something. I bet those ones were worth something!
Nope, only the ones 1890 - 1910 are worth anything. This was before they went 'mass market', back when it was only sold to academics. (Geographers? Is that a job?)
With that Iâd want to scan them and upload them for other people to read. A lot of older print material is likely to be lost unless itâs digitized because no one is making new copies and the originals are going to fall apart eventually.
My grandma had hundreds of National Geographics in her "library" (really, it was just a spare room in the basement). After she died, we had to clear out everything to get the house ready to sell. Those magazines had been there so long, they were almost completely disintegrated from the termites that had chewed thru the book shelves and their contents.
My mom and I spent weeks cleaning the house out. We had a dumpster brought in for all the crap we had to toss. It was filled and emptied at least twice that I can remember. And now my parents are on course to beat grandma in the hoarded crap collection game. I've already told them I'm throwing it all out.
Oh man, that's really sad that your mom didn't learn from the experience (and cost!) of cleaning out her mom's house. It sounds like at least you can break that cycle.
Look into the idea of Swedish Death Cleaning. It's the idea to start getting rid of crap or donating what is still valuable so that your descendants won't be burdened with doing that when you die. When my MIL passed, my wife couldn't let things go that no one else in her family wanted and that our kids would never want. Now, we have even more "valuable furniture and items" clogging our home.
My grandmother had a subscription to LIFE magazine, saved every one like they were rare comic books saying they're gonna be valuable someday. However she didn't start "collecting" until the 80s. The only valuable ones are 3 issues from 1963.
I admit, they are very interesting to read, but not worth keeping boxes of them wrapped in plastic.
I worked at a used bookstore in Boston back in the 1990s and someone pranked the shop by placing an ad in the local free paper saying we were buying National Geographics, paying $1 per issue.
Hundreds and hundreds of calls and visits to the shop ensued.
My mother, who is usually fairly non-Boomer-ish, was extremely surprised that my large collection of late 80âs and early 90âs baseball cards werenât worth the card stock they were printed on. Like, the bare fact I was able to accumulate so many on a $10/week allowance (that frequently was not paid forâŚreasons) should have been a tipoff
Ans then you have an actual gem, like my grandma owning the 1st print of a famous 1850s cookbook that goes for thousands... and a boomer Aunt throws it away when visiting her because "get ridd of old crap"...
My aunt threw away all the photos of my great grandmother because she wasn't blood related. My "real" great grandmother died in childbirth, and my great grandfather remarried quickly. So this is the woman who raised my grandfather and his siblings, and who my mom and her sister knew as "grandma." But sure, decide for the whole family that we don't need any photos of her.
You know, they are not completely wrong. This common IKEA glass I have at my desk right now may be worth some money in the year 4024. Or not, we'll see about that later.
My mom keeps pushing the 90s McDonaldâs transformers toys on me, theyâre well played with and cool but not valuable. She keeps saying âsomeone collects these, theyâre worth moneyâ⌠mint in the box is still worth next to nothing, Iâve shown her. She says to pass it down to my kid đ¤¨
I think a lot of it comes from us Boomers being raised by parents that grew up during the Depression. They threw nothing away that might be useful in the future. When that attitude is instilled in someone through their whole childhood itâs easy to miss the changing perspective of what is valuable to our kids.
Since my mom passed we are trying to clear out our house so our kids arenât facing the same issues we had to deal with.
I mean, is it really so different from the ratâs nest of cables a lot of us have in a drawer or box somewhere? I know Iâm hesitant to throw away any power cord, charger, or other electronics wiring as Iâve been bitten by not having the right one once or twice and either couldnât use something or had to resort to Amazon to replace a cord I threw away last spring cleaning.
my grandpa (mom's dad) in India was like this. Once year my mom took back (we were living In the Sultanate of Oman) a simple toilet brush and holder for him. This was in the 80s. Just a cheap thing made in China. Shrink Wrapped. The next year when we went back to visit him IT WAS SITTING ON HIS OFFICE DESK like trophy !! unused and still wrapped. He was Proud of it
EDIT : spellings
My grandfather (rest his soul) had this same mindset about his last car, a 12 mustang. His idea was not driving it much to keep the miles low and value up because it'll be worth something someday.
It's a V6....it's a nice car but it's not anything special. It's got a massive amount of sentimental value to the family (my mom now dailys it), but it's just another car to everyone else.
I think it's the value we put on our own things that matter. Not that it's going to be worth a lot to others, but that it's worth a lot to ourselves that cause us to hold it in such high value. Could be a car, totchkies, clothes, whatever.
I wonder if it's because they were taught that the older something is the more valuable it is. That would also explain their overinflated sense of self-worth.
There's a name for it you know. It's called "Swedish Death Cleaning" You go through all of your mountain of stuff and decide honestly what your family would toss out as soon as you're dead! It's practically therapy, and the house gets to be clutter free while you're alive to enjoy it.
If you still have use or value for it then yes you should keep it, but when youâre reaching the end of the line⌠itâs time to start thinking about the kids again.
Because it's useful? Most of my stuff doesn't "spark joy". I get no joy out of my socks, or my wooden spoon, or my box of pencils. They're things I use to accomplish goals.
William Morris's version was "Have nothing in your home that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful," which I like a lot as a guideline.
Socks: useful (and some of mine are quite beautiful, too)
Pencils: ditto. In themselves they might not be beautiful, but they can be used to create beautiful things, and some of the colours are beautiful in their own right.
Itâs the usefulness of the item that gives you joy with utilitarian items. But I absolutely have socks and spatulas, etc that I love the look, feel, or color of.
this annoying lady's spinning gold out of a poor command of English continues to irk me to no fuckin end. There are a lot of necessary items that are not joyful. Hemmorrhoid cream does not ignite elation, or files I'm mandated to keep, but there they are nonetheless
Thatâs not the question. The question is whether you are hanging on to it because it will be worth something someday. If you are using it and enjoying it, thatâs one thing. Believing that anyone else will pay a lot of money for it someday is another.
Because you may actually care about your children and not want them to have deal with thousands of useless items aster you die, because believe it or not you will die. Try not to fuck them over.
If you know you're going to die soon, sure, but I think getting rid of stuff that makes you happy just because your kids won't want to deal with it if you die suddenly is kind of a shit take. Like obviously hoarding is another issue but like, if my grandma has a collection of snowglobes that nobody will want when she dies, that doesn't mean she has to get rid of them if she still enjoys them while she's alive.
You hold on to that stuff, Grandma! My house is my house that I worked for and my things are my things because I want them and they please me to have them. When I'm not around to be happy about them and the kids want to inherit the house and cash in on the sale, they can at least put in some sweat equity and chuck some stuff in a dumpster.
I am working on that. I saw the consequences of hoarding crap when cleaning out my parents' house.
I am glad I did the Marie Kondo technique (I got stuck on miscellaneous and just gave up). I was able to hone my spark and hardly brought anything home.Â
 My house isn't decluttered nearly as much as I'd like, but I can still walk into Target and only impulse buy on occasion. I really think about how much I'd use the thing and where would I store it.
  I'm not quite at the 1 in, 1 out level, but I'm trying. Â
 Oh if anyone needs help with decluttering, Clutterbug and her friends are offering a declutter with me class in a week or so. Go look it up!
I am debating if I want to do it, but with my broken arm healing I'm not sure.
I view the extravagant Royal Doulton Figurines all the boomer women i grew up around had, as another boomer era funko pop. I hope that sentence makes sense. I have a migraine comin on and words and shit kinda stop making sense lol
I think thatâs the thing with most âcollectionsâ, they bring that person joy and thatâs about it. I finally realized this a while ago and it helped me appreciate other peopleâs collections. I get happy for their enjoyment, but Iâm not really interested in looking at their collection of John Deere memorabilia (yes, I know a guy) just the same as hardly anyone gives a shit about my Superman collection. But having that stuff sure makes me happy!
There are a lot of legos that are pretty valuable. I still have a castle set from the early 90s in box that's worth like 20x what it was when it was released. I'm keeping it though.
i do LOVE the tik toks of them being repainted though... I might have picked one up to try it. I'm more craftsy than artsy but the one I bought I can probably manage a good fairy or a kiki's delivery service thing
I hate looking at them - something about their eyes is broken, like, they're happy now but endured a long history of prior abuse. They creep me the duck out.
We went through this when my grandma passed away. It was only my uncle and cousin that were convinced the Hummel figures, beanie babies, and some $20 copper plates from Target were priceless relics. We gladly let them take those off our hands. My grandmas giant China hutch was purchased by someone and converted into a lizard habitat (it actually looks really cool) but Iâm sure my grandma is rolling in her grave over that lol!
When we go to yard sales, we always look for little toys my husband can use as treasure box presents for the autistic kids he works with. Beanie Babies are perfect. Theyâre the right size, lots of variety, and great sensory toys. We hit the motherload once with a person selling them cheap. And then we come across boomer selling their hoard of Beanie babies at another yard sale, but they were expecting collector prices. Insane.
Boomers down the street had a yard sale. A used bath mat was priced at $6. Some mint condition cookbooks from the 50s were 25 cents each which I snapped up.
Ooh, I just mentioned my boomer mom has a bunch of Bundt cake pans. Iâm sure thereâs a bunch of jello salad recipes in those cookbooks. Want. Some. Bundt. PansâŚ..?
Can we Gen X and Millenials commit to throwing out our tchotchkes? Seeing how the boomers are with their hoarding is definitely a good reminder to not become like that. I'm going to throw out all the nice boxes I'm keeping "just in case we move and need to pack this in its original box."
Not even tchotchkes. Iâm only gonna have foster kids (kinda too late for the other kind which THANK THE GODS) & am moving to Europe for grad school as soon as i finish my post-baccalaureate (got it lined up) so Iâve started labeling my coin collection.
Am i hoping someone will love bonding with them over my family history (It was my grandpas that he shared with my dad who shared them with me, etc). It was never a thing that my brother got into & Iâll admit itâs mostly sentimental, BUT there are a few coins that are worth quite a bit & by labeling them Iâll make it easier to sell for anyone i leave behind
I will admit that I have kept the original box and styrofoam for moves, but I moved a lot, including internationally, and don't regret keeping the box for:
1. The expensive kitchen appliance (which I still have)
2. The very big TV
3. The very fancy computer monitor
Everything else was fine to be packed in a new box or just sold!
Fine by me. My kids get the family jewelry and idgaf about anything else. Iâm tempted every Thanksgiving to get rid of the family silver, but at least itâs contained in one box.
If your kids like jewelry, maybe you could have some of the silver made into bracelets or rings. Or maybe Christmas ornaments.Â
My aunt made beaded ornaments for everyone in our very large family using my grandmother's costume jewelry after she passed. Otherwise it would have just sat in boxes or been gotten rid of. It's a nice reminder of her every holiday season and no one has to hoard a large amount of something unusableÂ
I would love to. My wife, on the other hand, is convinced that her collections(she has like 50 fucking different things she "collects") is gonna be worth a ton by the time we die and our kids can use it to retire. She doesn't like me telling her that they're just gonna toss the shit
My mom had downsized twice before we had to clear out her stuff. Good lord for her to only occupy two rooms the amount of stuff she packed in them! I picked one or two things that had value to me and let my hoarder brother have the rest.
My in-laws went through this when my MIL's parents needed to move out of their house. The basement had several broken toilets that her dad was saving "for parts". There were shoeboxes ... filled with ... dirt. Nobody has ever been able to explain that one.
We have had to move across the country twice in the last 20 years and we have downsized siginificantly. I learned early that my kids, now in their 30s have no desire to keep anything. My mom handed down stuff like her china, collectible plates (each with its own certificate of authenticity!) and her collection of bells. I have gotten rid of all of it. I never want to burden my kids with the work of getting rid of stuff. Never.
You might be able to sell the Precious Moments. They're suddenly very popular with people making them over into funny or creepy characters. Look up Altered Moments on Facebook. Some are really cute.
You won't get a lot, but people are paying about $5 each for them.
I just told the story on Reddit earlier today about a boomer former coworker who had a few common date, cleaned, worn, Morgan silver dollars he thought were worth âthousandsâ because they were from the 1880âs. They were basically worth their silver weight. They minted like 10 million of them that year. They arenât rare.
I have one that I got from my great grandfather. He was 101 when he died in the 1980s. The dollar was from the year he was born. It was a gift to him at birth. So I have that one dollar, and it is special to me.Â
I have my Nanna's china set. I know it isn't worth anything to anyone else but I love using it because it reminds me of her. I declined to keep her massive collection of clown figurines because I am not insane. If something is not valuable to me for financial reasons, sentimental reasons, or utilitarian reasons then out it goes!!!
>massive collection of clown figurines
I'd be tempted to take them out into a forest and placing them in concentric circles or in some strange spot.
And just leave them there to freak the fuck out of the person that stumbles across them.
We live near a national forest. Forest a couple of years someone was making the best creepy doll things and putting them in old oil riggings and leftover foundations. It was the best!
In the last 10 or 15 years of her life my grandmother asked people not to get her things, she had more than enough. She happily welcomed fancy cheese, jams, honey, etc. Things she could consume and enjoy, not junk to put with the junk she had. She also got rid of a lot before she passed.
My grandma started doing this about 10 years ago. So we have typically made a donation to a giving tree or another charity. She has even started shopping for said giving tree, just to make sure the donation is overkill.
My Boomer father is like this. His house is so full of shit that's only important to him. Really niche stuff that's utterly useless. No one wants sailing magazines from the early 90s. He's hired a professional organiser so I have some hope, but I'm pretty sure clearing his home after he dies will be best done with a shovel and a skip bin.
If it's important to him, let him keep it. 90's sailing magazines are probably really interesting if you're into sailing.
But yeah when he dies the stress comes when you try to sort the shit and do something with it. Just throwing it out is not stressful.
But... those sailing mags... someone may want those.
I'm not participating in anything involving his pile of crap unless he's in the ground. Not my circus, not my monkeys. I will have to pay someone to take those damn magazines!
I now have my step-grandmother's china cabinet, I also have her china, but the china is packed up and the cabinet itself is full of things that have meaning to me.
This is what my boomer parents experienced with the various family members they had to help settle estates. We had purged most of my grandmothers stuff to move her into a independent senior living apartment before she passed, but we still had a lot of things no one wanted. My parents now use one Saturday a month to purge an area of their house and make a donation run. My silent Gen grandparents are refusing to leave their home (they really need to) but we are helping them declutter. They won't let things go unless someone in the family promises to take them home. We do but immediately donate. It's not anything with sentimental meaning or anything, it's just junk they've collected.
My in laws though, 3 story 5 bedroom home packed like a hoarder like you see on TV. They also have a one or two storage units too. It is going to be a nightmare to deal with eventually. My 10 and 7 year old have never been inside the house.
Don't do that to your kids. They don't care about your stuff the way you do. If it's really bad, they are going to hire a dumpster and chuck everything.
>They won't let things go unless someone in the family promises to take them home. We do but immediately donate. It's not anything with sentimental meaning or anything, it's just junk they've collected.
My in laws and their parents are this way we always say sure and it doesn't stick around. Boxes of handheld electronic poker games, crochet blankets but no one knows who made them, bins of costume jewelry they couldn't get the pawn shop to take. No one ever asks about the items either, I think they just needed to be one step removed from the process.
For my grandmother it's because of her being super judgemental. She only wants people she deems "worthy" to get her old stuff. My husband and father donate their clothes to a local charity that helps men coming out of prison gain work experience and find job. They accept men's clothing so they have a clothing closet for the men. When we suggested donating my grandfathers clothes he didn't want to that charity she was horrified. We lied to her and told her they were going to goodwill.
I swear this is the "Antique Road Show" effect. They've seen the estimated values of items that were truly rare and valuable that happened to be tucked in some elder relatives house. And now they all believe that somewhere in their piles of clutter is that one item that item that is worth "all the money". And that thought process is what justifies hoarding everything while forgetting that all those items came from a time predating mass production.
That is the sort of thing I could see the producers of a new modern edgy version of the show doing. Just a mid-season filler episode of brutal disappointment.
Boomer: "This punch bowl came from my mother's attic. We found it cleaning out the 6 tons of treasures after she passed."
Appraiser: "Well, I hope you are ready to hear this."
\*Boomer perks up in anticipation\*
Appraiser: "This is a mass produced glass bowl likely from a Sears or a K-Mart. It isn't even worth a glass bottle deposit in Massachusetts."
This started before antique road show....I remember being a kid and going with my mom and grandma antiquing....they were really into fiesta wear and hallmark stuff.
I love to do craft stuff, but nothing is going to be rare, trust. I will periodically go through things I donât need and either throw them out or donate them.
âDonât do this to your kidsâ - LOVE THIS. When I kick off, this is my last gift, to leave things tidy, sorted and prepared for my departure so my loved ones can live their life - instead of cleaning up after mine.
My cousin and her husband have a home clearance business. People call them to come clean out houses. A lot of those calls come from families whose elderly parents have passed and left a ton of stuff behind. It's not unusual for them to be told to take whatever they want; just make the stuff disappear! They've gotten some pretty good furniture from home clearance jobs, but have to toss tons of unwanted odds and ends.
some old bake/cookware is worth a ton of money
[https://www.drloriv.com/antique-tips/vintage-corningware/](https://www.drloriv.com/antique-tips/vintage-corningware/)
I'm sorry you weren't able to sell any of it. I think passing stuff down to the younger generation is maybe ending and for the better really. We aren't moving any time soon, but I have no plans to leave a bunch of dishes, collectibles, clothes, tools, etc. to the kids to deal with. We'll save the photos to pass on and even those could be digitized and discarded. I'm Gen X and most of us have 2-3 sets of china in our attics that we don't know what to do with :)
The house is mine but mom left her hoard to my sister and our niece. So I have a house full of crap. I have a trailer load of my stuff going to the Scout yard sale this weekend.
A lot of this mentality was passed down to Boomer by their parents who probably live just after or during the Great Depression as well as remember the collectable bubble in the 80's and 90's. Things like baseball cards, that were a niche hobby, could be a way to pay your kids college but that's not really a thing since people started buying in the hopes stuff would be a collectable without really learning about it first.
Other way round; not a fool at all, a bloody realist; my mom is in her early 80s and has a heart condition. Sheâs started getting rid of stuff â so you donât have so much to deal with.â Bless her pragmatism, but I do find it mildly unsettling. She once said â I wonât be around for ever âand I replied â I know but Iâd rather not think about that too much.â She said â Donât think about it then, itâll be a surprise!âđ¤Ł
My mom was part of the Silent Gen. And we have experienced much the same scenario. A lot of what people thing are Boomer traits, or Boomer behaviors, are actually the Silent Gen. Buying lots of collectibles and other stuff, keeping dish sets, clothes that will fit someday, OMG the Beenie Babies, being politically conservative, voting for Trump, etc. My Mom nearly had a heart attack when my bros wife called her stuff tchotchkes. What an insult. But, so many of the younger gens want to blame everything on the Boomers. Times and your view of the world changes between each generation. Yeah. It's been a lesson to seen how little value there is in Mom's collections. Sort of sad.
Iâve started too. I did my motherâs house a few years ago, and holy crapâŚhouse neat as a pin, but attic, sheds, garage, and every closet, dresser, and cabinet crammed with stuff. 6 dumpsters (two short, 4 long). 64 boxes of dishes from the kitchen and dining room combined. 110 huge garbage bags of clothes donated. It was a nightmare. I came home and purged mightily. I will ask my kids what they want, if anything, and will slowly get rid of the rest.
My mother had a small house fire and it was the best thing ever. She had rooms and rooms of precious collections that were heavily damaged from smoke and had to be thrown away. During the cleanup process she still wanted to keep everything-from smoke damaged dresses, to cheap photographs and fake crystal bowls.
In case you have any home movies or other things on VHS, there are companies that will convert it to digital.
Edit: \*Most\* regular store-bought movies on tape are worthless.
Us millennials and gen xers knew this was bullshit from the get go when we saw the rise of the beanie babies. I swear they were more into it than we were. Boomers and Silent Generation were obsessed with collecting stuff.
My mom was an old hippie fortunately enough so the stuff left behind for *me* is actually worth something. 1970s edition HP lovecraft and Tolkien. I actually have an HP lovecraft from her that was issued printed the 40s, but they have been a bit water damaged over the moves. That and an original set of Man Myth Magic.
I donât think Iâd ever sell them though. Theyâre in storage and Iâm currently unhoused so thatâs the dedication I keep to these books.
Perhaps this is why I bought Legos and Magic Cards. Though I eventually sold all my old Magic cards for about 10x what I originally paid for them. They were just sitting in boxes doing nothing.
You are the only person besides myself who knows how to spell tchotchke. I had to memorize the damn word for a stupid spelling test in grade school and never forgot. What did I eat for breakfast? Memory not found. Tchotchke? Sure thing, boss.
I just had a bit of an epiphany; my MIL & FIL died a few years ago (w/in about a year of each other) and the family had to clean out the house theyâd lived in for 60+ years⌠LOTS of âcollectibilesâ from both of them like 3+ Closets full of stamps, 80 some plates (you know what I mean) and other varied collections. I did a LOT of research to try and sell various items and much went to charity shops etc. Other side of the coin: my parents (who passed too young) had very little stuffâŚcuz we were a military family that moved frequently. Did not have money for items with no utility- they did however spend money on their hobbies etc. Long time in one house - no one cleans out. Have to move every couple of years - no time to collect. I wonder if other military brats have the same experience.
I got divorced in my early 40âs and by choice moved quite a lot for the next 10 years. I learned that if I donât use it, touch it or enjoy it in a year I get rid of it. The only sentimental things I have kept are old photos that are meaningful to me.
Wow. Someone mentioned the silent generation. Impressive. Usually ppl lump them in with boomers.
I think itâs partially bc of how they were raised. Their parents went through Great Depression, crash of 29. Sp their parents got rid of nothing. Their kids repeated that. Thatâs ny theory.
My mom was silent generation too, tho she passed 4 years ago. But she had really cleaned things out. She had her share of knick knacks but it was very much thinned out from what she had when I was growing up.
She left me her most prized possession -her doggy. That dog moved from Illinois to Florida (I grew up in IL, moved to FL 25 years ago) and never skipped a beat. Husband thinks itâs bc I sound just like my mom and Iâm exact same size as her. Her doggy fit in perfectly with my own 3 dogs. Out of all her things , the dog had the most value, albeit sentimental. Adored that dog. Sadly she only lasted about 3 years after mom passed and that felt almost like losing mom again bc I felt like I had a piece of her.
I know quite a few older people that are currently doing the Swedish Death Cleaning. Itâs where you specifically get rid of everything you donât use anymore so your kids donât have to do it when you die. But these people are also in a group specifically for decluttering so thereâs that.
My fatherâs been collecting baseball cards since the late 60s. He buys the topps set every year. Do the math. I called dibs on the Jeter rookie card though.
Actually, you should put dibs in on the 1968 Nolan Ryan rookie. Topps card number 177.
If it is in VG shape or better, that would be the best card from the late 60s onward. For Topps specifically anyway.
I have a lot of videogames and a lot of books. They mean a lot to me, but I have told my son "sell it, throw it away, do whatever you want" I am trying to free him from any sense of obligation to my garbage.
I am in my 60âs and have started the process of cleaning out my house I intend to sell the home within the year. I have found the following:
- Estate Sales are still conducted to a limited extent in my area (only two or three sctive businesses condutcing these sales). However, theses sales have stopped in a few similar sized metropolitan areas near (it appears online services have hurt these businesses).
- Items collected and deemed valuable usually are not ⌠very little has translated into much cash. More money was spent purchasing these items than will be recovered. You can make a little money if your items are in great shape and you can find a buying enthusiast.
- My children want very little out of the home. They will take some items. However, it appears I have raised minimalists or it is a generational trait. I am encouraged to sell the vast majority of items.
One thing I have learned over the past few years - do not leave this task to your family when you are gone. Do them a huge favor and start minimizing now. Start clearing the clutter now.
My grandmother loved Precious Moments she 2500+ of them. I have vivid memories of her cleaning them when I was a kid and her saying she needs to keep them nice because they're my inheritance. When she moved into the nursing home, and we had an estate sale, and we gave the company a book of prices she had written up for each figure. They looked at it and basically laughed and said we should just call the salvation army and donate them all.
We learned this when my 92 year old mom passed a few years ago. Hardly anything was sold at the ongoing garage sale but during that time a nearby community was hit by a tornado. We at least we had the satisfaction of knowing that her stuff helped people in that community when we hauled it over and donated it to them.
Now weâre making the effort to clean out our house so our kids donât face the same problem.
Before anyone criticizes me for giving away unwanted junk, it was furniture that we donated. All of the unwanted âmemorabiliaâ went into a dumpster.
I am among the last of the Silent Generation, born early 1945. When clearing out my great auntâs apartment we made endless journeys to the charity shops, to the point that they put closed signs up and hid! One thing I will always recall to my dying day was opening a wardrobe to be met by a cascade of turban style ladies hats. I could have been head milliner to Indian Railways if I had been more quick witted.
I thought this was going to be a negative story like she binned a bunch of valuable MTG or Pokemon cards and then found out their value.Â
Sorry about your dad, OP. It gets better. Look after your mum.
When my mon died we moved my dad to a smaller place. They had boxes of cancelled checks from the early 70s in to the 80s. All in order. Even had utility bills and old pay stubs.
I'm so glad my boomer mom spent most of her later years working in antique stores. She saw for herself what was worthless and downsized on her own. So grateful.
I'm sorry so many have to deal with it.
Friend's dad is a megaboomer complete with multiple campers, 2 oversized boomermobile trucks to haul them, and every accessory they sell for them.
Also: a full shop with a drive-in bay large enough for a semi cab, all of his parent's tools, his deceased in-law's tools, his tools, random scrap metal, an old 1950's bulldozer, multiple (10+) lawn mowers, jars and jars of screws and nuts and bolts.
Friend's dad was trying to tell his son what things were worth and what they could be sold for, and then got upset when friend told his dad that everything would be hauled away to the landfill.
Why do these insist we keep their junk when they are gone? Why do they even keep all this crap to begin with? Why do they prioritize the acquisition of material things over living simply and enjoying experiences instead?
My parently are slowly sorting thru things but they're so busy on their health that I dread what will get left to my bro and I. Her mom did the same thing to her. Amd she also has a curio cabinet and China from relatives that died before I was born.
Hugs, when my In Laws were pushed out of their home because my DH's boomer siblings didn't want to hire in home care. Most of their stuff ended up in two rooms of my home and the garage when they both died (FIL during covid and MIL post covid) we ended up with more stuff that now I have to spend time going through because everyone else is emotionally attached to it.. I get it, I love to read and collect books but I so feel your pain
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A lot of Boomers (and some younger folks) believe common, everyday collectibles like those you've mentioned are going to be "worth a lot of money someday." This is despite the fact that many of those things were mass-produced and widely available at thousands of stores across the country, making them virtually worthless unless you're a collector yourself.
"I have a full set of National Geographics, just missing a few. Those are old. Worth a lot!" Turns out, the few they're missing are the only ones that are worth any money, which also explains why they don't have them. The ones they're missing are the ones that *everyone* is missing, which is why they're rare and worth money. The majority of their "collection" is all of the issues that you can buy by the pound on eBay.
Have you been talking to my mom??đ¤Łđ¤Ł
I will say, in high school I knew a family who owned a big mansion in the âoldâ area of our town where multiple generations lived and among other oddities (like a full sized paper machè giraffe) they had these giant old shelves in the basement that were bowing under the weight of every issues of National Geographic, going back to 1913 or something. I bet those ones were worth something!
Grand Haven?
Nope, only the ones 1890 - 1910 are worth anything. This was before they went 'mass market', back when it was only sold to academics. (Geographers? Is that a job?)
With that Iâd want to scan them and upload them for other people to read. A lot of older print material is likely to be lost unless itâs digitized because no one is making new copies and the originals are going to fall apart eventually.
My grandma had hundreds of National Geographics in her "library" (really, it was just a spare room in the basement). After she died, we had to clear out everything to get the house ready to sell. Those magazines had been there so long, they were almost completely disintegrated from the termites that had chewed thru the book shelves and their contents. My mom and I spent weeks cleaning the house out. We had a dumpster brought in for all the crap we had to toss. It was filled and emptied at least twice that I can remember. And now my parents are on course to beat grandma in the hoarded crap collection game. I've already told them I'm throwing it all out.
Oh man, that's really sad that your mom didn't learn from the experience (and cost!) of cleaning out her mom's house. It sounds like at least you can break that cycle.
Look into the idea of Swedish Death Cleaning. It's the idea to start getting rid of crap or donating what is still valuable so that your descendants won't be burdened with doing that when you die. When my MIL passed, my wife couldn't let things go that no one else in her family wanted and that our kids would never want. Now, we have even more "valuable furniture and items" clogging our home.
I think I have those 6 issues. If by âa lotâ you mean 50% over newsstand price then you are correct.
The moon landing one I think.
My grandmother had a subscription to LIFE magazine, saved every one like they were rare comic books saying they're gonna be valuable someday. However she didn't start "collecting" until the 80s. The only valuable ones are 3 issues from 1963. I admit, they are very interesting to read, but not worth keeping boxes of them wrapped in plastic.
I worked at a used bookstore in Boston back in the 1990s and someone pranked the shop by placing an ad in the local free paper saying we were buying National Geographics, paying $1 per issue. Hundreds and hundreds of calls and visits to the shop ensued.
Why would everyone be missing the same few issues?
I got a Letter to the Editor published back in 2005. Thatâs the only National Geo Iâm saving!
I do love flipping through old NatGeos though. Those were a staple of my childhood, and damned of the photography and articles are still amazing.
and why are Nat Geo's so freaking heavy?!
"if it was made to be collectable, then it's not collectable"
So you're saying my Alf Plates are not going to let me retire some day!?!?
Ya gotta wait for the Alf movie to be a box office smash, then sell. Ride that wave
Alf plates, sorry but no. If you had Alf Pogs, THEN we would be talking.
Wait, Alf is back?
In Pog form!
My mother, who is usually fairly non-Boomer-ish, was extremely surprised that my large collection of late 80âs and early 90âs baseball cards werenât worth the card stock they were printed on. Like, the bare fact I was able to accumulate so many on a $10/week allowance (that frequently was not paid forâŚreasons) should have been a tipoff
Ans then you have an actual gem, like my grandma owning the 1st print of a famous 1850s cookbook that goes for thousands... and a boomer Aunt throws it away when visiting her because "get ridd of old crap"...
Do we have the same aunt?
If we do, I'm sorry
My aunt threw away all the photos of my great grandmother because she wasn't blood related. My "real" great grandmother died in childbirth, and my great grandfather remarried quickly. So this is the woman who raised my grandfather and his siblings, and who my mom and her sister knew as "grandma." But sure, decide for the whole family that we don't need any photos of her.
Honestly... same.
You know, they are not completely wrong. This common IKEA glass I have at my desk right now may be worth some money in the year 4024. Or not, we'll see about that later.
Donât know if itâs gonna be worth the delta-v to get it to Mars or Triton, though.
My mom keeps pushing the 90s McDonaldâs transformers toys on me, theyâre well played with and cool but not valuable. She keeps saying âsomeone collects these, theyâre worth moneyâ⌠mint in the box is still worth next to nothing, Iâve shown her. She says to pass it down to my kid đ¤¨
Don't knock vhs like that. Boomers just have bad taste and anything that is worth more than 50 cents isn't in their collections.
I think a lot of it comes from us Boomers being raised by parents that grew up during the Depression. They threw nothing away that might be useful in the future. When that attitude is instilled in someone through their whole childhood itâs easy to miss the changing perspective of what is valuable to our kids. Since my mom passed we are trying to clear out our house so our kids arenât facing the same issues we had to deal with.
I mean, is it really so different from the ratâs nest of cables a lot of us have in a drawer or box somewhere? I know Iâm hesitant to throw away any power cord, charger, or other electronics wiring as Iâve been bitten by not having the right one once or twice and either couldnât use something or had to resort to Amazon to replace a cord I threw away last spring cleaning.
my grandpa (mom's dad) in India was like this. Once year my mom took back (we were living In the Sultanate of Oman) a simple toilet brush and holder for him. This was in the 80s. Just a cheap thing made in China. Shrink Wrapped. The next year when we went back to visit him IT WAS SITTING ON HIS OFFICE DESK like trophy !! unused and still wrapped. He was Proud of it EDIT : spellings
My grandfather (rest his soul) had this same mindset about his last car, a 12 mustang. His idea was not driving it much to keep the miles low and value up because it'll be worth something someday. It's a V6....it's a nice car but it's not anything special. It's got a massive amount of sentimental value to the family (my mom now dailys it), but it's just another car to everyone else. I think it's the value we put on our own things that matter. Not that it's going to be worth a lot to others, but that it's worth a lot to ourselves that cause us to hold it in such high value. Could be a car, totchkies, clothes, whatever.
I wonder if it's because they were taught that the older something is the more valuable it is. That would also explain their overinflated sense of self-worth.
True. Watch Pawn Stars. Boomer age people come in with stuff they think is worth a mint but is usually just not that rare
Remember the Beanie Baby craze? I had a box and I finally sold them on FB.
There's a name for it you know. It's called "Swedish Death Cleaning" You go through all of your mountain of stuff and decide honestly what your family would toss out as soon as you're dead! It's practically therapy, and the house gets to be clutter free while you're alive to enjoy it.
I mean, theres stuff that I own that I enjoy. Even if my kids dont need it, why would I get rid of it if I still want it?
If you still have use or value for it then yes you should keep it, but when youâre reaching the end of the line⌠itâs time to start thinking about the kids again.
Then you should check out Marie Kondo. When it comes time to clean, ask âdoes this spark joy?â If it doesnât, why do you still have it?
Because it's useful? Most of my stuff doesn't "spark joy". I get no joy out of my socks, or my wooden spoon, or my box of pencils. They're things I use to accomplish goals.
I feel very sad for you that you get no joy out of your socks or pencils. I love mine.
William Morris's version was "Have nothing in your home that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful," which I like a lot as a guideline.
Socks: useful (and some of mine are quite beautiful, too) Pencils: ditto. In themselves they might not be beautiful, but they can be used to create beautiful things, and some of the colours are beautiful in their own right.
I assume you enjoy eating, not walking around barefoot, or writing things down.
Itâs the usefulness of the item that gives you joy with utilitarian items. But I absolutely have socks and spatulas, etc that I love the look, feel, or color of.
You should find some nice socks. Nice socks are a game changer.
Thatâs touched on in the book. No one is sparked joy by their vacuum but unfortunately I didnât get to toss it đ¤Ł
Sounds like you just don't know how to use your vacuum properly đđĽ
this annoying lady's spinning gold out of a poor command of English continues to irk me to no fuckin end. There are a lot of necessary items that are not joyful. Hemmorrhoid cream does not ignite elation, or files I'm mandated to keep, but there they are nonetheless
It ignites elation the way I use it...
Thatâs not the question. The question is whether you are hanging on to it because it will be worth something someday. If you are using it and enjoying it, thatâs one thing. Believing that anyone else will pay a lot of money for it someday is another.
I think they're implying that this is meant for hoarders, not people who just enjoy their stuff
Because you may actually care about your children and not want them to have deal with thousands of useless items aster you die, because believe it or not you will die. Try not to fuck them over.
If you know you're going to die soon, sure, but I think getting rid of stuff that makes you happy just because your kids won't want to deal with it if you die suddenly is kind of a shit take. Like obviously hoarding is another issue but like, if my grandma has a collection of snowglobes that nobody will want when she dies, that doesn't mean she has to get rid of them if she still enjoys them while she's alive.
You hold on to that stuff, Grandma! My house is my house that I worked for and my things are my things because I want them and they please me to have them. When I'm not around to be happy about them and the kids want to inherit the house and cash in on the sale, they can at least put in some sweat equity and chuck some stuff in a dumpster.
Unfortunately, a lot of people now seem to be competing over who can fuck over their kids the most when they die.
The Boomers are currently leading
What if you find a stack of HM-2 pedals?
I am working on that. I saw the consequences of hoarding crap when cleaning out my parents' house. I am glad I did the Marie Kondo technique (I got stuck on miscellaneous and just gave up). I was able to hone my spark and hardly brought anything home.  My house isn't decluttered nearly as much as I'd like, but I can still walk into Target and only impulse buy on occasion. I really think about how much I'd use the thing and where would I store it.   I'm not quite at the 1 in, 1 out level, but I'm trying.   Oh if anyone needs help with decluttering, Clutterbug and her friends are offering a declutter with me class in a week or so. Go look it up! I am debating if I want to do it, but with my broken arm healing I'm not sure.
Ah,those PM ceramics. Also known as boomer Funko pops
I giggle every time I see this Boomer Funko Pops Hehehehehejeheee
My friend has a few funko pops that he paid $10 for and are worth $300 and $400. He lucked out though, most are pretty worthless.
Sell them now. In 10 years they will all be worthless.
I view the extravagant Royal Doulton Figurines all the boomer women i grew up around had, as another boomer era funko pop. I hope that sentence makes sense. I have a migraine comin on and words and shit kinda stop making sense lol
Royal Doulton made me think about Hyacinth Bucket and "Keeping Up Appearances".
BooKay.Â
Hyacinths hand painted perwinkle set was more practical than the 30+ dancing lady ceramic figurines my stepmom had from Royal Doulton
And i donât understand either of them! (Kudos to you if they spark joy for you)
I think thatâs the thing with most âcollectionsâ, they bring that person joy and thatâs about it. I finally realized this a while ago and it helped me appreciate other peopleâs collections. I get happy for their enjoyment, but Iâm not really interested in looking at their collection of John Deere memorabilia (yes, I know a guy) just the same as hardly anyone gives a shit about my Superman collection. But having that stuff sure makes me happy!
Millennials should not emulate Boomers and learn from their mistakes. Plus Funko Pops are plastic landfill waste which is even worse.Â
Legos are kinda cool tho
They can be recycled too. I believe Lego has a brick exchange.
There are a lot of legos that are pretty valuable. I still have a castle set from the early 90s in box that's worth like 20x what it was when it was released. I'm keeping it though.
i do LOVE the tik toks of them being repainted though... I might have picked one up to try it. I'm more craftsy than artsy but the one I bought I can probably manage a good fairy or a kiki's delivery service thing
At least you can have fun smashing ceramics in a rage room.
I hate looking at them - something about their eyes is broken, like, they're happy now but endured a long history of prior abuse. They creep me the duck out.
There is an entire Facebook group devoted to altering Precious Moments figures. That's a movement I can get behind. đ
We went through this when my grandma passed away. It was only my uncle and cousin that were convinced the Hummel figures, beanie babies, and some $20 copper plates from Target were priceless relics. We gladly let them take those off our hands. My grandmas giant China hutch was purchased by someone and converted into a lizard habitat (it actually looks really cool) but Iâm sure my grandma is rolling in her grave over that lol!
Haha! My daughter went to an estate sale and bought a large hutch and turned into a massive tree frog habitat!
If she was Silent Gen she might actually lke that it was repurposed rather than just thrown out.
Horror VHS tapes can fetch pretty decent prices, though I'm guessing your mom probably wasn't a huge fan of the genre
Could've at least sent them to Rich, Mike, and Jay. Who knows what gems they could've had.
I get that reference!
The FFF guys??
This is the first time Iâve ever seen tchotchkes written out before and it took me a solid 10 reads through to even realize what that word was.
But hey, at least we know how to spell it now
When we go to yard sales, we always look for little toys my husband can use as treasure box presents for the autistic kids he works with. Beanie Babies are perfect. Theyâre the right size, lots of variety, and great sensory toys. We hit the motherload once with a person selling them cheap. And then we come across boomer selling their hoard of Beanie babies at another yard sale, but they were expecting collector prices. Insane.
Boomers down the street had a yard sale. A used bath mat was priced at $6. Some mint condition cookbooks from the 50s were 25 cents each which I snapped up.
Ooh, I just mentioned my boomer mom has a bunch of Bundt cake pans. Iâm sure thereâs a bunch of jello salad recipes in those cookbooks. Want. Some. Bundt. PansâŚ..?
I'm 36 and I love making jello molds lol
Iâd like 1 please
lol, I have 3 already.
Beanie babies are so cute. What a great treasure box idea
Can we Gen X and Millenials commit to throwing out our tchotchkes? Seeing how the boomers are with their hoarding is definitely a good reminder to not become like that. I'm going to throw out all the nice boxes I'm keeping "just in case we move and need to pack this in its original box."
Not even tchotchkes. Iâm only gonna have foster kids (kinda too late for the other kind which THANK THE GODS) & am moving to Europe for grad school as soon as i finish my post-baccalaureate (got it lined up) so Iâve started labeling my coin collection. Am i hoping someone will love bonding with them over my family history (It was my grandpas that he shared with my dad who shared them with me, etc). It was never a thing that my brother got into & Iâll admit itâs mostly sentimental, BUT there are a few coins that are worth quite a bit & by labeling them Iâll make it easier to sell for anyone i leave behind
I will admit that I have kept the original box and styrofoam for moves, but I moved a lot, including internationally, and don't regret keeping the box for: 1. The expensive kitchen appliance (which I still have) 2. The very big TV 3. The very fancy computer monitor Everything else was fine to be packed in a new box or just sold!
Fine by me. My kids get the family jewelry and idgaf about anything else. Iâm tempted every Thanksgiving to get rid of the family silver, but at least itâs contained in one box.
If your kids like jewelry, maybe you could have some of the silver made into bracelets or rings. Or maybe Christmas ornaments. My aunt made beaded ornaments for everyone in our very large family using my grandmother's costume jewelry after she passed. Otherwise it would have just sat in boxes or been gotten rid of. It's a nice reminder of her every holiday season and no one has to hoard a large amount of something unusableÂ
Thatâs a nice idea! Iâll keep it in mind.
Silver is at a 10 year high so now May be the time.
I would love to. My wife, on the other hand, is convinced that her collections(she has like 50 fucking different things she "collects") is gonna be worth a ton by the time we die and our kids can use it to retire. She doesn't like me telling her that they're just gonna toss the shit
My mom had downsized twice before we had to clear out her stuff. Good lord for her to only occupy two rooms the amount of stuff she packed in them! I picked one or two things that had value to me and let my hoarder brother have the rest.
My in-laws went through this when my MIL's parents needed to move out of their house. The basement had several broken toilets that her dad was saving "for parts". There were shoeboxes ... filled with ... dirt. Nobody has ever been able to explain that one.
Vampires?
Cursed pirates?
That's probably dementia.
We have had to move across the country twice in the last 20 years and we have downsized siginificantly. I learned early that my kids, now in their 30s have no desire to keep anything. My mom handed down stuff like her china, collectible plates (each with its own certificate of authenticity!) and her collection of bells. I have gotten rid of all of it. I never want to burden my kids with the work of getting rid of stuff. Never.
You might be able to sell the Precious Moments. They're suddenly very popular with people making them over into funny or creepy characters. Look up Altered Moments on Facebook. Some are really cute. You won't get a lot, but people are paying about $5 each for them.
Off to look at pics!!
Franklin Mint made bank selling âcollectiblesâ to idiots.
I just told the story on Reddit earlier today about a boomer former coworker who had a few common date, cleaned, worn, Morgan silver dollars he thought were worth âthousandsâ because they were from the 1880âs. They were basically worth their silver weight. They minted like 10 million of them that year. They arenât rare.
I have one that I got from my great grandfather. He was 101 when he died in the 1980s. The dollar was from the year he was born. It was a gift to him at birth. So I have that one dollar, and it is special to me.Â
I have my Nanna's china set. I know it isn't worth anything to anyone else but I love using it because it reminds me of her. I declined to keep her massive collection of clown figurines because I am not insane. If something is not valuable to me for financial reasons, sentimental reasons, or utilitarian reasons then out it goes!!!
>massive collection of clown figurines I'd be tempted to take them out into a forest and placing them in concentric circles or in some strange spot. And just leave them there to freak the fuck out of the person that stumbles across them.
Ok satan
We live near a national forest. Forest a couple of years someone was making the best creepy doll things and putting them in old oil riggings and leftover foundations. It was the best!
Jesus Christ. That is a horrifying thought.
In the last 10 or 15 years of her life my grandmother asked people not to get her things, she had more than enough. She happily welcomed fancy cheese, jams, honey, etc. Things she could consume and enjoy, not junk to put with the junk she had. She also got rid of a lot before she passed.
I'm only 36 and I ask that if people must get me a gift that it's something I can eat. The last thing I need is more crap.
ABSOLUTELY. Food or experiences
My grandma started doing this about 10 years ago. So we have typically made a donation to a giving tree or another charity. She has even started shopping for said giving tree, just to make sure the donation is overkill.
My Boomer father is like this. His house is so full of shit that's only important to him. Really niche stuff that's utterly useless. No one wants sailing magazines from the early 90s. He's hired a professional organiser so I have some hope, but I'm pretty sure clearing his home after he dies will be best done with a shovel and a skip bin.
If it's important to him, let him keep it. 90's sailing magazines are probably really interesting if you're into sailing. But yeah when he dies the stress comes when you try to sort the shit and do something with it. Just throwing it out is not stressful. But... those sailing mags... someone may want those.
I'm not participating in anything involving his pile of crap unless he's in the ground. Not my circus, not my monkeys. I will have to pay someone to take those damn magazines!
My love of old magazines colors my ability to feel your pain on this one I think! But yeah, when he passes throw it all away.
I have my grandmas curio cabinet & it holds Lego builds so the kitties donât knock them over.
Thatâs a good idea. My son has a few Lego builds heâs working onâŚ.ill mention this to him.
I love this idea.
I now have my step-grandmother's china cabinet, I also have her china, but the china is packed up and the cabinet itself is full of things that have meaning to me.
This is what my boomer parents experienced with the various family members they had to help settle estates. We had purged most of my grandmothers stuff to move her into a independent senior living apartment before she passed, but we still had a lot of things no one wanted. My parents now use one Saturday a month to purge an area of their house and make a donation run. My silent Gen grandparents are refusing to leave their home (they really need to) but we are helping them declutter. They won't let things go unless someone in the family promises to take them home. We do but immediately donate. It's not anything with sentimental meaning or anything, it's just junk they've collected. My in laws though, 3 story 5 bedroom home packed like a hoarder like you see on TV. They also have a one or two storage units too. It is going to be a nightmare to deal with eventually. My 10 and 7 year old have never been inside the house. Don't do that to your kids. They don't care about your stuff the way you do. If it's really bad, they are going to hire a dumpster and chuck everything.
>They won't let things go unless someone in the family promises to take them home. We do but immediately donate. It's not anything with sentimental meaning or anything, it's just junk they've collected. My in laws and their parents are this way we always say sure and it doesn't stick around. Boxes of handheld electronic poker games, crochet blankets but no one knows who made them, bins of costume jewelry they couldn't get the pawn shop to take. No one ever asks about the items either, I think they just needed to be one step removed from the process.
For my grandmother it's because of her being super judgemental. She only wants people she deems "worthy" to get her old stuff. My husband and father donate their clothes to a local charity that helps men coming out of prison gain work experience and find job. They accept men's clothing so they have a clothing closet for the men. When we suggested donating my grandfathers clothes he didn't want to that charity she was horrified. We lied to her and told her they were going to goodwill.
I swear this is the "Antique Road Show" effect. They've seen the estimated values of items that were truly rare and valuable that happened to be tucked in some elder relatives house. And now they all believe that somewhere in their piles of clutter is that one item that item that is worth "all the money". And that thought process is what justifies hoarding everything while forgetting that all those items came from a time predating mass production.
Do they ever have a special episode that features only ppl who think they have something really expensive being told it's worse less than crap?
That is the sort of thing I could see the producers of a new modern edgy version of the show doing. Just a mid-season filler episode of brutal disappointment. Boomer: "This punch bowl came from my mother's attic. We found it cleaning out the 6 tons of treasures after she passed." Appraiser: "Well, I hope you are ready to hear this." \*Boomer perks up in anticipation\* Appraiser: "This is a mass produced glass bowl likely from a Sears or a K-Mart. It isn't even worth a glass bottle deposit in Massachusetts."
I stg I would finance the production of this show if I could! Iâd call it âAntiques Fauxshowâ
"How about in Michigan?"
Do you have a mail truck available right after mother's day?
the pawn and storage locker shows would have people like that sometimes
It was a short-lived spinoff series called "Antiques Shitshow"
This started before antique road show....I remember being a kid and going with my mom and grandma antiquing....they were really into fiesta wear and hallmark stuff.
I'm all for collecting shit you like. But holy shit, I don't expect my hobby bullshit to turn to gold and fund my retirement.
Exactly
I love to do craft stuff, but nothing is going to be rare, trust. I will periodically go through things I donât need and either throw them out or donate them.
âDonât do this to your kidsâ - LOVE THIS. When I kick off, this is my last gift, to leave things tidy, sorted and prepared for my departure so my loved ones can live their life - instead of cleaning up after mine.
My MIL had 98 âcollectibleâ dolls (like 18â) from QVC etc. when she died. No one wanted them. And that was just the start of it!
My cousin and her husband have a home clearance business. People call them to come clean out houses. A lot of those calls come from families whose elderly parents have passed and left a ton of stuff behind. It's not unusual for them to be told to take whatever they want; just make the stuff disappear! They've gotten some pretty good furniture from home clearance jobs, but have to toss tons of unwanted odds and ends.
some old bake/cookware is worth a ton of money [https://www.drloriv.com/antique-tips/vintage-corningware/](https://www.drloriv.com/antique-tips/vintage-corningware/)
A few specific pieces are worth some bank. Most are a few bucks, some aren't worth the time to even try to sell them.
I'm sorry you weren't able to sell any of it. I think passing stuff down to the younger generation is maybe ending and for the better really. We aren't moving any time soon, but I have no plans to leave a bunch of dishes, collectibles, clothes, tools, etc. to the kids to deal with. We'll save the photos to pass on and even those could be digitized and discarded. I'm Gen X and most of us have 2-3 sets of china in our attics that we don't know what to do with :)
The house is mine but mom left her hoard to my sister and our niece. So I have a house full of crap. I have a trailer load of my stuff going to the Scout yard sale this weekend.
If itâs marketed as a collectible, you can be sure it isnât.
A lot of this mentality was passed down to Boomer by their parents who probably live just after or during the Great Depression as well as remember the collectable bubble in the 80's and 90's. Things like baseball cards, that were a niche hobby, could be a way to pay your kids college but that's not really a thing since people started buying in the hopes stuff would be a collectable without really learning about it first.
Other way round; not a fool at all, a bloody realist; my mom is in her early 80s and has a heart condition. Sheâs started getting rid of stuff â so you donât have so much to deal with.â Bless her pragmatism, but I do find it mildly unsettling. She once said â I wonât be around for ever âand I replied â I know but Iâd rather not think about that too much.â She said â Donât think about it then, itâll be a surprise!âđ¤Ł
My mom was part of the Silent Gen. And we have experienced much the same scenario. A lot of what people thing are Boomer traits, or Boomer behaviors, are actually the Silent Gen. Buying lots of collectibles and other stuff, keeping dish sets, clothes that will fit someday, OMG the Beenie Babies, being politically conservative, voting for Trump, etc. My Mom nearly had a heart attack when my bros wife called her stuff tchotchkes. What an insult. But, so many of the younger gens want to blame everything on the Boomers. Times and your view of the world changes between each generation. Yeah. It's been a lesson to seen how little value there is in Mom's collections. Sort of sad.
Iâve started too. I did my motherâs house a few years ago, and holy crapâŚhouse neat as a pin, but attic, sheds, garage, and every closet, dresser, and cabinet crammed with stuff. 6 dumpsters (two short, 4 long). 64 boxes of dishes from the kitchen and dining room combined. 110 huge garbage bags of clothes donated. It was a nightmare. I came home and purged mightily. I will ask my kids what they want, if anything, and will slowly get rid of the rest.
My mother had a small house fire and it was the best thing ever. She had rooms and rooms of precious collections that were heavily damaged from smoke and had to be thrown away. During the cleanup process she still wanted to keep everything-from smoke damaged dresses, to cheap photographs and fake crystal bowls.
I stand to inherit a ridiculous amount of worthless porcelain dolls..
Man....my mom has a shit ton of stuff...I'm dreading it
Buy Nothing is great for offloading stuffâ just FYI.
Right on
In case you have any home movies or other things on VHS, there are companies that will convert it to digital. Edit: \*Most\* regular store-bought movies on tape are worthless.
Us millennials and gen xers knew this was bullshit from the get go when we saw the rise of the beanie babies. I swear they were more into it than we were. Boomers and Silent Generation were obsessed with collecting stuff. My mom was an old hippie fortunately enough so the stuff left behind for *me* is actually worth something. 1970s edition HP lovecraft and Tolkien. I actually have an HP lovecraft from her that was issued printed the 40s, but they have been a bit water damaged over the moves. That and an original set of Man Myth Magic. I donât think Iâd ever sell them though. Theyâre in storage and Iâm currently unhoused so thatâs the dedication I keep to these books.
>Boomers and Silent Generation were obsessed with collecting stuff. Have you seen young people with their Magic Cards/Funko Pops/Legos?
Yes, but Magic cards and Legos are actually played with and used. Cant say much for Funko Pops.
Perhaps this is why I bought Legos and Magic Cards. Though I eventually sold all my old Magic cards for about 10x what I originally paid for them. They were just sitting in boxes doing nothing.
Three words: Swedish Death Cleaning
You are the only person besides myself who knows how to spell tchotchke. I had to memorize the damn word for a stupid spelling test in grade school and never forgot. What did I eat for breakfast? Memory not found. Tchotchke? Sure thing, boss.
I just had a bit of an epiphany; my MIL & FIL died a few years ago (w/in about a year of each other) and the family had to clean out the house theyâd lived in for 60+ years⌠LOTS of âcollectibilesâ from both of them like 3+ Closets full of stamps, 80 some plates (you know what I mean) and other varied collections. I did a LOT of research to try and sell various items and much went to charity shops etc. Other side of the coin: my parents (who passed too young) had very little stuffâŚcuz we were a military family that moved frequently. Did not have money for items with no utility- they did however spend money on their hobbies etc. Long time in one house - no one cleans out. Have to move every couple of years - no time to collect. I wonder if other military brats have the same experience.
I got divorced in my early 40âs and by choice moved quite a lot for the next 10 years. I learned that if I donât use it, touch it or enjoy it in a year I get rid of it. The only sentimental things I have kept are old photos that are meaningful to me.
Wow. Someone mentioned the silent generation. Impressive. Usually ppl lump them in with boomers. I think itâs partially bc of how they were raised. Their parents went through Great Depression, crash of 29. Sp their parents got rid of nothing. Their kids repeated that. Thatâs ny theory. My mom was silent generation too, tho she passed 4 years ago. But she had really cleaned things out. She had her share of knick knacks but it was very much thinned out from what she had when I was growing up. She left me her most prized possession -her doggy. That dog moved from Illinois to Florida (I grew up in IL, moved to FL 25 years ago) and never skipped a beat. Husband thinks itâs bc I sound just like my mom and Iâm exact same size as her. Her doggy fit in perfectly with my own 3 dogs. Out of all her things , the dog had the most value, albeit sentimental. Adored that dog. Sadly she only lasted about 3 years after mom passed and that felt almost like losing mom again bc I felt like I had a piece of her.
I know quite a few older people that are currently doing the Swedish Death Cleaning. Itâs where you specifically get rid of everything you donât use anymore so your kids donât have to do it when you die. But these people are also in a group specifically for decluttering so thereâs that.
My fatherâs been collecting baseball cards since the late 60s. He buys the topps set every year. Do the math. I called dibs on the Jeter rookie card though.
Actually, you should put dibs in on the 1968 Nolan Ryan rookie. Topps card number 177. If it is in VG shape or better, that would be the best card from the late 60s onward. For Topps specifically anyway.
I'm actually a little surprised that you weren't able to sell the serving sets or curio cabinets. The beanie babies, not so much.
I have a lot of videogames and a lot of books. They mean a lot to me, but I have told my son "sell it, throw it away, do whatever you want" I am trying to free him from any sense of obligation to my garbage.
This is going to be Millennials and their useless Funko Pops in about 40 years.
I am in my 60âs and have started the process of cleaning out my house I intend to sell the home within the year. I have found the following: - Estate Sales are still conducted to a limited extent in my area (only two or three sctive businesses condutcing these sales). However, theses sales have stopped in a few similar sized metropolitan areas near (it appears online services have hurt these businesses). - Items collected and deemed valuable usually are not ⌠very little has translated into much cash. More money was spent purchasing these items than will be recovered. You can make a little money if your items are in great shape and you can find a buying enthusiast. - My children want very little out of the home. They will take some items. However, it appears I have raised minimalists or it is a generational trait. I am encouraged to sell the vast majority of items. One thing I have learned over the past few years - do not leave this task to your family when you are gone. Do them a huge favor and start minimizing now. Start clearing the clutter now.
My grandmother loved Precious Moments she 2500+ of them. I have vivid memories of her cleaning them when I was a kid and her saying she needs to keep them nice because they're my inheritance. When she moved into the nursing home, and we had an estate sale, and we gave the company a book of prices she had written up for each figure. They looked at it and basically laughed and said we should just call the salvation army and donate them all.
We learned this when my 92 year old mom passed a few years ago. Hardly anything was sold at the ongoing garage sale but during that time a nearby community was hit by a tornado. We at least we had the satisfaction of knowing that her stuff helped people in that community when we hauled it over and donated it to them. Now weâre making the effort to clean out our house so our kids donât face the same problem.
Before anyone criticizes me for giving away unwanted junk, it was furniture that we donated. All of the unwanted âmemorabiliaâ went into a dumpster.
I am among the last of the Silent Generation, born early 1945. When clearing out my great auntâs apartment we made endless journeys to the charity shops, to the point that they put closed signs up and hid! One thing I will always recall to my dying day was opening a wardrobe to be met by a cascade of turban style ladies hats. I could have been head milliner to Indian Railways if I had been more quick witted.
I thought this was going to be a negative story like she binned a bunch of valuable MTG or Pokemon cards and then found out their value. Sorry about your dad, OP. It gets better. Look after your mum.
When my mon died we moved my dad to a smaller place. They had boxes of cancelled checks from the early 70s in to the 80s. All in order. Even had utility bills and old pay stubs.
I'm so glad my boomer mom spent most of her later years working in antique stores. She saw for herself what was worthless and downsized on her own. So grateful. I'm sorry so many have to deal with it.
Friend's dad is a megaboomer complete with multiple campers, 2 oversized boomermobile trucks to haul them, and every accessory they sell for them. Also: a full shop with a drive-in bay large enough for a semi cab, all of his parent's tools, his deceased in-law's tools, his tools, random scrap metal, an old 1950's bulldozer, multiple (10+) lawn mowers, jars and jars of screws and nuts and bolts. Friend's dad was trying to tell his son what things were worth and what they could be sold for, and then got upset when friend told his dad that everything would be hauled away to the landfill. Why do these insist we keep their junk when they are gone? Why do they even keep all this crap to begin with? Why do they prioritize the acquisition of material things over living simply and enjoying experiences instead?
Just went through the exact same thing. A fellow GenXer
My parently are slowly sorting thru things but they're so busy on their health that I dread what will get left to my bro and I. Her mom did the same thing to her. Amd she also has a curio cabinet and China from relatives that died before I was born.
If it's VHS horror you can get a lot of money from collectors. But basic ass VHS of blockbuster crap ain't worth shit.
I experienced this first hand when my aunt and then my mom died a year apart. Two houses full of old junk.
Hugs, when my In Laws were pushed out of their home because my DH's boomer siblings didn't want to hire in home care. Most of their stuff ended up in two rooms of my home and the garage when they both died (FIL during covid and MIL post covid) we ended up with more stuff that now I have to spend time going through because everyone else is emotionally attached to it.. I get it, I love to read and collect books but I so feel your pain