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When I was a taxi driver a friend and I used to go every Sunday morning to the Maxwell Street Market and blow our hard-earned dough on total bullshit.

There was a guy there who used to sell old college textbooks for a few bucks apiece, and I acquired quite an extensive library of medical texts. I used to photocopy the pictures and make collages out of them for show flyers. My favorite books were the ones on eye surgery, congenital birth defects and endocrine disorders. These books were all lavishly illustrated and loaded with photos, and the last two books had these gruesome pics of severely deformed people standing naked in front of a wall chart that displayed height in feet--like in a police lineup--with black bars across their eyes. Those made for some pretty wicked flyer imagery.

I also bought a pair of hand-held 'pistol-type' crossbows. Those things were small but powerful. They could shoot one of those little bolts like 500' or more. I once shot one into an apartment wall from about 6' away, and it passed through 2 layers of drywall and was stuck in the opposite wall in the next room. I think those crossbows cost me like $15 each or something.

I also bought a *lot* of power tools there, for pennies on the dollar. The old joke was that if your tools ever get stolen, just go down to Maxwell Street on Sunday and buy 'em back for like $10.

turnbullac wrote:I practically live at the thrift store.

A couple of weeks ago I got a portable reel to reel that sems to work pretty well at Unique up on Elston for like $6.00.

And then earlier today I went to the DMV on W. Diversey and was drawn into the one over there where I discovered this beauty:

It is a hand painted acid-washed jean jacket with sequin embellishments. The pics really don't do it justice. and yes it reads "freedom" down the sleeve.

That beard...que bella. My face, she ready, but the lady of the house she don't need. She like the face hair but she is not so liking the burly.

johnnyemphysema wrote:

turnbullac wrote:I practically live at the thrift store.

A couple of weeks ago I got a portable reel to reel that sems to work pretty well at Unique up on Elston for like $6.00.

And then earlier today I went to the DMV on W. Diversey and was drawn into the one over there where I discovered this beauty:

It is a hand painted acid-washed jean jacket with sequin embellishments. The pics really don't do it justice. and yes it reads "freedom" down the sleeve.

That beard...que bella. My face, she ready, but the lady of the house she don't need. She like the face hair but she is not so liking the burly.

Oh man, go for it - just keep it trimmed. I love my beard. Random strangers come up to me and tell me how much they like my beard, which surely would not be happening with my usual bland blank face. Black women especially love talking to me about my beard; I think it's an exotic thing for them (I'm a red head). Beard it!

Sony C37FET at the DeVry parking lot Six Meter Club hamfest several years ago. 125 bux

I was living in Olympia Wa. about 8 yrs. ago and scored am Ampeg V4 for $10, at a yard sale. The seller said he didn't know anything about it. I replaced a cap and a fuse and re-sold it for $600. True story.

25 cents at a wonderfully crummy thrift store on Irving Park before it turned into the "Lincoln Antique Mall".

Recently got a 60's tube Ampex reel to reel for $75 with instruction manual and four unopened (90's) 3M 1/4" reels. The reels won't turn but I can run stuff through it and it works pretty good for that.

i once picked up a leather jacket for 8nz$. very nice condition, black, with these huge lapels, much to big for me. it was a nice fit, other than the lapels. i wore it a couple of times, then sold it to a leather goods store for 80$ when i needed cash for booze.
i bought a tuxedo for 2$ once. used to wear it out every now and then.
classy.

3$

many cool finds over the years:

Lexicon pcm-60 and pcm-42 $150 for the pair

roland sh-1000 $15

4 optigans all less than $70. One of them with a very unstable rotor, nightmarish sounding for the perfect technicolor yawn. Perfect for giallo soundtracks. I would stack the discs and reverse them. Finding the rare discs between say Herp Albert and Andy Gibb "Shadow dancing" records was always cool ..www.optigan.com

Device that mimics dying batteries for effects pedals $10

Stylophone $3 Bowie on "Space oddity"...Rolf Harris too..LOL..Simple circuit but unique tone. Always play through an amp . You'll need an 1/8" adapter..

Clavioline $150 Ancient tube keyboard. Sun ra used one and so did the beatles on "baby you're a rich man" . Looking to restore it. Any qualified repair shops in chicago?

underwater mic $10 I used to place this in a tall glass of water near the sound source and combine the signal with other mics for the underwater sound,, which incidently is kinda shitty sounding, but in a good way.

roland space echo $75

fender oil-can reverb $20

3D camera $5

Many shirts with massively huge collars that were eventually thrown out by girlfriends.