Picking Up the Thrift Store Game...

With Covid still a part of our lives I have longed for used record shops and thrift stores. On our visit to family in Lake Jackson where it seems the bigger the city the greater mask compliance is and the more available hand sanitizer is when you enter a business I got to show out a bit with this thrift store haul. On a day too rainy for the beach this is the loot I purchased covering stores from Lake Jackson to Alvin and on to Galveston. 

We will start with the records. Four records for the $6. 

Actually the Readers Digest Ragtime collection is 4 records. These RD compilations are good for the collector on a budget that just wants a wide variety of good music.  They are worth about $10 on the open market, they put out every thing from opera to disco sets and people that bought these kept them in good condition.  Most sets I own are swing music of the 20-40s. This ragtime set has tunes nearly 100 years old on it and a quick internet spot check reveled some of the music is on youtube but I saw very little info about the bands themselves. 

I picked up two polka records. One is by Frankie Yankovic who plays accordion in the Slovenian style. Say you haven't heard of Frankie? He sold 30 million records. You must not get out much. The other is Chubby Wise plays Polkas. Chubby is a fiddle played who joined Bill Monroe's bluegrass band in 1942. Miguel gave me a couple of Chubby's records a few years ago to jump start my collection. Chubby put out everything from blue grass to country to polka. Again, not valuable records but good music bought by people who kept their records clean. 

Last but not least Woody Herman and the Herd's Greatest Hits. This record is a bit dirty and while I scrubbed up one side very playable the other still needs work. I pick up Woody's records when I see them because once in high school the band attended Woody Herman Band Day in the Astrodome and five high school bands massed on the field accompanying Woody and the Herd on their tunes. I jammed with the guy, how could I not collect his records? 

Other prize finds were a suede spot coat for $10, a $7 Van Heusen dress shirt and a box of Sears and Roebuck old style large Christmas bulbs for $3. 

Last but not least is a $56 Bundy Student Model Trombone in very good condition. It's missing the mouthpiece but I have plenty of those. Last owned according to the name tag on the case by a Reid Nelson and used at Trinity Episcopal School located in Galveston, same as the shop where I bought the bone. Now when Reid googles his name he will find this blog.

Total spent for the day $76. 

On the way home I stopped in Corrigan Texas for gas. They looked at me like I had two heads as I was the only mask wearer. I was also the only cheaply well dressed trombone player listening to good music with the Christmas Spirit.