Why vintage is a good fit for me

Those of you who know me (or have at least read my profile) know that I left my job just over three months ago.  In that life, I was a trademark paralegal at a west coast based law firm.  I spent over 11 years there and was able to do things (buy a house, travel) that I might not have been able to do otherwise.  And I learned a lot.  A lot about the legal field and a lot about myself.  Thing is that I learned that the legal field wasn't my passion. 

Fast forward a few months and I'm still not sure that I've figured out what I want to be when I grow up.  But I do know that I am thoroughly enjoying "doing the vintage thing." So what is it about it that clicks with me? Easy. It's history, it's recycling, and it's shopping.  Three things I can get into.

Every item that I sell has a history.  Granted, most of the time, I don't know the exact history of the piece, but if nothing else, it's fun to ponder. And in researching a piece, you can often see original advertisements for the piece which can be fascinating.  For instance, I was recently researching Lisk roasters and found that they were recommended for use in Chambers stoves.  And that lead me to this great site - http://www.chamberstoves.net/Scrapbook.html - that provides history of the Chambers company and shows wonderful photos of the Chambers Home Economics Dept. and dealer displays, among other things. Here's one:

How great is that?  For a history buff like me, it's GREAT!

Recycling is something that I firmly believe in and practice as much as possible.  I was the recycling police at my old firm - pulling stuff out of the garbage and transferring it to the recycling. Buying vintage is one more way that I can reduce the size of landfills.  Like recently I decided that it was time to replace our chipped, broken, and ugly coffee cups.  Instead of running to Target (which I would've done not long ago), I picked up a nice set of four at a garage sale for 50 cents. Not sure if they are vintage, but they are functional and much better than what we have. Those of mine that are not chipped or broken will go to Goodwill where some broke college student will be happy to buy them for 10 cents a piece.  As for the chipped and broken ones, maybe I can find someone to use them as part of a mosaic or something.  I'm trying to see the recycling potential in everything.  I won't always be able to reuse something and inevitably I will have trash going into the dumpster every week, but every little bit helps.  And hey, maybe by selling vintage I can convince others that it's a good idea. 

Finally, I like shopping.  Some kinds more than others (I am one of those rare women who loathes clothes shopping for the most part).  Quitting my job means living on less - that was the major trade-off that I knew I'd have to make. So by selling vintage, I can satisfy my need to shop. Because for me at least, it's not about having the stuff, it's about buying it. So selling it is no problem - I don't form an emotional attachment.  And while you can spend a lot buying vintage, even at yard sales, if you get lucky, you can hit lots of sales on a Saturday and make $20 last the whole day.

So, really, what's not to like about buying and selling vintage?