Thursday, January 12, 2012

Chicago is thrifty!

Hey all!  It looks like I'm gonna get snowed on here in Chicago starting tomorrow.  They're saying maybe 8" by Friday - eek!  But that's okay, I've been thrifting, so I'm prepared - check it out!

The tag says "Draper of Glastonbury, Made in England".
They're suede, with sheepskin lining, and they fit like a glove!

I picked these up last night (when the temperature was in the 50s!  It's really been beautiful here so far.) on an after-class thrift jaunt to the Village Discount Outlet in Little Village, which I think might be a neighborhood in the actual city of Chicago, since it sounds like a funny name for a town.  I have enjoyed seeing the bits of the area that I've seen - I've spent a lot of time on Cermak/22nd Street.  My class is just off of it in Oak Brook, my Hotel is just off of it in Westchester, and following it east it becomes a pretty interesting sort of main drag as you get to the more inner suburbs.  I love all the cool signage, and there are lots of hot-dog/italian beef type places and various other nifty restaurants, and lots of discount stores and laundromats and funeral homes and bakeries and whatnot.  Some of the fun signs:

Cermak Plaza Shopping Center had these windmilly things,
obviously fairly new, all around this cool old 50s sign.  Like!

Scatchell's Pizza, Italian Beef, Italian Sausages, Catering, Frozen Lemonade and probably a dozen other things. 

 I love it - it looks like a movie set.

Laundry World!  It's like a carnival for your blankets and things.

Old Warsaw Polish Style Smorgasbord's sign is the best.

Even the address part of the sign looks cool.


 I've had some pretty good thrifting luck on this trip, but other than the boots I brought up to the room in case I need to wear them tomorrow, everything is stashed in the rental car, so no pics of my other treasures, but I can show you phone snaps of some things I didn't buy (because they were too big) at the Salvation Army store in Oak Park this evening:

Funky mod 60s or 70s chrome/cork/etc table.

Very cool shelf/cabinet (that's the sliding doors for the cabinet intact inside).

Super cool 60s abstract painting.  I wanted this, bad.
But it's huge, there are spots of what I can only assume is
mildew on it, and it was $20.  I even asked if I might get a
discount on it, but the manager said no, because it's big.  Huh?

I did pick up a few things there, as I have at each of the thrift stores I've visited so far on this trip.  You know, I think Goodwill is cheaper here than in St. Louis.  Anyway, I better call it a night.  I'll try to post more on the stores and the finds therein soon.  Good night!


2 comments:

  1. Oh wow, I love those boots!!!! You found my weak spot...the clothing. I grew up with too many old dishes lying around to want those. In fact some of them are laying in wait for me at my parents' house.
    So, I decided while reading this...you and I have to go on a trip together looking for cool adventures and things to take pics of! It looks like so much fun! Love you!
    Andrea

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  2. Sounds fabulous to me - I'm in! Just posted about last night's adventure, and as soon as I get my stuff out of this hotel room, today is free for nothing but adventures. I think I'm going to try to look at an estate sale so I can get inside an interesting house, then pick a neighborhood in the city to wander through. Not sure what I'll do beyond that - yay!

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