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Aussie Picker - Victorian Style

I had been contacted many many months ago by a guy who has been in the 'industry' all his life, mainly as a projectionist but also other areas, his 83 year old Dad had been a projectionist from the age of 14 (i.e the 1940s, as a junior learning the ropes).

Anyway, apparently they had a bit of a collection around at his parents they thought I might be interested in, including some movie posters.

Hell yeah!

So took my wife along, a decent drive and a good hour later we were there and there it was, collectibles - piles and piles and piles of it. It turns out the posters there were mainly from the '80s, he tells me all the old posters, many from the 40s (when his Dad started in the industry), but they were back at his place...another day.

Chatting away with his Dad, who had worked at many cinemas around the country, told me one of his first jobs at one cinemas was to burn some of the old posters that the cinema owner hadn't got around to dumping...and so he did. A lot of Long Daybills, including (he says) titles like The Jazz Singer, which he remembers because it was in a canister with the original movie reel which hadn't been returned. All burned.

Burned...

As to the rest, well no doubt a picker's dream, so much stuff we didn't know where to look! Old tin toys, original Star Wars toys (several boxes of), unopened, movie props, at least a dozen collectible guitars, and so on.

Some of it was in the house, some of it was piled in the garage and some of it was in a caravan that was literally falling apart, and apparently there was a lot more stuff I might be interested in the bungalow but it was quite overgrown and they had to get rid of the snakes first...

okaaaaay.

So I've got to go back and I've still got to see the stuff he has at his place and he has given me a lead on two other old projectionist collectors - so who knows. 

Anyway, a really nice guy, superb host and wonderful parents - nice way to spend the afternoon.

My wife did a bit of picking, grabbed an old Maspro 2,000ft movie reel, Dad said it dated from 1946, dunno. Either way my wife liked the look of it and so the old man gave it to her. They're not worth much but still, made for a fun end to the day for my wife.

So other than that, I took a few pictures of some of the stuff I saw - thought you all might enjoy it...


Just SOME of what was in the back room



LOTS of Star Wars toys, in original boxes!




In the garage










In the Caravan - I couldn't get into it too deep.



A couple of old movie reels, 13,000ft - stands about 3 feet tall, have a clutch system




My wife's successful pick.



Comments

  • Indeed, looks like a nice way to spend the afternoon! Let us all know how it all plays out. Star Wars "stuff", & reels...good fun!

  • Wow what a cool find. Congrats Dave!!!
  • Good stuff Dave!
  • Should mention.

    1. Had fantastic ham off the bone sandwiches for lunch with home made pickle (yum)

    2. I bought no posters, all pretty ordinary titles from the 80s, the SW toys I am going to help the owner find a buyer or two, because he is not too understanding of the internet world, the rest he knows is worth some money and if I can connect him with the right buyers I will and won't charge a fee or take a commission either.
  • David said:
    Should mention.

    1. Had fantastic ham off the bone sandwiches for lunch with home made pickle (yum)

    2. I bought no posters, all pretty ordinary titles from the 80s, the SW toys I am going to help the owner find a buyer or two, because he is not too understanding of the internet world, the rest he knows is worth some money and if I can connect him with the right buyers I will and won't charge a fee or take a commission either.
    I'd be happy to help this gentleman out. I have a big trailer and have allocated $$$ ready to spend on posters. Let me know Dave. Cheers
  • Sounds like a wonderful afternoon...

  • Sounds like a great way to spend a day or two!
    I like the prop hand. You should have grabbed that one!!
  • Way too fun David!
  • 110x75 said:
    Sounds like a great way to spend a day or two!
    I like the prop hand. You should have grabbed that one!!

    It was 10ft away, and there was a 5ft pile to climb over to get it - I kid you not!
  • I believe you. The place looks like a dump... the kinda dump I LOVE!
  • Some picker that won't climb a 5' pile....

    If it was closer I'd have gone myself.. ;)
  • If you were closer I would have pushed you into the Bungalow...  ;)
  • I've often wondered when I watch these shows, how many serious injuries people get when they fall through or off these mountains of "collectables"?  And I wonder how annoyed the collectors get at them when they break some of their "valuables"...
  • edited February 2016
    Probably a few, it was simply impossible to be able to dig without fear of some stack falling, one sort of had to lift slightly and look.

    The pic that shows the mattress, well you can see how tall that was, and that stack went back at least 30ft, all there was was a narrow path that went round the outside. The stack with the hand, that was behind me when I took the picture of the one with the mattress, just to give you an idea how vast it was - and that was just in the garage, then there was the other garage which was full of original US muscle car parts, then there was the caravan which was literally collapsing at the sides, the room in the house and the dreaded snake ridden bungalow.

    But it was a lot of fun too see it all, the sort of thing you'd grab a few mates and many (many) jumbo bins and spend several days slowly clearing it out to find the treasures - I can only imagine what is at the bottom of some of the piles!
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