There Was A Time

There was a time you could pick up a cool old coffee can for under $10. I have a few in my collection of random stuff – two hold flowers on the back porch and there are two or three in my kitchen too. All are missing the lids so they came for the bargain basement price of about five bucks.

I’ve seen many coffee cans lately but they’re going for upwards $20 and sometimes $30-$40 regardless of condition. These were over $50.

The market drives the prices but it’s shocking how quickly the tide turns and the prices rise.

Another item that has become almost too expensive to collect is records. In one of these bins, I found a Nat King Cole album that I purchase a couple of years ago for $2. Here it was $18.

The average album price in this antique mall was about $13 but many reissues of albums go for about $16. Since all the cool kids are going vintage I’m guessing prices will only continue to increase.

What do you collect that has seen a rise in prices?

Scout “The Purr Face” Capone

Living with Scout is sometimes like living with a tiny gangster. He is such a sweet boy most of the time – he loves to purr, cuddle and play, graciously accepting attention at almost any time.

But if he’s angry, it’s best to just get out of the way. It gets bad enough that I’m working on a cool gangster name for him. “The Purr Face Capone” is in the lead right now.

I accidentally locked him in the bedroom closet yesterday. About ten or fifteen minutes passed before I realized the house was too quiet and went looking for him. He’s so dark and small he can hide anywhere and nearly disappear so I took my time searching high and low.

When I finally located him, there were just two little furry paws sticking out from under the door. He wasn’t crying or moving. Just waiting patiently for his incompetent mom to notice his distress signal.

His initial reaction upon release from this dark prison was gratitude. He purred and nuzzled and cuddled for about a minute. Then, without notice, gangster kitty took over and I’m pretty sure he wanted me dead.

So he spent the rest of the day trying my patience, defiantly perching on the dining room table for a better view out the window. He knows he’s not allowed up there and he also knows that it makes me angry.

We spent the entire afternoon bickering over the table and over my record collection which he loves to climb on and threaten to chew. He doesn’t actually bite down but strategically places the corner of the record cover in his mouth as though threatening to destroy it. He knows he won’t get sprayed with water if he’s sprawled out over the records.

We appear to be at an impasse.

Just wait till he finds out the internet is calling him “The Purr Face!” Ha, ha. He’ll hire a hit out on me then.

I Forgot To Go Back

I was just looking through pictures from my stay in Vincennes, Indiana last October and realized something. I forgot to visit this great looking record store.

There was a street fair happening that night. Music, a classic car show, vendors – plus there was beautiful fall light that made for nice pictures. I walked by, made a mental note to go back a little later and promptly forgot.

I love local record stores so this feels like a real loss. If you’re in the Vincennes area, please go visit and let me know what it’s like!

Do you ever just suddenly remember something that you forgot to do months after it is no longer relevant? My mind astounds me sometimes.

Spinning Out Of Control

My record buying has officially spun out of control.

I’ve collected off and on over the years, buying and listening to them in spurts. I might go a year without buying a single record. Right now, I can’t seem to make it a week without dragging home at least one or two. Ok. That’s a lie. More like a dozen a week. Sigh.

There’s a great little record store called Apollo over in Chillicothe and a host of nice antique malls in the area that have records. My hope to buckle down on spending this month failed miserably, mainly because of records.

My music tastes are all over the place so that hasn’t really helped to keep a handle on things either. This week’s haul included everything from classic Conway Twitty to the Flying Burrito Brothers to Paul Revere and the Raiders to eighties Ronnie Milsap.

The best part of collecting records is that you can find them in some of the oddest places for a dollar and up. The bad news is that it’s easy for them to pile up really quickly.

My goal this week is to not spend any money on records. Think I can do it?

Yeah…. I don’t either.