Junk Drawer

I like old, vintage windows like these, because I like vintage homes. Even though they can be drafty, and sometimes rattle in the wind like a haunted house, old windows just go well with the vintage-ness of an old house or apartment. My old bedroom window was not very well insulated, and it used to get all foggy, and even icy. Now I have new, well-sealed windows, and it makes things warmer, but I kind of miss the old ones in some ways. I wonder if removing old windows takes away something from a vintage house. If these windows were original to the house, it’s like throwing a part of the house away. I suppose if it were an issue of coldness, I would have replaced the windows too. But I would have saved one, at least, to remember what they were like.

I used to think it was a bit strange to see drawers thrown away with no cabinets, or anything for the drawers to fit into. But it seems I see more and more lonely drawers hanging out in alleys with no place to go. I assume these are all older built-ins that have been discarding during remodeling. I can only guess that new cabinets and/or drawers were put in, while the old ones were removed. These particular drawers, however, didn’t appear to have any age or wear to them. They were white and bright, and lying in a pile, with a cabinet on top. Maybe somebody ordered so many drawers to have built into a room that they didn’t all fit, so there were leftovers. Maybe somebody moved in who really disliked drawers, and just took them out and tossed them. A person like that wouldn’t care for junk drawers either. It’s hard to imagine such a person. The nice thing about drawers is that they conceal things very easily, and they can be as neat and organized, or as disorganized as you want. You can designate a drawer for specific things, or nothing specific at all. Drawers are often cleaned out, like when you clean your desk, but drawers themselves are not usually thrown away. These lost drawers have no place to be. If only there were a larger drawer to store them in.

This pile of wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, and gift bags looked like the remnants of a birthday party, or Christmas day. It was actually a little of both strewn together, including a Santa bag, and ribbons in bright birthday type colors. All this seemed to be a collection of discarded gift wrapping supplies, a little scruffed up, but possibly never used. Somehow it was all open, and just lying in the alley next to an apartment building. Perhaps someone was just cleaning out their things. Or they decided not to give gifts anymore. Whatever the story was, it sure was a colorful mess.

Gift wrap is not something people usually just throw away, since there are always gift giving occasions around the corner. Some items are easy to save and reuse, such as gift bags. One time I gave my brother a gift in the same bag he’d given me for my gift the year before. It’s nice to recycle gift wrap like that, since so much of it is kind of a waste of paper. I know that many cats love holidays simply for the opportunity to dive into wrapping paper to play in. I imagine that some alley cats may have gotten into this pile.

The end of summer in the city is also the end of many leases for apartments, condos, and houses. This is a transitional period, when many people move, and their stuff moves with them. Some stuff, however, gets left behind. Whatever doesn’t get Craigslisted, yard saled, or donated, often gets thrown away. Alleys are filled this time of year. One find stood out, simply because there were three pieces of furniture together. Each item appeared to represent a different room. I could just imagine what someone’s residence had looked like. I didn’t take any of these, but I had to stop and look. It was like part of their home was now part of the landscape of the alley.

The find this past week has been baskets, and more than just one. I was actually finding them for the past two weeks. I was on a mission of sorts. The mission was: find as many baskets in different varieties as possible. The whole plan came from the creative vision of Nell, who heads the Chicago Underground Library. She was doing decorations for the Printers’ Ball, which is the big annual literary gathering in Chicago. Her idea, as she conveyed it to me, was to have books hanging from baskets like plants. I wasn’t sure exactly how this was supposed to look, but I knew it would be something neat and original.

So, I set forth on basket quests, at garage sales, rummage sales, and thrift stores. I even found a few in an alley. This was the first time I’ve looked for baskets. Any baskets I’ve ever had were given to me by my mom. She is quite a collector of them. When she heard I was seeking baskets, she didn’t even need much of an explanation. She just wanted a reason to buy baskets, I suppose, so she went looking too.
One thing I noticed is that there seemed to be baskets everywhere I looked. The other thing is, people go crazy for baskets. Far more women than men appear to like baskets, and many just can’t resist a nice one, especially at a low price.
Baskets have something substantial about them, particularly when you notice all that weaving. And, they can go just about anywhere.

I never would have expected them to go in a display like at the Printers’ Ball, but they fit right in, all spray-painted gold, with books and bits of foliage. It was their big night, and they looked terrific.

This old potato cutter in the original box would be considered an antique, and more of a collectible than a junk drawer item. So, why was it chosen as a find of the week?
Well, its partly that I like potatoes, but that’s another story. Basically, this find was not at an antique shop, and never had been considered much of a worthy antique by the previous owners. I found this at an estate sale, and although the sales people recognized its value ($4, seemed like a good deal), it was sitting there like a junk drawer relic. It was stowed up in an old wooden kitchen cabinet, among aged plastic trays, and glass serving bowls. Its box was still with it, not because it had been considered valuable, most likely, since the people who had lived there had saved many things in boxes. The box was simply a convenient way to store this potato cutter, and in storage is probably how it had spent most of its time. There is no date to be found, and the box is only marked PRINTED IN ENGLAND. This at least would explain the use of the word “chips” on the box instead of “fries.” The lithograph printing suggests it must be at least early 1950’s. If it was purchased back then, that was a time when frozen French fries were not available at the regular grocery store. So, if you wanted fries at home you had a to slice them yourself, and what better way to do it than with a potato cutter like this.
Despite the appeal of fresh fries, it doesn’t look like this potato cutter ever had much use. Even so, it was considered worthy enough of keeping. You never know when you’d want fresh fries, or chips (if you’re British). So, it’s not that it outlived its usefulness, since it could very well be used, although I probably won’t. What’s interesting is that it went from kitchen junk drawer item to culinary collectible, just by sitting in a kitchen cabinet for several decades. Kitchens always seem to have good junk drawers, or junk cabinets, and this potato cutter is one item that is now more visibly stored in my own kitchen.

The science fair was the highlight for Junk Drawer this week, so it only makes sense that the find this time would be something from the Junk Drawer display. Several junk drawer odds and ends were presented as mystery items, and people were invited to guess what they were.
This item I figured out when I first found it in an office supply cabinet. It was past the pens, sticky note pads, and other items people normally need in an office. It is an envelope sealer. You use it simply by filling the cylinder with water, and rolling the foam roller over the gluey part on the envelope to moisten it. If you’re sealing a whole pile of envelopes, this will save your tongue from getting too sticky. Now, some envelopes are kind of tasty, but too much of that might not be good. Hence the need for an envelope sealing device. It seems that anyone doing large mailings these days has an automatic sealer, or they just buy those self sealing envelopes that you fold over, or pull a tab to uncover the sealant. A check at the local office supply mega-store has confirmed that envelope sealers are still available. However, they have a plain spongey end, so this old wheely kind might be an old design. The sealer itself is kind of an old design, so it might eventually become obsolete. At least, in one particular office, it is not currently being used.
I’m not sure how many people at the science fair were able to identify the envelope sealer, but maybe now people will know what it is if they come across one. Not that they’ll want to use it, since some people still don’t mind a nice, minty envelope.

There were plenty of people looking into the Junk Drawer this past Friday. This was the Junk Drawer display at “The Science of Obscurity,” a science fair presented by the Chicago Underground Library. There were actually two different drawers in the display. The top drawer contained several items from Junk Drawer zine #3, all very scientifically identified with numbers that matched up to those in the zine. The bottom drawer contained an assortment of random stuff, representing an unsorted junk drawer. There were more odds and ends on top of the desk, and people were invited guess what the objects were, and then lift up the question marks for the answers. It was pretty interactive, and that’s how a good junk drawer really is. It’s something you can dig through and then find interesting stuff. The rest of the science fair featured a variety of great displays, from a plan on how to defeat big corporations, to a taste test to determine the most tasty vegan chocolate chip cookie. Another one looked like it had junk drawer items, but they were actually things you could select to take with you if you were going on an expedition. There was also a book launch, whereby writers were able to literally “launch” their publications through the air on a trebuchant.
It was quite a science fair, and it was great to participate. Thanks to all who stopped by the junk drawers!

I recently caught a glimpse of the Chicago skyline in my rearview mirror, while driving past an alley near Western Avenue and Diversey. This was not the real skyline, but an imaginary view, painted on three cardboard panels. I quickly got out and took them from the side of the dumpster and put them into the back of the hatchback, where they just barely fit.
Each section is about 4 ½ feet tall and 3 feet wide. The scene is mostly airbrushed, and it looks like it might have been part of a set from a play. A friend thinks that it has a certain cheesy charm that would be fitting for a prom, or a school dance. It was most likely from some special event, but now that that event has passed, this skyline has no place to be.
If it had been a backdrop for a dance, there must be photographs of this skyline there in the background, with everyone all dressed up. If so, then at least there will be some record of it, for memories of that moment.

I’ve since discovered that one of the panels fits perfectly in the window next to my bed, which helps block the morning sunlight better than the blinds do.
Besides that, it also offers a nice imaginary view.

The find of the week this time just had to be a television. This past Friday was the day all television broadcast signals were switched over to digital. Millions of traditional analog TVs are now obsolete by themselves, without the addition of a converter box or other hook-up.
Plenty of those old tube TVs have ended up in the trash. There seems to be a TV in almost every alley I’ve gone down the past few days.
So, as a find of the week, this was an easy one. The one featured here, however, was not as easy to spot. At first what I saw was just a trashcan with a tall lid. Then I noticed the lid was really the back of the TV, and the thing on the ground was the front with the screen, lying face down. It was the same color as the trashcan, and fit perfectly on top. The TV had become one with the trashcan. It was as if the TV itself had become a trash receptacle. If only TVs could be so useful. They aren’t the type of thing that people want to make a coffee table out of, or something.