MUGI – My Unique Gift Idea

When I was young I had a habit of picking dirty and odd objects up off of the street, which happened to catch my curiosity. My mother would slap me on the hand and say, “Don’t be a garbage collector.” For years I heeded her advice, until I discovered a new shopper’s secret.

Recently I was visiting my in-law’s in Providence, Rhode Island, and they showed me a cute antique shop. There, for under $100 dollars, I was able to find enough fascinating used books to decorate my bookshelf, a Civil War era handgun and an excellent quality acoustic guitar. It was then that I became convinced of the valuable secret of being a garbage collector.

On October 18th 2009, I wrote about a man who bought a “German School 19th Century” piece at a Christie’s auction for $19,000, in 1998, which changed hands a few times and finally it became discovered that the piece was actually a Leonardo Da Vinci original, worth $160,000,000!

Well I was reminded of this today when I read in the news today about a woman named Teisha Mcneil. Teisha lives in a Shreveport, Louisiana trailer park and attended her neighbor, Edith Parker’s garage sale. Along with a handful of other items, McNeil bought a colorful painting in a cheap frame for just $2. On the painting was written the name Picasso. So she imagined that it was a fun imitation. Upon doing some internet research, she learned that it resembled a “missing” Picasso piece, worth $2,000,000. Thinking that it may be stolen, she then turned it over to the FBI do to an analysis. The final call is still pending, but it looks as if the woman has become a very lucky shopper.

In other freakish stroke of luck, a long-haul truck driver named Terry Horton, picked up an interesting abstract painting at a thrift store, for $5. Though still waiting to be authenticated, it seems as though the painting which she purchased with a five dollar bill is actually a Jackson Pollack original, worth $50,000,000!

In another similar case, in 2007, a man bought an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, for $2.48, at a Tennessee thrift store.

So the next time that you tell your young one to not be a garbage collector, think twice. You never know what kind of valuable items you have hanging around the house, or that you just might happen to chance upon. And NEVER NEVER NEVER, pass up the opportunity to check out what is available at a thrift store, low-priced antique sale, garage or yard sale!

Good luck shoppers! See you next time…