Sign of the times

Stoop-labor jobs (such as sorting through free used Christmas paraphernalia) that were once the exclusive domain of illegal immigrants willing to work for tiny sums of money are increasingly being taken by ordinary Americans, as seen below:

Sad stuff

Readers April T. and Norm M. both sent in a pic of this noteworthy mountain of free stuff. While usually a cause for celebration, this pile had the distinct whiff of eviction about it and instead became a sad catalyst for thoughts about the state of our economy.

Thanks April T. for sending in; a small donation to Family of Woodstock has been made as our little way of saying 'thanks' for sending in.

Step right up

Step right up, step right up, everything must go. Two pics from today's bumper crop of yard sales, with my boy Moss on the mike.

Dapple-dawn-drawn

It's all free, just like this poem from Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Mystery meat

Fab friend and all-around fun chick Rachel D. sends in this lovely shot from the road to nowhere. A case of Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d'Or Grand Cuvee 1997 goes out to her as our little way of saying "thanks". Cheers, Rachel D!

Imagine...

...someone who works out on the Nordic Trak and then sits on the couch.

Now imagine someone who sits on the couch and then works out on the Nordic Trak. Now, in your mind's eye, is one of those people fat and the other thin? Anyway, here's a nice looking couch and a swell Nordic Trak found on the way to and from lunch with Wyatt and just before the rain started.

The back road to Catskill

A box of books picked nearly clean rests on a discarded "yard sale" sign.

A cap for an old Bronco sits on a flat bed.

On the way home from camp

Picked Daisy up from camp yesterday, it's great to have her back hiding in her bedroom playing on facebook. Got some swell free sign snaps on the way home. This one below, for the invisible electric dryer and the one under that for the colorful cornucopia of kid's crap. God bless alliteration and free signs and my camper come home.

2 from the missus

A lovely couch and a handmade leg. The same care clearly went into this red white and blue sign. A case of Kodak film goes out to the missus as our little way of saying "ta."

I took the ottoman and the sign

Calling Dr. Caligari

A coupla cabinets from friend of the blog, April T. A carton of German Expressionist films goes out to A.T. as our little way of saying "danke."

Elmo says check out that mattress!

Is that a Tickle-me Elmo hanging on the line?

Elmo says there's nothing lonelier than a used mattress.

A case of cookies goes out to Kimmie C. for sending in the Elmo pic and a carton of Newports for S.O'C. for the swell snap of the mattress and box spring. Newport. Alive with pleasure.

All-star reader and showy-offy app ho P.F.D.B. sends in this 4-banger of pics. Presumably all of the stuff in all of them is free, though it appears that only one shutter click (if his fancy pants iPhone even has a shutter click sound effect) actually captured a free sign.

A quarter bushel of Cape Cod's best quahogs goes out to reader P.F.D.B. for his 25% success.

Summertime and the living is free

A tiny toy table sent in by lovely loyal reader S.O'C. ...

...this golden doorway to unlimited devotion was snapped by hall of famer Kim C ...

...hyper-fab reader Claire M. sent this in all the way from Minneapolis...

...sometime contributor Andrea M. snapped this in Fire Island...

...this one was found floating around the archives....

...winner of the best-looking reader contest, Daisy M. snapped this one in Woodstock...

...another one found floating around the archive...

...and one more sent in from Woodstock, N.Y.

A case of Badger All-Natura Unscented Face and Body Sunscreen SPF 30 goes out to all our esteemed summer contributors. Now I'm off to the beach for a free sunset.

More free!!

Not surprisingly, there are other people out there on cyberland who dig the same stuff I do. Here's a link to Sam Pratt's lovely collection of free signs: http://www.sampratt.com/sam/free/. Enjoy!

Fans

New fan of the free signs blog sends in swell snap of an old fan.

But the real story is the type on that sign. Sure they ran out of space, but check out those "e"s. Wow. And is that a little serif sneaking in at the bottom of the "r"? I think it is. Serifs are rare-ifs on homemade free signs.

Special thanks to A-grrr for sending it in. A case of cucumber pulp goes out to her as our little way of saying "thanks".

Ha! Just like I told'ja. Take the picture, leave the sign.

One more from the topic sentence collections. This one via Woodstock Patch from Ojai, CA. A case of 2007 William Selyem Pinot Noir goes out to Patch as our little way of saying "thanks" for thinking of us.

Beauty and the beast.

From a couple of my favorite peeps come a coupla totally different pics. A-Grrr sends in the sparkly Christmas Tweety confection above and A-Traum sends in the scorched earth snap below. A case of vintage port to A-Grrr and a tin of Copenhagen to A-Traum as our little way of saying "thanks" for contributing.

I wonder how much they made?

New contributor Rachel R. sends in this fab snap from a "Going to China sale." Thanks for sending and have a great time in the big country. A case of Beeman's goes out to her as our little way of saying "thanks."

Richard Serra

Twin massage tables bring to mind some of Richard Serra's less curvy work.

Norman Bates

I'm pretty sure this is the chair that Norman Bates' mother sat in in Psycho. Pretty sure. And now it's being given away for free down there on Tinker St. in Woodstock. Such a deal.

The cod

Long time supporter Peter O'C. sends in this pic from Dennisport in Cape Cod. It looks like they color-coordinated the sign to match the couch, reminding me of something my ma used to tell me when I was a wee young lad: "two uglies don't make a right." Ahhh, the wisdom of the years.

A 6 of Ommegang Witte and a big bag of spicy chips goes out to P O'C as our little way of saying "thanks for the pic."

More clarification and more grilling

Here's some clarification: "free with purchase" is not free. It's just not. No way, no how.

And here's another grill you don't have to buy anything to get. Because it's free. Actually free.

confusing and cordial

I have no idea what the sign above is all about and plenty of pleasure for the politeness of the sign below.

Green and not green

This study in green is an Ikea sofa bed that looked so pretty in the middle of the lawn and the not green below is a chair under wraps with a note saying that the paint might be lead based to be careful. You gotta love the care and consideration that went in to writing such a note.

The trick is getting them out of the ground

Reader Andrea M. sends in this riddle wrapped in an enigma shrouded in a mystery. Is it the trees that are free? Is all the free stuff gone? The first reader to write in with the best explanation wins a free trip to Jamaica.

And (below) just in time for barbecue season. A big bag of hickory chips goes out to loyal reader Andrea M. as our little way of saying thanks.

Sometimes one man's trash is not another man's treasure.

Sometimes one man's trash is simply another man's garbage. Loyal reader Jane "Make mine a Whopper" B.K. sends this in from sunny Baltimore and we're sending her a case of Leinenkugel's as our thanks.

3 free

Above: not always, but sometimes you can judge the quality of the stuff by the quality of the sign. Here, with the ugliest free sign yet, you can.

Above: I love blue but the nice sign belies mediocre stuff.

If this is the kinda crap you have in your house, you hardly need a home alarm system. Really.

Not a single yard sale

Somehow I made it through Memorial Day weekend without stopping at a single yard sale. I did stop at a couple the next day though. You know what they say: "yesterday's yard sale is today's free sign."