Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Love the K

K is just a great letter. It's the symbol for the Kelvin system of temperature measurement, it's purportedly the funniest letter to end a joke with, it's the symbol for a strikeout in baseball, and it's the stock symbol for the Kellogg's corporation, manufacturers of Pop-tarts and Rice Krispies. Which is a perfect segue into it's highest incarnation as far as I'm concerned: its use as an intentional misspelling of words that actually begin with "C".

A karton of Kool goes out to enthusiastik reader Wyatt S. for sending in this kool sign:


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Not sure

Not so sure about the SeƱor Coffee Maker, but I'll take some of that fab orange paint if you have it. Thanks to best-ever reader Alice R.M. for snapping this shot. A case of non-dairy creamer goes out to her as a token of our appreciation.


Monday, October 18, 2010

Cleaning day

Just when you're wondering where to put your washing machine, along comes a whole counter set just perfect for the cleaning room. Thanks to loyal reader and fab friend Kim C. for sending in the shot below. A case of low-sudsing Tide with color-enhancing bleach goes out to Kim C. as our a token of our squeaky-clean appreciation.


Saturday, October 16, 2010

Tricycle

Reader Wyatt S. sends in this trio of tires from down Glenford way, where, I guess, people like trikes. A case of Slim Jim Meat Snacks goes out to Mr. S. as our little way of saying 'thanks'.


Monday, October 4, 2010

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Fab-tastic perma-awesome reader Claire M. sends in these two pics from Trumansburg, N.Y.. Claire, I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you. A case of awkward family photos goes out to Claire as a token of our appreciation.




Sunday, October 3, 2010

Same sign, different crap, vol. 2

And, I think, the last installment of "same sign, different crap". Or not.

Firecracker chuckle factory and loyal reader April T. sends in this fab pic of the permafree sign down the road. It's like they're running a store where they give it all away with new crap every week. The sign's been there for at least a few months and we'll see how long it lasts.

A case of used 2005 Cheval Blanc goes out to Mrs. T as our little way of saying "thanks for the effort."



Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Encino. Sepulveda.

Loyal reader April T. sends in these two pics purportedly taken by her nameless sister who supposedly lives out by the Sepulveda Dam. A carton of Parliament filter cigarettes goes out to sister X as our little way of saying "Gracias!"


Monday, September 20, 2010

The sands of time

The Sands of Iwo Jima. Found this sign in the driveway of our local jarhead. Got there too late to get the sand.


Sunday, September 19, 2010

So much free, so little time

We've got 3 kids and cover a lot of miles just ferrying them to and from their friends' houses. On the downside, it takes a lot of time and uses a lot of gas, on the upside, it's almost always fun to hang with the punks in the car and sometimes we pass a free sign. Or two. Or three. Or five. Yesterday was a banner day for free signs.




Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Stoop

Lovely and loyal reader Rachel C.D. sends in this exercise in naming items from the brownstone steps of New York City. Money makin' Manhattan. The big apple. Gotham. I see there's a free lamp and a free basket, I only wish the rest of the stuff were labelled so I could know what it is.

Special thanks and a case of Yonex AS-50 Shuttlecocks go out to R.C.D. as our little way of saying "Yo. Tanks a lot."


Wednesday, September 8, 2010

101

Brooklyn reader Season Whatever sends in this free sign behind bars from the land of Welcome Back, Kotter. A case of baby back ribs goes out to S.W. as a yummy token of our affection.


Tuesday, September 7, 2010

POST # 100!!!

Loyal reader and wonderful friend April T. sends in this pic, complete with her own title suggestion: Toy Story 4 "The Big Escape". Too bad we already had a title all picked out for this momentous hundredth post. 100 posts and, I'm guessing, about 130 free signs. Not too bad for 15 months of collecting. A case of 1995 Krug "Clos Ambonnay" Brut Champagne goes out to April T. as a token of our appreciation.



Friday, September 3, 2010

3 for 99

This is my 99th post here and what a swell one it is, with 3 fab shots from 3 fab peeps (okay, 2 fab peeps and me).

Greta's giving away some skids and I happened to be on the scene to snap the pic below:


Muito gostosa reader Andrea M. sent in this lovely sign:


And reader Rachel C.D. took time out of her busy birthday week 2010 to snap and send this sign from the bed people who hate capital "R"s.



A case of Downtown Leroy Brown's Perfect Manhattan in a Can goes out to the gals as our little way of saying "thanks." Thanks.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

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:


Sunday, August 29, 2010

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.


Saturday, August 21, 2010

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.

Monday, August 16, 2010

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!



Thursday, August 12, 2010

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.


Wednesday, August 11, 2010

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.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

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.



Tuesday, August 3, 2010

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


Monday, August 2, 2010

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."

Thursday, July 29, 2010

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.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

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.


Tuesday, July 20, 2010

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.

Friday, July 9, 2010

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".