Jumble Sale Rumbles

A couple of weeks ago Gill was talking about good old-fashioned jumble sales in one of her posts.  This started me reminiscing about the wonderful jumble sales that Mum and I used to go to every autumn and winter. 

The season always kicked of with a local Methodist church jumble sale on a Friday evening in early September.  These jumbles were always massive and a huge queue would snake around the church car park, causing no end of problems for the Weight Watchers group who were using another part of the church on Fridays too.  Mum and I always ensured we were there with plenty of time to spare, lots of small change, and loads and loads of empty bags.  There was an almost festive atmosphere in the queue as we all knew that this was the start of another year's jumble sale season.  These jumble sales never disappointed and we used to come out festooned with bags full of clothes, books and bric a brac.  The best part was getting home and emptying all our 'treasures' out on to the floor to sort through and see just what we had managed to 'bag'.

All through September, October and November, and then again in January, February and March, there would be at least one jumble in the area every weekend, sometimes we would go from one straight on to another.  Pretty much everything I wore came from a jumble sale, and most of the books I read did too.  When I bought my first house everything was second-hand (mostly picked up at jumbles) except the cooker (I panicked, and went out and bought a new one!!)

I don't have much left in the house that was originally from a jumble sale now.  There is the wonky Lloyd Loom linen basket which came from a jumble in Bath about 24 years ago.  This has been used every day since, and has been moved from place to place to place.  It's never got any more wonky and, to be honest, I never even notice it's 'twist' any more.  There is also a large 1950s Italian vase which came from a jumble sale in Nottingham 12 years ago, that still has pride of place on my bookshelves and these days holds my knitting needles.  Also, from a Nottingham jumble is our faux Christmas Tree - that gets an airing every December.

Our vintage plastic salad servers are, relatively speaking, from quite a recent jumble sale - perhaps 7 or 8 years ago.  These are used every time we have a salad and I find their marbled green colour really pleasing nestling in a salad bowl.

These came from a jumble sale which used to take place in our local scout hut - a particularly damp and dark shed-like building which really didn't inspire you to want to stay in there very long.  A jumble sale in there always involved a VERY quick perusal to see if there was anything worth having before dashing back outside to the light and the fresh air.

The oddest place I ever attended a jumble sale was in a railway engine shed with a rusting old steam engine in the back.  It was in aid of our local railway restoration society and, luckily, took place one August many years ago.  Mum and I set off on push bikes on a very hot afternoon (this was long before I had passed my driving test), and cycled about five miles there.  The jumble turned out to be wonderful and we had to cycle the five miles back again with our handle bars swathed in bulging carrier bags - I thought I was going to have a heart attack by the time I eventually got home!!  The haul was brilliant, but everything had to be washed very thoroughly as it all absolutely reeked of coal and steam!

I remember going to a jumble sale in a particularly pretty country church hall in April 1982.  The weather was unseasonably warm and I stood in the queue in a short-sleeved top admiring the blossom on the trees in the churchyard, and worrying myself sick about the Falklands war which had just started. 

I remember queueing for an hour on a sub-zero January afternoon in Nottingham and having to keep stamping my feet and blowing on my hands to stop them from freezing up - but it was so worth it as that was probably the best jumble sale I ever attended.  I came away with so much 'stuff' that I had to buy the biggest canvas bag I have ever come across (it's the size of a coal sack) to get my haul home.  The bag is still used on occasions when we go shopping by car - you would not believe how many tins and bottles, and packs of corn flakes you can fit in the thing.

I so miss jumble sales - whatever happened to them?  I suppose the plethora of car boot sales and charity shops took the place of the humble jumble.  But at this time of year, as the nights draw in and the mornings are misty, and car boot sales are shutting down for the season, I really miss the thrill of a winters 'jumbling' ahead.

Comments

[Gill]

Oh you've brought back memories for me Elizabeth! Yes there always seemed to be at least one jumble sale every week, I loved them! I know we love car boot sales too, but there's something about a jumble sale....I'm pleased to say that the Cats Protection League aren't letting the side down, there's one in Hemel this Saturday! I might drag my friend to it and see if we can bag a bargain or two.
Gill x

[The Shopping Sherpa]

Fabulous post!