Tuesday, November 16, 2010

It's a little sad...

...when you are pawing your way through the yet-to-be-unloaded carts at the Goodwill. There always seems to be a photo or 2 (or 3) of a happy couple on their wedding day tossed in among the bad art and fake house plants.

Whatever happened to Ken and Julie?

And Herb and Susan? More to the point: Why in the world would they throw the frames in the donation box for the Goodwill without removing their photos first? Discuss.

14 comments:

trash talk said...

Riddle me this Bat Girl...I once bought a complete set of albums starting with a couple's first date and ending with their divorce settlement...in the album!
Debbie

Unknown said...

I always think this. I think it's a little sad. I always wonder what happen to these people. Esp when you see pictures of little kids!

Linda @ A La Carte said...

That always makes me sad also. I just don't understand why someone doesn't take out the photos.

Andy's Attic said...

That question goes through my mind every time I go through thrift store pictures. I've thought, well, maybe they had a bad divorce and just chucked the picture. But then I think...but why wouldn't you tear up the picture and just get rid of the frame? And for older pictures I always figure no one in family wants them so they just get rid of them. Maybe they had them all put onto a CD to keep. But I still wouldn't want my picture hanging out in a frame at Goodwill. I am anxious to read other comments.
Annette

Hope said...

the same reason i threw away my wedding photos. I wanted no memory of that bum I was married to! lol. I thik even sadder are the old school photos of little kids. I always think someone's granny has died and no one wanted their photos.

Peace said...

I have always wondered the same thing. Especially, in addition, baby pictures.
I can only assume there was a horrible divorce or something equally sad, and that a second wife or husband was involved in tossing old Julie out with the donate box so Ken (or Herb) would not have any desire to revisit those days.

Barbara said...

This is just very sad. Maybe there should be a whole section of the thrift store (anchored by the used wedding dresses) for things that didn't work out quite as well as one had hoped.

Sonia said...

bad breakup/divorce. I can see it.

Amber Von Felts said...

It is sad! Probably one of the saddest things I have ever seen along similar lines was an oil portrait of a young brother and sister priced to sell at an Estate sell. There were lots of other photos of the family too and they seemed happy in them...what wouldn't the relatives want them? I just don't get it. Wedding photos maybe, if it was a bad split...but pics or even commissioned paintings of the children going to strangers? Its heart breaking!

Annie said...

I find that weird, too. I've even found old pictures, and sometimes pictures of children and their report cards. What gives? I sometimes go into this funk thinking something bad must have happened to the child...then I try to stop thinking about it because it makes me sad. It's weird though.

SousLeCharme said...

I'm currently clearing out the appartment of a deceased relative who had no children. This man was a serious hoarder. There is so much to sort through and so little time that aside from his old family photos, i find myself tossing frames and albums with more recent photos onto the EmmaĆ¼s (french Goodwill) pile. If you want a look at how a hoarder lives check out"Hoarding-Buried Alive" on the Discovery Channel.

Teri from Vintage Station said...

Some one told me that you are only 2 generations away from oblivion. That is kinda sad. We only know our parents and if we're lucky, our grandparents and even fewer know their great grandparents... So label all those photos folks!!

Anonymous said...

I guess that's the life of a thrifter: you may never know whose happy memories or vibes you've inherited, but in this case, you know about the potentially bad ones.

My fave thrifted silver frame had a wedding photo in it - I thought it was the generic couple until I took that one out and discovered the generic couple underneath! Then I did feel sad indeed.

But this one's unbelievable: I found a gorgeous pastel self-portrait of a young girl in a thrift store recently for a couple bucks - it had her name, age, school, and class on the back. I thought it was so sad that someone would give away a child's self-portrait - and I am telling you, this one was so amazing I bought it before I even saw the names. I did feel sad, but also happy to know I treasured my work of art so - that sort of rectified the situation in my mind. Though I will say, a Googled the name of that little girl (who for all I know could be grown up now) -- finding her beautiful lost portrait made me want to try to uncover her, in a way.

Bonnie said...

one word - cathartic