What's the coolest secondhand thing you've found...?

I recently bought an artillery luger from someone and I really like to think that it was used in WWII for causing some hell. ;) I imagine some grumpy veteran with no legs owned it before I did!

I know that my Mauser C96 was born in Germany between 1921 and 1930. Though its real history between that point and finding its way into my collection is a mystery, I’d like to think that it was purchased and carried by a member of the Freikorps during the Weimar Era, stolen by a Nazi warrant officer during the war, pried from his dead hands by a Soviet soldier when they marched into Germany, bought by a US GI as the war was ending, who lost it in a bet to a German civilian, who left it in a drawer until it was purchased by a New York based curio and relic weapons importer. God knows whose hands it went through in the US before winding up proudly displayed on my shelf.

I’m sure my WWI postcard love letter has an interesting story behind it as well. The writing on the back reads:

“My Darling Floss, just a few lines to let you know your Billy is still thinking of you and I know you are of me. I hope you are happy and contented. I know we shall both be when we hear of peace. I see in the paper we have offered good terms to Germany which they ought to take. Best love to my Floss. xxxxx”

I could make up a long story about Billy and Flossy’s love, but I’ll leave that up to you.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard D’awww that’s so cute!

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Drools at Mauser C96

Found a nice black men’s suit circa 1960–1963 (the Mad Men era) at a flea market once. It was hardly worn and in excellent condition, and because it was my size, it didn’t need any alterations at all. I thought that was pretty cool. Now I just have to find a narrow black tie to go with it.

One of those indian clothes that one wears over the normal clothes .

An early Leica. It brought $400; I paid $5.

What a great question. It reminds me of the movie, The Red Violin.

I have two rings that were purchased secondhand. One came from an antique jewelry shop in New Orleans. It has a a unique band with a diamond and sapphire. The other ring is one commissioned by US architect Frank Lloyd Wright for one of his wives. I’d like to think that their history is better than any story I could make up.

@KatetheGreat and @Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Dad brought back a Luger from his time fighting in Europe during WWII, including The Battle of the Bulge and entering one concentration camp in Austria.

I found a very nice tripod for my camera for $5 the same week I was going to buy a brand new one for alot more money.
Then there is also the teapot I bought for $5 that I was going to make a still from,until I heard it’s whistle.It has a Hohner whistle in it and it is loud as hell! The first time I heard it,I thought the city was blasting some sort of warning siren.LOL!
I love that thing,man!

by far, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, also known as Mao’s Little Red Book, First Edition, 1966!

I picked up a really nice black woolen coat, knee length, that looks to have been slightly reinforced at the shoulders, for $8 at a thrift store. I like to think the previous owner was a private eye or something.

I’m fairly certain my AMD-65 carbine was never issued, maybe not even fired before I bought it. Even so, it’s a model preferred by paratrooper commandos. I like to think some Hungarian version of Chuck Norris used it.

My Ruger 10–22 was used when I bought it, so I got a great deal. I really can’t think of much it could have done besides kill a lot of squirrels.

Otherwise, most of my really cool used purchases have been books, VHS tapes, more books. Nothing much I could make a story about.

Girlfriends.

Good luck at Goodwill. In the box was a brand new Cuisinart Toaster Oven. It had never been used. Apparently, some married couple received this as a wedding gift and never turned it on.

Retail price: $300. Goodwill price: $3.95 !

We use it everyday.

I was going to say “my husband,” who is previously divorced. :) But @WasCy took that idea.

So, I will say my Roman coins. I like to think about what they might have been used to purchase in their time. Olives? Sea urchins? Prisoners of war? The attentions of a lovely woman? A bribe in the Senate? Were they the profit from a latifundia, a soldier’s pay, a donation to the gods, the admission price to the Coliseum? So many possibilities.

@Schroedes13 I remember seeing one as a little kid when I visited China back in the 80s. Is the one you have in a red plastic cover? It’s really rare to see one nowadays, the original version I mean. Good catch.

A wooden handled weeding fork.

Oops, I spaced the part about a story, sorry! Hmmm. After the dish ran away with the spoon, life just wasn’t the same…

An American assembled AK 47 specifically an M-70 AB 2 that has Yugoslavian parts that were no doubt parted from cut up war surplus from the Bosnian War. There’s no telling how many people were dusted with weapons those parts came off. Then again maybe there’s no blood on them at all, certainly not since I’ve had it.

@MRSHINYSHOES ya there were some copies in the Jade Market in Kowloon. I got it for 200HKD!! it’s one of my prized possessions!

@Schroedes13 Kowloon is a bit different from Hong Kong. Not as ritzy or developed, but there are a lot of small souvenir shops and black markets there where you can find unusual things like you did. I remember walking down an old run-down street in Kowloon, near a temple, and seeing three young boys not more than 10-years old, practising kung-fu and sparring. They were phenomenol, jumping about and deftly punching and kicking with lightning speed. I couldn’t believe how skilled they were. They were like little lethal weapons with bare hands. I remember skirting around them, trying to make myself as “inconspicuous” as possible to avoid them. Seriously. Lol.

@MRSHINYSHOES I know Kowloon is different, but it’s still a part of HK!

@Schroedes13 You’re right my friend. What I meant was Hong Kong island, being separate from Kowloon, on the mainland. But yes——Hong Kong as a whole includes Kowloon. Not the New Territories, however. (I think).

ok…..glad we resolved that!

@Schroedes13 Too bad I didn’t pummel one of those kung-fu kids. Would have liked to. Lol.

those cats were fast as lightning..hah!

@woodcutter Yeah, but not as fast as that little runt (you know who).

Was he a funky China man from funky China town?

@woodcutter Lol. I remember that song! You mean the little runt who did you know what to me? He was like that kid from the movie Home Alone. Forgot his name.