There is a small town in tasmania called the "al fresco town ", which is a popular tourist attraction with its many paintings outside the walls of house.
That day, my two friends and I walked into a thrift store in town. When the boss saw us in the door, he picked out an old record of Chinese songs from the 1930s. I hummed with the song and couldn`t believe that the white-haired boss could speak Chinese, praised me for singing well, and somewhat proudly introduced a woman beside him who said she was my wife. Who knows if he`s joking? I smiled back in English," she is very young, you look old, so you very happy! "
After a circle, I picked out a delicate glass bell for our suit. There was an old piano at the door of the shop, and an english note on it meant I could play it at will. I sat down and played a song "years ago," which was also a reflection of the nostalgia of the thrift store.
I was surprised by the number of thrift stores in Australia. During my stay in Melbourne, visiting thrift stores became a pleasant choice for me to spend my time, and going to Taobao in ten and a half days, indulging in it, was also a shortcut to absorb the flavor of local cultural history.
Her daughter said a thing of the past when she bought a second-hand tape recorder at a flea market when she was studying in Sydney more than a decade ago, only to pay $4. The stall owner, an immigrant from the Arab neighborhood, said the machine was for his son`s use and all was good, except for the battery lid falling off. Back in the dorm, her daughter couldn`t wait to put in a tape and press the play button. With the sound of music, the heart was relieved. In her Australian days, she learned to trust others and was used to being trusted.
Camberwell is Melbourne`s most popular Sunday thrift market, but I`ve been to the city centre more often than not. Unlike the second-hand market, which is open in the open air and during the holidays, the operators of the indoor used goods market and the second-hand goods store are fixed and generally open every day.
Melbourne, as the Southern Hemisphere`s trendy front, has hidden a plethora of vintage goods to dig into. Every type of thrift store can be seen on a random walk through the Fitzroy District market. A dozen years ago, several collectors opened stalls at an abandoned club in the Collingwood district selling their collection of interesting gadgets. At first just want to sell to play, did not expect to be unexpectedly popular, gradually became the residents favorite place to visit. Later, the junk market, called "Lost and Found Market," moved to a large 900-square-metre warehouse in Brunswick Street. When I went straight up the stairs from the unremarkable side of the road, I found that the second floor was unique, and the huge shopping mall was full of all kinds of used goods, which was dizzying, and I was as happy as a mouse in a rice bowl. Books, records, CDs, cassette tapes from the 1940s to the 1990s can be seen there, and the costumes of sculptures, decorations, porcelain statues, and toys go with each other, as if for a century. Each item is labelled with a small sausage, indicating the price, name, age and other information. The price is more expensive than the open market. I have bought a set of 12 tea coasters, they are khaki cloth, embroidered flowers, look at it as if looking at a page over the past days, the passage of time is vivid. He also bought a black-and-white photo book about the vigorous dancers of the Australian Ballet. It`s probably the reason why many people love collecting because of their nostalgia.
The OLD WARES BAZAR on Chapel Street in South Asia`s La region is also a haunting destination. The old things in the inside are really called all over the place. For example, small squares like slide-like Kodak positives, old-fashioned typewriters, innovative cat-patterned high heels... vinyl records range from 10 to 20 knives depending on age. The old Playboy magazine cost a fortune of $22 a copy. Buddhist carvings of the Chinese style, pots and bowls during the Republic of China, and souvenirs of the "Cultural Revolution Period" have also been found. For example, there are military kettles used by Liberation Army fighters. Jewelry jewelry, watches, small pieces, and so on in rows of glass cabinet, to see the front desk to find someone to open the door lock. There is plenty of time to go to the thrift store, and every corner there will attract your attention, lost in this small world, unconsciously time to fly, as if the sky and earth for hundreds of years.
Most of the frames in the thrift store are printed, and the originals are less expensive. But the frames of those paintings are often very distinctive, with different shapes and materials. Last time, I felt good about a metal-framed goddess relief, about 70 or 80 centimeters long, priced at 66 yuan, hesitated for a while, or wave. Next time, maybe you can`t resist the goddess temperature, then ask her to come home. Small town thrift stores are cheaper than big cities. In the town of Ross, I bought an original landscape painting with an oval frame of about 30 centimeters, only 6 knives.
In the face of a variety of old things, let you give birth to the feeling of turning back time, like the world. Unlike antique shops in China, Australian thrift stores are a collection of household goods, practical and artistic combination of daily necessities. Caressing, pondering the old things, playing, imagining their former master, the experience of the master, feel the smell of the year, the smell of the family. There are fewer genuine curios, but those who know the line will find the desired thing. There is a used goods warehouse near my house, which looks unremarkable from the outside. Once you walk in, be sure to watch your wallet. The shop has a one-foot-tall statue of mao zedong`s entire body for 199 yuan, or nearly 1000 yuan. I don`t know how it crossed thousands of miles? During the Cultural Revolution in China, the porcelain statue was found in almost every household. There`s also a bust of Chairman Mao with a price tag of 199, which I didn`t see in a few months, probably in the bag.
Before Shanghai`s 1980s, there were also many thrift stores, such as the famous Huaihai Middle Road "Huaiguo Old ". There was a consignment shop at the southwestern road of Shaanxi near my home. Since then, the price of mahogany furniture has soared. In high school, I took the stamp book from my father, including the old stamps of the 1950s.
One type of thrift shop in australia is run by charity, i.e. op shop, shop assistant is a volunteer. Some churches have their own shops, and the items sold are donated by community believers. There is such a near my home, the store goods including books, clothing, bowl, picture frame and other categories, low prices. For example, an old book is $1, or $2, up to $3. One of the porcelain pots I had erected on my writing desk came from there, only for five knives. A middle-aged man sits resting on a chopped-down tree in a forest, and a woman in a long dress looks at him with her young child, reflecting the historical background of early Australian immigrants reclaiming forests and creating homes. The shop assistant asked if you recognized her. Its original in the state gallery is a triple painting, which is one of them. Then I went to the state gallery and stood long in front of the giant painting called The Reclaimer.
The australians are very happy. We always suspect that there are too many things at home, often discard things, but I don`t know that some of the unsightly things in the thrift store is a collection, may become a valuable treasure. Time is such a golden magician.
Picture: Piqsels
