Leeds Jumble Sales - Do they still happen?

Your favourite days out round Leeds
jdbythesea
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Post by jdbythesea »

Jon, my missus used to drag me along to jumble sales on a regular basis: they seemed to be everywhere. We'd buy no end of kids toys, clothing and books for next to nothing and the sales at our local church at Cookridge were always marked on the calendar and never missed if at all possible. One other thing that I remember though is that "traders" were allowed first rummage and I've never really understood why because everything seemed to sell whoever bought it ! I think jumble sales served a really useful purpose well before recycling was even an idea. Also, of course, they saved me a fortune over the years.Car boot sales, garage sales, table top sales, t'interweb, charity shops, collection points, door to door collections, our throw away mentality and many other factors have contributed to the demise of this excellent and peculiarly British tradition.Evolution? JD    

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Leodian
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Post by Leodian »

Not jumble sale as such but related so I thought I would mention this about getting cheap clothes. As a youngster in the late 1940s to the very early 1950s I used to take the family's rags and outgrown clothes to a scrap merchant's place to get some money for them (bought by weight). Wollens got the most, so they were seperated. However, when I got to the place I would always be approached by women in the nearby houses who would look through the old clothes and offer a bit more than I would get from the merchant for pieces they could use. I'm probably only talking of pennies or so of old money but in those times anything extra helped a lot.I cannot recall exactly where the scrap yard was (the merchant took metal and paper as well as rags) but it was somewhere in the Burmantofts or nearby area (? Lincoln Green or Mabgate). The area would have been demolished in the slum clearances long back.
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

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Leeds Hippo
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Post by Leeds Hippo »

Always remember from childhood that they were church or scout organised events - they seem to belong to very middleclass, Church of England world I was never part of - the world of Betjeman and Enid Blyton

leedslily
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Post by leedslily »

I was just wondering recently whatever happened to jumble sales - when I was a student and just afterwards they were more or less compulsory. Like Jon, we used to scour the local papers to find out the most promising ones, go in a group, buy loads of stuff, then swap it between us when we got home so we'd all have something new to wear to go out that weekend. Anything we decided we didn't like went back to the next weekend's jumble sales. You needed sharp elbows to get inbetween the experienced grannies though.I really miss those days of being able to get something 'pre-loved' for next to nothing - not so easy now that 'vintage' has got trendy!

String o' beads
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Post by String o' beads »

jonleeds wrote: Hmm, another thread I've written that get boycotted by everyone. I think the comment that was raised about this forum been a clique is probably correct. Forget it. You posted the thread at 10:40ish last night. Most people will have been settled watching TV or whatever, no need to get all het up over it just cos no one's answered you yet. Also this forum is usually quiet on a week-end, probably all out at Jumble sales As Chameleon say's give it a chance. Eh? Who wrote the last paragraph? Site going awry again?

jonleeds
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Post by jonleeds »

Well, I was only having a laff when I mentioned cliques as it had been mentioned on another thread.. Actually after I posted this thread last night I had a look around just on the internet and I found that there were a few jumble sales happening this weekend both in Leeds and around York. I might have to dust off my jumble sale folding buffet that I used to take with me so I didnt have to stand for 2 hours at the front of the queue.Yes I've been to jumble sales in the past where there were rumours that the sale had been 'picked' - meaning that the organisers had previously allowed dealers to go through the sale and cherry pick the best items before the rest of us were let in. If we saw this going on it could almost cause a riot, and I have been at a jumble sale which was supposed to start at 1pm when at 12.30 we spied through a gap in the door that some of the dealers were already in there, anyway we all rushed in too and started rummaging through the bric-a-brac too which upset the vicar as it meant we didnt pay the 10 pence admission fee and he had to come round with the raffle tickets asking people to cough up...One of the best things at jumble sales used to be the minute they opened the door and the mad rush to get to the tables! To say that the majority of the crowd were all pensioners - some of them in their 70's / 80's I couldnt believe the speed which these old ladies would move, and yes they are very handy with their elbows!There is a certain smell about jumble sales that probably still persists to this day, its the smell of musty old clothes and mothballs. Also a good jumble sale will usually have a tea / coffee and home made cakes stand as it can be thirsty work diving amongst tons of old knick knacks after a 2 hour wait to get in. I imagine a lot of the old people I remember from the jumble sales will be long gone now, there was the Witchy Woman (who was allegedly a witch), a woman called Tweety Pie, who used to sell jewellery on the Thursday market, another old second hand market regular called Doreen, who's stall on the market resembled a jumble sale and her daughter Melanie, who was apparently a country and western singer. Then there was a woman who used to be an extra on Emmerdale, and her daughter who worked at screaming Jay Hawkins chemists in Ireland Wood, it was a proper regular scene. There was, and maybe still is a season for jumble sales too, it seems to start in the springtime with spring fairs, then there will be Easter which is a good period, during summer is good too, and then as autumn approaches it all goes quiet again until the warm weather returns. Anyway I'm rambling on now so I'll shut up.
Have your fun when you're alive - you won't get nothing when you die... have a good time all the time! - Chumbawumba!

And no matter how things end, you should always keep in touch with your friends - Dave Gedge

String o' beads
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Post by String o' beads »

jonleeds wrote: her daughter who worked at screaming Jay Hawkins chemists in Ireland Wood You can't just drop that in without more detail. Spill!

Johnny39
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Post by Johnny39 »

Leodian wrote: Not jumble sale as such but related so I thought I would mention this about getting cheap clothes. As a youngster in the late 1940s to the very early 1950s I used to take the family's rags and outgrown clothes to a scrap merchant's place to get some money for them (bought by weight). Wollens got the most, so they were seperated. However, when I got to the place I would always be approached by women in the nearby houses who would look through the old clothes and offer a bit more than I would get from the merchant for pieces they could use. I'm probably only talking of pennies or so of old money but in those times anything extra helped a lot.I cannot recall exactly where the scrap yard was (the merchant took metal and paper as well as rags) but it was somewhere in the Burmantofts or nearby area (? Lincoln Green or Mabgate). The area would have been demolished in the slum clearances long back. There used to be a scrap merchant on Beckett Street where we used to take jam jars, rags and paper, though the chippies would usually take your newspaper.
Daft I call it - What's for tea Ma?

jonleeds
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Post by jonleeds »

dont know what you mean Geordie-Exile, what cant I just drop in? I was just mentioning a few of the jumble sale scene regulars. Quite a few of the folk who were dealers you'd then find the next day at the car boot sales around Leeds selling on the tat they'd picked up at the previous days jumbles. If we were lucky we'd get one jumble start at 10am shortly followed by another (hopefully) nearby at 11am, then after a break for lunch the best jumble sales would happen in the afternoon from 1pm onwards, on a good Saturday we might get to 3 or 4 jumble sales, one might just be a spring fair though with a bric-a-brac stall, but some of the best places to pick up bric-a-brac for selling on at the car boot sales (or on Ebay in my case) were the seasonal school fairs, where quite often you'd get a whole classroom full of donated bric-a-brac, including antiques and collectables in some cases. Another bonus was you'd often get stalls full of home-made cakes / buns / pies / jams etc that were also been sold for next to nothing prices so it was a great place to pick up some cheap treats. I do still see notices for these school / church fairs going on locally, but not so much the jumble sales, it might just be that I've not been taking much notice, but I do think its something thats in decline as the churches that used to organise them get wound up. Its a shame, but thats progress apparently.
Have your fun when you're alive - you won't get nothing when you die... have a good time all the time! - Chumbawumba!

And no matter how things end, you should always keep in touch with your friends - Dave Gedge

jim
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Post by jim »

I think Geordie-exile is referring to your mention of the namesake of the weirdly bizarre Jalacy Hawkins jonleeds, and would like you to expand on the topic.

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