[Fmpro] Dumpster diving ("borrow aka rescue")

[Saskia]

Wow- That's amazing. I have a lot of respect for dumpster diving even though some of it can get pretty sketchy sometimes. I have a strange gift: I can spot treasure in the midst of junk from two blocks away. One time I was driving in Capitol Hill here in Seattle and from the very corner of my eye, two blocks down I saw something rather compelling sticking out of a large construction dumpster.
 I drove around to it and discovered a giant (film?) fan from the 30s or 40s (I think) It was very tall and industrial and absolutely beautiful. Of course, it didn't work but I hauled it home to the warehouse where I was living anyway. When I moved, I gave it to the German motorcycle repairman/mathematician who was taking over my space. He fixed it easily and the power that came from it was truly amazing. It seemed as if it may have been the kind of fan used in movies to create the illusion of wind.

One more thing, recently I was at an estate sale. It was truly incredible. It had been open for two weeks and there were about 20 minutes left. The house was filled with stuff so I could only imagine what it must have been like in the beginning. There was definitely some evidence of packratism but what struck me is that whoever had lived here was/were unusual and very interesting. There were sculptures, taxidermy, and everything you could imagine. 
I went into the kitchen and this obnoxious "headhunter" (for lack of a better word) started repeatedly bragging about his latest find at a different sale to anyone who would listen. It was very clear he was in it for the hunt which I can appreciate but it was also clear that he had no respect for the people whose houses and lives he had stepped into. I realize these people were dead and that it is just stuff but it seems rather barbaric when people run around to make a quick buck because someone recently died and they are pushy and competitive with those around them. Anyway, at that moment I opened a kitchen cupboard that apparently hadn't been opened in all of the two weeks and out came a swell of personal letters and holiday cards. I felt extremely protective of this woman's memories (I soon learned she was Polish and her name was Pauline) I found a letter that talked about tornadoes in the Midwest and relocating to Italy for army service and a bunch of other really
 fascinating things. 
I knew that if I didn't take these things home they would end up in the dumpster. I n the moment, I become an archivist. I decided I will go to sales with the intent of preservation of people's lives and experiences and history.  I filled a box which I bought for $5. Please forgive the long rant. It just amazes me what people toss out.

bipcress at comcast.net wrote: Jim, a good friend of mine used to "borrow aka rescue" film score masters 
from a major Hollywood studio storage facility. He did this out of an 
insider's awareness of a looming corporate agenda: eventually the studio in 
question literally threw out as garbage hundreds of film master materials, 
including untold numbers of scores, scores which now reside in a landfill 
somewhere in California. There have been retro-soundtrack CD releases during 
the past 10 years or so, '60s works, that would have been impossible if not 
for his guerilla acts of preservation. We both weep in our hearts whenever 
he talks of the titles he saw in storage that he never had a chance to 
salvage. Again, a true story. / Please don't ask me what I did with the STAR 
TREK reels. - JohnB