Oppy Love

When I dropped into my favourite oppy (Salvos), last week I picked up their list of all the stores around Adelaide. I’ve been sticking to the ones I know well in a radius of a few kilometres from home.

I think the Salvos have the op-shop thing down to a fine art and my fave store, I thought, had reached the height of greatdom. However, that was until I featured further afield and visited a few more shops.

At the first less frequented store, there were a couple of items I would have bought if (a) I had the space at home and (b) a use for them. One was a red trolley, you know for walking down to the shops and bringing home the groceries? It was a really old one, a bit battered and dirty but would shine up a treat… however, I don’t have anywhere to store it.

The other item was a couch that folds flat to become a single bed. Now, nothing special in that but it was a 60s version with wooden arms and actually would be comfy to sleep on whether as a couch or a bed. (Actually J is tossing up whether to buy it as a prop anyway and then it will make its way home – or rather to the storage unit!)

Which gets me to the final part of my story. Where I thought my local Salvos was a winner, I’ve discovered another fabulous one. (It’s South Road Melrose Park, for Adelaide people. We parked at Spotlight and walked. My advice: don’t! It’s further than we thought! And the Salvos have a big carpark so there’s no need to inhale all those South Road truck fumes.)

We entered a wonderland of racks, rows of furniture, neatly displayed kitchenalia and beautiful ordered shelves of books.

Someone had taken a lot of time over the books. Most of the Golden Books were sitting upright in a wooden box with other pre-school age books neatly arranged in similar boxes. As is the Salvos way, everything is price tagged.

I bought a set of Nally canisters; a red glass mixing bowl (to match a blue bowl I have already); and 12 Golden Books.

Plus this wonderful book.

It is like a Boys’ Own Annual or a Daring Book for Girls. It was published in 1969 and is pretty Aussie.

I think we had a copy in our house growing up or maybe my sister did and I longed after it.

And now I have my own.