ebharris
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2013
- Messages
- 200
As I made my family brunch this morning I was reminded of one of my most favourite Disney memories, and it happened right here in Winnipeg.
Because my kids love pin trading so much about 6-7 years ago I started looking for pins that I could collect for them to trade. Cheaper than buying new, and I had some confidence that if I bought locally on a smaller scale I could avoid fakes. I responded to an ad online, and via email learned that a man had recently passed away and his daughter was selling his "modest" Disney collection. I'll never forget that she used the word modest.
So, one evening I made the trip across the city to a tidy looking house out near Grace Hospital. What I would find when I walked in was nothing short of a little Disney magic right here in Winnipeg.
The house was filled with Disney items. Shower curtains, dishes, bedding, telephones... everything was Disney.
I sat on the floor in this man's family room/den and sorted through THOUSANDS of pins. Thousands. Most of them were still in/on the original packaging, some were in different looking little boxes. When I came across one that I knew wasn't one that could be bought I inquired, and that's when the woman told me that for 35 years her dad was on the Disney board of directors. We talked for about 2 hours about her dad, his love for Disney, and her memories growing up with a parent who was more into the Disney pixie dust than his children were. It was so fun. She told me that she was selling everything out of the house, and if anything interested me to just let her know. That's when I asked "you don't happen to have a waffle iron, do you?" She did. When I asked her how much she said "I don't know, is $10 too much?" I had to tell her that she was selling everything for WAY too little. Way too little. I knew the waffle iron was about $100-150 online.
We chatted awhile longer, and I walked away with about 3 dozen pins, a waffle iron, lanyards, pens and a good story. I wish I had taken pictures of that house. And, I wish I hadn't felt bad taking more - I was buying it after all, but felt like I didn't want to be greedy. We've saved a few pins, some of them from 1970s, some of them which sell for a lot of money online. I can't trade them, or sell them. The waffle iron has been used by about 5-6 different families, some of them using them to surprise their kids with a trip to Disney, some of them when their grandkids had special sleepovers, and in my house about 3-4 times a year when my kids (or I) need a little pick me up. I hope that somewhere her dad is smiling down, happy that somebody else is enjoying the things that brought so much joy to him.
Happy Sunday!
Erin
Because my kids love pin trading so much about 6-7 years ago I started looking for pins that I could collect for them to trade. Cheaper than buying new, and I had some confidence that if I bought locally on a smaller scale I could avoid fakes. I responded to an ad online, and via email learned that a man had recently passed away and his daughter was selling his "modest" Disney collection. I'll never forget that she used the word modest.
So, one evening I made the trip across the city to a tidy looking house out near Grace Hospital. What I would find when I walked in was nothing short of a little Disney magic right here in Winnipeg.
The house was filled with Disney items. Shower curtains, dishes, bedding, telephones... everything was Disney.
I sat on the floor in this man's family room/den and sorted through THOUSANDS of pins. Thousands. Most of them were still in/on the original packaging, some were in different looking little boxes. When I came across one that I knew wasn't one that could be bought I inquired, and that's when the woman told me that for 35 years her dad was on the Disney board of directors. We talked for about 2 hours about her dad, his love for Disney, and her memories growing up with a parent who was more into the Disney pixie dust than his children were. It was so fun. She told me that she was selling everything out of the house, and if anything interested me to just let her know. That's when I asked "you don't happen to have a waffle iron, do you?" She did. When I asked her how much she said "I don't know, is $10 too much?" I had to tell her that she was selling everything for WAY too little. Way too little. I knew the waffle iron was about $100-150 online.
We chatted awhile longer, and I walked away with about 3 dozen pins, a waffle iron, lanyards, pens and a good story. I wish I had taken pictures of that house. And, I wish I hadn't felt bad taking more - I was buying it after all, but felt like I didn't want to be greedy. We've saved a few pins, some of them from 1970s, some of them which sell for a lot of money online. I can't trade them, or sell them. The waffle iron has been used by about 5-6 different families, some of them using them to surprise their kids with a trip to Disney, some of them when their grandkids had special sleepovers, and in my house about 3-4 times a year when my kids (or I) need a little pick me up. I hope that somewhere her dad is smiling down, happy that somebody else is enjoying the things that brought so much joy to him.
Happy Sunday!
Erin
always nice to 'see' someone from Winnipeg on here! Thanks for reading 
