Goodwill, Badwill, Questionable-will — Graphic Childbirth Edition

by Katy on December 10, 2015 · 15 comments

The following is a reprint of a previously published post. Enjoy!

It’s time again for Goodwill, Badwill, Questionable-will, where I share some of the perfectly wonderful and perfectly dreadful things that can be found while thrifting.

Today’s edition is special because:

  1. It’s from The Goodwill Outlet, where most items are bought by the pound.
  2. My camera is broken, so the photos are kind of crappy. (My phone is very much not current technology. Not sure, but the camera might actually feature a hand crank.)

Ya’ll know that I’ve got an unhealthy obsession with chairs, so my first stop was to Lounger Land, the almost-final resting place for stained and outdated recliners.

But do you see what I see?

Lounger Land

That’s right, it’s groovy modern-style armchair which would look great in a hip mid-century-style home. I looked for a name, but didn’t come up with anything. Some lucky Portland hipster will fork over the $20 and bring this bad boy home.

Stylish Chair

I played with my Sasha Doll longer than I care to admit. (Okay, it was eighth grade. I played with my doll until eight grade! Happy now?!) Because of this, I am a complete and utter sucker for miniaturized versions of everyday items. And when I do come across tasty tiny items, I always gift them to my sister, who also played with her Sasha doll into adolescence. (Actually I give them to my young niece, with strict instructions that it has to be shared with mommy.)

And how cute is this miniature Land’s End tote bag?!

Tiny Tote

The last item is about the weirdest item I’ve ever come across at Goodwill. Why? Because it’s a scroll of detailed childbirth photos on thermal paper! There is much crowning, and graphic goodness.

Scroll O' Childbirth

Here’s an example from one of the photos. I used my crazy-good Photoshop skills to blur the vaginal area, (you’re welcome) but I left the face of father untouched. Because when you come across a strip of Goodwill photos that feature famed serial killer Ted Bundy about to become a father, you have to share it with the world!

Crowning

“Hey, does anyone know where I put that strip of photos?”

Ted Bundy

Shudder.

I did buy a two-foot square framed and matted print that I’ll use to frame one of my husband’s photographs from college, as well as a pretty green Columbia Sportswear fleece jacket to replace my one which is both pilled and stained, and of course the tiny tote bag.

Total price? $6.18.

Man, do I love Goodwill!

Have you been thrifting and coming across odd items? Please share your stories in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }

A. Marie December 10, 2015 at 2:48 pm

Stop it about the childbirth photos already. You’ve got me laughing till stuff comes out my nose. (So there are at least two of us with totally twisted senses of humor.)

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Katy December 10, 2015 at 3:04 pm

Thanks for the visual!

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marie December 10, 2015 at 3:30 pm

What a thing to donate!

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Jennifer December 10, 2015 at 3:49 pm

I spit my drink a little at the Ted Bundy thing!

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Katy December 10, 2015 at 6:41 pm

Only because the best humor has a basis in truth.

WilliamB December 10, 2015 at 5:41 pm

A. Marie: you would have loved my 9th grade science teacher – so will Our Gracious Host.

9th grade was biology. Which included human reproduction. Which included a 1950s-era film of a home childbirth (in a fallout shelter, in act). Then our teacher ran the film … backwards.

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Katy December 10, 2015 at 6:41 pm

I love watch childbirth backwards, it’s hilarious!

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Vickie December 11, 2015 at 7:43 am

Okay, that’s hilarious and creepy – on both – the photos at the Goodwill and the description of the 9th grade film!!!

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A. Marie December 11, 2015 at 12:00 pm

Backward movies are one of my fondest memories of childhood. My mother won a movie camera and projector in a raffle at our elementary school when I was 8 (well, it was only fair; she bought about two-thirds of the tickets!), and we used to beg her to run the movies backward: us magically diving feet first out of swimming pools, rolling up hills, etc. But this was before the era of extensive photo and video coverage of blessed events, so we never had the chance to see a childbirth going backward. (I was the youngest kid, anyway.)

And I would definitely have preferred WilliamB’s 9th grade science teacher to my own, who redefined the word “dull.” I used to daydream about time travel in self-defense.

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Jennifer December 10, 2015 at 3:50 pm

It’s crazy how I have read this post before yet it is still equally funny.

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Bethany December 11, 2015 at 6:53 am

I LOVE the Goodwill outlet! It’s magical (and sometimes pretty gross ala those pictures!).
Also, really? Childbirth pictures? Why didn’t Goodwill throw them away??? Eew

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JD December 11, 2015 at 7:04 am

Somehow I’d missed this post before. The birthing pictures are almost unbelievable. Who would donate those? Why? And the dad does look like Ted Bundy! As a Florida resident, I have no trouble remembering that face.
Our Goodwill store is moving to a larger unit in the same strip mall — yay! They are marking everything down 40% for the move — yay!
They have very low stock, because they are moving — boo!
I bought a book I thought my daughter might like to read, though, and when I opened it, there was a penny inside. I bought the book, so that penny is mine.
May I never find birthing photos in any Goodwill where I shop!

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Ruby December 11, 2015 at 8:17 am

You have got to wonder what kind of decision-making went along with putting that out for sale. 😀

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Charli December 12, 2015 at 4:27 am

If I worked in a goodwill store I’d like to put the birth photos out there. It would make the day more entertaining watching people come across them. Although you would get children in the store and happening upon them might steal a child’s innocence forever. Not good!

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priskill December 13, 2015 at 6:58 pm

Too, too funny! Ted Bundy, childbirth, mid-century bad boys — wow, I wanna shop where u shop. Especially love the Whole Foods bag on the first recliner — appreciate the cognitive disconnect. Really laughing out loud here. But ted Bundy proud papa takes the cake

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