Go figure that just a few days after I write that I don't thrift electronics, here I am showing a thrifted small appliance! Seriously, though- that blue metal? The clean lines? The heft and the wooden handle? This early 50s blow dryer was not getting left behind! Can you believe it still works?
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Even more of a treasure - I got to meet the previous owner! I was shopping at a small hospital thrift shop staffed by volunteers. After one of the workers and I determined that it still works, I stood in line to pay. As I was checking out, another worker behind the counter said, "I just put that out!" I said, "I guess I got lucky, then!" She said, "That was my mother's." I thought maybe she meant her mother had had one like it. No, it was her actual mother's hair dryer. She went on to tell me that she was finally able to start letting some things go, and that she was glad it was going to a new owner who appreciated it. I told her it looked like it was hardly ever used, and she said they only used it for special occasions. She went to sleep with wet pigtails most nights.
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It was so special to feel the emotional history behind this item- a glimpse that I always just imagine as a thrift store shopper. Now I feel a little stressed about reselling it, though. Like I have an obligation to be sure it goes somewhere special. Is that weird? Perhaps I should just assume that anyone who purchases this item will naturally have a unique appreciation for its history. Thoughts?
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