Ah... Before freecycle.org, before craigslist, before Overstock.com there was:

Hardwick's.

Hardwick's is another slice of old time, blue collar Seattle. How to describe? It used to be a used-hardware store, its four rooms stuffed to rafters with the concentrated squeezings of the hardware, tools, garden tools, kitchen ware, a bit of furniture coming from hundreds of yard sales. The stuff could be pretty good, but you had to paw through it. If you actually found exactly what you were looking for, you should have gotten an award or at least a deep discount on your next tetanus shot.

It was a mess. It was glorious.

Now Hardwick's is considerably cleaner, with a lot of new goods (items on consignment, things that didn't sell at Ace, etc) in amongst the old stuff. You can find things quickly now. The prices are still great, but the serendip is gone.

I just hope they still have the guy who hand draws the gift certificate on the bottom of the paper bag.