An abundance of research went into this book. I was aided and abetted in shopping secondhand by my cowboy, Glenn. I am fortunate to have someone at my side as dedicated as he to finding a bargain.
I grew up respecting thrift. My paternal grandmother, a tiny woman who barely reached five feet, reused dishwater and sewed ties made of grosgrain ribbons onto her daughter’s size 10 shoes to make them stay on her size 6 feet. Granny wore petite 6 , my aunt tall 14, but grandma took her six-foot-tall daughter’s clothes in and up with stitches, paper clips and staples to make them fit her elfin form. My love of bargains and second hand items came through my family DNA.
Thanks to the many consignment shops who have allowed me the opportunity to satisfy my love for inexpensive shopping. Especially helpful to me in answering questions about the consignment business was Cindy Staffin, owner of Transitions Boutique in Oneonta, New York. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands more consignment owners who helped me in my research by selling me bargain clothes, shoes, household goods, jewelry and—back in the seventies when it wasn’t considered a no-no—a fur coat.
And I must mention all those Saturday yard sales without which my cottage would be empty and Glenn wouldn’t have his set of brass Ping golf clubs.
I especially want to thank all those nameless people who consigned their possessions or set them out on tables for yard and garage sales. I’d be naked without you.