for REAL LIFE
Rachel Toy had been collecting vintage items since her late teens and discovered the healing power of nostalgia
Listing a Dusty Bin money box for sale on my website, I couldn’t help but smile.
‘I wonder what home you’ll go to?’ I thought to myself.
Dusty Bin, as most people will remember, was the iconic mascot of the Seventies/Eighties Saturday night gameshow 3-2-1, hosted by Ted Rogers. The dusty bin was a robotic cartoon bin dressed like a clown and was the booby award contestants took home if they failed to win the star prize.
Within a few moments, I received a message. ‘I broke my brother’s Dusty Bin money box when we were younger in the Eighties.
I have to have this,’ the woman typed. ‘I can finally rid my guilt and give him a replacement.’
These were the reasons I loved working as a vintage dealer. It not only put me in touch with the loveliest of people – but collecting items had also calmed my anxiety.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned
Growing up, I was very much of the generation ‘make do and mend’. Many of my clothes were hand-medowns from my cousins (which I always loved because they were ontrend). My toys were usually second hand and what Mum had made (she created her own rag dolls which she still sells today), it was the norm back then.
I went to my first car boot fair in 1985 aged nine. It was a new concept for the Eighties, as most of us just gave our items to friends and family. I lived in Watford, Herts, with my mum Barbara, and we’d go to a local fair on a Sunday or travel to London with my aunty Jenny to visit the bigger fairs. Even at that age I thought these fairs were magical, I loved looking at all the colourful items on display – and you could shop like a millionaire!
Throughout the week I’d do as many chores as possible to save up pocket money. My favourite purchase were the Moomin paperbacks. I got them for 20p each! I loved the hustle and bustle of the boot fairs and coming away feeling like you’d found a bargain.
Once I’d reached my teens, I’d got the hang of bartering. By the late Eighties, people were clearing out their homes to keep on trend, it was the norm to find a Ridgway Homemaker Plate and a J & G Meakin Studio teapot.
‘What’s that Mum?’ I’d point at the colourful objects, trying to learn what everything was so I would know what to look out for.
I liked having things that I grew up with, the flower-power prints and bright Oxo and Quality Street tins made me feel at ease. I’d collect
