They say one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. For Lyle Ingram, he’s counting on it. Ingram has called Golden home for more than 35 years. He worked most of his career for Canada Pacific Railway (now CPKC), where he travelled with the steel gang operating heavy-duty equipment. What you may not know about him is that he’s a collector, a picker of sorts, a buyer, and a seller.
Fully retired for a few years now, Ingram spends much of his free time searching out unusual items in unlikely places. And by unlikely places, I mean everything from basements, garages, attics, sheds, barns, warehouses, storage units, yard sales, and shops and general stores (both open and closed).
The purchase of collectibles encompasses everything from vintage clothing and furniture, antique cars and rare coins, often (but not always) to resell those items for a profit. Ingram has been collecting since he was 13 years old. “My mom got me started when she gave me her coin collection,” he says. “From there, I was hooked.”
With his brother, Ingram actively collects items from western Canada. Each day is a new adventure, taking Ingram to new locations and meeting new people. Learning about the value of used, aged items takes time, experience, and much research.
When something is more than 25 years old but less than 100, it’s classified as vintage. When an item moves past the 100-year mark, it becomes an antique. Then there’s personal preference on top of it as well.
Ingram collects various vintage Pepsi-Cola items. He attends several organized ‘swap meet’ events each year in BC and Alberta, intending to buy and sell. In addition to those events, he travels independently, building his network of unique contacts in various communities.
NOS stands for ‘new old stock’ and is part of the lingo in the industry. The value of an item depends on a variety of things. The condition of the item, for starters. But also the scarcity. The rarer an item is, the more potentially valuable it is.
Canadian items, which were generally produced in smaller quantities, tend to be good collector items. Examples of Canadian collectibles are tin signs, license plates and oil cans. He’s currently in the market for old license plates and car parts, general store items such as old coffee tins, and any Pepsi or Orange Crush items, either bottles, crates or even signs.
Logo signs are often of interest, depending on their condition. Old bike spare parts and tires are often popular, even oil cans in good condition.
Ingram is particularly interested in items related to home and marked specifically ‘Golden, BC.’ He’s often surprised by the items people have in faraway communities. They’ll drag out a copy of the Golden Star from the early 1900s or an old souvenir with ‘Golden, BC’ printed on it.
Ingram can be found on IG as @ontherunsince61.
