The Darkroom Dilemma.

I took a bunch of stuff to a community yard sale the other day. Stuff that had just been taking up room in my basement. Some of it was brand-new in boxes. Some of it belonged to my dad, who passed away three years ago. Some of it I have lugged between three different residences and one photo studio over a 14-year period. Some of that stuff was my darkroom equipment.

I have not used any of this stuff since about 1999 at the latest. I got my first digital camera in 2000 and have not looked back. I may scan the occasional negative, but have not made a wet print since my friend Bill Horin moved out of his studio/darkroom back in the late 90's.

So that brings me to my dilemma. When I was gathering stuff the morning of the yard sale, I looked at the enlarger and said, "What the hell? I will give it a shot and bring it - you never know." It was actually pretty funny. People would come up and stare and then I would get, "What the heck is that thing?" I would explain that it was used to make photographic prints. They would just stare. Needless to say, it didn't sell. I loaded it back onto the truck and brought it back to the basement. Well, at first, I left it outside for a couple of days.  If it got stolen, great, no worries. Or it a freak storm came by and wrecked it, it would make my decision easy - just trash it. Tonight, I brought it back into the basement.

Now that it is back in the basement, should I try to get $50 for everything on Craigslist? I would have no problem giving the stuff to someone who would get use out of it. Does a person like that still exist? I actually thought of turning the enlarger into a lamp, but it is too large for my current house. Maybe I could make it into an end table when my new basement woodshop is completed.