Now and then the folks handling the thrift stores don’t know what they’ve got. They’re getting smarter, and funneling the better vintage items to fancier ‘antique’ stores in better neighborhoods; but things slip through, and I’ve done pretty well.
I know a lady who works at one of those places part-time, just because she loves old stuff and wants ‘first choice’. She’s gotten lots of wonderful things because she KNOWS what she’s looking at.
I’ve been thinking that it might be a nice little part-time retirement job ;-)