Rant: That $75 'vintage' lunchbox I bought was full of mouse droppings

I collect retro metal lunchboxes, and last month I found a 1983 Dukes of Hazzard one online for $75. It looked perfect in the photos, so I bought it without asking more questions. When it arrived, I opened it up and a bunch of dried mouse droppings fell out onto my kitchen counter. The smell was awful, like old hay and ammonia mixed together. I spent two hours scrubbing it with vinegar and a toothbrush, and the paint started peeling off. Has anyone else gotten burned buying collectibles that were way grosser than advertised?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicehernandez14d agoTop Commenter

Wait, you scrubbed it with straight vinegar? That's probably what made the paint peel, not the mouse mess. Vinegar is acidic and can eat through old paint, especially on metal that's already chipped or worn. A better move would've been a damp cloth with mild soap, or even just shaking the droppings out and leaving the box to air out for a few days. Sorry you had to deal with that gross surprise though, that's a real bummer especially for 75 bucks.

tylerpark14d ago

You ever find a dead mouse in the bottom of a grill you bought off Craigslist? I did once. Opened it up, saw a little skeleton curled up next to the burner tubes. Just shook the whole thing out in the yard, hosed it down, and called it good. Still worked fine for two years before the rust got it.

nancycooper13d ago

My friend got a vintage Pyrex mixing bowl set off eBay a few years back, four bowls for like 60 bucks. She was so excited until she opened the box and this horrible smell just hit her in the face. Turned out the previous owner stored them in a basement that had flooded, and there was this black mold crusted all around the inside rims that she didn't even notice until it was too late. She tried scrubbing it with bleach water and the whole painted pattern just slid right off the glass. She was so mad she just threw the whole set in the trash and swore off buying anything with red paint on it ever again.