In Hollywood during the fifties you could find anything .On trash days, in the hills were little winding streets littered with Eames lounge chairs,Ottman furniture and giant Deco couches....This is where I got started. Scoring shoe boxes and grocery bags of costume jewelry that our neighbor had tossed. She was the Platinum Blonde with the Pink Cadillac top floor of the 4 unit Spanish style apartment building next  to our 1910 California Craftsman home...the jewels were for an impromptu play that we were performing on the steps of our padlocked elementary school auditorium....and we were selling Kool- Aide to our non paying audience. The days when props were real. The thrift stores were phenominal. California plein- air paintings (ie.Edgar Payne) could be had for $10.00, as could a genuine Ming vase.The wealth that Los Angeles (especially the Hollywood, Beverly Hills adjoining areas) attracted was International and so a plethora of "STUFF" poured into LA.