I used to live a mile or two from the Lincoln township dump, In
Massachusetts.

The town I grew up in had until about 20 yrs ago, a dump attendant
who would pick the pile between drop-offs by residents. He would
resell what he could, haggle, barter, trade, whatever. He even
built a house in town out of salvaged building materials. He
always had bikes and hubcaps. My dad bought a lawnmower he had
assembled out of 2 or 3 others for $20. That mower was the best
running one we owned, even compared to a couple of others we bought
new, and outlasted them to boot. Dad only stopped using it when he
got a rider...

I still miss the open dumps, for the fractional horse appliance
motors and bed frames if nothing else.

--Glenn Lyford