What did they do with all that stuff?

The wholesale unloading of liquids, creams and other toiletry items at airport checkpoints Thursday was not a total loss for everyone.

Several janitorial employees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport said Friday that a search of the garbage near security lines was "like Christmas."

"It was like shopping," one man said. Pricey perfumes, lipsticks, unopened toothpaste and bottled spirits were among the most common hauls, he said.

But the goods were all but gone Friday when savvy passengers packed their toiletries in their checked luggage instead.

"It was just a one-day sale," an employee said.

Bob Parker, a spokesman for the airport, said the redistribution of the discarded goods was unauthorized and not condoned.

The airport, he said, has taken great pains to prevent the facility or its employees from profiting from passengers' losses.

He said airport officials, the Transportation Security Administration and other policy makers discussed what to do with confiscated items after the Sept. 11 attacks. A proposal to sell them was rejected "because we wanted to avoid even the appearance that TSA was confiscating things for financial gain."

Sea-Tac's policy is to donate confiscated items to charity or to dispose of them with the rubbish, Parker said.

He also said passengers had the option of mailing valuables through a shipping kiosk on the main level of the airport.

Because of the unusual plethora of discarded items this week, however, he said the airport is not overly concerned about a little trash trawling.

"If someone who makes minimum wage got something nice they can use," he said, "I don't think anyone is heartbroken."

Officials at some other U.S. airports said workers taking items would face discipline. No exceptions — not even for cases of Napa Valley wine.

"We had people throw away a whole case of wine, or try to drink their wine in line," said San Francisco's International Airport duty manager Lily Wang.

Officials at most airports said safety reasons prevented them from giving away discarded items because many were contaminated by other trash.

"It becomes trash once you put it in the bin. Inside that stuff is a lot of everything — someone blows their nose and throws the hanky away," said Phil Orlandella, spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority.

Still, some airports other than Sea-Tac had charity in their hearts.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport planned to give 11 boxes of surrendered items to the city's human-services department, which will distribute items to homeless shelters, airport spokeswoman Lexie Van Haren said.

In Pennsylvania, state officials were considering pulling some discarded items for a state program that resells on eBay any items of value relinquished at airport-security checkpoints, said Edward Myslewicz, spokesman for the General Services Department.

Some travelers turned to impromptu gift-giving just so their items wouldn't be wasted.

A woman left Gucci perfume for her hotel maid in Atlanta, and a tourist from Great Britain gave away two bottles of Napa Valley wine to people leaving the San Francisco airport's parking lot.

"Didn't like it, but I wasn't about to throw it away," Keith McAllister said after his arrival in Atlanta.

Details on other airports were provided by The Associated Press.