BY JANET MONDLAK
BRANDON—One of the things I like best about selling antiques and collectibles is learning about our customer. Every time someone makes a purchase, either at Across the Street—our shop in downtown Brandon—or from our eBay store, there is a story behind the sale.
When someone buys an antique or collectible, they are usually becoming the third owner of the item. First time around was the original sale when an item was new or had just been hand made. Then there was the middleman, when an antique dealer buys it. And then a third time when a buyer in a shop like ours takes it home. In some cases, something could have had many previous owners. For example, many of the things we buy have been inherited or passed down through families for decades, so there could have been a number of owners before we bought it.
When someone buys something, I find myself wondering why they are buying it. What is the appeal? Usually, we have no idea. Once in a while, a buyer from our eBay store might express gratitude and give a story, but usually these sales are cut and dried with no side chatter. But here are a few tales that we’ve collected over the years that we have found heartwarming, amusing, or fascinating.
We had a beautiful pair of fireplace andirons in the shop several years ago that were a bit pricey but absolutely wonderful. They were owl-shaped with orange glass eyes. I imagined how cool they would look with a blazing fire behind them. A customer was browsing one day, saw them, and almost started crying – her grandma had owned identical looking ones but someone else in the family had inherited them. She was thrilled to be able to purchase back a piece of her childhood, even if this pair wasn’t original to her family.
Last year, we sold a box of three ping pong balls from our eBay store. Not an expensive sale but the 1950s box was very retro with great graphics. The balls were original to the box and in unused condition. When I printed the shipping label, I noticed the name of a very famous person [who I won’t mention but let’s just say he is an internationally known crossword puzzle creator]. The name made me curious and I used my Google skills to discover that this crossword-puzzle guru indeed lived in the town where the item was being shipped and was an avid ping pong player!
Recently we sold three sets of 1950s retro costume jewelry necklaces and clipback earrings from our eBay store. We are talking bright and bold colors – a purple set, an orange one and my favorite — the avocado green & white pair! They were fabulous and they went to the Costume Design Department of a Los Angeles film studio. I hope to one day be watching a movie and to see an actress strutting across the street wearing one of these sets.
About a year ago, we were contacted by a gentleman from Massachusetts who had seen an on-line listing we had for a wooden foundry mold that had originally been used to make a gear in the mid-1800s. This was a 36” diameter mold. He came to Brandon to pick it up and loved it. He explained that he is a steampunk art designer. His company name is Modvic and if you want to check out his super cool website, its at modvic.com. He does huge commercial installations all over the US and even in other countries. A couple of weeks ago, he contacted us again – we had another foundry mold online and he was interested. It was a 39” wheel. He was working on a new project and had one very similar to ours but he needed two of them. Back to Brandon he came to purchase the second one. I look forward to periodically checking his website to look at his new installations to see how he repurposed the mold that came from 19th-century small town Vermont.
Whether the items we sell are going on to their third life as a collector’s item, a nostalgic memory, or for adaptive reuse, it’s a good feeling to know that indeed, there is a lot of life left for the objects we have all around us. You know the old saying, “one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure!”