My enjoyment of finding or “picking” much-needed (ha) items started many years, if not decades ago. Due to my parent’s growing family (already 4 children: me, Charles, Ellen, Dan-5 months old), they decided to move from a starter home in Prairie Village, Kansas to a much larger house outside of Olathe, Kansas (Nina was born here). So, in order for my mom to furnish the house, she started buying antiques. When we were out of school for the summer, mom would load us in the van and she would drive us from one antique store or estate sale to another – usually day trips, but as we grew older, she ventured further to other states including the eastern and southern states. Lots of times me and my younger brothers and sisters were along for the ride which only added to the excitement of “what’s over the next hill”. I always enjoyed it when mom would start singing some of the songs she grew up listening to. One song that’s a favorite memory of mine is “little brown church in the vale”. My mom wasn’t then and isn’t now a shy person, so she would belt out the lyrics. She also sang along to Mahalia Jackson, Elvis, 40s music, and she would share family history during the drive.
I can honestly say that at first I didn’t enjoy the trips all that much. First of all, summers in the Midwest are hot and I don’t remember the van being air conditioned. Certainly at the beginning, the children (me included) were rarely allowed to go with mom into the stores or estate sales because, I guess you could say, we were unruly. Unfortunate and embarrassing to admit it now, but many times mom would return to the van only to have the 5 of us in either a heated verbal debate or worse.
But I grew to appreciate the “hunt”. When we weren’t traveling, I accompanied mom to the local auction house. I can clearly remember her nonchalant manner of nodding her head when she wanted to bid on something. And, she would remind me to sit on my hands so I wouldn’t give any indication I was bidding on something. It was so exciting when she was highest bidder on a signed Tiffany sterling sliver spoon (I think she still has it, unless my sister Ellen sold it) – I recall it costing 25 cents, but I could be totally wrong.
By this time, my parents had opened an antique shop called The Carriage House. I’m not certain how all of this came about, but my guess is that mom would buy something for the house and upgrade and sell the item, and all of this blossomed into an antique business It certainly didn’t hurt that on the 12-acre property, were two empty chicken barns. The antique shop took up the front 2/3 of one of the chicken barns (peacocks roosted in the remaining 1/3), and the other barn housed the wooden Chris Craft boat, hay, and a place for the horses, cattle, pigs, and sheep to get out of the brutal Kansas winters.
Over the years, pickers would drop by with their vans loaded and mom would purchase items and sometimes the entire vanload. On one such occasion, I had saved enough money that I bought my first item, matching cranberry sconces, which I still have and they hang in my dining room.
When I moved out to my own apartment and ultimately into a house, I started in earnest to furnish my home with “antiques” or estate sale finds. While working at KU Med Center, I met Joan VanNice. We became kindred spirits or more like sisters in spirit, and we enjoyed our almost weekly jaunts to estate sales. We never had enough money to purchase all they things we saw and liked, but we had enough to purchase small items that made our homes unique.
This blog, in a way, is dedicated to my parents. My mom for giving me the love and thrill of the hunt, and, my dad for all his quirky sayings, including “I’m Cliff, drop over some day” – by the way, his name was Hap. As a teenager, when I would drive and he was the passenger, he lovingly called me “loose nut behind the wheel”. And, now with Joan, we’re “loose nuts behind the wheel”. Come with us as we take you to antique shops, estate sales, and garage sales. Let us know what you’re looking for and we’ll be on the look-out. Melanie
