Vintage – It Just Never Gets Old
In September of 2021, 1889 Salvage Co celebrated our 5th year anniversary! I still remember the first day when we opened in a location about 6 blocks from where we are now. I was completely terrified that entire first year. I didn’t know anything about being a business owner or entrepreneur. I didn’t know about taxes, or profit and loss statements. The only thing I knew, was that if I was going to own a business, it would have to involve vintage and antique items. I was, and still am, totally passionate about old things, and I just love learning the history, and hearing the stories behind other people’s belongings as they find their way to me.
I’ve been asked since, (mostly by people who shop on Wayfair), why a vintage store? Most people have known me as a convention planner, radio promotions coordinator, tourism marketer, and trainer. They didn’t know that new things had left me cold, and that I longed for the simpler, yet more glamorous times of the 1930’s and 40’s. I’m not sure why, but I think it all comes back to a pivotal high school event; my Senior All Nighter. Stay with me here. I won a black and white TV at that Senior All Nighter. I stayed the whole night, hoping to win the trip to Disneyland, but instead I got awakened at 3am to my prize – a tiny black and white TV. What do you do with a black and white TV? You rent black and white movies of course! I watched every black and white film I could get my hands on. I exhausted the inventory at Blockbuster Video. I really think those movies honed my aesthetic tastes without me even realizing it. I learned about style from Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck. I watched those films for the story of course, but also for the interiors! I was fascinated with the décor, the arrangements, the feminine boudoirs, and the way things were put together. My first real sofa was a mohair Chesterfield from the 1940’s. It was a bit scratchy, but I did not care. It had a matching club chair, and both were a dark maroon color. It set the stage for the living room in my apartment. I can remember the days when I literally had no extra money, but I would wander through shops filing away ideas in my mind for a time when I could afford to decorate exactly how I wanted.
One of the best things about being a vintage dealer and store owner, is that I see the most amazing things come through my doors. Vendors bring them in. People call, and I buy things from them. Sometimes I get to know the story, and can share that with a customer. People really do love to know that the dresser they just bought was hauled out of a dusty old barn, and that before it was brought into the store, I had to relocate the world’s largest spider. That’s the thing with new stuff - there’s just no story. When I look through a pile of old photos from the turn of the century, I cannot help but think about the whole life that those people led leading up to that photo. The transitory nature of life cannot be escaped when you look at a photo of a family who lived an entire life, and died a hundred years before I even set eyes on them. My favorite old photos are the wedding pictures. I always wonder if they were happy (people in old photos never really look happy), and if they enjoyed their wedding day as much as I did mine. I ogle over the dresses, especially the ones from the 1920’s.
Will I always be a vintage store owner? I have no idea. I know that I love owning and operating 1889 Salvage Co. I am thankful that I get to come in contact with beautiful, patinaed, worn, and well- loved items that sometimes become part of my own eclectic home. I literally get giddy when I find something that I’ve never seen before, or anything that is so dang vintage that I can’t even stand it. I love researching an item, and going down those rabbit holes to gather information about when it was made, or how, or where. I can’t imagine ever getting tired of that. Wherever I am, if I see a vintage shop or an antiques store, I am always drawn to it. You’d think on vacation I’d want a break from my job as most people do. But you see, that’s the thing about vintage for me is– pardon the pun – it just never gets old.