One day a week I volunteer in our local animal shelter resale store. Personally, I call it the "Cat Store". I believe half the reason I volunteer for 4 hours every Saturday is I get to check out new stock that has arrived throughout the week. This "new stock" happens to be almost all vintage items. And most of it is great vintage stuff! After listing a few new items on QuaintMarks, I started to think about the donations that pour in weekly.
Most of the donations that come in are from the town I live in, Marion IN. Let me give you a bit of background of Marion IN. In the 1980s, Marion was still a thriving town with numerous production plants which kept this town thriving. Big homes dotted prestigious streets for years, wealth was abundant for both the north and south ends of town. Housing was in short supply for any new 'transplant' to the area. And at the time, there were 5 grade schools and 3 junior high schools to house all the children in the town. And then NAFTA happened. In my opinion, NAFTA sent 60% of the Marion production plants to Mexico. The other 20% went to China around the same time. And now Marion IN is becoming a dying city, also due to the fact that Marion's citizens are residing in assisted living homes or are passing away.
Now getting back to all these vintage items coming into our second-hand store. So, you can most likely guess, the wealth of the city has been stored away in older homes as well as their dusty attics. But every time I see these 'new' vintage items, with all their history and secrets (which they keep to themselves, mind you), that come into our modest yet 3 store front, part of a small strip mall, I can't wait to see and tell each one they're beautiful! Each item has a story to tell of its glamour days; how proudly it was displayed in the living room, dining room, den, or often likely in a vintage kitchen. And now these long-lost pieces get to see the light of day again. Hands gingerly picking them up by numerous people that are shopping, being inspected by curious eyes, and marveling at their workmanship. And I keep hoping to see more of these beautiful pieces for another good 5 years, as I'm also in my twilight years. I am personally dreading to see the first vintage box of items that are made mostly of plastic come into the Cat Store. I will hang up my volunteer hat that day as that will be "The Second Day the Music Died" for me.
But I'll return as a customer to see what whispering I hear from the long-lost items too long held hostage in a deep dark attic somewhere in a home from Marion IN.
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