There I am, sitting on my little wooden stool, cleaning stove parts. What had been a small idea following my graduation, to have a small space in an antique mall to help pay off my student loans, had rapidly grown into a production.
At first, we had shelves with small appliances and fabrics. Pretty soon we discovered that repaired appliances and all the other attractions found at estate sales would make us more money. One day we bought an old refrigerator for twenty five bucks, cleaned it up, and used it as storage for much of the linens. It sold fast for a hundred and twenty five. A better idea indeed.
One day, off on a search for one of the wonderful mixers we carried, we found a Gaffers and Stattler stove which had a griddle in the middle, and a shelf overhead. We grabbed it for a song, cleaned it up, and sold it for a fine profit. Who knew if it worked. Whoops.
Soon we were gutting them down to their metal frames, cleaning them thoroly, and replacing anything that didn’t work. New insulation got rid of the really ugly grease and other unmentionables, and poof, you had a new stove. If a stove was beyond salvage, we even re-chromed and re-enameled them also.
I must tell you, each piece required an appalling amount of work. And though the results were beyond wonderful and the student loans began coming down, we didn’t make a profit.
Duck: He asked us, “Were you here earlier?” “No, we were here yesterday,” we replied.
Me: Today one of two PT appointments this week for the hip. I did not stretch yesterday, I helped put the bedroom back together.
G: Both of us nudging toward Roundyness. G did get rid of almost all his stored clothing. Bravo to him.
Oh, too bad you didn't make a profit. It seemed as though it was a fine idea that was meant to be successful. Still, great story.
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