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    Home » Thrift Store Finds

    The One That Got Away

    Published by Pam Kessler | 494 words. · About 3 minutes to read this article. - 29 Comments

    I started out on Friday morning very cheerful. It was my son's last day of school for the year, so my last day to be totally carefree and fancy free and able to flit from from garage sales to estate sales to thrift stores without a thought in the world.

    It was a day full of possibilities.

    First on my list was stopping off at an estate sale to buy this beauty that they had shown on their website.

    Ain't she purdy?


    I have wanted an old croquet set for years. But not just any one, it had to have a certain look about it. The look that this one had. This was the perfect croquet set. The one I had in my head when I pictured a vintage croquet set. Get the idea? Oh, yeah, I wanted this!!!

    Well, as I am driving up to the sale a mere two minutes after the sale started, I see a woman walking out of the house with my croquet set.

    For a second, I had a thought run through my head that involved me tripping the woman, throwing $14 at her (the price prominently taped to the set), grabbing the thing and running back to my car. Just a fleeting thought, but nonetheless it was sort of disturbing.

    So, of course, the rest of the day was occupied by thoughts of "This item sure is nice, but it's not my croquet set", "Boy, I wish they had a croquet set here" and "Why didn't I just leave my house ten minutes earlier and then I would have my croquet set parked in my trunk".

    OK, enough about the one that got away! Done, it's gone. Get over it, Pam!

    So what I do have to show, that I actually did buy, is a cabinet that I purchased for a song at a garage sale.


    I think it is a bathroom cabinet or possibly a small kitchen cabinet. It has a wonderful, practically pristine porcelain top. A little bit of the original paint is chippy, but I thought that gave it a little bit of charm.


    And it has these cool round knobs that sort of look and feel like Bakelite.


    It was marked at $25.00, but when I opened the drawer and commented on what good shape it was in, the woman immediately said she could let it go for $20.00. Maybe if I would have commented on the nice knobs she would have dropped the price again, but at that point I just wanted to get the cabinet in my van before she changed her mind.

    Or someone tripped me. Because there was a woman eyeing me as I was putting it in the back of my van. Could have sworn she muttered something about "her cabinet".

    And BTW, when you come home with a terrific find is your husband's first question "Do you have a place to put it"?

    Like that matters?

     

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Beccalina

      June 06, 2011 at 5:58 pm

      Hahaha Great story...I imagine tripping people all the time...er...maybe I shouldn't admit this! I have had the same thing happen with a tension pole style record holder...oh well one will appear someday. I have never played croquet..it is sort of like golf?

      Reply
    2. tammylovesdishes

      June 06, 2011 at 8:21 pm

      I do know that sinking feeling of the one that got away. But look at it this way, now you still have the thrill of the hunt for another perfect croquet set! And yes, where are you going to put that is a frequent question crossing my husband's lips, too.

      Reply
    3. Country Dreaming

      June 06, 2011 at 10:12 pm

      Mine knows better---he just go with the flow--God love him! ME too.
      Love the cabinet----where's it going???? 🙂

      Melinda

      Reply
    4. NowSoLA Vintage

      June 07, 2011 at 9:52 am

      Love the cabinet! My other half usually complains too...lol.

      Reply
    5. dogsmom

      June 07, 2011 at 11:22 am

      It was Sue of Sullivan & Murphy that had the croquet set she did not sell in Ohio. She has pictures up on the blog again.

      Reply
    6. Kim @ Touch of Nostalgia

      June 08, 2011 at 1:01 pm

      I love the cabinet you picked up. The top is just beautiful. 🙂

      I feel your pain with loosing 'your' croquet set. I just lost 'my' new kitchen table and chairs off Craigslist the other day. I sat around and moped all night...whining...but but it was 'MY' table and chairs...how dare that person write me back and tell me they sold 'MY' table/chairs. lol

      Reply
    7. Anonymous

      June 13, 2011 at 6:28 am

      Your husband says do we have a place for it; mine asks do we need this. LOL
      Sally

      Reply
    8. catpal52

      April 27, 2012 at 7:33 am

      I just found a similar cabinet at a yard sale, which I featured in my blog (http://talesfromasearshouse.blogspot.com/) Someone has since found one on ebay being sold as a vintage medical cabinet--sounds like that could be right. Great find--I paid $30 for mine and am thrilled with it. I found space for it in our upstairs bathroom by moving something else out 🙂

      Reply
    9. Linda

      January 21, 2015 at 9:35 am

      I hate to tell you this, but I bought a croquet set, which looks just like that one, for $2.00 and NO I do not want to get rid of it. It brings back such good memories of my childhood! I pray one day you will find one & can grab it quickly!! God Bless!

      Reply
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