You Can Find It

It seems like a lifetime ago when I urged my parents to let me open up the staircase in their living room of our old farmhouse and install new treads and a banister. The old staircase was kind of decrepit and felt so closed-in as you ascended the stairs. They gave me the okay (we're a family of DIYers) and at the same time I started smashing away the exterior wall of the stairs, I began searching for an antique stair railing. Working at the paper, I used my free classified ad benefit and put my search in under Merchandise Wanted. Within a day or two I got a call from someone who had one stored in their barn. I think I bought it for $75 and it was a beauty. Including the balusters (spindles) and a nice newel post. Of course, there were lots of trials and tribulations with the whole stair re-building process, but I sure learned a lot about staircases. Did you know that newel posts usually come with a round, decorative cap you can pop off to reveal the long metal rod that runs through it, down through the floor and the floor joist below in the basement ending with a nut to hold the whole thing securely in place? Pure genius! Today, with the world at your fingertips via the internet, finding even the most obscure items is easy. There's eBay, Etsy, online auctions, specialty pre-loved sites, Facebook Marketplace and probably many others I'm not aware of. A few months back, I almost scored "the one that got away" only for it to get away yet again. Back in high school, I had a huge crush on Brooke Shields. This was her "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins" jeans ad and "The Blue Lagoon" movie days. I even drew a pastel portrait of her in art class. Many years later, I came upon a "Blue Lagoon" movie poster at the Brimfield Antique Show, but it was the French version: "Le Lagon Bleu." So cool! For some reason, I didn't buy it, even though it was cheap. I was probably embarrassed that I still held "The Blue Lagoon" and Brooke so close to my heart. Or, I may have thought I'd come back to the booth later which is always a mistake. On eBay, back in September, I saw "Le Lagon Bleu" being offered. It was huge (though apparently the standard size for authentic movie posters in France.) It had been folded, unfortunately, and it was much more expensive than the one at Brimfield. To top if off, it was from a dealer in France, so shipping was also going to be pricey. Well, you only live once, right? So, click, I ordered it. And then weeks went by. No Brooke. Tracking said it was in transit. More weeks went by and I checked tracking again. This time, it had a message but in French so I had to translate it, and it was something to do with tariffs. I reached out to the seller and asked if they could help me. I was willing to pay the tariffs but had no idea how to go about doing so. I specifically said I still wanted the item. Well, the next thing I know, the seller simply refunded my money. "Le Lagon Bleu" slipped through my fingers again. This brings me to my latest goose chase that actually came to fruition. In 2022, Joe and I bought a doublewide down in Florida. We furnished it with IKEA along with other odds and ends from secondhand shops. One shop I've had repeated good luck at was a charity for St. Paul's Mission. I found a set of four white stoneware dinner plates and coffee mugs that I liked. Classic looking with a nice embossed rim, I was surprised when I flipped one over to find its maker's mark said "Mainstays," which is a Walmart line. I bought the set for $8. After buying a larger, stucco home in Florida this past December, Joe and I agreed we wished we had more of that Mainstays set, especially the coffee mugs. I doubted Walmart still carried the set, but I tried. I identified the style using Google Lens and learned this Mainstays style was called "Rainforest" in arctic white. As predicted, Walmart had introduced the line back in 2011 and was long gone from the shelves. So, to eBay I went. Well, who would think any eBay dealer would bother selling 15-year-old dishes from Walmart?! They weren't antique, not from some fine retailer, yet there they were. I found them. The crazy thing, though, was the prices asked for individual plates and mugs — over $20 and $24 plus shipping! I'd bet four brand new didn't cost more than $30. That's what scarcity and demand do, though. I always say the asking price on eBay is not necessarily what an item will sell for. Surprisingly, though, each listing I clicked on told me how many had already sold and lots of them said "in five other people's carts". Long story short, I searched further on the web in a general Google search and found four more of the dinner plates on another pre-owned specialty shop. The plates were $10 each and shipping was over $30 from Eugene, Ore. Joe would kill me if he knew how much I spent on the plates so I'm keeping my mouth shut. Just now, while writing this piece, I went back to eBay to double check the details. Wouldn't you know it, someone's offering individual pieces from an entire set of "Rainforest Arctic White." They've got the mugs!