Thrift Store Finds Of The Week

The thrift stores in Billings are the gifts that keep on giving. In a conversation with one of the employees of St. Vincent De Paul he said what he thinks happens is when older people pass away their kids come from out of town to deal with their belongings and don't realize what the furnishings they bought in the 50's and 60's is really worth... so they donate the stuff.

Case in point is this side table built by Lane on October 17th, 1964. If you have any Lane furniture then you'll wonder how I know the exact date of manufacture because they don't print it on the furniture... or do they? If you look at the serial number and read it backwards there is your date. In the event the serial number has 7 digits instead of 6 then the last digit is the number of the factory it was built in but the first 6 are still the date. I bought this table for $12.50 but it its current condition (even though the finish on top needs a bit of repair) it's worth about $125 to the right buyer. So far I've found 2 Lane tables at St. Vincent and a Lane record cabinet built in 1963 at Montana Rescue Mission. All 3 items combined are worth about $500 and I paid a grand total of $41. Because this is Montana and people here aren't as in to mid century modern furnishings I might have to take a discount on these items but I can easily get $300 if I want to sell them fast.

Here are a couple of other things I've stumbled across that I think are really cool that I actually can't part with because I think they're so cool.

Brady Bunch era pole lamp

Mid Century Modern Lounge Chairs. You only see one here but there are two. I have to get cushions made for them but I got the pair for $10 and I'm keeping them.