WOW! Is This a Cool Find!

It is an avocational hazard that I will find myself returning to the same sale in any given town year after year. Some people have so much to sell that they find it easier to hold a sale every year. While I don’t look forward to getting deja-vu as I turn into a familiar street; I don’t blame the owners for trying again - it just adds that much more to the challenge.

Such was the case a few weeks ago, as I entered a side street off of Rt 111 in Trumbull and parked. This was a home I had visited 2 years before. I remembered a retired friendly guy who repaired and sold computers and accessories out of his basement. After chatting it up with him and looking around, I left that day without a purchase.

Fast forward to present day, as I walked up the driveway I knew this was the same house. This time it was an estate sale and didn’t take long for my deja-vu to be replaced by a feeling of foreboding. “Yes,” said Joan from the estate sale service. “Fred passed away.”

I was sad for his passing; he was a nice guy with a strong knowledge of the craft he exercised in retirement. It was strange to be back in his house without him there, but like most estate sales, this one was necessary. Fred was a avid collector of many things. I passed by Hummel figurines, lighters and pens of all kinds.

I couldn’t connect with any of it until I found a closet in the basement. Under some heavy floor tiles was an old poster with colorful illustrations of some detail. It was in poor condition, as though someone tried to extract it without removing the tile. All I saw was a date of 1907 and I knew I had to have it.

Click here to keep reading and learn the origin of the Woodmen of the World.