As I think I have mentioned before, I started an all new Thread over on the Forum called: All the Best Stuff’s In St. Louis. The idea came from that fact that week after week, month after month, the Retro Renovation Recon Squadrons continue to spot all kinds of amazing stuff, and amazing stories, in St. Louis.
Consider this story, from weed30 aka Wendy — who discovered a time capsule lighting store in St. Louis and raided it, scoring dozens of wonderful vintage lighting fixtures at great prices. Read it and weep:
Wendy writes:
Pam,
My sister found the sale by accident – she’d gotten lost looking for someplace else, saw the hand written “Sale” sign outside and decided to have a look.
She called and said she was at a lighting store that was closing, and, “You might want to come over here – they have some 50’s looking lights.” I seriously hesitated – it was late afternoon and I had already run errands all day.
Plus it was a regular lighting store, not a vintage shop – it didn’t make sense that they’d have any really good treasure. Thankfully, one of the retro decorating gods whispered in my ear, “Get up and go! You should know by now that you never know what you’ll find.”
What I walked into was nothing short of astonishing, unbelievable, fabulous, knee weakening, and heart flipping.
The shop closed about 15 years ago, and they simply turned out the lights, (all of them 🙂 ), locked the doors, and left everything inside.
Although it only closed 15 years ago, there was nothing that appeared newer than the 70’s in there.
Some of the fixtures had been brought in for repair and never picked up – I found service tickets attached to several.
The rest…..I just don’t think the owner ever threw anything away.
There was a ton of dust on everything, but I’d worn my junking clothes so I could dig with abandon.
There was even more in the basement, but it had flooded several times, and sadly some great stuff was ruined.
I still managed to find some mint condition NOS Lightoliers, a NuTone fan and some glass bathroom shades amongst the corrosion.
SOOO much stuff, you would walk past the same spot and see something you’d not noticed before.
There was more I could have gotten, but I thought 35 (?) maybe 40? light fixtures were enough for right now. Above: Malibu Lights – for landscaping. They have posts and wiring. The blue box is the transformer. I thought these were from the 60’s, but I found the receipt in the box and it was dated 1971. Although dusty, they have never been used.
I spent about 5 hours over two days digging out treasure, and went back once more to try and find a replacement globe for one that broke on the trip home.
That’s when I found the NOS Hall Mack chrome switch plates! I am super excited about those – they are in perfect condition and gorgeous.
Most of that lighting was from the 50’s – 70’s.
The owner’s son sold the building, and had a sale.
Most were new, some were lights that had been brought in for repair and never picked up.
There was even more stuff in the basement – NOS outlet & switch covers, lights still in boxes, recessed square ceiling lights, etc. etc. etc.
Unfortunately a lot of the stuff down there was pitting from moisture. Looked like there was a flood at one time.
This was seriously one of the best times I’ve ever had – an unadvertised sale in a time capsule shop, where I could take my time and not feel like I was missing out on something great in the next room.
In two days I saw a total of 4 other people there, and they didn’t buy anything.
It also turns out I know the guy that was selling all of this fabulousness.
My dad owned a small office building that this guy had been renting in for years. I’d met him a couple times and just didn’t remember.
Another thing I wanted to share is that the people who bought the building are not tearing it down.
It looks kind of rough in the photo I sent, but it’s a solid little brick building with killer interior wood doors that have glass windows in them, and the bathroom has vitrolite tile.
I don’t know what the floor is made out of – terrazo aggregate maybe?
It goes without saying that if you ever come to St. Louis, I’d love to give you the royal retro tour.
I now have all of the much needed vintage fixtures for my house, and find myself trying to figure out places that could use a light so I can keep more of them 🙂
Thanks for your fabulous blog!
Wendy/weed30Pretty unbelievable score – lots o’ lighting!
Thank you for sharing, weed30. What is there to say, but: All the best stuff’s in St. Louis.
Wendy M. says
Amazing! Thanks for sharing all the pictures…I can’t imagine how much fun it must have been to explore in there!
I’m very glad to hear they aren’t tearing the building down…
weed30 says
Wendy – I am also glad for the building.
Elaine says
That is so wonderful! How long is the sale going to last? What will happen to all the bounty that has not been bought?
That pendant light with the blue and green tulips would be so perfect in my new-to-me 1963 time capsule house dining area. Or that starburst globe, maybe.
I found a time capsule shop like that in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan in 1980, and I bought some good stuff in there. I still remember the thrill of it all. The owner was closing the shop and selling everything, oh, so cheaply.
weed30 says
cool! and this was all cheap too 🙂
susan says
I would be in lamp heaven. What a great find!!!
Eartha Kitsch says
Oh! My! Stars! It’s just like a dream!
Is it still open? If so, can we have the info? Thanks!
weed30 says
EK – I don’t know if they are done moving everything or not. I am pretty sure he planned on selling the rest at some point in the future. I will contact him and see when and where.
weed30 says
EK – see my post and link below for info.
Tami says
That glass shade that looks like a bowtie? Its twin is at the Muncie, IN Habitat ReStore right now, for a couple of bucks.
weed30 says
OMG, Tami – if you happen by there and get it I will gladly pay you for it + shipping. I would love two to use as sconces. Or maybe we could work out a trade if you like one of the lights I have!
Karen says
OH my goodness what a collection. The genie hanging lamp I just recently found at a thrift store. I have been trying to find more info out about it and keep coming up with nada! This is the first time I have seen that lamp anywhere, online.
I can’t believe the inventory in that store! My heart flutters when I walk into stores with a sale sign for anything vintage!
weed30 says
KAREN!!!! That is EXACTLY the name I gave it! The “I Dream of Jeannie Light” hehe!
Karen says
It is soooo cool! I saw it in the thrift store and my first thought was “why is this still here?”! When I brought it home my hubby dubbed it the genie light. Glad you put pics up, it is fun to look thru them!
Christi says
Awesome!!!! I am jealous. I love the light with the blue and green flowers.
weed30 says
They had 2 more of those similar, and another with different flowers! I have more photos on my pic host – you might be able to spot them.
http://www.pbase.com/weed30/the_great_lighting_store_score_of_2011
BlueJay says
Wendy,
I just looked at your photos and that shop has our future hall bath light bar shade! In Photo02, there is a shade that is sticking out with olive banding around it…that is too cool! What a cool experience. My wife’s civic would have been full… 😀
weed30 says
BlueJay – cool! I didn’t get that one, or the dozen(s) more bath lights that were there. They were all cool, but my pile was getting frightening.
Re: your wife’s civic – I have a solara, and it was like a clown car for light fixtures 🙂 🙂
BlueJay says
I’ve actually emailed them to find out if it’s still available. Ours has a pretty corroded base, which we were going to spray paint back to life, but if it is available, I would rather go new old stock, since our hall bath is pretty heavily used. My wife says I have a crazy eye, ’cause she would’ve never picked it out from a picture like that… 🙂
weed30 says
BlueJay – I can try and get over there this weekend to see if it’s still there. I can’t guarantee the one you want has a good base though. A lot of the stuff in the basement, where “yours” is, was either directly damaged by water or subsequently damaged by humidity and just sitting around for 15 years.
Do you have a habitat for humanity store in your area? They usually have plenty of these types of lights for a couple dollars. You can buy one and just use the base.
BlueJay says
Wendy,
That would be awesome! I’m betting that lamp has a better base that the one we have judging by the picture. Ours is pitted and rusting in spots; I’m guessing it was in a bathroom without a vent fan. If you’d like, I can post pics on the forum of our shade so that you know what to look for.
We actually don’t have any ReStores in our county. It’s a bummer too, because we have a lot of mid-century homes here. Habitat for Humanity claims there’s a restore in our county, but when I found them, they said they just have the office. The nearest salvage places, that I know of, are about an hour away. I told my wife we could open a salvage place in our county and give people a place to drop off their colored bathroom fixtures… 😀
Gavin Hastings says
AAAAGGGGHHHH!
Quit your job, mortgage your house, buy ALL the stock and you will have a moneymaking E-bay job for life! You know the guy?….grab everything.
Gavin Hastings says
That rather tall ivory table lamp in the center of the top picture is a vintage Stiffel. Could you grab it for me- and then I’d have a pair??? : )
I am tempted to rent a Ryder truck and drive cross-country…..
weed30 says
I was tempted to get a lot more, but it was overwhelming. Although I have a vintage light fixture fetish, I don’t know everything about different styles, so I stuck with my credo of “buy what you like”.
Gene Brake says
Wow, that is indeed an awesome find. Is the stop still open and liquidating or was it a one day sale?
weed30 says
It was hit and miss – only on the weekend and they were moving stuff to other storage because they sold the building.
Uncle Atom says
Wow! What a find! That short brass and white ceiling light with the green and blue cutouts matches a couple of sconces I have. You can turn the brass part and expose another pair of colors, orange and yellow. Very cool!
weed30 says
Cool! I ran to try it – the alternate colors on this light are brown and yellow!
Uncle Atom says
I did a blog post on the sconces, here’s a link to show you what mine look like, they definitely have the same look as the ceiling lamp you picked up. http://atomicuncle.blogspot.com/2010/05/latest-ebay-score-3-tiered-wall-lamps.html
weed30 says
OMG – those sconces are GREAT!