On a recent vacation, Bob, his friend, Bill, and Bill’s wife, Patty and I walked into an old building in a run-down area of Indianapolis. It was an antique shop called Audrey’s Place.
Walking through the back door where stuff was pile high for loading or unloading, a guy who was busy unloading some furniture, welcomed us and advised us to look up. There, hanging from the metal rafters, was a six-foot wood and canvas model of an early prop plane.
“Used to hang in a hotel in Vegas,” the guy said. As he continued to regale Bob and Bill with a story about the plane, Patty and I walked further into the depths of the building, weaving our way between ornately turned headboards, tapestry-upholstered vanity benches, shelves filled with sets of flowered china. I thought about the stories each of these pieces carried buried within the layers of finish and fabrics, and recorded in the nicks, dents, and hieroglyphic scratches.
Later that day, after returning with a small cabinet for Bob’s office, we sat around Bill and Patty’s dining room table sharing stories of our antique finds and playing a favorite card game of ours called…euchre.
A week later, Bob and I walked with Bob’s oldest sister, Dolores and her husband, Jay into the lobby of the restored Bedford Springs Omni Resort.
This resort, located in the Allegheny Mountains of southern Pennsylvania was an important gathering place, first for the local Native American population and later, starting in 1806, for celebrities, presidents, wealthy clientele, corporate magnates and dignitaries from around the world. To date, the resort has hosted 10 US Presidents, seven of whom visited during their presidency.
But for Jay and Dolores, the most historic moment or event at the hotel other than its recent restoration, was their honeymoon night at the resort more than 50 years ago. As we sat eating dinner in the resort tavern, we listened to stories of that night interwoven with the history and restoration of this beautiful place. After dinner, they took us on a tour of the resort to see the restoration of architecture and interior design. Old framed photographs lined most of the resort walls, dating back to the earliest days of the resort. In one old photo from the late 1800s, groups of men and women sat on the resort porch playing…euchre.
Returning home, new old objects carrying new and old stories returned with us, joining the other antique and vintage furniture and accessories in our home. Some of these pieces are more beautiful than others, some have more personal sentimental value than others, but all, whether I know what they are or not, carry stories.
It’s those stories that are part of the fascination and beauty of antique and vintage objects.
Like the old oak table in my kitchen that belonged to my father’s mother and father. I know that when my father, who is now 85, was a young boy a few years older than Andrew, he used to run around that table and hide under it. That is also the table where, when I was six, I sat eating corn on the cob and lost my first tooth.
Story upon story layers that table, a cupboard, a glass and many other items in our house.
Story is integral to the human condition. Stories are the threads of our life fabrics.
So whether you are a writer, a coach, or some other creative entrepreneur or someone who simply loves to create, story is an important necessary component of your life and your work.
Looking for new ideas or insights or inspiration? Look around you. Look for story in the objects, spaces and people that surround you. Story is everywhere if you are willing to look and listen…especially in those antique and vintage objects.
And if you are ever in need of a writing prompt, just check out your nearest antique store or mall.