kingdom of the [fiberglass eames]

one perk i have at my office is receiving the friday before memorial and labor day off. wanting to make the most of this extra day, i decided to go on a little adventure and visit a few estate sales. i never have anything specific in mind, but part of the thrill of digging among the aged eighties appliances, and worn out wardrobes, is the hope of stumbling upon some forgotten object worth something, if even to me. i do, however, tend to gravitate to objects from the 50's and 60's, with their space-aged lines, and chrome accents. like an architectural indana jones, i'm always on the quest for some elusive mid century modern relics.

the day started out fairly uneventful, finding nothing that perked my interest. after driving back from an estate sale, i noticed a tiny sign for a garage sale. not being too thrilled, i figured i might as well check it out. as i drove up, what caught my eye was on old bike, but this turned out to be only a trick. as i stepped out of the car, i noticed the bike was parked next to some really great looking chairs. from a distance they almost looked like eames chairs. not wanting to look overly anxious i meandered over. however the gentleman hosting the garage sale was keen, and must of picked up on my subtle excitement as he shouted,

"ya know those are herman-miller chairs!"

i gave an un-emotional nod of semi-understanding at the guy, but in my head i was flipping out! did i just find eames chairs at a garage sale? i looked them over, checked them out, and saw the price tag...$10 dollars each!

trying to hold in my giddiness at this point, i went and looked at the rest of the items, keeping an ever present eye on my find. looking through glen campbell records, i tried to reason with myself that this would be a good buy. i started walking back to the car, almost getting in, when i realized that i would be kicking myself tomorrow if i passed this up. i went back up, looked them over again, and then decided to make my move.

i asked,

"would you take $15 for both?"

he squinted his eyes, and looked his chairs up and down....

i, sweating ever so slightly, waited for him to make his counter-move....

he pondered more....

i sweated more....

finally his mouth started to move...

i leaned in...awaiting his answer...

he said, "sure"

i handed him the cash, ran over, replaced the chairs with a bag of sand equivalent to their weight, and swung out of the garage on my whip!

ok, so i actually just grabbed them, and loaded them into the car, but believe me, there was still a lot of excitement in it!


like most great things in life, i wasn't planning on all this...it just sort of happened. looking back, i can see now, it's what some people like to call a "perfect storm". three large elements in my life, architecture, a love of anything vintage, and thriftiness, converged all at once to create a situation ending with me finding this architectural idol.

however the search is still on for the "holy grail" if you will....an eames lounge chair, for under $30!