#293: Poppit? Stop it!

If I do want to indulge my need for nostalgia, there is no better place in which to spend an hour or two than an antique shop or better yet, one of the huge antique “malls” that are an Ontario specialty.

But I’m rarely there to buy anything.  Occasionally I will see something unique –perhaps a bit of china or beautiful, decorative household linen-- and I will purchase it for someone else.  Otherwise, I am just poking through other people’s memorabilia and reminding myself of my own past.

I'm sure no-one has more fun in an antique store than a retiree with time to browse and a personal history that can invest the weirdest things with significance.   Like these poppit beads, for instance. (How did they not get vacuumed up by some long-ago 50’s mom? Every girl I knew wore them --mine were white-- so there must have been plenty to go around. But I can’t imagine who would want them now.)

Poppit beads--tiny plastic beads that could be attached to one another.  They seemed like a good idea the time.

It could be that the huge antique emporiums I frequent have too much choice or the wrong selection, so that it is easy to “just look”.  A retired friend recently described an antique/re-sale shop (The Stone Orchid) in Tobermory that was so seductive she couldn’t go in without making a purchase.  She proceeded to list all the furnishings and decorative items that she had acquired there.  Our Tobermory B and B host, Ina, had told us exactly the same story.  In fact, Ina claimed that she could no longer let herself stop just to look, because there was always something she craved. 

Toni, Bruce and I saw that store.  I had no idea it exerted such power over its customers.  It is just as well we drove by because I don’t know what I would do if I were seduced by -- let us say-- a gorgeous embroidered cushion.  I don't need a cushion, but I would be sorely tempted. 

In such circumstances, "temporary ownership" is a useful ploy.  I carry the item around for about 20 minutes, possess it, assess it, and finally make a decision.  Does it stay or go?  The illusion of ownership is often sufficient, and I can leave the store satisfied.  Sometimes I’m empty handed, sometimes I have treasure in tow.  Either way, I’ve had my fun.

And the poppit beads?  Let someone else pretend to own them.           

I may get to practise the temporary ownership trick this weekend.  I'm off to Niagara on the Lake to celebrate an anniversary!  No computer and no blogging til next week.