The One That Got Away But May Come Back

Two weeks or so ago, I headed down to southern Missouri to an auction that advertised an antique twisted wire shoe shine chair with an oak seat and pull-out boot last that came out of the Kansas City National Stockyards.  This was the picture in the listing: (Cool, right?)

When I arrived to the auction, I figured out that this most awesome chair wouldn't fit into my microauctionmobile.  (Note to self:  Sooner than later learn to drive my husband's Dodge Ram.) So, I left the auction without buying anything.  

That means this chair is floating out there somewhere.  Yesterday, while at Pete N Repeat Repurposed in the West Bottoms, I looked out another one of their awesome windows and saw the old Kansas City Livestock Exchange building and wondered if this chair was once located within those walls and if so, what kind of stories could it tell?

Maybe divine intervention will come into play like it did with my Motor Court Sign.

When we purchased the little guest cottage (Delavan Cottage) next door to our little log cabin (Moonlight Cocktail Cottage) at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri last year, I knew I wanted to turn it into a Motor Court theme.  I found an old Motor Court map on eBay as well as some old motel signs that will be going into Delavan Cottage this year.  I found this old metal piece in Columbia, MO that we will hang as an awning over one of the windows in the cottage that has yet to be determined.

So when I was perusing auctions last Fall and came across an old Motor Court sign at an auction in Mound City, Kansas I was elated.  But then I remembered that the last auction I went to in that neck of the woods, I swore off ever going again because the prices were high.  After staring at the Motor Court sign picture for a little over a week, I decided that I'd attend another auction in northern Missouri instead and shut the book on that particular sign to ever grace my presence.  I did very well at the other auction, so I put everything in the back of my mind and went on with my life.

Later in the Fall, I attended an auction in Lamar, MO and left early. There's a delightful antique mall near 71 Highway, so I stopped in before making the trek back home and nearly died, and I mean it when I say died because my heart started bouncing all over the place in excitement when I spotted this:

I quickly picked it up and took it to the front desk and asked if the sign had come from an auction in Mound City, KS and they said yes.  Serendipity at its' finest, folks!  Mound City to Lamar is 74 miles away across the state line!  Man, this made me very, very happy.  Indeed, Delavan Cottage was always meant to be my Motor Court, which is perfect for family and friends when they visit us at the lake!  :)  

Since the cottage project is on hold due to the weather, I have the sign just sitting against 2 vintage suitcases in the front two windows facing out to the screened-in porch.

The two candle lights are on a timer so at night, the sign is illuminated and can be seen from the road.

It's a two-sided sign, so I'm not sure if we're going to hang it up between these two living room windows or over the two windows in the kitchen over the sink.

Either way, the metal awning will be above the sign and should look just adorable! 

Maybe, if the Motor Court sign found its way to me, the old shoe shine chair will find its way to me too, and then eventually back to the West Bottoms where it all began.  If it's meant to be, it will.