Imagine turning an old clothes wringer into an end table. Huntley, Ill., antiques dealers Betty and Al Young did it by adding a heavy-duty glass top to one end.
From the 1898 wringer-table and 18th Century hand-forged Dutch kitchen utensil holder and 1920s art deco jewelry, the Youngs and about 90 other exhibitors filled a field at Conway Farms Golf Course and residential development in Lake Forest with old treasures last weekend.
The event was the 27th Annual Station Wagon Antique Sale sponsored by the Lake Forest chapter of the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago. The show, which attracted about 2,000 adults and raised $33,000 this year, helps fund the society’s health-care programs for inner-city women and children.
“I like what they do. They help people directly,”said Lake Forester Becky Brown, who co-chaired the show with Susan Barkhausen of Lake Bluff.
And the show does its part to recycle old objects to new owners.
With a mind-over-matter attitude, Susan Strachan of Lake Forest gingerly pushed a large old wooden wheelbarrow toward her small Mazda. Its utilitarian days over, the wheelbarrow would soon hold pots of flowers in her new shade garden. “It will fit,” she said hopefully. “This will be perfect near the path.”
Paula Gorelik, husband Ken and Paula’s sister Julie Ruskin searched the stalls like people on a mission. What were they seeking? “Everything,” said Paula, explaining that she and Ken had just moved from Deerfield to Highland Park.
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“This is my fourth year. I look forward to it every year. I save the date, but when I came before it was just to pick up a few pieces. This time we need a lot of things for our new house,” Paula said.
After only a few minutes at the show, they already had scored. “We just bought an antique medicine cabinet for the new bathroom,” Ken said, then laughed. “I guess that sounds like an oxymoron.”