Last month, a local man was overheard telling friends, “Well, I sold my Barbie Doll.” All ears in his vicinity perked up as he explained that the slick, chic image had been sent to the S.C. Department of Health in 1965 to be dressed as a nurse for an exhibit. Nine more and two “Kens” came with her from the factory in California.

“I worked on the display and this one was never opened,” the man said. “She stayed in the box for over 35 years. A good friend of mine sold her over the Internet for $730.”

“And she wasn’t even an antique,” the friend said.

Evidently, this sale affirms again that the business of selling off old and used possessions is as alive as ever. Even here in Orangeburg, we have “Browsabout Antiques N’ Accents,” nearly 10,000 square feet of polished and restored home furnishings; and “The Antique Mall,” a store crammed with colorful relics from every decade of the 1900s, including a 3-foot Venus de Milo (still no arms).

Although Orangeburg is very old, it has never been a Mecca for many such emporiums. Nevertheless, we saw fine Yankee automobiles stop often in front of Harvin Salley and Co. Antiques on Broughton in the Depression ’30s. He also reproduced heirloom pieces of Chippendale and Hepplewhite dining and parlor furniture.

After David J. “D.J.” Salley retired as a city health officer, the center of his deep lot on Whitman Street was bought for the U.S. 301 right-of-way. This gave him a full-sized lot on the new highway. His longtime hobby of refurbishing old gas lamps and other items made him vulnerable for opening a shop there. After filling it with the best of Southern old things, he opened to a popularity that went on nearly 25 years.

Mrs. Henry (Jean Felder) Sandel, feeling the same ambition, started a similar trade in a small garage, also on 301, eventually redecorating a turn-of-the-century home a block down with period mahogany tables, walnut desks, etc. for sale. Most of these dealers often drove collection trucks to wholesale houses in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, on up to Pennsylvania.

Today in Orangeburg, a dozen or more large furniture, department and specialty stores are crammed with new, modern design, and luxury body stools, TV tables and king-sized beds. Nearly every house has some. Often though, there will be a cherry wood table back in a corner, a heart pine chest of drawers in a bedroom. Some were inherited but many have come from the same antique stores mentioned here. Why?

Mrs. Jamie Benton Lee, proprietor of the Mall, says, “All my young life Mother was a dealer from her home on Whitman Street. I hated it because my friends had modern homes and furnishings and I had 100-year-old everything. I swore I would never be in the business.

“After college, marriage and three sons, I worked in restaurants, then ran a catering service. I did not want any of her treasures, but she began giving me some of her finely bound literary volumes and saying, ‘Just remember one thing, in the end none of these passions matter because you won’t have to take any of them with you.’ I realized these to be words of wisdom for my later life.

“After she died, my sister and I divided her iron beds, mother-of-pearl canister sets, claw foot tables, etc., but we still didn’t like them. In 2001 a friend in Norway called to say that Gary and Lori Bergold were remodeling the Cherry’s Feed and Seed store into an antique mall. I ended up with one of their 12 booths, then two, then an everyday job, and in 2004 the entire store. Two years ago we relocated just up the block.

“Today, I think the Internet has absorbed some of the antique trade, but there’s still so much of it left, probably 25 shops just in Orangeburg County.

“People, including lots of younger adults, like to come and see old things, not only for their beauty and craftsmanship, but because they give them a sense of solidity in our ever-changing times. Women may buy old hats and jewelry; men come by to inspect old bottles, tools, easy chairs, etc. Of course, I love the business now.“

Laverne Blewer Jr., proprietor of Browsabout, graduated in building construction from the Tri-County Technical School in Cope, then journeyed all over the South building furniture for new college dormitories, including thousands of beds, bookcases and desks. After marrying he began buying up furniture, much of it antiques. In 1986 he opened a shop next to Finkelstein’s on Main Street, buying more pieces from everywhere, restoring them in a workshop he set up.

“Thirteen years ago I opened the big store on Broughton next to The Times and Democrat. By now it’s filled with items including a century-old ‘bonnet’ chest and a nearly two-century-old grandfather clock. I try to keep my inventory all century-old items. We open from 2 until 6 every day, leaving me the mornings to do repairs, sanding and refinishing.

“So much of today’s low-price furnishings are throwaway, many made with plastic materials. If antique dealers didn’t restore the good, old things into usable condition, we’d lose much of our past. Often, I look at pieces created when I was a child and enjoy the devotion and care old-time cabinetmakers gave to their everyday tasks.”

Retired editor and public relations executive Thomas Langford’s column is titled “Some Edisto stories.” Let him know if you have stories to share: 803-534-2097.

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