Potential Hoard In Western North Carolina

[AAAndrew]

I was on vacation last week out in the mountains of North Carolina. As we were driving home we passed through the small town of Waynesville, NC. It was later in the day and we stopped at an antique (junk) shop outside of town. It was one of those big warehouse kind of buildings with different dealers. One dealer caught my eye because she had a small table of old ink wells, a very old bottle of Quink that was half-full and a cloissonne ink blotter. I was looking at some things at the counter and noticed in an old jewelry box a lapel pin for the PCA, Pen Collectors of America. I asked the lady about it and she said that she and her husband each have stores, his is in town, and not long ago they were at an estate sale and bought the whole collection of an old guy who had been a collector. She said no one else wanted it so they were able to buy the whole collection.

 

Unfortunately, all the pens and the vast majority of the stuff was at her husband's place. She said he had "boxes" of pens, most of which he's not even looked at yet.

 

The great shame was that the store was closed that day. So, here's the lucky day for someone who's out in that direction.

 

Here's what I know.

 

The store where I met the wife and saw the other stuff was

RetroVision

13 Peddlers Square

Waynesville, NC 28786

828-400-9408

Their names are Rebecca Reeves-Pastoor and Bert Pastoor

 

Her husband's store is in the Frog Level section of Waynesville (apparently named because it used to be a swamp and so was down at "Frog Level") It's on Depot Street. She said it was called the same thing, but I can't find any mention of such a store in Waynesville. Frog Level is a newly renovated area of old warehouses and such down by the railroad tracks (hence Depot St.) with antique shops, art galleries, etc.. Waynesville actually looked like a cute little mountain town. Bogarts is a good place to eat. It's basically pub food, but the quality was surprisingly good.

 

Good luck, and let me know if anyone tracks it down and gets anything neat. The quality of the tiny bit of stuff I saw gave great promise of a very nice collection.

[NCGibbon]

Yikes, you make me want to drive 4 hours to see it.

[musesv]

Oh dear, you've frightened my wife. Waynesville is my hometown, and we're heading that way this weekend. She's already putting shackles on the checking account....

[MrThoth]

Dagnabit, you folx are gonna beat me to it.

[MrThoth]

I have a little more information for those who are interested.

 

The number for Bert Pastoor's branch of RetroVision is (828) 400-9346.

His hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10-5, Sunday 12-4, closed Monday.

 

As of when I spoke to him a few minutes ago, he still had not inventoried or even counted the pens. He couldn't even give me a rough estimate on how many there are. He said there are also some "boxes" (pen chests?) and bottles of ink. Given his last name and his accent I don't think he's a native English speaker, so getting information out of him was tricky.

 

As much as I'd love to investigate this, I don't think I can justify a six-hour round trip on the chance that it's something awesome. (Particularly when, frankly, I don't necessarily think I'd know "awesome" if I saw it, since my knowledge of older pens in particular is still somewhat limited.) However, it's definitely an opportunity for someone closer by or already going there.

 

If you intend to stop by his place, I suggest calling in advance. I'm not sure, but I don't think the pens are actually on site -- he will have to bring them in if he knows you're coming.

 

If anyone does go there, I hope you'll provide us with a full report.

[RMN]

I have a little more information for those who are interested.

 

The number for Bert Pastoor's branch of RetroVision is (828) 400-9346.

His hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10-5, Sunday 12-4, closed Monday.

 

As of when I spoke to him a few minutes ago, he still had not inventoried or even counted the pens. He couldn't even give me a rough estimate on how many there are. He said there are also some "boxes" (pen chests?) and bottles of ink. Given his last name and his accent I don't think he's a native English speaker, so getting information out of him was tricky.

 

As much as I'd love to investigate this, I don't think I can justify a six-hour round trip on the chance that it's something awesome. (Particularly when, frankly, I don't necessarily think I'd know "awesome" if I saw it, since my knowledge of older pens in particular is still somewhat limited.) However, it's definitely an opportunity for someone closer by or already going there.

 

If you intend to stop by his place, I suggest calling in advance. I'm not sure, but I don't think the pens are actually on site -- he will have to bring them in if he knows you're coming.

 

If anyone does go there, I hope you'll provide us with a full report.

The name is Dutch

 

 

D.ick

[12345Michael54321]

Yikes, you make me want to drive 4 hours to see it.

Only an 8 hour drive from this weekend's DC Fountain Pen Supershow. But it is a pretty scenic drive. If it were mid-October, and I were doing the leaf peeping thing along Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway, I might be tempted to extend the trip over to Waynesville.

[furious]

Very interesting as Waynesville is my Grandmother's hometown and she graduated from Waynesville Township High School back in 1928. I still have her class newspaper somewhere. Her father, my Great-Grandfather, owned a meat market and store in town, but the Depression wiped them out and they moved to Baltimore in the early 1930s.

 

I've never been there but have always wanted to visit her old childhood home. I'm sure that all of the people who knew her are long gone now. I heard so many stories about that place as a child! Now a potential treasure chest of fps!! Unreal. Maybe I will make the trip...