By: The Everything Housewife
Travel back in time with me to the Victorian Era, where a little antique store based out of Logan, Utah has a history that gives flair to the phrase, “Finder’s Keepers.”
THE QUEEN OF ROMANCE
Victorian era furniture has a certain flair, that by today’s standards, still has flair. It was a time period where elegance was paired with ruffles, floral patterns, ornate wood carvings, and the idea that bigger is better as long as it is soft, frilly, and tied with a bow. This time period of “style” in history extended from the early 1800’s to the early 1900’s, and was defined by the reign of Queen Victoria herself.
HISTORY IS FASCINATING
The human race “moves” in patterns of thought. It rebels against one type of thinking into a complete opposite, AND THEN, moves itself back to center. The time period just prior to the Victorian era was known as the “Georgian” time period, and in its own way, the Victorian “way of thinking” was rebelling against the former.
REASON VS. ROMANCE
The Georgian time period followed a more rational, rigid way of thinking where the use of “reason” and scientific knowledge was chief—and therein, in my opinion, lies the problem. Whose reason, and whose science? Well that depends on whose in charge now doesn’t it! So almost as in rebellion, this “rationalism” gives birth to its opposite, the Victorian Era—a period of time marked by romanticism and even mysticism.
This ebb and flow between reason and romance, eventually, in the future moves into a balance, where we humans find “truth” and “peace” on both sides of the spectrum and then , we as humans, mentally settle somewhere in the middle to ONLY repeat the process again at a different place in time–in a future point in history.
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
I love history, and so I am fascinated by things old. I love uncovering why things work, how they work, and what inspired them. I love also discovering what inspires others and what makes them tick. Fast forward to the present, and I will share a story in the present. A story about a lady with Victorian flair.
A LADY WITH STYLE
Once upon a time, there lived a lovely lady named Nanette Jeffs. She was a lady with flair, a lady with style, a lady who lived in the past, yet existed in the present, now only a memory in my past. A lady who loved the Victorian Era, and who was also the daughter of a scientist! So, truly, who was Nanette? This beautiful lady was my husband’s grandmother.
TAKING A LITERAL STEP BACK IN TIME
Nanette had the most fascinating home! When you walked into her house, it was like walking through the Victorian era. Every single piece of furniture was from the past. Everything, and I mean everything, was an antique to be exact. Her home was filled with ruffles and floral patterns in every section of the space.
Crystal chandeliers and victorian dolls with ornate carved furniture from Germany and Switzerland that she purchased when her husband was stationed there during the war became a passion of hers. Her home was her sanctuary, and she absolutely created a space that gave her joy. Her world travels gave her a particular flair that settled right here in small town Logan, Utah.
FINDER’S KEEPERS
Nanette and Roger Jeffs continued in this passion of collecting antiques throughout the remaining years of their lives–Roger is still a collector. When taking a tour through both their homes, you found antiques reflecting each of their individual personalities. In fact, they eventually opened the store “Finder’s Keepers” in Logan, Utah in 1980 that housed thousands of beautiful antiques. It was an antique shop for the locals where they could explore miraculous finds from the past.
A FAMILY PASTIME
My husband’s mother, the daughter of Nanette and Roger Jeffs still remembers going from yard sale to yard sale, as a child, looking for valuable finds–it’s a family “sport” that still runs in their blood today. The question still up for debate is, was it the find itself, or the “sport” of the hunt that fueled these passions?
THE BALANCE BETWEEN TWO OPPOSITES
In one of my most recent posts, I shared a beautiful chair from the 1800’s that I reupholstered. Sharing this particular post was a blast from my past that has a lot of history behind it. It really got me thinking…WHY am I always “doing a little bit of everything?” Is it the finished product, OR, is it the journey (hunt) itself that fuels me to do what I do? For me, I think, it’s probably a little bit of both.
YOU BETTER OWN IT
Personally, I enjoy a little of the old paired with the new–and that’s just kinda my style. These antique chairs from the 1800’s belonged to Nanette Jeffs–a lady with flair! I like flair. I liked Nanette. I personally like to think that I have a little bit of flair too. If you have flair, you better own it–Nanette sure did, after all. I like things that are old. I like things that are new–and so, I think, I stand in the balance.