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Even old cash registers can still ring up big bucks as time goes on

History, of course, always repeats itself.

Especially when walking into the little shop on Third Street in Marshall.

It was a cold Friday afternoon and I was looking for a story. Not only did I find a story, I found many inside Mary Louise vintage & Resale Shoppe.

The old TV set from probably the 1950s and old bowling pins on the green vintage-looking coffee table jumped out at me at first.

As I walked further into the shop, I found store owner Carla Thompson standing at the front counter. And at the left of her, was an old cash register. It had the big buttons and the large numbers inside the glass to show the total cost, just like the one I recall from my childhood. It had old bottle caps stuck to it on one side.

“I use it. It doesn’t work, but I keep my money in it,” Thompson said.

I recall the one my dad once had on a old bar that I used to hide behind in the basement of our family home in Neenah, Wisconsin. It didn’t work either. I was just a kid, probably not even in first grade. My parents eventually got rid of that cash register, because my mom was afraid us kids would pinch our fingers if we pressed the buttons.

“I got it from a photographer in Granite Falls,” Thompson said. “It’s heavier than hell. I don’t know anything about it. I know it’s dusty.”

Yes, many items in Thompson’s shop might have some dust, but it all still might be worth something. That’s why it’s in her shop. And that’s why customers, usually women ages 20-30 according to Thompson, stop in her shop. I’m glad I did too.

“Sometimes they just want to see the blast from the past,” Thompson told me as we walked around the shop.

“I just got these cleaning tiles,” she said as she picked one up. “They are selling like crazy. People are decorating their walls with them.”

“Vintage clothing. I have more people from the cities who come home to visit their parents. They are the ones who are buying the vintage clothing. They see high prices in the cities,” Thompson said.

Even newer shoes that look old are on display.

“Ladders and suitcases, and that kind of stuff, were huge. And then they kind of dwindled a little bit,”she said.

“What is the most popular items?” I asked.

“It’s anything to decorate your home with,” She said. “Anything goes. It’s so random. If anybody asks me what I sell a lot, I can’t say.”

Thompson told me she got into the business after getting into crafts.

“I think I just started mingling a little bit in vintage pieces that I liked, like pictures and stuff. But I was selling jewelry and purses, that kind of stuff. It just kind of snowballed from there,” she said.

“I used to hate this kind of stuff. I don’t go to a lot of auctions, but my parents used to take me (to auctions) when I was little and I hated it. I would have nothing to do with that kind of stuff. As I grew older, I started appreciating things more. Like the history of things.”

Thompson gave me a puzzled look when I asked her about the most unique item she ever sold. She thought about it for awhile before answering.

“This isn’t really unique, but it was my most expensive thing I sold,” She said. “A pair of bib overhauls that still had a tag on them. Not that big of a deal, but they had an Iowa store tag on them. I don’t know if that’s a big thing, but I sold them within 3 minutes of listing them on eBay for $500. Bib overhauls. They were dated 1951, or something like that,” she said. “Fifteen minutes before that (selling them) they were in a garage sale.”

She laughed after telling me that story.

But history is no laughing matter. Especially when a pair of 1951 Iowa bib overhauls earns you $500.

— You can follow Mike Lamb at Twitter@indymlamb

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