Among distressed, rustic-looking armoires, ceramic owls, elegant cranberry-colored goblets and Pez candy dispensers, what one person has forgotten or discarded becomes another person’s treasure. Welcome to the world of antiquing.
It isn’t always easy for newcomers to know where to begin, so experts from local antique shops offered some advice to students who want to find the perfect possession amidst rows of forsaken favorites.
Ginger Moyer of Eugene, who has been in estate sales for the past 20 years, also works at Laveta’s Secondhand Treasures in Springfield. Moyer, 65, said during September the store was open seven days a week to meet the demand of students looking to furnish their residences with functional desks and dressers.
“The impulsive buying is primarily left up to the female species, and men usually have a specific item in mind,” she said.
But not every piece of merchandise in an antique store is “an antique.” Moyer recommended that shoppers look over vintage items carefully to make sure they are not broken, chipped or cracked, and also because she said there are “lots of reproductions out there right now.”
“Condition plays a big part in every aspect of antiquing,” she said.
For rookies, she also proposed that they research older items in reference books available in libraries and antique stores, and ask questions about an object before purchasing it. She stressed the importance of buying items that suit personal tastes, not trends.

“Collecting has to be up to the ones who live with it,” she said. “If it is a pleasure to you, that’s how you pick it — not Martha Stewart says so.”
She said the looks that are “in” include wrought-iron and 1950s and ’60s furniture, which she considers too “retro” for her personal tastes.
“Even those little polyester pants and the furniture that goes with it is all hot right now,” she said.
Porcelain dolls, designer fur coats, out-of-print books, Japanese fans, cookie jars and thousands of salt and pepper shakers are a few of the finds at Glory Day’s Antique Mall in Springfield. The store features more than 10,000 square feet of merchandise.
Nettie Paladijczuk, who has owned the store for seven years, said kitchenware and furniture are popular items for the college-age crowd.
“Trunks can work as a night stand, but you can also put things inside of it,” she said.
Antique stores often carry older versions of new styles, such as Fire-King dinnerware, she said. When Martha Stewart brought out Jadeite and Fiesta, two brightly colored styles of dishes and glassware, Paladijczuk said it boosted the prices of the classic originals.
Paladijczuk said finding the right item can be a hit-and-miss process, but visiting a variety of shops can give a buyer a large selection.

“You can have fun things and have it not cost you an arm and a leg,” she said.
Paladijczuk said she enjoys her line of work, especially when she can supply customers with what they are looking for.
“The people are fun,” she said. “They come in, and when they buy something, they usually love it.”
As Cindy Beane, originally from Huntington Beach, Calif., admired a patriotic birdhouse at Glory Day’s Antique Mall on Saturday, she said she was actually searching only for ashtrays. Beane said she wants to display her ashtray collection once she and her husband move from their trailer to a house and once she stops smoking.
“I’m going to quit here any day,” she said.
The sound of waterfalls and the smell of orange rinds, scented-candles, spices and potpourri greet visitors to Ruthie B’s Antiques, an antique store and tea house at 100 Main St. in Springfield, which was a bordello in the 1930s.
“It reminds me of walking into my grandmother’s home, and it smells … like home,” said Brandy Brown, of Springfield, as she browsed through the upstairs attic of the house, which is loaded with children’s toys, suitcases and relics of the past.
Complementary lattes and the opportunity to dress up in brightly-colored boas and hats are also part of the experience.
Ruth Ballenger, who has owned and operated Ruthie B’s with the help of Jessica French and 12 other employees for 10 years, said visitors should “be ready for a party.”
“I love the fact that people come in and we make them happy,” French said.