Some people say there are no coincidences, that all things happen for a reason.
Now, whether what came across Chris Carr’s front desk at her second-hand shop, Steveston General Store, is a coincidence or not, there is no doubt the veteran merchant has benefitted from a flood of memories thanks to it.
For the past 32 years, Carr has been buying and selling all sorts of household items — anything from home decorations to small pieces of furniture, mostly of the antique or vintage variety — from her Third Avenue shop.
Stuff comes in, stuff goes out. Lots of it.
“I never expected a family possession to come into the shop,” said Carr.
But that’s exactly what happened last month when a regular customer came into the store with a bunch of boxes, bags and a piece of luggage with stuff in it them.
Oddly enough, it wasn’t the items in the luggage that piqued Carr’s interest, it was the actual piece of luggage.
“I couldn’t believe it. I scratched my eyes, and shook my head. There was my mom’s suitcase. But how could it be? Hers was at home,” said Carr.
As it turned out, the 1940s antique piece was the other half of the luggage set belonging to Carr’s mother, June Lamond, who held the smaller piece at her home in Delta.
The luggage initially belonged to Lamond’s aunt, back in Toronto, however Lamond borrowed it for a trip to New York in the mid-1940s.
“I don’t know how it got lost,” chuckled Lamond.
Neither mother nor daughter could hypothesize as to where the piece of luggage — about 70x30x20 centimetres in dimension — had been all this time, and nor could the customer recall where it came from.
Lamond moved to Richmond in the 1970s so the set had been separated for at least several decades, said Carr.
What is known is that the luggage carried Lamond’s articles to the now historic Taft Hotel building, just north of Times Square in Manhattan.
Back in those days the Taft Hotel (now the Michaelangelo) held live music performances, which were broadcast by CBS Radio.
By antique luggage standards, it’s in good shape, said Carr.
It still has the Taft Hotel decal plastered onto the top left corner and its latches are fully functional (although it’s missing its keys).
Inside, the smooth satin lining is clean but has a stale, musty smell, like a grandfather’s old hat.
Structurally, the piece is still strong, with a firm handle attached at the top; however, it likely wouldn’t hold up being handled by an airline, as it was designed for rail travel.
Carr said she wouldn’t be using the set for travelling but rather as home ornaments, likely as something to rest another treasured item on top.
