Leadhead's Lead: Part 2 (Janet gets the kitchen table back)

Yesterday's post was written in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, while Janet was getting herself prettied up for our road trip to Indianapolis to meet the man who had a Sheaffer lead display cabinet for me to look at.  

The weather was calling for wind gusts of up to 40 mph, which from the relative shelter of eastern Ohio's Appalatian foothills is no big deal.  It was a different story out on Interstate 70 after we passed through Columbus and out onto the flatness that is western Ohio and Indiana - even driving in that long, straight line my steering wheel was oriented to the 11:30 position most of the way (10:00 when a really good belt would blow through). 

Webb's Antique Mall in Centerville, Indiana made for a nice rest stop on the way.  I've never found much in the way of pens or pencils there, and this trip was no exception.  But my wife, the glass collector, was in heaven and I did find a 1984 Detroit Tigers Championship commemorative mug for a friend of mine.

My meeting with our contact (I asked him if he wanted me to reveal his identity and he declined, so we'll call him "Agent X") was quite the cloak-and-dagger affair.  He lives northwest of Indy, and since I offered to drive out to pick up the Sheaffer case, he said he would meet me on the east side somewhere.  After Janet and I had picked our way through Webb's, I gave Agent X a call to tell him we were approaching "the drop zone," and we agreed to meet in the parking lot at an Arby's restaurant on Shadeland Avenue.

It wasn't until we rolled into the parking lot that I realized I forgot to tell Agent X I'd be wearing a yellow carnation, but since mid-afternoon on a Sunday is not peak eating time at Arby's, I assumed the man sitting in the only vehicle at the rear of the lot was our man Agent X.   I waved . . . he waved back . . . excellent!  Either we were all clear to do the deal, or Janet and I had just made a dinner date. 

Nope, we were clear.  Agent X dropped the tailgate on his truck and showed off "the goods."  He's a very soft spoken man, a woodworker primarily, who had bought this case about 10 years earlier, just as his passion for collecting all things Sheaffer was starting to fade.  It had become, in his words, a dust collector.   The $85 on which we had agreed prior to the drive out was very reasonable to me, but as I reached in my pocket for the cash, he insisted that I give him only $80 since we'd made the drive to Indy and spared him the shipping.  

Nice guy.  His collecting bug probably hasn't faded completely, since he did make the trek to Columbus for the Ohio show.  I hope we'll see more of him.

After a stop at a nearby antique mall in Indy (more on that later), Janet and I made our way home, pulling in well after dark.  That didn't stop me from diving in to stock the old chest, which I am proud to say now looks like this . . .

NOTE:  This article is now included in the print version of The Leadhead's Pencil Blog, available anywhere you buy books, or also from The Legendary Lead Company.

To order, here's the link:  Volume 1 at Legendary Lead Company