Death of a Tobacconist

I went to Fairkaufs today. It is like a thrift shop but instead of the goods being donated by people who moved on to bigger and better things, this stuff comes from estate sales. The place is affectionately known as "the dead man store". How horrible is that? There was a span of time where people were just not dying as much and the store was rather empty, but lately there has been a great influx of new stuff. And with all the new merchandise hitting the floor, they slashed prices on some of the things that had been hanging around too long.

I was lucky enough to benefit from the big sale today when I picked up a retro-cute-china-cabinet-type-thing for a mere €50. I originally found the little gem a few months ago but it was €100. Silly expensive for something I don't actually need. However, when the price was cut in half...if became a little more appealing.

There is one problem I should mention about the cabinet, it stinks. Truthfully, "stinks" is much too kind to actually describe how horribly bad the odor is that permeates your nostrils when you come within 3 feet of the beast. I think if a man actually died in the cabinet, it might smell better.

The stench is tobacco and it is way to stinky to have just been in the home of a smoker. This thing must have actually smoked a few packs a day on its own. The outside of it, not too bad, but when you open the doors...vomit worthy stench.

Tonight when I was in stage one of the cleaning process, I started to wonder how in the world this thing got so smelly. It could be the nasty piece of furniture that managed to escape the throngs of a smoke infested stink-house or it could be a storage unit for a tobacconist. Right? I like the latter, it paints a prettier picture. I simply can't imagine how horrible the house must have been if this is how stinky a piece of furniture is. But, a cute little cabinet in a tobacco shop...not so bad.

Matt laughed when he saw my little find, then choked when he consumed the 30 years of tobacco that puffed out when the door opened. Because he doesn't bother himself with the matters of silly furniture finds, he just shook his head a little and helped me pull the stuff out of the van.

Unfortunately, while we were pulling it out of the van a good samaritan drove by. He saw that we were working on lugging something out of the van and he actually reversed his car, pulled into our parking lot and asked if he could help. How nice right? Well, yes it was nice until he saw the stink cabinet and said "oh, it is just awkward." Surely, he meant that it wasn't heavy just awkward to carry. But Matt took advantage of the opportunity to respond "oh it is awkward alright." Great, ammo against my stink-piece by a total unsuspecting stranger!

So, right now my awkward, stinky, retro china-cabinet- thingy is down in the basement soaking in a bath of Murphy's Oil Soap with a few cups of baking soda stuffed on its shelves.

I really hope the stink passes, I think it is a rather cute find!