You’re forgiven if you think this is a child’s desk, because I thought the same thing when I bought it. Measuring only 31″ tall by 24″ wide by 20″ deep, it looks every bit the part of a child’s desk, right down to the child’s crayon and pen marks inside the drawer. It wasn’t until I showed it to a knowledgeable friend of mine who works with antique furniture that its true origins emerged.
This is a tale of not one, but two North Carolina towns. And a business. And a rural institution.
Country auctions are a staple of rural communities. Most of them are the same; the estate of a deceased member of the community laid out in rows on their lawn, driveway, and anywhere else there’s space. A troop of local Boy Scouts, the Ladies’ Auxiliary, or some other community group with a stand selling food and drink. An eager throng of potential buyers eyeing the goods for that elusive “treasure”. And the auctioneer’s chanter; part salesman, part showman and on-the-spot expert on anything and everything being sold. If you’ve never been to an auction, I highly recommend it.
It’s not difficult to like Warren County. Perched at the top of the state and bordering Brunswick and Mecklenburg Counties in Virginia, Warren County is home to the towns of Warrenton, Norlina, and Macon.
I stumbled across a yard sale just north of Norlina today, and an otherwise uninteresting collection of sundry household goods revealed an interesting treasure: this chair.