There's old, and older at Chris' Used Furniture

LIMA - Customers mostly find clean, used furniture in good condition at Chris' New and Used Furniture on South Main Street.

Hidden among the lamps, beds and couches, though, are some surprises, thanks to shop owner Christine Simpson's husband, Burl Carroll.

The decorative wagons, for example, stand out. The two are made from wood taken from a pole building in Delphos; the lumber for the building was bought in 1902.

And, here and there you'll find something that doesn't fit in with the mostly budget and dated coffee table sets and chests of drawers. Carroll makes furniture, mostly from oak he buys in Amish country. He made the wagon wheels diners see at La Charreada.

His favorite thing to do is look at old pieces such as hope chests and dressing tables and recreate them.

Retired and self-taught, he works at his own pace in a crowded and winding wood shop attached to the store.

"It's some beautiful wood, isn't it?" he asks about a cedar-lined chest made of sycamore, before turning to a stack of lumber. "This is locust. They use it for fence posts, because it stays 75, 100 years in the ground. You can imagine a piece of furniture made of it. It could be handed down through generations."

Simpson was watching "Dr. Phil" when a reporter stopped in with questions about the store. Every now and then, a police scanner in a corner behind the desk squawked. A tell-tale sign of pride about the business resides in the shop's front window, decorated for fall: Someone who didn't care wouldn't bother.

Simpson has had the store for nearly 20 years and is matter-of-fact about its purpose and prospects.

"We sell previously owned nice and clean furniture to people who can't afford new," she said. "You meet all kinds of people from all kinds of life. We've had our ups and downs. We take the thorns with the roses."

Chris' New and Used Furniture is located at 811 S. Main St.