Yesterday's R.A.V.E.

I will be the first to admit that I am far from what most would consider to be a "normal person." As such, one of my favorite pastimes is visiting antique stores. I recently came across an especially nice one that lies within the Greensburg area: just a few minutes away from the University of Pitt-Greensburg, where I am a student. It's called Yesterday's R.A.V.E., and it is located next to the Nature's Way grocery store in downtown Greensburg. As you can probably tell from the photo I took of their sign (over to the left), "R.A.V.E." is an acronym that stands for "Retro, Antiques, Vintage, Eclectic."

I remember feeling very overwhelmed when I first stepped inside of the store. Hundreds of items are crowded around the doorway, with the register just being a few feet away. When I came in, a bell rang and I was greeted by a woman who I later learned was named Kim. I noticed from her lanyard that she was a vendor at the store. 

As I reciprocated Kim's greeting, I made my way further into the store. There were many booths in the part of the store I entered, so I appreciated how there was a lot to look at when you've hardly walked through the whole building. I immediately got a taste of what the store had to offer just from looking around for a handful of minutes. They surely weren't guilty of false advertising, as I saw many antiques that would look very at home in an emperor's palace; countless vintage toys and collectibles at reasonable prices; and plenty of retro items that would please younger customers. 

I was immensely satisfied with what little I had seen in the few short minutes I had been there, but I was not prepared for what else they had to offer. I turned the corner and looked up to see an uphill ramp that led to a long hallway lined with just about everything imaginable. I walked further up and was fascinated at the view. The hallway led to various, large rooms with wide doorways. Through the doorways, I could see countless booths of more vendors. 

To say that Yesterday's R.A.V.E. looks bigger from the inside than out would be a disrespectful understatement. Before I came to the store, I never would have thought it would take me nearly three hours to walk around the entire place, looking at all of the wonderful things that were for sale. 

As for precisely what kinds of things were available, I think that it would be best to reference the eclectic aspect of their advertising. Admittedly, much of the items are things that older people would be interested in: such as fine china, jewelery, furniture, and etc. However, such items were of a very fine variety, and some of the nicest I have personally seen, in all honesty. 

As with many antique stores, you do find many vendors selling old Christmas decorations at Yesterday's R.A.V.E. Although, as I have been elaborating, what they had to offer was very interesting nonetheless. For instance, one booth had a large lineup of winter caroler dolls for sale (see the second photo, top-down). It was a little disturbing to see all of them staring at me with gaping mouths, but they were still very neat.

Into model cars? They've definitely got you covered on that front, too. I managed to get a picture (to the left) of one of several vendor's booths that specialized in selling Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. You find booths like these in abundance in most antique shops, too: at least from my experience. 

Another type of item that you often find in antique stores is taxidermy animals. Where the idea of how taxidermy is made is concerned, I personally find it very uncomfortable to think about and could never participate in such a thing. However, I do know that purchasing and collecting second-hand taxidermy is a very popular hobby. I understand it from the consumer perspective since you're not really doing anything immoral by buying it that way, especially when it's vintage. 

I think insects fall into the same category in a way. Yes, insects are living creatures, but they are not as lovable as mammals are. Also, people have sort of made an art form of taxidermying all sorts of creepy crawlies. One booth I visited at Yesterday's R.A.V.E. offered a large assortment of taxidermied bugs trapped in amber and lucite (see photo). At five dollars a piece, they were a bit pricey for my taste. Although, I will admit I was seriously tempted to buy one or two since they were done very beautifully. They were the kind of thing I would love to display on my mantle. 

When I visit an antique store, I also tend to find a great deal of Disney paraphernalia and merchandise. There were many examples of such items at Yesterday's R.A.V.E. However, I was most attracted to a vintage set of Mickey and Minnie plushies that someone had on display (see photo). I have no idea how old they were. If I had to guess based on the way they looked, I would say they were from the 1970s or '80s. Either way, they were very adorable and very affordable, as the seller wanted only $12 for the pair of them. 

As I was wandering around the room that the Mickey and Minnie were in, I managed to have a brief chat with a fellow customer. He wandered into the room as I was looking through a bin of vintage Beanie Babies. We made eye contact and he briskly asked me how I was doing. I merely said I was fine and reciprocated his question:

"Just fine," he said. 

"Lots of stuff to look at here, isn't there?" he added.

I agreed and made a comment on the amazing variety that was available. I said to him that my eyes were kept very busy by the way I seemed to come across something new every few minutes. He laughed at that. I asked him what his name was and he told me it was Dennis. I shook his hand and told him it was nice talking to him before I left the room in search of more treasures.

I made my way into a smaller section of the store that held just a handful of booths. One set of items at a particular booth caught my eye, as I have never seen anything like it before. They were two old-looking department store mannequins wearing clothes that seemed a tad too large for them (see photo to the left). I saw that there were white plasic stands attached to their feet and the text on the stands read, "Buster Brown Shoes." 

I showed the picture I took of them to my father later after I returned home. He said that Buster Brown was an old shoe store for children back in the day. The mannequin children would have been displayed in the front window, most likely. I thought it was amazing that someone actually bothered to hold onto these pieces of American history. They were very expensive, too, being priced at $250 for the two of them. To be fair, if I had the money and the space in my house for them, they probably would have come home with me. 

Okay, now I would like to admit something a bit strange about myself. I collect vintage dolls and toys. The time period I mostly aim for when collecting is the 1950s through to (no later than) the late 1980s. As such, when I came across a large lot of vintage Michael Jackson fashion dolls from the early '80s, I knew I had to get a picture of them (see photo). I am also a huge Michael Jackson fan and have been since I was very little. 

The dolls were displayed behind a glass case in the center of the store, and they were (at least, in my opinion) by far the coolest things on display there. I was seriously tempted to buy one of them, but I then found out something crushing. The vendor who owned them wanted the whole lot for about $500. I always get annoyed when people sell things as a lot only and will not sell anything individually no matter how much you badger them. I have come across that many times at antique shops and flea markets and the like. But it's never any less frustrating to me. However, I do understand why people do things like that since they want the maximum amount of profit as possible. For that, I can't blame them. 

What you see above are the two items that I purchased as the fruits of my time spent at Yesterday's R.A.V.E. As I mentioned earlier, I collect vintage dolls. Consequently, when I laid my eyes on both of the dolls you see above, I couldn't resist buying them. 

The one on the left is called "Aimee." She was made by Hasbro around 1972. She measures 19 inches tall and is made of vinyl plastic. I like her because of how representative her clothing and hair are of the time period she was manufactured. She is all original, but, as I discovered, is missing some pieces. When she was new, she evidently came with an alternative set of earrings as well as several wig and hair pieces that could be attached to her hair. She was a bit expensive, priced at $35. It was definitely worth the money though, I would say.

The doll on the right is a bit older than Aimee and actually is a part of a line of dolls that I love collecting. Doll collectors refer to dolls like her as "hard plastic glamor/fashion dolls." They were made in the mid-to-late 1950s by a variety of toy companies that all used the same molds to make them. Their outfits, including the bride's, were all glued and stapled onto them, so they're not removable. They all measure 10 inches tall and have eyes that close shut when you lay them down. The bride that I bought is in very nice condition for her age, with no loss of her paint, hair, or fingers like you so often find. She was much more inexpensive than Aimee, as I  paid $12 for her. Another great find, I would say. 

As I was about to end my time at Yesterday's R.A.V.E. and brought the dolls I found up to the register, I managed to have a conversation with the two women behind the counter. As I previously stated, one was named Kim, and she is a vendor at the store. She's the one who checked my items out for me. We started making small talk, and I asked her what she sold at the store as one of the vendors.

"Oh, my booth is way in the back. I mostly sell knick-knacks and things like that," she said.

I asked her if she could tell me about the exact number of vendors who had booths at Yesterday's R.A.V.E. She wasn't sure, so she called over Pat, the owner of the store, who I also made conversation with. 

"Currently, we have exactly 124 vendors here," Pat said.

I was a bit astonished by the number, and I told her so. She laughed and agreed that she still finds it pleasantly surprising to this day.

"We opened up just after COVID ended, and we literally went from having 15 to over 120 vendors in under a year. It was kind of crazy," she said.

I talked a little more with her as Kim helped me check out my items at the register. After we were finished and I paid for my two items, I exchanged goodbyes with them and left the store, more than happy with my experience.