Danish Auction

Four years ago, on January 30th, Derek and I went to a Danish furniture auction in Franklin, New Hampshire. It’s open to the public, but there are a lot of dealers and retailers there buying for their stores, so the bidding can get a little crazy. We were so overwhelmed by the amount of furniture that we stood wide-eyed in the back for a while as the speed talking auctioneer sold a piece of furniture every 60 seconds.

We wanted something, but we weren’t sure what. Maybe some chairs? Most of the dining chairs were being sold with dining room tables, and in sets of 6 or 8; too rich for our blood. But after a few hours, much to our surprise, a pair of chairs were brought to the front. No one seemed to want them, and the price started to drop. Suddenly, my hand shot up with our number card. Derek looked at me: I was staring, steely eyed at the auctioneer. I wanted those chairs, those chairs would be mine. And you know what, we got them!

It’s hard to describe how I felt. My veins were suddenly filled with adrenaline, my hands were shaking a little and the endorphins completely kicked in to gear. I felt like I won a prize! I felt like I worked really hard and I earned, nay, DESERVED these chairs.

And then we had to pay for them and I felt a little less victorious. But, and this part is super important, we loaded the chairs into the Element and met up with our friends Gregg & Emily in Tuftonboro. And then…we got married, legally*, by a woman who was licensed to do so. This part isn’t really relevant to the story, but the women who married us, is married to a man that built a full size replica of a truly authentic Irish pub that’s connected to his house. So we walked from their kitchen into the bar and it was as amazing as you might imagine.

The real point of this story is: the Danish furniture auction has a lot of sentimental memories for us. Yesterday, we went to the auction with our friends Gary & Lisa and we added another Danish friend to our collection. My hand shot up, I got in a bidding war (exaggeration, but it did go back and forth a bit) and scored a sweet little bookshelf which will allow us to get rid of the lame Ikea bookshelf in the living room that is beginning to fall apart.

The exact same feeling happened after I got this piece: adrenaline, shaky hands and full on endorphin rush. It’s a good thing I don’t have an addictive personality, otherwise we would have a house overflowing with Danish furniture.

*We staged a wedding in May of 2010 and invited a bunch of friends and family, and even had a professional actor play the part of a vicar. He read a script that I wrote and we exchanged vows just like a real wedding. The state of New Hampshire acknowledges that we were married on January 30th, but we typically only celebrate the anniversary in May.