Culture & Entertainment Notebook: Depicted by fur coats and 'dangly jewelry'

For local thrift store hunter-gatherer Jo Rodgers, her collection of art deco pieces is a part of who she is.

When Rodgers thinks "art deco," the Google definition doesn't necessarily come to mind; 1920s "dangly jewelry," elaborate cigarette lighters, fur coats, sculpted and iron dogs and gold-trimmed furniture is how Rodgers imagines "art deco," she said.

"It's usually real fancy things that you don't find anymore," Rodgers said. "I always liked flashy things."

Now retired, Rodgers grew up in Southeast Missouri and spends three days a week at Mother Earth by Annie Laurie's -- offering all things Bohemian -- in downtown Cape Girardeau, surrounded by the items she "loves so much."

Unlike Rodgers, three of her four children are minimalists except one, she said, who likes collecting movie posters and advertising.

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Rodgers' quaint home is tucked away in the forested outskirts of downtown Cape Girardeau, and she couldn't be happier about its location and the accumulated treasures it holds.

She has experienced "a couple people" who have called and made jokes about the number of vintage items in her home, Rodgers said, and told the story of a co-worker who once visited her home and offered to help Rodgers box up some of her items.

"I looked at her, and you could tell she realized what she said. And I said, 'this is how I live. I like things,'" Rodgers said.

Several pieces in her home collection include her favorite Staffordshire dog figurines, made of pottery. Rodgers said the collection "just kind of started," much like her assortment of fur coats.

"I love fur coats because that was big," she said. "It seemed like there was a lot of money, people dressed really great and wore fur coats and big diamond rings."

She is also a fan of vintage Herman Miller chairs.

"We started buying old furniture because it's what we could afford," Rodgers said. "I can remember being almost embarrassed that I was going to an auction or a used sale to buy furniture."

Back in the day, she said, people were small, as she pointed to her dining set of Herman Miller chairs, which "aren't really comfortable." But she saw them at a tag sale, and "had to get them," Rodgers said.

Another old-fashioned item Rodgers holds dear is a pink velvet and bamboo couch in her living room.

"That's my fourth couch, probably in less than two years," she said. "I always wanted a pink velvet couch, because to me, that's "really Hollywood."

Rodgers said you can get "such cool stuff," but a lot of people just won't put forth the effort.

"I find that people who can't afford things act like it's cool that they're buying things that aren't. It kind of irritates me," she said.

Rodgers said she couldn't remember, within the last 25 years, a time when she bought anything new from a store.

"And it's not because I don't have the money," she said. "I go to Teen Challenge [Thrift Store] once, probably twice a week. You can find some fabulous things."

Rodgers describes her interests to be more on the thrift store side, as opposed to "antiquing."

Antiques are more considered as items between 50 and 100 years old, she said, even though several art deco items within her home could very well be considered antique.

And Rodgers has rationalized her purchases through the years.

"I don't drink and smoke and go out, so I may spend a lot of money on something that some people wouldn't buy," she said.

When her interests in vintage items began, Rodgers said she used to attend auctions and estate sales regularly, but no longer does because she feels times have changed.

Auctions and estate sales "used to be so fun," she said, but due to families selling off items beforehand, the enjoyment she once felt has faded.

Rodgers said when her vintage-inspired gathering began, it was back before it was "trendy" to do so.

She believes items purchased at an auction or used furniture store are going to be "better than what you could buy new in a furniture store."

"I would rather have something that's used, that's good, rather than some of the [new] stuff they sell now," she said.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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