One man’s junk is another’s store
Staff writer
Marion Ogden has been buying, selling, and collecting antiques since 1994 and he has not reached a limit yet on what catches his attention — and to him, none of it is junk.
“If it is interesting and I like it, I buy it,” Ogden said. “I don’t necessarily put an age barrier on what I buy, but I know from experience some things are worth more than others if they are old.”
Ogden operates a shop, Bearly Makin’ It Antiques at 308 E. Main in Marion — one of many such shops in town and the surrounding area.
“I love pictures,” he said. “It is always interesting to get those big frames and then take them apart to see what else might be stuck behind there.”
On Sunday, Ogden and his wife, Linda, were in the process of checking out several paintings before sending them out for restoration.
“I have them take out the old glass, put on new backing, and just clean them up so we can resell them,” he said. “Some of these are probably 100 years old.”
Old quilts, primitives, and furniture are the most lucrative items for a collector like Ogden, but he said he was always on the lookout for a variety of things.
“Glassware is always plentiful,” he said. “Lanterns, sewing machines, knives, old guns, books, I like just about anything.”
Ogden, known as ‘Oggie’ to his friends, does not limit his antique collection to what one building can hold.
“If I run out of space I just buy another building,” he said. “I already own four.”
He has a variety of farm and yard implements and furniture at the Old Alfalfa Mill on North Walnut; old metal signs, a sleigh, bicycles of all shapes and sizes, and bed frames fill his Barn at the Farm shop at 1980 Timber Road;, and his down townshop in Marion is filled mostly with glassware, ornaments, knickknacks and other decorative items.
Ogden and his antique collections were once featured on an episode of the television show, American Pickers.