The Story of the Vintage Rex Rocket Wagon *

You know how you see all of those wonderful vintage items in magazines and online and you think- maybe someday…

And because there is so much vintage goodness out there, you think- maybe if I’m lucky…

Well, that’s my story of the Vintage BLUE Rex Rocket Wagon! I had seen one online years ago. I loved the color so much, as my favorite color is Blue after all. And this isn’t just any blue- but a Bright Blue! A Bright Blue Wagon, can you imagine?! I thought of the 8-year-old girl that I was- who would pull her red wagon around with her stuffed animals and thought of how happy she would have been to have that blue one! maybe someday, if I’m lucky…

A few months ago, on a cold but mild Winter morning- I was out with my puppies taking our morning walk. A house about a block away had a bunch of “stuff” on the front porch. Wreaths, Christmas trees, flowers pots, garden tools- you get the idea. A. Lot. Of. Stuff.

The puppies and I walked to the end of the street and crossed for me to get a closer look. Just then a sweet woman came out to put out the Estate Sale sign, my heart began to race faster. “Are you having a sale?” I asked. “Yes, we will be open in about 20 minutes,” she said. “Great! Let me take my puppies home and I’ll be right back.” I didn’t run, but I may have picked up the pace a bit.

Now if you’re a Garage Sale/ Thrift store/ Estate Sale/ Free-by-the-side-of-the-road kind of Gal like me- you know that thrifting in the Winter is few and far between. Here in Michigan, the sales and thrifting only really picks up after all the snow is gone. So, for there to be an Estate Sale, and for it to be in my neighborhood? Well, someone was thinking of me that day! 🙂

The puppies and I walked into the door, and I said to My Man- “there’s an Estate sale down the street. Get your coat on!” Now, this may not the first time this has happened at our house. So, no questions asked, he got his coat on and we left.

As we pulled up, in our car- as you never know how much you will find at an estate sale, the sweet woman was putting a Blue Wagon in front of the porch. It was old and dinged up. It was rusted and scratched and it was missing the handle. It was a REX ROCKET WAGON! WTF??? Can it really be?

There was a handwritten sign nearby and do you know what it said? Free. That’s right, you read that correctly, FREE!!!

All I could say to my Man was “put it in the car, put it in the car. PUT. IT. IN. THE. CAR”

And, he did.

I love a good thrifting story. And I do have a couple of them. You can read about my antique Vintage Double Wash Sink here in The Antique Unicorn story I wrote about last year.

Other items here on the porch with The Rex Rocket Wagon that were thrifted:

the picnic basket came from an Estate sale for $4
the chalkboards I made from thrift store frames for $1 each
the blue metal can and the painted Wood Tulips came from the same Estate sale as the wagon and were again- FREE!!!
the wood work bench was a Craigslist find for $10