Dan's Papers - March 21, 2008 - The Statue Huddle

About a mile east of the bottleneck at the Lobster Inn on County Road 39 there is an ensemble of 15-foot bronze statues. Anyone who has driven by has stared at the T-Rex with beady eyes and a mouth filled with sharp teeth.

The statue store, called Yesterday's Treasures, is a world of collectibles, antiques and one-of-kind objects all gathered under one roof. Since purchasing the property and building, owner Larry Schaeffer went from being an artist trying to sell his paintings at a gallery in Westhampton to a successful business owner.

Schaeffer credits his wife Elizabeth for his ability to enjoy what he is doing, and he is enjoying what he is doing now more than ever. The Internet success has taken away the pressure of overhead and salaries. He is having fun and has no plans to retire. It seems that Yesterday's Treasures has established a reputation for having these items available, affordable and ready to be shipped. They have a long history of being able to deliver huge items, which are mostly made overseas, to any location in the world. In fact, Schaeffer just delivered six fiberglass cows to Greece.

The store has everything from old 1800s police caps to life-sized statues of Marilyn Monroe. Schaeffer said, "I get paid to go out and buy items that range from unusual to sublime." With six websites marketing his unusual items, he has gone from a roadside store to an international shipper. At the store is a 40-foot high dinosaur with a price tag of $50,000. A similar dinosaur was sold to a park in Florida. In fact, Schaeffer is in the process of filling some huge shipments to the Disney Corporation that will be used in a new Noah's Ark theme at one of their parks. Dolly Parton even had a bronze horse shipped out to Dolly World for its 20th anniversary. He started by explaining that this is quite a change from "waiting for someone to walk in and buy something in the off season." As we were talking, one of his salespeople, James, came in to inform him of a potential $20,000 sale of bronze horses.

Passing motorists may have noticed that one of the large 15-foot T-Rex statues is no longer displayed out front. That is because a woman in East Hampton purchased it and currently has it situated in a garden by her driveway to provide "energy." Also sold at Yesterday's Treasure are life-size fiberglass cows. A couple who recently purchased an old dairy farm in upstate New York bought around 20 of them to put in their big empty dairy barn, to make it seem more lifelike. Schaeffer said they installed sound effects in the barn too.

Inside the store are fine antique pieces of furniture and a collection of old paintings in wonderful old frames. In big glass cases are wooden replicas of old tall ships including The Bounty, the British warship Liberty, and even a model of the Titanic. The ships have an amazing amount of detail and range from $3000 to $6000 in price. There are slot machines and other gambling paraphernalia along with old uniforms and an amazing collection of railroad and police attire from different eras. There are old Tiffany-style glass windows, lamps and lighting fixtures and of course there are bronze statues including ones of children at play and Greek gods. There are even a few statues of David waiting to be placed in someone's garden.

Schaeffer said, "I sell my favorite things to others so that they will feel the sense of enjoyment I felt. After all, I am still an artist."