So We're Tooling Around Mid-Missouri / The Ozarks In The Girlfriend's Fiesta (Named "The Flirt") And Of Course I'm Going To Find Both A Large Brasilia Bookcase AND This Arthur Umanoff Wine Cart. No Way They're Both Going In That Little Hatchback. Status: Return Trip.

As found at the Heartland Antique Mall near Lebanon Missouri.  What a strange place to find vintage modern...but the good news is that it's a strange place to find vintage modern (ahem...it was cheap...cough).

So, yeah.  I went ahead and bought it last Saturday while we were there (I wasn't about to take any

chances of it disappearing!) but sadly had to leave it behind.  I really did bring the wrong car.  It's just

that the Flirt get 40mpg on the highway...sometimes better!  On a good day I can eek out about

32mpg in Frank...and that's fine if I know I'm going to need that copious hauling capacity.  I just

didn't have the proper forethought on this trip.  I'll know better next time!  Then again, there might

not be a next time for the Flirt.  The Girlfriend is ready to trade her in.  Anyway, so I had to make a

return trip to Lebanon Mo. this morning to retrieve this fantastic vintage bar cart.

This somewhat rare Arthur Umanoff serving cart was in the next to last booth that we looked at in the

antique mall Saturday afternoon.  Just when we thought we were going to leave (mostly) empty

handed I spotted this in the crowded booth with a fella standing in front of it.  I almost wet myself.  I

almost jumped around that fella to get to it.  I almost fell over when I looked at the tag (it was SO

cheap!).  Of course, it's a little rough around the edges, like the tall 40 bottle Umanoff wine rack I

picked up a few weeks ago.

All the wheels are a little janky.  Two of them fall off when you lift the cart and one of the two that

don't is a different color and bent all up.  Time to head to True Value and replace them all.  The

butcher block wood is in good shape although the top has a split at a glue joint.  They both could use

freshening up so I'm sure re-gluing and clamping the top piece won't be an issue.  The ice bucket is

complete with the original top but sadly it has some stress cracks emanating from the handle.  Just

like the 40 bottle tall rack, the leather is a bit hard and there is a rivet missing but there's no other

damage.

Truth be told, after replacing the wheels, conditioning the leather and simply cleaning the wood...I'd

be happy using this as is, but I think it deserves better.  This is not an easy find.  Even at retail.  I fell

hard for the Umanoff style iron and round bar stuff many years ago and have been waiting patiently

to check this one off my list.  It'll be hard to let it go, but right now that's the plan.  We'll see how it

goes!