A Simpler Time | wood propellers
This post was written by Mrs. Blog It AllSeptember 8th, 2008
Do you remember when the Mall of America started eleven years ago in Minnesota? I do! It was the biggest thing to hit the Internet in the 90s for business owners. One such business owner was Jeff King who owns A Simpler Time. Back then he did not carry some of his current best sellers such as vintage wood propellers and aviation gifts, all types of brass bells, personalized lake house signs, or nostalgic hockey gifts. His gift and art selection on the first day in September of 1997 tilted heavily towards Norman Rockwell with sculpture and art by the famous illustrator who inspired his store concept.
Jeff King grew up in a small Minnesota town and experienced a childhood lifted straight from the pages of a Norman Rockwell book. Where they rode bikes to baseball practice, fished in the local river for whatever would bite, and delivered newspapers each afternoon through rain, sleet or snow. This is at the root of his store concept.
Over the years he slowly dropped products that did not sell, added categories that did, and listened carefully to his customers. One of the biggest (and first) “hits” was when he made his first prototype antique wooden airplane propeller replica after hearing numerous customers remark about the price of original wood props, which could range in the thousands of dollars. Hand carved in mahogany and edged in brass, his WWI replica propeller has been a best seller for years and has spawned a whole collection of aviation gifts, including propeller bar stools and stretched canvas airplane models.
Vintage nautical replicas became good sellers, so he started to produce his own product to be competitive in the new Internet world. He added a few brass bells to his product line and found that, surprisingly, is customers really liked them! Now he has bells in all different sizes, in types ranging from dinner bells to hand bells. He even added a sophisticated engraving machine so he could engrave bells up to ten inches in diameter.
A few years ago, he started selling unique vintage graphic lake house signs, and they quickly became one of his best sellers. Who could have forecast that a store located in the “Land of 10,000 lakes” could sell hundreds of cabin signs? Then, after being asked hundreds of times for hockey-related gifts, he came up with a personalized nostalgic looking wood hockey sign. He soon had funny hockey signs, hockey CD racks, hockey coat hooks…well you get the idea.
He realized not all of his customers would want a wood propeller (or any aviation gift for that matter), a brass bell, a lake house sign, or even the coolest hockey gift there is. These best sellers only scratch the surface of what you will find at A Simpler Time. But I am pretty sure you will not find such an eclectic group of nostalgic products anywhere else.
A Simpler Time started in the nation’s largest shopping mall, the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, in 1997, with the idea of giving shoppers an island of nostalgic tranquility in a modern sea of modern paraphernalia and technology.
His store is about nostalgia, but more than that, it is about growing up in an age of innocence. Watching an otherwise somber businessman smile as he plays with a replica tin Roy Roger toy or listens to Glenn Miller on a replica turntable is a reward he and his employees get each and every day.
From the art of Bob Byerley, featuring nostalgic paintings of children building tree forts or soapbox cars, to replica metal pedal cars, and wood sailboats, his goal is to bring that same smile to every customer who remembers something from their childhood.
At A Simpler Time, they try to treat you like the “good old days,” when attendants in white overalls smiled while they pumped your gas. He will price items fairly, ship everything FedEx fully insured, and promptly take care of any problems that might arise. You can buy with confidence, knowing that if you are not happy with your purchase, they will gladly refund your money. And if you have any problems or questions you can contact him by e-mail.
A Simpler Time is the place to get the best-customized wood signs, wood propellers, lake house signs, brass bells, hockey gifts and more!