Weird, Weird World
Rather than ask Terry Sanchez what he sells at his store, Weird Stuff Antiques, it might be easier to look at the back of his bright-yellow business card: “WANTED! Weird Stuff! 1950s bicycles, pedal cards, Cushman and Vespa motor scooters, oversized items, vintage watches, neon clocks and advertising signs, vintage guitars and mics, Coke machines, motorcycle jackets and related items, cowboy furniture and saddles, 1950s and 1960s autos, motorcycles, Airstream trailers and vintage clothing.” Looking over this extensive list, we wonder whether he’s left anything out.
While we ponder this question (and check out a giant gorilla clad in overalls), Sanchez reveals his buying method. “If you go, ‘Huh? I’ve never seen one of those before,’ I’m interested.” That explains the presence of quite a few items. Like the giant furry Cadillac.
Once, when Sanchez was in Leeton, Missouri, a farmer offered to show him a car. The farmer opened his garage to reveal a mint-condition Caddy — covered in the plush material used to line slippers. The farmer’s wife’s family manufactured the material, so the fabric was easy to come by. “Apparently he and his friends were sitting around drinking, trying to figure out what to do for a Shriners Parade,” says Sanchez. Now, the car affectionately known as “Fuzzy” is his. Fuzzy makes the rounds every year for the Elvis Parade and Lawrence’s Art Car Parade. “It’s my pimpmobile,” Sanchez says.
But the pimpmobile has left its familiar parking place on 18th Street on the eastern side of the Crossroads. That was where Sanchez owned a building before, he says, “the area got so trendy I couldn’t stand it.”
Sanchez’s new spot was built in 1915 for Unity Church, which operated Kansas City’s first vegetarian restaurant there. The stately building seems out of place on its bleak corner, but Sanchez couldn’t be happier. “When I was first on 18th Street, I could park five of my cars on each side of the street, and now I can’t even find a parking space. I had to beg people to come there.”
Sanchez isn’t sure where the artists will go next. “This [Ninth Street] seems like the last area. It’s just a weird little industrial pocket,” he says. “I already feel better here.”
