Buy It Now: The Cary Collection’s eBay Shop

If you’re fortunate enough to be enjoying a long holiday weekend, you might just find yourself checking out retailers’ Fourth Of July sales.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for something a bit more one-of-a-kind, how about a set of four Andover Shop patchwork throw pillows? That is, if you can patch together three grand.

Yesterday I stumbled across the patchwork pillows on eBay, which are listed individually at $750 a pop. I found them so amusing (the pattern, the price), that I reached out to the seller. And who should respond but the equally one-of-a-kind Thomas Cary.

In 2011 I profiled Cary for The Rake and posted it here with the headline “King Tut’s Tomb Of The Preppy Era.”

Cary has superb taste and an incredible knack for finding unusual vintage collectibles. The Cary Collection includes ’80s preppy items; relics of ’50s and ’60s WASPdom and cafe society; Anglophilia of the interwar years; Golden Age of Hollywood memorabilia — in other words, the good stuff.

I run into Cary periodically at events around town, and last I heard he was preparing to start unloading literal warehouses full of stuff. He’s turned to eBay to do just that, and if you want to find something special for yourself or a loved one, he’s got 1,900 items listed, so knock yourself out and browse the holiday away.

But be warned, you might find yourself saying, “You know, what I really need is Thurston Howell playing cards:”

Or a little buttondown and rep-striped picture frame:

Or a crocodile bottle opener:

Perhaps Odd Job from the James Bond movie “Goldfinger:”

An Indian polo player letter box:

Or finally, a banner commemorating the end of the Ivy heyday. — CC