TEA TIME: BREWING UP A BUNCH OF BARGAINS

CHAFFEE -- Leonard Carroll collects teakettles. The Chaffee Route 1 resident has more than 100 of them everything from heavy, black iron kettles to aluminum, copper, brass and ceramic teapots.

The 74-year-old Carroll estimates he has about 125 to 140 teakettles, ranging from the small, dainty variety to the larger, workmanlike iron kettles.

One of the kettles is copper on top and chrome on the bottom. "That's the only electric teakettle I have," says Carroll, who singles it out as one of the more unusual ones in his collection.

The kettles are crammed onto and hang from shelves in a wooden building he constructed four or five years ago on his property. The building sits adjacent to his woodworking shop and his home.

A sign on the front of the wooden structure announces "Junque Etc." Inside are not only the kettles, but paintings, books and a host of other items gleaned from countless auctions, yard sales and trades with friends.

"Everything you see here is for sale," says Carroll as he ushers a reporter and photographer into the one-room building.

But he quickly adds, "I can't run a business here. I'm too far off the highway."

The building along County Road 211 sits in a rural setting off winding roads, too far from the Highway 61 business strip in Kelso to attract a steady stream of customers.

A former dairy farmer and retired carpenter, Carroll who admits to being a "junk dealer" began collected teakettles two years ago.

"It's just a hobby with me," he admits. "I just like to collect stuff."

But teakettles aren't something he dotes on. In fact, Carroll says the teapots are of no practical use to him. He doesn't like hot tea.

Carroll says he doesn't know how old his teakettles are, although he surmises his iron kettles are probably his oldest. "I have no history on anything," he confides.

"A teakettle is a teakettle. That's about all I can tell you," says Carroll, who admits he's not picky about them.

Carroll says he just buys the kettles and puts them on the crowded shelves. "I make no attempt to clean them up."

He adds, "If I can find a place to put them, I just walk off and leave them."

Still, Carroll says he's not looking to sell his collection piece by piece.

The rural Chaffee resident says he's had to work to make room for all the kettles.

"I started out with a shelf and within a matter of a month, I was building more shelves and more shelves."

Glancing around the room, Carroll concludes, "I don't have near enough shelf space, but I can build some more."

From rolltop desks to gun cabinets, Carroll has made them all. He says he fashions wooden furniture for friends. "Or I'll just make one for the fun of making it."

When he's not in his workshop, Carroll can often be found at auctions.

Many of Carroll's kettles come from auctions. "I love auctions," says the retired carpenter, who spends most Saturdays at area auctions.

Carroll has his limits when it comes to bidding on teakettles. "I let one go Saturday. It got too high."

In the two years he has been collecting, the price of teakettles has gone up at auctions.

"When I first started, teakettles were 50 cents to $1. Now, they are anywhere from $3 to $8," says Carroll.

He decided to start collecting teakettles because he didn't know anyone else who was acquiring them.

Says Carroll, "I had a goal set of 100 (teakettles) and when I reached that goal, I said, `Why stop now.' So I just keep on buying."