Chalice Antiques began in 1971 by Skip and MaryJane Hastings. Some friends had asked them to clean out their house and when they saw the house consisted of Victorian walnut furniture, they knew that it had to be worth more than taking it to the dump. They bought a truck for $50 and rented a garage on old Route 66 from some friends. While we were moving the contents to the garage, a dealer from California saw the merchandise being unloaded. He stopped and asked them if it was for sale, and dad said yes, and sold the entire truckload to him for $1000.00. The gentlemen asked if dad had more and he replied yes, but it’s better stuff, so it will cost a little more. Hence, an Antique dealer was born. We went to apply for a business license and they told us we would have to have a name for our shop, mom and dad asked the local sheriff who happened to be sitting there what he thought, and he said the oldest thing he could think of was the chalice the lord drank from, we became Chalice Antiques.

      MaryJane and Skip ran the business from their house with a small refinishing shop attached to the garage where dad would spend every free hour he had, into getting things done. Skip was also a teacher and basketball coach and would do antique shows during his breaks and during summer vacation. Over the years they opened a small shop with a refinishing shop attached to it, this was finally a place that Skip could display his furniture. In 1984 Shawn came into the business full time and started doing the shows and honing his skills at refinishing and buying. Over the years Skip developed some health problems that put limitations on the things he could do, but he always went beyond those limitations and was able to bring the best walnut furniture to the shows that was available. MaryJane became one of the biggest dealers in colored pattern glass, and later became one of the biggest dealers in Chintz China. She was also asked to be in Schroeder’s price guidebook as the contributor to the price guide on chintz. She also set new standards when she set records on the prices being brought by certain patterns and pieces in chintz at the chintz conventions.

      Six years ago we bought the Mt. Olive Civic Center, which originally was a walk in theater. Our inventory has tripled since the opening of the building and we offer a variety of things, of course, walnut Victorian, oak and country furniture. MaryJane also has twelve showcases full of fine china and different accessories throughout the store. The items we handle are in the original finish and are restored to their original finish, by way of cleaning the piece, or if we have to we will strip the piece and sand it by hand. We do all of our own refinishing and have done so for 30 years and those of you, who know us, know that we do an impeccable job refinishing. Shawn Hastings also is in the business along with his brother, Jeff. Shawn deals in Black Forest Carvings and Victorian accessories, many of you know Shawn from the antique shows he’s been doing for the past 20years. Shawn is in the process of taking over the business as Skip and MaryJane go into retirement. Jeff spends his days in the antique shop doing most of the refinishing, he is one of the fastest and cleanest refinishers we’ve ever seen. Shawn also works for Dolphin promotions helping to set up the shows, and helps Rosemary Krieger and Bob Smith with the signing of new dealers to their shows. You may see Shawn at the Chicago O’Hare show, the Cleveland show or at the Miami Radisson Airport antique show. Shawn’s wife, Meg, also works at the Chicago O’Hare show in the front office and has done so for the past 17 years. Brian Hastings, the son of Shawn and Meg has also been working for the business the past couple of years. While still in high school he has grown to be a vital part of the business, we will miss him when he enters college next year. Shawn has been incorporating new ideas into the business and will continue to bring you all the things that you came to expect from Skip and MaryJane. So please fell free to come to our shop or call or email with any questions or concerns you may have and we will try to help you out the best we can as we’ve always strived to do.