Antique Dealer Spends Weeks Hunting Down Homeless Man Who Sold Him Rare Disney Art for $20
Alexander Archbold runs Curiosity Inc., a store that sells items with stories. Their website explains the antique store’s goals.
“We opened Curiosity Inc. in 2016 With two main goals: to find some amazing items for the store, and to have adventures, including my family wherever possible.”
Curiosity Inc. has an array of interesting items available to browse, made possible in part by a man named Adam. Adam is a homeless man who came into the store with a question: Would Archbold be interested in buying something he had found?
The man had found a Bambi cel while dumpster diving and must have had an inclination that the picture was worth more than a few bucks. Archbold agreed to pay him $20 for the item, and Adam went on his way.
After a little poking around, Archbold realized the print he held in his hands was authentic and was worth quite a bit more than $20. The store owner decided that if the item sold for the asking price of $3,700, he’d fork over half of the profit to the finder.
It did, so he set out to find Adam. It took him a while, but he found Adam after connecting with some of his friends.
“The back alleys and streets can be a tough place, and I want to make sure that if I give him a bunch of money I’m not going to put him in danger or in any kind of harm,” Archbold explained in a video he posted on YouTube.
“Either way, I got to make sure I look out for his best interest and his safety as well.”
Not telling him why, Archbold asked Adam if he’d join him for lunch. Adam accepted, and during their meeting explained that he’d been homeless for around three years, and the only thing keeping him in town was his three kids who were in foster care.
He explained how he made some money off of his binning, and mostly found old coins and watch parts and even stacks of cash. His findings were never quite enough to keep a roof over his head, though, so Adam was stunned when Archbold handed over the $1,700.
But that wasn’t all. Archbold wanted to do more, so he set up a GoFundMe account for Adam, with Adam’s permission. As of Saturday morning, people have donated nearly $18,000 to help Adam get back on his feet.
In an extra bid of kindness and solidarity, the buyer of the Bambi print posted on Archbold’s YouTube video, sharing his own story.
“Hi Alex,” he wrote. “I am the guy who won your eBay auction of the Bambi Cel. My name is Hugo. I am a retired self employed landscape contractor from Long Island, NY.
“I was also brought up on welfare by my mom and was very poor as a kid. I am 70 yrs old now and raising our 3 year old granddaughter with my loving wife.
“I was drawn to Adam and his heart felt story. He seems to be a good man, down on his luck. No one should live like this… being alone wanting to be reunited with his boys.
“I bid 11 times to make sure that I would win the eBay auction and was hopping (sic) it would help Adam out. It’s in God’s hands now. Thank you Alex for helping all of us. You are a good man.”
Now if that’s not a Disney ending, I don’t know what is.
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