Woman Thrifts Mysterious Household Decoration, Can’t Believe What It Does

When going into a thrift store, you don’t always know what you’re going to walk out with. That was certainly the case for Paige Elizabeth, who found a mysterious item in the homeware section—only to buy it and learn what it actually does.

Elizabeth, 28, from Minneapolis. Minnesota was visiting a local Goodwill store in March when she came across a peculiar wooden box in the lamp section. While she could tell that it was vintage, she told Newsweek that she “wasn’t exactly sure what it did.”

She knew it must light up in some way since it was with all the lamps and she couldn’t resist paying the $14.99 to find out.

“I love collecting vintage pieces for my home, and this felt like a cool addition,” Elizabeth said. “I wasn’t entirely sure what it would do beyond just lighting up—I found it in the lamp section, after all. There was a tag that said ‘works,’ and that was enough for me to gamble on the vintage piece.”

But once Elizabeth got it home and plugged it in, nothing could have prepared her for what she’d actually purchased.

It was in fact a color organ, a device that represents sound through changing lights. It has a screen with a display of blue, green, red, and orange shapes that interchange to the rhythm of music or nearby sounds.

While perhaps not as popular now, color organ lights are still sold for hundreds of dollars online.

“When it started working, I just thought how much I can’t wait to have people over. I also definitely have to check if my parents had one of these. There are so many different colored lights on the market today, but I’ve never seen one like this. It’s like a little piece of vintage magic,” Elizabeth said.

She’s certainly got her use out of it already, as she has the color organ on whenever she’s playing music in her home. Elizabeth loves the “fun retro vibe” it brings to her place.

Indeed, Elizabeth thinks this could even be her “coolest thrift find to date.”

After making this thrifting discovery, she couldn’t resist sharing a video showing what it does on TikTok (@paigieelizabeth). In the clip, she sees it light up for the first time an comes to realize that it reacts to sound—cue the jaw drop.

The viral video has amazed internet users, leading to more than 3.9 million views and 689,000 likes on TikTok at the time of writing.

The online reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, and Elizabeth hopes it will encourage more people to try thrifting. She never could have imagined that a novelty vintage decoration could create such a supportive community.

“It’s been so fun seeing people get just as excited about my find as I am. A lot of commenters have even shared their own memories of having color organs when they were younger. There is so much to be found at your local thrift store. You truly never know what you’re going to find, and that’s the best part,” she told Newsweek.

In just a matter of days, the viral video has amassed over 5,700 comments on TikTok so far.

One comment reads: “Life would have been better never knowing this existed and now I have to have one.”

Another person wrote: “why are electronics so boring and colorless now?”

“This might be the most legendary thrift find ever,” joked one TikTok user.

While another commenter added: “I would be showing this off more than my engagement ring.”

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