ROCKLAND — An old-fashion cash register sits opposite the modern credit card swipe in the store formerly known as the Reading Corner. Although this store on Rockland’s Main Street has catered to the area’s literati for 40 years, the register itself has presided there for well more than half a century.

It has been that long since one of at least two hardware stores, as well as many other retailers, occupied the space, accessorizing locals with every bolt and tool needed to function at home and work.

The register, which took three men to carry from its upstairs storage, is tagged at $1,000, though some official antique dealers may easily triple that estimate. It sits among a plethora of other hardware store items, greeting cards, and small furniture. All await sale before Christmas. At the end of December, the Reading Corner will close permanently.

When owner Warren Bodine bought the Reading Corner business from his former employer, and moved the store across from the Thorndike in 1978, the assortment became his.

And, as any self-described “indiscriminate collector” would do, Bodine added more. Coffins men’s store on Main Street used to hire professional window dressers to decorate the clothing store’s length of windows. Bodine bought many of those window dressings from that store whenever possible.

Along with some items that Bodine has collected purely for their value or uniqueness, he is selling his own cradle and a little rocking chair which came through his family.

In terms of creating more of a family line, Bodine said, “honestly, at my age, I don’t expect any future issue.”

He also amassed a large supply of stuffed animals, 200 to 300 of all different breeds. Some were sold during each of the three one-week sales opened to the public in August and October. Many more, remaining in the building’s upstairs storage, will be brought down for the final weekend-only sales before the Reading Corner closes.

At the age of 30, Bodine realized he needed to settle into a steady line of income. His stint working with windshield glass did not interest him. Selling a continuous line of pink and yellow refrigerators bored him. But the constantly changing book titles at the Reading Corner held his attention.

Now, the changing publishing industry demands more profit from merchants, and Bodine is lured to volunteer work and sitting on committee boards.

Items not sold before Christmas will be given away, put in storage, or “giften to the dump,” Bodine said.