The antique mall in Beckley, WV is my favorite place (besides Reta's) to shop for antiques and vintage things. We don't get there often, but Tuesday afternoon we drove right through Beckley on our return trip from Princeton, so...
Yeah, we stopped--and shopped. What did we find?
*A Lone Star quilt for $35 in very good shape. It's mostly handstitched, but there is a little machine stitching there too. Since I buy quilts to use, I don't mind, and this one is nice and heavy.
*Two linen dishtowels that I will certainly put to use. I don't like the terrycloth towels because they stain and don't hold up. Linen towels last forever, pick up water more quickly and don't seem to stain as easily--or am I just biased because I like them? I especially liked the old-timey designs on these two.
*A set of 8 linen table napkins. I seldom buy paper napkins now; I've collected quite a few cloth napkins that we use instead. Again, I prefer linen or cotton napkins to the blend fabrics.
*Two old books--one I remember from my childhood school days and the other is a great collection of poetry that I will put to use in a variety of ways here on my blog and in programs.
*A juicer/ricer that I'm sure the seller thought was broken because of its low, low price, but really just needed a little WD-40.
*A big brass bell I will use to get Larry to come in for meals (I hope!).
*A small cow bell (probably a goat or sheep bell actually) that will go into my story bag.
*An old lantern with a red globe that was so dirty you could not see the red glass. It was cheap ($5) because, I think, it had been in a flood or something. It was very, very dirty and took me a little while to clean up, but now it looks great.
All in all, it was a good day to be at the antique mall. The best part, however, was not anything I bought.
A man in front of me was purchasing a Howdy Doody hot pad and mentioned that his wife collected Howdy Doody things.
The sales clerk said, "I have a Howdy Doody t-shirt; are you interested in it? I don't have it with me, though; it's at my mother's house."
"I'm interested," said the man's wife. "But how can I get it? We're from Pittsburgh and don't come to Beckley very often."
The conversation seemed to be at a standstill when I suggested the US mail. The man asked the price of the t-shirt and she said, "Oh, you can have it. I've had it for years and was trying to figure out what to do with it."
So the little t-shirt will travel via USPS to Pittsburgh, and I am betting the antique mall just gained faithful customers who will shop every time they come into town.
that would be a dream day shopping for me! i love old, used things far more than new. i always like to think of their history~who used them and where?
ReplyDeleteLOVE the quilt and the dish towels. I'd never find them in that good of shape or for those prices around here.
ReplyDeleteOh, Susanne, you know I love what you bought. I love yellow. I have bells just like the ones in the picture. That's a neat old lantern, too. Looks like you had a good time. Maybe on the way back from vacation next week, I can talk Charley into stopping in there.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I've ever tried to go to the Beckley Antique Mall, i get side-tracked and don't get there until 5 minutes before they close. I have every intention of going there, and making it further than the parking lot. Your finds make me stregthen my resolve. We seem to always be in Beckley for some reason, no reason why I can't go there first! That's the plan anyway.
ReplyDeletelaoi, you and I, and I think Janet too, are on the same wavelength. I like to think about the lady who used the tea towels and kept them in such pristine condition. And the lady (or maybe it was a man?) who made the Lone Star quilt and decided to machine stitch the star onto the quilt even though the rest was handstitched. What prompted that decision? A new sewing machine, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteThat's why I like browsing antique stores. Many of the items are beyond my reach; others make me go home and put something up a little higher or safer because I didn't realize its value. But generally, I use the old things because that is what they are for, and because it puts me in touch with all those before me who also used them.
GSue - I love the Beckley Antique Mall! There's also a good one in Oak Hill called Carpetbagger's that's a good place to shop too.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the quilt. Probably two different people worked on it, one with a machine, one without?
And I've been meaning to ask, what did you do with the shoe last?
So far the shoe last is on the porch. I'm thinking that it needs to go in the log room, though--it fits with the kind of things we have in there. Right now, it looks kinda neat on the porch. I've also thought about using it to hold a hat, or maybe somthing in the kitchen. Possibilities!
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