Middleton, Wisconsin (voted best town to live in Money Mag last year) has a wonderful antique mall that I highly recommend. First, it has free coffee - again I am a sucker for having a cup of joe in my hand to browse the shop. This is an antique mall with dealer cases and areas - no cubicle like setting here. The mall has four floors of items. It has two dealers in matted prints - some really nice and decorative pieces. My favorite dealer, the book guy, cut down his stock recently - but still has some nice books. In the basement there is a great dealer with antique fishing and hunting gear and items, also in the basement there is an antique gun dealer. The mall has lots of furniture. There is a dealer on the upstairs who I spoke to the last time I was there that salvaged 2 awesome desk/counters. One is huge with drawers and the other is smaller again with drawers. He told me he got them out of an old furniture factory and he thought they were most likely hand made by the workers. These pieces were in the thousands of dollars but beautiful workmanship. Some other items are ceramics and pottery. This mall strives for pre-1950 items and they do a good job of filling it. There is some question as to its viability as the owner has the building for sale. So, if you go, go soon just in case.
Princeton, WI - I forgot to mention at Princeton that there is a booth with loads of antique buttons. I noticed buttons were a hot item in ebay selling so I thought I would mention that for you button collectors. The buttons are housed in a large library cabinet - I looked at a few when I visited Princeton - nice stuff.
This weekend I am going back to the Roscoe Antique Mall in Roscoe Illinois (just across the Wisconsin border) to look at more trade cards. This mall on the weekend has free coffee AND donuts! Love it!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Minoqua finds / Princeton Antique Mall
I thought I would show a picture of my best Minoqua find for you trade card collectors. I will be listing this on ebay in the next few weeks. There is a version on ebay right now that has ads on the back of it (mine is blank). My card is also in much better condition.
PRINCETON, WISCONSIN
I visited the Princeton Antique Mall off of Hwy 73 this past Thursday. Their website says they open at 7:30 - but that is incorrect - hours are 10-5. So, I had to wait about 15 minutes for the store to open and it was worth the wait. The store was clean and well lit and offered fresh and free coffee! Note to all antique malls - free coffee is a definite plus! This mall offered a great booth of trade cards. I will post some picks in a few days of the cards bought.
The one thing that stuck out in my head was this awesome giant white painted wood mail sorter. I wish I had taken a picture of it with my cell phone. If I visit again and it is still there I will get one. For you painted furniture lovers - it was magnificent.
Other items were the usual sporting / hunting goods, retro kitchenware and some nice antique bottles.
PRINCETON, WISCONSIN
I visited the Princeton Antique Mall off of Hwy 73 this past Thursday. Their website says they open at 7:30 - but that is incorrect - hours are 10-5. So, I had to wait about 15 minutes for the store to open and it was worth the wait. The store was clean and well lit and offered fresh and free coffee! Note to all antique malls - free coffee is a definite plus! This mall offered a great booth of trade cards. I will post some picks in a few days of the cards bought.
The one thing that stuck out in my head was this awesome giant white painted wood mail sorter. I wish I had taken a picture of it with my cell phone. If I visit again and it is still there I will get one. For you painted furniture lovers - it was magnificent.
Other items were the usual sporting / hunting goods, retro kitchenware and some nice antique bottles.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
The Start
Well, I am now accomplishing one of my New Year's resolutions with the start of this blog. I am an antique geek and love to travel through my local towns to check out the shops to see what they offer. While I look for things to put on ebay, I am also on the hunt for antique board games for my own collection, as well as books about Wall Street from the 19th century. What I have found during my escapes is that shops/malls have gone out of business or they were just plain craft stores. I am tired of driving an hour or two to visit a shop that looks like someone emptied their garage out. When it says antiques - I want antiques! So, I thought it would be nice to have a blog to put down my observations about local shops/malls for others to read, use and comment too. I am starting in Wisconsin, but have some contacts in other states that I might get to contribute to the blog.
Minoqua, WI - I was up visiting friends for New Years and visited 4 antique shops in Minoqua.
The Winner
The one that I liked the best was and shop across from the Paul Bunyan restaurant. A small shop but good quality items. Prices a little bit on the high side, but had some nice furniture and glass cases full of small items and paper. I purchased a few trade cards and a book for ebay.
The other three shops were similar in that they had lots of junk - i.e. crafts and items post-1970. The Mill, on Hwy 47 had loads of books, but priced too high. Nothing gets my goat then when a dealer has a book priced high and the book is smashed in a bookcase getting warped - they obviously don't value the book at all. One thing about The Mill is that part of it has no heat - it is very very cold in the winter!
Later this week - I am traveling to Princeton, WI which has several shops and will give you my thoughts later this week. Until then . . .
Minoqua, WI - I was up visiting friends for New Years and visited 4 antique shops in Minoqua.
The Winner
The one that I liked the best was and shop across from the Paul Bunyan restaurant. A small shop but good quality items. Prices a little bit on the high side, but had some nice furniture and glass cases full of small items and paper. I purchased a few trade cards and a book for ebay.
The other three shops were similar in that they had lots of junk - i.e. crafts and items post-1970. The Mill, on Hwy 47 had loads of books, but priced too high. Nothing gets my goat then when a dealer has a book priced high and the book is smashed in a bookcase getting warped - they obviously don't value the book at all. One thing about The Mill is that part of it has no heat - it is very very cold in the winter!
Later this week - I am traveling to Princeton, WI which has several shops and will give you my thoughts later this week. Until then . . .
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