Antiquing in St. Paul

Had another fun day antiquing with The Girls this afternoon. We started off with lunch at The Liffey (fried fish and pickles, beef sliders, sammich, maybe some drinks) and then made our way down 7th Street to a few shops.

We started at Wescott's and then moseyed across the street to Grandma's. We couldn't go into John's because they closed at 2:45. Not 2:30 and not 3:00, but 2:45. On a Saturday. Weird.

Since I was the only one who didn't really NEED anything, it stands to reason I was the only one who purchased anything. Naturally.

I did have a list of things I'd keep an eye out for...nothing too big, but just some stuff I've been thinking I could use. Mason jars, old horse bits, organizational items, antique cameras were all on the list.

While I came across a couple of old accordion cameras – for cheaper than I've ever seen them, no less – I wasn't truly enamored with either of them so in spite of the low price tags I didn't end up with either. Couldn't find any horse bits but ran across a LOT of rusty horseshoes for sale. Funny, since Mom and Dad have a ton at home they could evidently be selling.

Got some cool, old boxes for organization – including a little Coca-Cola box – and even a set of three mason jars for good prices (it's amazing how location has such an impact on pricing, even for antiques).



I also found a couple of old crocks. I'll use one as a water dish for Zada – I think crocks make great dog dishes – and while it's a different color than her food bowl, it's the same style and the perfect size. The other holds pens, pencils, scissors and the like on my desk.




I've been toying with the idea of making some sort of "craft" necklace – a long chain with some keepsake-y type things on it. To that end I bought an old skeleton key and some random museum token with a hole in it. We'll see how that pans out.



They weren't on The List, but I did pick up a couple of old books, too: Wuthering Heights and Gone With The Wind. I love books in general and antique books are even better.


Then comes the pièce de résistance: the one thing I didn't need nor intend to buy but just had, HAD to have.


Another trunk.

Yes, I realize I've already purchased an antique steamer trunk...and my plan of using this uber-cool, authentic trunk as a coffee table in a place of honor in the living room backfired when I realized how AWFULLY the thing reeked of mothballs. I think Clint still hates it (although almost 2 years later it's finally not smelly anymore...at least, not 'til you open the lid).

This "new" trunk is an immigrant trunk (from the late 1800s) that's entirely hand-made: from the wood down to the hand-forged "nails" and hinges. It's super-cool. Even Clint likes it (plus it doesn't smell :). Oh, and the only reason I was looking at trunks in the first place was because one of The Girls is looking for a trunk to use as a coffee table. Turns out she didn't quite like this one so I snapped it up :)

Where did I find this treasure? On the corner of Selby and Fairview in St. Paul. Bought it from Terry (good guy  – funny). He says he bought two of them at the same time and the "twin" of mine was painted and dated 1865. While this one doesn't have any dating or writing that we can find, he says it's exactly the same as the other...hence we assume 1800s. Either way, it's really old, totally hand-made and oh-so-cool.


While Clint's not hyper about me bringing home a bunch of stuff from antiquing, we both sat and ogled the thing for about half an hour. Plus, you can only open it by using the ginormous skeleton key so that's cool.

All in all, a great day of shopping for antiques in St. Paul, Minnesota!