I think I mentioned that this has been a very busy summer and I have not spent as much time in Antiques on Main as I normally do. My real job (remember... antiques is just a hobby) took me to Hawaii, Kentucky, Hastings and along the St. Croix River. I even got to volunteer at an archaeological dig for the Science Museum of Minnesota. But now summer is behind me and my schedule is back to "normal" and I have time to add to this blog.
For this post, I thought I would feature a few items that have recently shown up in the store ... because of their story and because they are interesting.
First is this metal funnel. The funnel itself isn't very interesting but the person it promotes is. A.M. Smith, wine merchant, is Andrew M. Smith, born Anders Madsen Smedt in Denmark. He worked as a merchant sailor from 1857 to 1860, when he came to the
U.S. After serving in the Civil War, he worked on the Transcontinental
Raiload, before settling briefly as a Farmer in Elko, Utah in 1870. He
moved to Ogden in 1871 and with $10 in his pocket opened a business in Salt Lake City as a wine
dealer (the California Wine Depot) in 1872. He operated in Salt Lake
City from 1872 to 1875, before moving the business to Philadelphia
(1875-1886) and finally to Minneapolis in 1886. In his autobiography he identified himself as “Soldier and Sailor, Moulder and Merchant,
Tramp and Trader, Soap-boiler and Scribe, Peddler and Philosopher,
Overseer and Understrapper, Jack-of-all-Trades and Master of Fortune." He was the classic American success story.
Another new arrival at AOM is this fabulous bird's-eye-view map of Niagara Falls. The color is vibrant and it is a particularly large format. It is a lithograph published in 1893 by the American Fine Art Co. Although not stated, the map maker is probably Henry Wellge who did many bird's-eye-views and published some through the American Fine Art Co. Views like this have been created for centuries. The oldest in my collection of maps is ca. 1590. Obviously the mapmaker could not actually have seen views from these elevations so imagination plays a large role. This would be a great addition to anyone's collection including mine, but so far I have resisted.
Here is another fun item - a 1950's license plate topper advertising Long Beach, Washington. The claim of the World's Longest Beach (28 miles) is interesting, I suppose, but I found the claim to have the world's largest frypan irresistible. A bit of research found that this 9.5-foot diameter pan was used to fry omelets at the Farmers-Merchant Picnic in 1931. A Gibson Girl greased the pan by strapping slabs of bacon to her feet and "skating" around the pan. The original pan no longer exists but has been replaced by a fiberglass copy. Nevertheless, according to RoadsideAmerica.com "Long Beach's frying pan serves as a nice photo backdrop for families who
couldn't get a decent picture in front of the Alligator Man across the
street at Marsh's Free Museum." What can I say - except come into Antiques on Main and see these and other great items.
Last, but not least, is this great wall clock advertising Mercury Outboard Motor Sales and Service. It has great graphics and is in great condition. And it works - lights up and the clock runs. It was made by the Pam clock company that went out of business in the 70's
