Question of the Day, Friday, July 25

Good morning and Happy Friday!   It's been a very long week and I'm ready to start my weekend.

Tomorrow we are going with friends to a large antique/vintage-type place over in the Poconos. I don't buy much, but I do enjoy looking at older things. Some of the prices that the older items get are out of this world. We received several sets of Corningware casseroles when we first got married and we still have them. To buy them now, wow, they're expensive....at least I think so. I'm cooking with vintage stuff! And to me, they're just casseroles. I guess I should start taking better care of my "vintage" kitchen items.

Do you like to visit antique shops? Do you buy much in the way of antiques or vintage items? 

I don't know if I've ever been to a legitimate antique store, and I don't think my family owns/ed much in terms of vintage things, but The Vegetarian's family is big on thrift store finds and they volunteer at one and pick stuff up all the time. He likes to look at stuff too, but we seldom buy partly because of price and partly because we're already occupying enough space in our apartment with stuff we almost never use.

There are tons of antique stores around here. I'll wander through on occasion, but I really have to be in the mood for it. I rarely buy.

I like to look at them, but I have never bought anything. With an almost 2 year old and a baby on the way, pricey antiques wouldn't be a good idea around here. 

 I am definitely fascinated by artifacts, antiques and had crafted items. Though 99% of the time the price is way out of my range. Back home we have this store called "Hilltribe" it sells wooden and bone earrings and I used to buy them 

I like old stuff.

I have a few pewter family heirlooms that I've loved ever since I can remember. They aren't worth much of anything for resale, being pewter, but they have been passed down in the family for a long time. One has the date 1665, but there is another that looks much older but is not dated. We figured out that our daughter will be the 10th generation - at least - to have them. IF I give them to her, lol.

I enjoy looking at antique, vintage items. If it falls in the "Art" family, I most likely will buy it. But if its furniture or the likes, I wont buy it.

I am more into retro, things from the early 80's.

No, not at all.  If I want to see old stuff, I just look in the mirror

Before we had our kids; my MIL and I would go browse the antique stores in her area every time DH and I would go visit.  I have a great MIL!  DH would go hike with our oldest nephew or sometimes his father; and the 2 of us would make a day of it.  MIL would find one of many local awesome cafes to have lunch at.  We usually didn't spend much; although to this day I regret not purchasing these antique cast iron toy stoves.  At least one of them still had the tiny cast iron pots and pans with it!  I did get an old iron to use as a door stop in our old house!  

I love looking at old things too. I can't think that I have ever bought anything at an antique store but I do have a very cool vintage sofa. I was given it by my boyfriend who was working at an old apartment building. It had been sitting in storage for over 20 years and is most likely even older than that. The owner of the building was going to throw it away! All it needed was a good steam clean.

i do enjoy visiting and looking around antique shops, and enjoy auctions that have antiques too. i consider antiques different from vintage items, probably because my dad collected antiques and taught me that there is a difference between them. i like vintage items too. i enjoy looking around thrift stores too sometimes.

i know i enjoy auctions and antiques partly because it brings back happy memories of time spent with my dad when i was young. my dad brought me with him to antique stores and auctions starting when i was in grade school. i also have happy memories of going with my dad to visit an elderly neighbor who collected and sold antiques. we would visit Mrs L every sunday for several hours, my dad and Mrs L talking about antiques while i looked at some of the antique items in her home or sat on the floor next to my dad's legs. i was taught to never touch antiques and to always be very careful around them, because if something got damaged or broken we'd have to buy it.

i don't collect antiques, but do have one vintage item -- a child sized quilt, which i have hanging on my bedroom wall. i don't mind buying vintage items, as long as the price is reasonable for what it is. my vintage child sized quilt cost much less than buying a new child sized quilt, and looks very nice on my bedroom wall.

i really love handmade items, (again) as long as they're reasonably priced for what they are.

I have nothing against antiques but I personally don't buy them. They kind of freak me out.

We didn't buy anything, other than breakfast and then dinner later on. We made a full day of it, though, finding shops to visit and wandering around.

I did find some things I would have bought, had I any money to just buy something for the heck of it.

There was an old Victorian sofa with matching chair that I would have dearly loved. It was gorgeous and in beautiful shape, too. Had our basement been finished and ready for furniture, I might have seriously considered it (We are thinking of not allowing our cats in the basement when it's done; I would like to have a place, just one room, in the house where the cats can't go.). 

There was a gorgeous frosted pitcher with four matching frosted glasses that I considered (I really like kitchen things). In all our antique travels, I've never seen that set before and it was fairly cheap as it was on sale. The same place had 12 beautiful dessert plates that I was looking at, too; actually Rick brought them to my attention. But I left it all there.

What I really wanted was a large 3-piece old wrought iron church gate. $575. I don't know. Had we have brought the truck yesterday, that might be here at the house now. It's beautiful. And something like that has been on my "outdoor" list forever. I'd like to put it in the side yard and plant four white wisteria trees inside. With four white hydrangea bushes in front. Dear Richard was most adamant that the gate not come home. (I am doing that Savings Challenge that we talked about on this forum back at the beginning of the year and I'd love to spend the money on something that I wouldn't normally be able to buy.) The gate needed a good sandblasting and then a good coat of paint. I don't know; I looked at the gate for a long, long time yesterday and considered putting in an offer. But alas, it is still in the store.

Another store had a pair of the old metal lawn gliders that a lot of my older relatives had on their porches; I looked closely at them and a good sandblasting and a new coat of paint and they would have been beautiful in the back yard. Again, we had taken Hannah, not the truck. Which was probably a good thing.

I hardly ever find anything that really speaks to me. It's very rare, so just the fact that I found something surprised Rick very much.

We're making plans to go down to Jim Thorpe for a Saturday (and maybe a Sunday, too) in a few weeks. That area is full of antique stores and B & Bs, so it might be a fun visit, even though I probably won't buy anything.