Thursday, March 22, 2012

Antiquing in Iowa


A few weekends ago, we took a Saturday day trip to Walnut, Iowa, about 2 hours away. It's a tiny little town just off of I-80, with a population of only 900 people or so, but it is LOADED with antique shops. Seriously, loaded. There are no less than 15 antique shops, and once a year they put on a huge antique festival on Father's Day weekend. It is known as Iowa's Antique City. It's sure not much of a city - just a row of shops along both sides of the brick main street - but it's definitely a great stop for anyone who likes antiquing. My husband and I ate lunch in a little family-owned bakery (which had it's own selection of antiques in the back room, as advertised on the front window!), and spent the rest of the day wandering in and out of all of the shops.
My favorite by far was The Granary Mall. It was a higher end antique mall, with lots of dealers that specialized in some of my favorite collectibles.
Their ironstone collection was insane! Rows and rows of those big, beautiful, white ironstone pitchers. Just gorgeous. Pitchers this size were priced between $100 and $150, which isn't out of the ordinary, but certainly not a bargain, so I settled for taking some pictures.
There was a small selection of antique pewter which, of course, caught my eye. And then there was the yellowware...
Antique yellow ware was obviously another one of their specialties. Just look at this display case, filled to the brim with beautiful old pieces... And this was just one case of many. Amazing! The Granary Mall has a wonderful selection of all kinds of primitive anitques - great old painted cupboards, crocks, baskets, and wooden ware... way too much to take pictures of, and not enough good light to do it by! I was tempted by quite a few things, but ended up just buying an old wooden spoon. But it sure was fun to look! We'll be heading back in June for their big antique show.

11 comments:

  1. Oh wow those shops look amazing! I would love to live close by to an amazing little town like that. I think I would have bought the entire yelloware case!! PS. if you are looking to sell any of yours I'm just an email away. :-)

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  2. Oh, I want to go there, too.. smile..
    I love the ironstone and the pewter and the yelloware.. Everything..
    Blessings from Canada...

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  3. Hmmm, I might just be grabbing the hubby and take a trip to Iowa! Love all the ironstone too!

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  4. Hi Ellie,
    My friend Andrea from Faded Plains sent me over here...I love your blog! I didn't realize we had another blogger so close by us.

    My husband and I LOVE Walnut...we've been going for years and everytime we go, I find a new house to buy there. I love The Barn shop and Aunt B's for lunch. :)

    Looking forward to following along ~ :)
    Sarah

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  5. Me again...ok, I started at the beginning of your blog and really loved all your posts. Your home and collections are beautiful...you have a great talent for putting your look together - I love your home.

    Also, I had to laugh when you would make comments about not being able to find things or being surprised when you did in Nebraska. I've been complaining about that for years! If you want something European...good luck. :)

    Anyway, nice to "meet" you. :)
    Sarah

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  6. Wow! I can't believe the high prices on those pitchers! Very beautiful photos you took. I would have been in hog heaven.
    ♥Linsey

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  7. You got a definitely helpful blog I’ve been right here reading for about an hour. raise some questions at article like you want to know some thing

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  8. I arrived at your blog via a Pinterest pin of your yellowware photo above. What a great article.


    The Granary Mall looks like a terrific source for yellowware. You don't happen to remember the dealer name do you? If so, and if it's not too much trouble, would you drop me a line at Antique Yellowware.com. Thanks.


    Great blog btw. This is not the first time I've come across your blog when searching for yellowware.

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