It’s coming across a worn copy of the book you read every night when you were 7. Or maybe it’s finding a lamp just like the one that sat on the corner table at your grandmother’s house. It’s the little things, the everyday things, found in antique and collectible stores that take you back to another time and place. Whether it’s with a group of friends or poking around on your own, a stop at an antiques store is one way to feel connected to not just the past, but to each other.
“We hear giggling, we hear squealing, we hear ‘my mother had that!’” says Toni Fetterman, an antiques and collectibles vendor at The Plaza Centre and The Great Mish Mosh, both in Bellefonte. “It’s just so much nostalgia when you find something that really meant something to you in seventh grade.”
Lynn Ann Lewis of Howard was poking around The Great Mish Mosh on a Friday afternoon in search of a model horse for her 8-year-old granddaughter’s growing collection. She says her granddaughter, already a seasoned auction bidder, has been accompanying her to antiques shops and auctions since she was little more than a baby. Browsing the antiques shops is their special bonding time.
“She’s like my own little antique junkie,” she says.
Lewis, who says “I just love old furniture,” is also a collector of cups and saucers, Depression glass, china cabinets, hutches, and more.
“We have a lot of stuff,” she says, somewhat sheepishly.
Still, she and her granddaughter, who will raid her piggy bank to fund a buy, make a habit of attending auctions in search of a special something.
“We both just love old things,” she says. “And it’s really fun trying to win that treasure.”
Mid-century and beyond
Fetterman says her customers aren’t necessarily as interested in something with 100 years of history as they are with something that reminds them of their own history, like dinner with the grandparents, or clothes, jewelry, toys, and music of their youth.
“We see the hipsters, the college students, the alternative kind of family,” she says.
Many are more interested in mid-century furniture than older, traditional antiques.
Roger Snyder, owner of Apple Hill Antiques in State College and a certified antiques appraiser, also sees growing interest in mid-century modern items.
“It’s a fairly new area of antiquing, but it’s coming on strong,” he says.
“It’s the silhouette, the color, the shape,” Fetterman says. “It’s a part of pop culture for them.”
Like Snyder, Georgene Searfoss, a dealer at Apple Hill Antiques, also sees a surge in interest in mid-century pieces like vintage Pyrex and kitchenware, bedroom lamps, mid-century modern furniture, jewelry, and anything Bakelite.
“I’m a big collector myself,” says Searfoss, who used to deal in vintage clothing. She adds that the quality of the period pieces is part of what makes it attractive. “It’s very well-made; I have quite a bit I’m using all the time.”
In addition to kitchenware, Searfoss is a proud collector of antique and vintage hats, a hobby that started in the mid-1990s. Despite selling or gifting away a number of her collection through downsizing, her collection stands at approximately 50, some of which are on display at Apple Hill. The collection covers time periods from the 1850s through the 1970s.
At “hat shows” held occasionally throughout the region, Searfoss will talk about the various styles and how they got their names, how the styles developed, and even how to restore them.
There’s a sense of pride that comes with developing a collection, she says.
“It is an accomplishment,” she says. “I’ve spent quite a few years doing it.”
At Tiger’s Eye Vintage Shop, located inside Webster’s Bookstore Cafe in downtown State College, owner Jenn Dashem sells clothing, jewelry, and some household items from the 1960s through the ’90s. Dashem is another avid collector, whose personal collection of vintage clothing has expanded far beyond any closet. She describes herself as passionate about the loud colors and polyester of the ’70s.
“I’ve been collecting for years and years,” she says, adding with a laugh, “It’s a sickness.”
Another period having a renaissance in her shop: The 1980s.
“Primarily clothing and accessories – wide lapels, jewelry, handbags,” she says.
Describing herself as a “visual person,” Dashem says the distinctive style of everyday vintage items is something she can’t do without. Like Searfoss, she also uses a wide array of vintage pieces at home in the kitchen and for decor.
“I just love being surrounded by one-of-a-kind things,” she says. “When you find special pieces, it’s so much more fun to come home to things like that.”
In Fetterman’s shop, it’s the rule that funky sells.
“The more unusual, the better. If it’s bizarre, it doesn’t matter what the decade,” she says.
Shifting trends
Antique fans and collectors are dedicated clients, dealers say.
“We have a regular, strong customer base,” Fetterman says. “And we have a registry where we ask people to sign and say where they’re from, and there’s not a state in the union that isn’t represented.”
“Most are looking for something,” Snyder says. “Costume jewelry is hot, and I have a woman who comes in once a week and just fills her arms. Then there’s the guy who collects model trains. Every Wednesday he comes, walks through, says, ‘See you next week,’ and leaves.”
For Lewis and her granddaughter, hitting The Great Mish Mosh is a tradition.
“We love coming after church,” she says. “It’s our own kind of therapy.”
“People who enjoy antiquing appreciate different time periods and their artifacts,” says Skip Dreibelis, owner of True Blue Auctions in Lemont. “Some people really identify with them and feel they express who they are as a person.”
Luckily for them, here in central Pennsylvania, antiques abound.
“It’s really a great place for it,” Dreibelis says. “There are a lot of places and little pockets with older communities with unique artifacts being sold.”
Just like fashion, there are trends in antique markets, and while one area gains in momentum, others lose it.
“It’s changed a lot,” says Dreibelis. “There’s been a real decline in hardwood furniture from a century ago, and glass has taken a hit. People don’t have room or desire for Grandma’s china cabinet, and they just aren’t collecting glass or Depression glass like they used to.”
Both Dreibelis and Snyder see changes in lifestyle as culprits.
“We have more of a throw-away culture now, people don’t have an interest in using china or even Pfaltzgraff anymore,” Dreibelis says. “It’s not like it used to be.”
“We can’t sell glass or china unless it has historical significance,” Snyder says. “Part of that is the patterns are delicate, and it can’t go in a dishwasher. Nobody wants to wash a whole set of china by hand.”
Snyder says he’s seeing more and more young people come in, though many aren’t necessarily looking for antiques. Instead, they are drawn to collectibles such as the vinyl records carried by Arboria Records, formerly located downtown, now at Apple Hill Antiques.
“Mostly they’re looking for records, and they invariably come out with eight or 10,” Snyder says. “But it gets them in and familiar with antiques shops.”
Robin Crawford is a freelance writer in State College. This story appears in the December 2021 issue of Town&Gown.
