Time for Celebrations!!

 

We love to celebrate just about anything, but this month we have three reasons to celebrate!  Mother's Day is getting here quickly and we have some wonderful inventory in place for the special woman in your life.  Our next celebration is we have a new vendor whom we are very excited about.  She has been selling vintage and antique items for over six years.  We want to welcome Kari to the South End Antique Mall family.  She has a great selection in place now and will be adding more as the days go by.  She is just getting started but, I have a feeling she will fill this space up quickly. I am including some pictures of her items just to get you excited to come in and check out what she will bring! Welcome Kari!  Our next celebration is our 17^th Birthday!  We are so excited to have been in business for 17 years and are looking forward to many more years.  We celebrate our birthday on May 28^th – 30^th.  It is our biggest sale of the year and you are invited to the party!  The entire store is 10% off with many vendors giving deeper discounts.  We open space in our parking lot and the field next to the store for even more items.  Our vendors save up inventory all year just for this sale so there will be lots to see.  Be sure to mark your calendar now to celebrate this special birthday with us!

Easter Greetings!

We want to wish you all a Happy Easter and a blessed time with your families.  We will be closed on Easter Sunday as we spend time with our family as well!  We will be open through Saturday and will resume our regular hours on Monday.  Stop by this week and enjoy some of the Easter treasures you will find at South End Antique Mall!

Egg Plates Are For All Seasons!

This is EGG season!  Spring means you take plates of deviled eggs to family events.  Of course, my family has them no matter what the season, but, Easter is THE time for you to bring out the pretty egg plates.  The concept of a “deviled” egg comes from mixing the yolks with mustard and spices.  It made its first appearance in print in 1786.  “Stuffed” eggs actually date back to Roman times.  Whether you “stuff” or “Devil”, it is time to find some special plates for your dinner table.   Egg plates have the special egg shaped depression where each half of an egg can sit without sliding off the plate.  Very clever!  These egg plates were made here in the U.S. in the 1930’s.  They were made from popular Depression glass patterns.  Duncan & Miller Glass Company most likely made the first plate in their American Sandwich Glass pattern.  Since that time, so many different patterns, colors and styles of egg plates have been manufactured!  They are highly collectible and can be displayed in so many different ways, not just on your dinner table.  South End Antique Mall vendors are starting to bring in a variety of plates in time for Easter.  Be sure you stop by and check out what we have to offer!

                                         

Farm to Table

 The first “farm to table” enthusiasts were our ancestors; farmers and housewives.   Making their own food fresh as it was produced was a healthy choice and a necessity back in the day.  No grocery stores! Today, it is a choice some of us are getting back to.  This is where our mother’s and grandmother’s accessories become very useful today.   You can find newer, more modern butter churns on the market today, but, there is something special about using a vintage tool that still works.  You can find glass, metal and wood butter churns at antique malls today. South End Antique all has some great glass and metal pieces that work beautifully.  Grab a few old wood butter paddles while you are at it!  Butter making is a great activity for children.  It would be a perfect project for 4H groups, school classes, and more.  There was one more method of making butter.   A farmer would pour warm milk into a goatskin and tied it to the side of his horse as he rode for miles.  When he got to where he was going, he had butter!  I think I will pass on this method!

 

                                                                                                                                                        

Follow Your Heart to Aurora for a "Sweetheart Sale"

Our first sale of the year is just one week away!   February 11^th – 13^th is our “Sweetheart Sale”.  This is a storewide sale where just about everything in the mall is 10% off.  Some vendors offer even deeper discounts.  You never know what you will find!   Aurora is the place to be this weekend.  “Follow Your Heart to Aurora” is a city wide event happening on the 12^th and 13^th.  Make a purchase at any of the participating shops and you will be given a ticket to enter a drawing for a $100 gift certificate you can use in Aurora!  It is a win win situation; have fun shopping and possibly get a $100 to shop even more!  It will be a fun couple of days shopping, eating, and candy sampling. South End Antique Mall is ready for you with great treasures that our vendors have been bringing in for this sale.  You don’t even have to have a sweetheart to attend!  We are a participating store so, once you’ve made your purchase, be sure and ask for your ticket to enter the drawing! 

For the Love of Quilts!

 

A quilt is a symbol of warmth and artistic ingenuity.  This is so indicative of those items made by our ancestors as a necessity that was turned into a work of art.  I look at quilts as works of art!  If you are lucky enough to own a quilt made by an ancestor, it is a history lesson for you on what fabrics, dyes and prints were available during their lifetime.  The patterns had specific names and designs that were shared across generations. Quilts not only provided warmth but also, for a time, served as a signal of safety and direction for escaping slaves.  The slaves were taught to memorize the patterns and what they meant.  The quilt served as a mnemonic tool to make their escape safely. Quilts served as a means for women to gather socially when they did not have much time to themselves.  The women would gather to quilt together and share local news and family milestones.  They would often collaborate to make a quilt as a gift for someone moving from the community.  They would each make a quilt square with their name stitched into it.  They would gather together to construct the quilt then present it to the family leaving them and a memento of their time together.  I love the fine stitching you find in quilts.  This was tough as you were stitching through three layers of fabric at a time!  Not all quilts were patchwork.  There were those that had embroidered motifs on them or had the layers held together with knotted strings.  I especially loved those old crazy quilts that did not have any rhyme or reason to the quilt patch and had lovely hand stitched embroidery on each of the seams.  Quilts are pieces of history for us and should be cared for and conserved.  You will find a great selection of vintage and antique quilts at South End Antique Mall so be sure to stop by and check them out!

This is a patchwork quilt

This one has hand embroidered redwork motifs 

This is a patchwork piece; love the diamond!

This is the "Basket" pattern

This is a great example of a tied block

Wishing You a Wonderful New Year

 So we find ourselves at the end of another year.  Boy, they go by fast!  We here at South End Antique Mall have been so blessed to have met all of you this year.  New and old friends have passed through the mall and we have enjoyed all of you!  We can’t thank you enough for continuing to return time after time.  We constantly hear “this is my favorite mall” from so many of you.  We are entering the new year with the best group of vendors ever! They work hard at bringing in the unusual and the beautiful; constantly working at keeping our mall “your favorite”.  If you have not yet visited, please don’t hesitate to drop in soon.  Our next store-wide sale will be our “Sweet Heart Sale” February 11^th – 13^th. Don’t wait till then to visit! We look forward to the new friends we will meet this year.  We all wish you a very Happy New Year!