Driving along U.S. 12, going into Allen, Michigan, a little green sign reads, “Antique Capital.” Here, I began my adventure to search for antiques.
Antiquing becomes increasingly fascinating, even with everyday things, when the seeker realizes that each little thing — a strand of glass pearls, a fountain pen, or a pair of bifocals — has a distinct story behind it. In some sense, it gives a glimpse of a world past.
As I walked into Pastiche Antiques in the Preston Gaslight Antique Village just outside of Allen, Mary Parrett, the owner, sat in the middle of what seemed like a somewhat cluttered, but still lovely home. All the kitchen supplies had a home in the kitchen, a small living room with vintage furniture filled a little nook in the room.
Parrett said she has worked with antiques almost her whole life. She and her business partner do estate sales, which often adds to the Pastiche collection.
“Antiques are anything that is more than 100 years old,” Parrett said. “Vintage is more than around 50 years old, or something like the things from the ‘40s and ‘50s. Retro is from the ’60s and ’70s. Collectables can be things from businesses that even still produce, like Coca-Cola, BigBoy dolls, or M&M products.
In the other building, Coke products and paraphernalia filled the shelves.
Because of the close proximity to campus, some students enjoy the search for vintage things on the weekend.
“Antiquing has all the opportunity of thrifting, but with the added curiosity of what century your great buy just came from,” junior Meg Prom said. “An old watch, fake pearls, anonymous stereographs, even just plain silverware are all imbued with the dignity of their continued survival through forgotten years. Maybe that’s a little melodramatic, but it’s also a fascinating way to pop some tags.”
Unfortunately, I can’t specialize in $3,000 mint-condition carriages, but for now, the large collection of pearls and fountain pens will work.
