Sassafras Salvation: A Visit to Golden Girls Antique Mall

Mama Sass thinks I post these little reviews just to taunt her. She lives in a tiny town in Eastern Montana, and antiques stores are few and far between. One of our favorite things to do when she comes to visit is to hit the antique stores.

So, anyway, the other day, I went to a local antique store called Golden Girls. It's situated on Helena's main street, Last Chance Gulch (so named because of Helena's gold-prospecting history), and it's really a sort of antique dealers' mall, in that various antique dealers each rent a certain square footage to display their wares, and the store management oversees it all. I saw some lovely things while I was there and wanted to share them with you.

(On a side note, I am not happy that Picnik is closing down. I see that they're moving it to Google+, which, I hope, means that I will still be able to access it........ we'll see! Why did I think of that? Because I doctor my pics in Picnik a lot! And as a sidenote to my sidenote, these pics were all taken with my camera phone - the only camera I often have with me. I should remember more often how handy it would be to pack my little point and shoot around - grrr.)

The first thing I spotted was a whole row of jars - full of buttons! Couldn't we have a lot of fun with these?

I spotted this thing, and it triggered a memory from childhood. This was a torch, lit to mark construction zones at night, so no one would blunder into them. Literally, it was a lit torch. Can you imagine such a thing today? It would just seem like an opportunity for mayhem! But I remember, as a child, thinking that this was some kind of bomb. Looks like one, doesn't it? You can bet I stayed away from them! (And doesn't the dealer have a cute tag?)

I spotted this handy little shelf/side table, made from what appears to be the base of an old treadle sewing machine. I happen to have one of my own set aside to make a table from, and I never thought of painting it, but it sure does accent all that curlicue cast iron, doesn't it?

And forgive the blur, but each end of the table was adorned by this fiercely grimacing lion:

I'm sure this little commemorative plate is from the '70's. I thought it was sweet to look at - though it isn't my style. Mostly, I loved the saying, because, yeah, the time to be happy IS now!

I'm pretty much a geek for the rounded kitchen shapes of the '50's. My own toaster at home is a genuine antique, right down to the cloth-covered cord (You can shriek in terror somewhere else later on, where I can't hear!). I love these appliance silhouettes. And the copper band across the bottom of this one almost makes me want to trade my existing one in. But mine makes such beautiful toast - fifty years after it was built! They don't make 'em like they used to, do they?

These cameras made me want to start collecting them, right now. Wouldn't some of these be just gorgeous on a wall lined with shelves? Why, yes. Yes, it would!

This wise old owl cookie jar just needs a coat of paint and it could go right to work in my kitchen, without a peep. Or a hoot:

Last of all, I ran across a little grouping of brass hose nozzles. They are heavy, functional, and beautiful.

Wouldn't they be the perfect thing to mount as hooks on a potting bench? I love the idea. I wish they weren't so expensive. I don't recall exactly what these cost, but I know they were out of my range, particularly if I wanted all three.