The "A Day On The Town With LDub and Friends" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Our friends from State College arrived early morning and we met at Park City Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to visit with Karen, our travel agent at Liberty Travel, to schedule our next adventure.  Jerry and I were to leave shortly after for our trip to nearby Strasburg, PA to visit an old friend of his who is in charge of the Strasburg Railroad.  Our mission was to run his miniature trains on his massive train layout.  Jerry announced that his friend had just called him and reported he had the flu, so our plans for the day had to be changed.  We talked about what the four of us would do and we came up with a plan to travel the five miles to Columbia, PA for a visit in some of the many antique shops that are in the little town along the Susquehanna River.  When I shop in antique stores, I do it with my camera, since I have so many antiques already in my home and don't desire to have anymore.  Matter of fact, I believe some of the antiques we saw today were at one time items I put on tables in my driveway when our neighborhood had a garage sale day.  Anyway, today's story is my shopping experience in a few of the stores we visited.  See if you might enjoy the same types of items that I do, or if some of these items might already be in your possession.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This metal canister at one time housed Fine Cut Cuban Cigars, but it was empty when I opened it.

This is a Marx toy train made in the 1940's.  The price tag said it gets hung up from a few dents, but otherwise runs great.  The owner was asking $100.

This vendor had quite a few Railroad Magazines which were for sale for $6 each.  They originally sold for  $.25.  Many of them dated back to the early 1900's.

Anyone remember HELPS and Doan's Pills?  The Doan's is said to be an anti-inflammatory drug, while Helps were for bad breath.  Both were empty and I don't know what the price for either one might have been. 

This was a tablet that you would mix with very hot water and sip.  It was to help with indigestion due to excess acid.

This was a really neat photograph showing the old Columbia to York covered bridge that was destroyed by a hurricane in 1896.  It is selling for $55. 

Carol and I have a friend who loves campaign buttons.  These three were if fair condition, but we had no idea if he might have them already. 

A large spool of 1/2" Blue Heart Manila Rope.  Great for anyone who has a house with a beach theme.  We passed on this since we already have more rope than we need. 

Now why would anyone shoot a bear, gut it, and have it end up in an antique shop?  Things that people do amaze me. 

Now, you can always use BINGO cards, right?  Sign said $2.00 per bundle, but most were loose.

And, who can't use a book on Modern Chinchilla Farming.  Bet it's been in the store for quite some time.  Good deal at $2.00 

How about three pigs and a frog.  

When I taught high school graphic arts my students set type for printing from these cases known as a California Job Case.  When we got rid of the hand-fed letterpresses, we also discarded the type case cabinets.  If only I had known …..!  They now bring anywhere from $15 to $50 a tray.  I did have half a dozen but gave them away for gifts.  Hang them on the wall and they make a great place to display a collection of small objects.  My mother had her thimbles on the one I gave to her.

This item is on my bucket list, but for some reason I just have never bought one. Figure I never want to empty my bucket and have to kick it!  Globes are fascinating to me.  Some, such as this one, are in relief to show where mountains and valleys may be in countries.  Here you can see that Christopher Columbus was traveling from 1454-1506.  May have to go back and get this one priced at $45.

This was part of a pin-ball machine at one time.  At least I think it was.  

An automatic cashier or coin dispenser.  You can find just about anything you might imagine at an antique store.

Tom Thumb Cash Register's are selling on eBay for anywhere from $2.99 to $65.00.  This one was $30.00 and in average shape 

One of the most unusual items I found in the store was this miniature replica of the boat from the movie"Jaws" which is being devoured by Jaws. 

This mask was sold for those working with or using ammonia I assume.  They had quite a few of them for sale.

This is a decanter that was really neat.  Would have been great for salad or cooking oil.  It's price was $20.

In Lancaster County, PA you will always find something related to the Amish.  In this case I found this pair of cast iron miniatures or collectibles.

This particular store had quite a few pieces of manufacturing machinery that was in good shape.  This is a machine for weaving cotton.  It cost $3,500.  They had six of them in case you might want to start your own mill.

This must have come from a church that perhaps had closed.  This statue of Christ on the cross would look good in your front yard at Easter.  It stood at least twelve feet high and was very heavy.  I have some really neat photos I took of it.

This is a medium sized tin that held Hershey Chocolates at one time.  The photo on it is the factory that Milton Hershey had when he first started making caramels and chocolate in Lancaster, PA.

Old typewriters fascinate me!  So neat how you could push a small key and have it swing a piece of metal onto the paper above it.  Inventors of pieces of equipment were amazing.

This is an empty can of soda that had a photo of Roberto Clemente on it with a small history of the Hall-Of-Fame baseball player.  Never saw anything like it.  Sold for $12.00.

This photograph and the one to the bottom are both photos of lead cast miniature soldiers that at one time children played with.  I guess I'm luck to still be here since I had many die-cast toys made from lead when I was younger.  These were for sale in one of the antique stores.  They also had the molds pictured below.  Casting of real lead toys dates back to the early 1930's and was common for small home businesses to make these.  These molds came from a small operation in Columbia, PA.  The owner said someone saw the molds and asked the vendor if they wanted old lead pipes that he had just removed from his house.  He took them and the shelf of newly cast toys are the ones made from those lead pipes.