Hometown Collectibles

We stopped by a friend’s antique store in our village recently and I took a peek at his personal collection of stuff related to the our village. I was reminded of the many other stores we had shopped, where the owner set aside a case with local collectibles and a sign NFS, not for sale.  This was their way of dissplaying pride in their area.

How often have I sent a collectible found while traveling through a Southeastern state to someone looking for items from their hometown in Minnesota, Nevada or Texas. There is an added pleasure shipping an item from some small town  back to its original starting point after many years and lots of miles of traveling around the country. Most of these things are inexpensive advertising items given away with the intent of keeping the store or service’s name in front of the customer’s eyes long after the sale.  I’m sure a quick look around your own home will find dozens of these collectibles handed or mailed to you, often at holiday time.

Now if you are from a large city, you’re at the advantage of having lots of collecting choices. Even in our small village,our two main cross streets are filled with commercial establishments and have been for a century or more. But for those coming from smaller, more remote areas that grew from unincorporated hamlets into towns or suburbs in the last half of the century, finding things may be an adventurous search. Look at the butter keeper, given away by a Standard Service sStation located in Wilton, Wisconsin, Phone 13R4, with a population around 500, located on a little traveled highway in farm country. Surely a prized item for some collector from that area.

I’ve checked off a few pieces to inspire your own search for local collectibles, pens, pencils, calendars, note pads, rulers and sewing kits were often given away at stores, or services. Match books were also made in large quantities and while consumable, these match books often were left forgotten in the back of drawers,  sewing baskets, fishing or tool boxes. In this collection of mine I pulled these out to share with you, (top left to right) Effinger Fine Beer, in Adams-Friendship Wis. – Kirk Christmas Trees, Puyallup WA – Space Coffee Shop, Home of the 5 cent Coffee, Manhattan Beach Cal, — B Bar 10 Western Store, US 10 & County Hwy B, Amherst Wis. — The Five Pillars, Random Lake, Wis. — Exit 3 Motel, Gate 3 Ohio Turnpike Wauseon, Ohio – First Bank of Cooksville (No State, go figure) – Hillcrest Lodge, Townsend Wis – Port Hotel, Port Washington, Wis. — The Silvercryst, Wautoma Wis. — Sky Bird S. Keller, Painters Decorators, Kewaskum Wis, — Green Parrot Tavern, Antigo, Wis, and lastly The Gobbler Motel and Restaurant, Johnson Creek Wis.

And while on that theme I can show you a couple of ash trays. The one on the  left is advertising two in one for The Esquire Dinner Club of Rapid City S.D. and The Terry Peak Chair Lift- West of Lead, S.D. and on right, Dave’s Mobil Service, Bottineau, N. Dak.

Lots of remote locations had generic post cards of a lake or winding road printed with their name and address, some even looked as if they could have come from the area. Resorts, campgrounds, parks and tiny motels had postcards as remote advertising. Here we see three (Left top to bottom then right) Ranch Motel, La Crescent Minn., lake scene Ladysmith, Wis., and with the boats at bottom right Park Rapids Minnesota.

Serious collectors also look for ephemera, including letterheads, shipping bills, tax records, newspaper stories and other paper goods with their location named. Top right with the other post cards is a 1956 voter registration card from Belleville Ill.

If you’re on the trail for hometown collectibles, keep a sharp eye out wherever you go and let’s all help preserve our home town history so future generations will better understand our past.