There was antiquing, there was crafting, there were overpowering tiki drinks, and there was vintage Leonardo diCaprio on DVD. Yes, after nearly two years of working together, Kate and I finally met in person. We have some projects up our sleeves, so last week I flew from Massachusetts to Milwaukee to spend a few days with Katiedoodle at the Retro Ranch. Kate and her husband Jim were wonderful hosts. High on our have-some-fun-too agenda: A trip to check out the Antiques on Second antiques mall. The store was FABULOUS — 200 dealers on three floors covering 37,000 s.f. We closed the joint down.
Antiques on Second antiques mall, Milwaukee
Antiques on Second is quite the destination — well organized, well staffed, full of old stuff, including lots of 1950s, 60s and 70s, my favorites. Definitely a place to hit if you are in or near Milwaukee and in the mood for treasure hunting. Kate and I looked at everything — we were well matched as shopping partners — and it took us almost the entire day to go through this place, I am not kidding! The store opens at 10 a.m. We arrived around 10:30 a.m. We broke for lunch at 12:30, were back within an hour, and really, still were not quite through at 5 p.m., closing time.
Above: This set of vintage Ransburg kitchen canisters looked to be in amazing shape. I am pretty sure that there are many readers here who would love to acquire these beauties. I could design an entire kitchen around them!
Above: I really should have snapped up this little Raymor bull. I was not really in the buying mood — mostly because I did not want to schlep breakable stuff back home with me.
Above: I still have not shaken off my Kitschmas madness. There was a good stash of vintage Christmas decor, at reasonable prices, up on the third floor.
Above: There were a pair of these Miller Studios chalkware swans for $19 total. They were in great shape.
Above: A lovely little coffee table with Brasilia-esque lines. Overall, I thought the prices were good at Antiques on Second.
Above: Oh my goodness, look at those little sand owls. Or what do you actually call this craft? I am not sure. This piece of art was in terrific shape, too. Not dirty at all.
Oh, it came to me: Gravel art. There is a second, coordinating piece in the slide show below – wonderful!
Above: Antiques on Second has three stories of dealers. It is chock ablock with treasures. Your head will be spinning. You cannot even focus after a point. I looked up and saw this TV light — I love the piece of glass behind the deer — this piece must look interesting, lit up.
Above: Jewelled Christmas ornies. I should have bought these, drats!
Above: New Old Stock kitchen serving tools — complete with hanging rack and in original box. As I recall, this was $29.
Above: Falalalalala, papier mache angels.
…. And nuns. 🙂
Above: These are anodized aluminum ice tongs with advertising messages.
Above: Vintage Wisconsinia. Too sweet!
Above: Throughout the store, pairs of lamps could be had for $50-$100, singles, for less.
Above: Hoo wouldn’t love this place, that’s what I want to know.
Above: Small vintage planters in lovely colors.
What catches my eye? The sweet, the odd, but especially, the colorful, kitschy and outrageous!
Slide show of vintage finds from Antiques on Second
Tip to using slide show: Click on any image, it will enlarge, use arrows below image to move backward or forward; you can start at any image.
Cynthia says
Congratulations on finally meeting; you are both doing a wonderful job on this blog and seem to be kindred spirits. I would love to visit that store one day. The lamps seem particularly choice. I’d buy the blue bull ceramic and a pair of lamps. And maybe a wall swan.
Meredith says
Loooove places like that. I would have slept over! I’ll take the deer figurine, the kitchen utensils (I have and still use that spatula), ALLLL the vintage bottle brush trees, and the Hey Diddle Diddle lamp (I had that in my nursery as a baby!). Thanks for the slideshow!
Kelley says
Love all those lamps! What really sets my heart aflutter, though, is the gorgeous lavender Blendo cocktail set in pic #38. I’m collecting Blendo and I’m hoping to find a set like that around here. Looks like you ladies had a wonderful time hanging out!
Lynne says
Kelley, how do you know if its Blendo glass? Is it marked in some way? I have a box of pastel frosted glasses that I was going to donate to the thrift store this weekend.
pam kueber says
Do you mean Blenko?
Lynne says
No, its Blendo. Blenko is an entirely different animal.
pam kueber says
ok, I need to check it out!
Kelley says
Lynne, Blendo glass almost always has the gradiated frosted color coming from the bottom to the mid-top of the piece. Most pieces are also rimmed in 22kt gold. Try a google search on Blendo, and you will see some gorgeous pieces! I’ve seen quite a few pieces that have a small black and gold sticker on them shaped like the state of West Virginia, where Blendo glass was made. The most common colors I’ve come across are turqouise, lavender, pink and green. But I’ve seen orange and green online, as well. Right now, I have a tall turquoise pitcher, but not the glasses that would go with it. I also have a pretty turquoise salad bowl. Some bowls were also sold as a chip and dip set with a wire attachment that held a smaller bowl over the bigger one. I love this stuff!
Kelley says
Here’s a link to some Blendo glass images. Almost everything I’ve seen has been drink sets, and the large bowls.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=blendo+glass&qpvt=blendo+glass&FORM=IGRE&adlt=strict
pam kueber says
Ah, I remember these now!
Lynne says
Ok, I think the ones I have are a knock-off then. No gold rim, and they are a champaign/margarita type shape. The colors are right, tho. I’ll have to go and unwrap them and take a closer look. Thanks for the info. I didn’t want to just donate something you might enjoy having!
Kelley says
Thanks so much, Suzi! If I don’t find anything local this weekend, I will give them a call and see if it’s still available.
Jay says
That is so neat! I can’t believe you two never met person to person before. Thanks for sharing all those photos of nice vintage stuff. In my neck of the woods this it would be ourageously priced. I want to go to Racine to see the Johnson Wax building so maybe include a trip to Milwaukee as well because this place looks like a great antique mall.
Charlotte says
If you come to Racine, don’t miss School Days antique mall. Three floors of great stuff priced even better than the place on 2nd in Milwaukee.
pam kueber says
oooooh, next time for sure!
Melissa L. says
The jeweled Christmas ornaments you wished you had taken home were originally available as kits that you put together yourself. I know because I have two of the exact same ornaments and I made them in 1964 when I was in high school They are still treasured and used every year on my tree.
pam kueber says
Ah! So cool!
Kelly says
Yay! Glad you enjoyed Milwaukee. It’s a great city, with and untapped vintage market. I’m glad to call it home.
Robin, NV says
Really? Seriously? You guys have never met? That’s crazy. Makes me think we should all do a meet up at some point.
I have two of the wall hangers for the kitchen utensil set. Until now I had no idea what they were used for. I assumed they were for coffee mugs. I hang my oven mitts on them but now I feel like I need to get some vintage utensils to display.
schnitzelbank says
ZOMG- it would be lovely to have a handshake at an antiques convention!
John says
Cool Stuff….wish I was there.
Laura E says
Great prices on those lamps!! In California that pair of orange ones would have easily been several hundred dollars in an antique mall.
Janice says
Oh My……what I wouldn’t give for that pair of orange lamps. Wow – what a store!
Love the fun pictures of you and Kate.