Remembering

I've always been enchanted with antique stores.  I wander around, wondering about the history of a china plate, a worn-down rocking chair, perhaps a little black hat with a tattered veil.  Yesterday, since it was 102 degrees in Dallas, I decided to take some time photographing indoors as opposed to outside.

One of my favorite antique malls is the East Fork Mall, which is off  Highway 80 between Mesquite and Sunnyvale.  It's huge, well organized, and has air conditioning! Luckily, the lady behind the counter was friendly, and didn't mind me taking photos at all, so I combed the aisles, taking my time.

What do you think about these women?  Imagine wearing a high-neck scratchy collar when it's this hot outside!  Maybe the one in the lower left was a school teacher.

I had a piggy bank when I was a kid, but I've never heard of a "pasty bank" before!  Do you think old show girls kept their pasties in them??  Or more likely, maybe it was a souvenir from England??

The old blue and white dishes sure were popular.  This store has quite an inventory.  Do you think people used them for special occasions, like wedding dinners, or maybe they were just used for every day, by large farm families in the Midwest.  Perhaps women collected them, and were happy when they opened up a box on Christmas morning that contained a large serving piece...

I wonder how this fur coat from Neiman's ended up at East Fork?  It was teensy-tiny, so I'm guessing a petite little elderly woman wore it.  No doubt she had blue-gray hair.

Some things are just plain indigenous to Texas.  I'm relatively sure you wouldn't find this plate, for example, in New Hampshire or Washington.

Perhaps a litle girl with curly blonde hair and blue eyes rocked in this chair, made especially for her, on the front porch of an old Southern house.  Her mother sat on the swing, slowly moving back and forth, and there was a glass pitcher of lemonade sweating on a little table nearby.

How on earth do you think these Dutch chocolate molds got here?  There was a huge selection, all stacked up and waiting for a new owner.

All little country towns have a local beauty parlor (my mother always called it "The Beautiful Shop") sort of like Steel Magnolias had Truvy's.  I'll bet this hair dryer used to live in one of them!  The label affixed to it says that it still works...probably only if you still back-comb your hair!

Oh, my...it looks like someone had to part with their Princess Diana collection!!

Maybe kids got to play with these when they were really good!

I'm guessing this thermos accompanyed a family in a station wagon on a warm summer day trip.  The kids were excited about having a picnic.  Maybe cold fried chicken was in the basket on the floorboard, and a homemade yellow cake with chocolate icing.

There are always lots of salt and pepper shakers at antique malls.  Women were serious collectors back in the day.  These pups need a good home!

I love reading old postcards.  These were part of a collection.  They had spidery handwriting on the back, and old stamps.  People used them like we use email..."Thanks for the visit, " "John and Penny are engaged," "The crops are much better this year."

Quite a trip down Memory Lane.  I'll have to do it more often!