Antique History Lesson

June 9, 2008

Oklahoma has so much to offer. The State is full of history. And sometimes history can be found even when you’re not looking.

Even an antique market can be a history lesson, I found out.

Advertisements kept popping up all around town for “Buchanan Vintage Flea Market” to be held at the Fairgrounds over the weekend, and I thought it would be something new to try. Joe and I are always interested in new things to do and see. That’s one thing I love about him – he’s always open to trying something new and different.

Buchanan Antique and Collectibles Market, Oklahoma City and Dallas. I’m not much into yard sales but I love browsing thrift stores. Browsing a thrift store is like searching for hidden treasure – you never know what you’re going to find.

Buchanan’s was much the same, except that about 100 booths were housed in one building. There was booth after booth of fascinating things to look at. I love old dishes – bowls, teacups, ceramic ware. Several of the dishes I saw at the market were the Haviland name. I looked up “Haviland” on the internet and found that David Haviland started the company in 1842 after a trip to Limoges, France. After his death in 1879 the company was split between two sons, Edward and Theodore. As far as I can tell, the company is still in business, after numerous splits and reunions among the family members. Haviland china was a staple of the wealthy home. It’s very high quality.

A serving bowl at that I picked up at a thrift store carries the name Homer Laughlin. A little research told me that the company began in Ohio in 1871 but is now housed in West Virginia. A couple plates I found have the name Fairbanks Ward; I couldn’t find any information on them. Nor could I find much on Schwarzenhammer Bavaria – the name on another bowl I have – except that the logo used was used as early as 1923.

We spent hours and had a lot of fun just looking at all the merchandise: jewelry, trinkets, dishes, cookware, glassware, comic books, toys, games, all from days gone by. Some of it was from as recently as our childhood. You know you're getting old when you see something at an antique market, and think, "I remember having one of these."

There was this 45 rpm record on this old turntable, and I asked Nathan, who is not quite 12 yet, if he knew what a record was. His response? "It's when someone has the most of something." We had a good laugh at that! I told him, this is a different kind of record -- this is how we used to listen to music, way before iPods and CDs.

Later we saw an old washtub with the hand-cranked ringers (like the one my mother has in her basement, left over from the “good old days” before electricity and running water) and a washboard. Nathan actually knew what it all was and how it worked! I was surprised and impressed.

The most unusual thing we saw, though, was direct from the days of the Wild West. On the display table of one of the last booths we visited, were boxes of framed pictures of semi-nude women from back in the 1800s, along with copies of – get this -- signed prostitution licenses. Yes! One was signed by Wyatt Earp, and the gentleman running the booth said these were copies of actual signed licenses from states where prostitution was legal at one time. They were from the 1870s & 1880s, he said, and were for states such as Montana and Wyoming. None from Oklahoma. Prostitution was never legal in Oklahoma, he said.

We thought one of those would be a good conversation piece. Didn't buy one though, 'twouldn't be proper with a young kid in the house.

Out of the hundreds of knicknacks and whatnots we looked at, we only bought one thing -- a ceramic teapot, about 8" tall. It has some sort of Czech name imprinted on the underside; I couldn't read it well. Don't know if it's worth anything, but it sure is pretty. Very delicate looking.

I'm fascinated by the way people once lived. I'm fascinated with their homes, their lives, their clothing, their entertainment, their books, their education, even their social customs. Sometimes I wish it were possible to travel back in time, to see "how it was" before the digital age, long before computers and the internet, or even before simple things like electricity. A trip through the antique market may be one of the closest experiences we’ll ever have to time travel.