MORE OF MY EASTERN WASHINGTON DAY TRIP

This is the Thorp Antique Mall. What a fantastic place to browse!

This old Steam engine sits in the parking lot in front of the mall. It was most likely used in threshing or some other farming chore. All rusted and forlorn looking now, one can just imagine the thrill of the dear farmer who purchased it brand new and learned how 'modern' machinery could make his life easier.

There are several old wagons holding a bountiful array of food items. I can just imagine this wagon about a hundred years ago, the sunbrowned farmer and his wife bouncing along happily, on their way to 'meeting' The family dog running along beside.

This dear old cabinet caught my eye because my aunt Gertie had one very much like it. I remember my grandma taking hot loaves of crusty bread from the oven of the wood stove, and setting them on a tea towel to cool. Oh my gosh, did that ever smell good! Sometimes she tore a loaf to pieces and spread it with butter or jelly for her hungry grandkids. Oh how I loved that grandma!

When I saw this sweet little wood cookstove, I remembered one I had back in 1958. We lived in the country and it was the only cookstove in the house. I learned to use one when I was a girl so did fine with it, cooking healthy meals, baking breads and all sorts of pastries and canning too. Boy that sure got hot in the summertime!

This old cabinet with chicken wire doors may have been used to keep the larger critters at bay. My grandma had a cabinet like this attached to the north side of her old farm house. She kept butter and other things there. In the hotter months it was common to lower the butter and milk into the well to keep them from spoiling. When I saw the awful things that came from the well when dad cleaned it I never wanted anything from that deep hole again.

Being the doll lover that I am, I enjoyed this little doll bed. It appeared to be store bought. The glass knobs on the posts are like those that were often used on cabinets, way back when. Isn't it just adorable and can you just see the little girl laying her dolly down to go nite-nite?

This I believe is an old hay wagon. Now loaded with a large variety of dried fruits, many of which are grown locally. Can you just imagine the hot, tired farmer walking alongside his faithful horse as the wagon load of hay joggles along in the hot sun. Eastern Washington temperatures get unbearably hot in the summertime. They have rattle snakes too!

I thought this popcorn display was interesting. At first glance I didn't realize that it wasn't just plain old popcorn. Some of the unusual flavors are, Honey Cashew, Roasted Coconut, Coconut Almond, Vanilla Hazelnut and Apple Pie. They sound interesting but I'll have mine plain, with butter if you please.

Well here it is! The famous Aplets and Cotlets treat that originated right here in Eastern Washington. They make other flavors now like strawberry Pecan and Cranberry, but I think the original flavors are still best. You can find the interesting story of this treat on the internet. It's worth checking out.

Ok, now we're talking real cooking! This huge old wood burner was most likely used in a cookhouse. As you can see there are two ovens and a huge surface for basic cooking. It even has two warming ovens. I wonder if they made hotcakes on the top like mom did on her little stove. First when the fire was out, she would clean the top of the stove with a lava rock, then she'd get a good hot fire going, grease the stovetop and drop ladles full of batter on the hot surface. I was so impressed, She made a dozen at a time. Now that was cooking!

The mall is a huge place with two floors. I took this picture hoping to include more than one of the old cabinets. I'm sure that everything in the mall is authentic. It's shocking to me that these days people beat the heck out of a brand new piece of furniture, even pound it with a hammer and stab it with a knife. Then they scrape the paint off making it look really shabby because they want it to look old. Golly, I remember taking an old piece of furniture and sanding the scrapes out of it and re-varnishing it to make it look new. Things have sure changed in this old world!

I just had to get a shot of this set of old Pyrex mixing bowls. When I got married I got a set exactly like them as a gift. However I am certain that the giver didn't pay $65.00 for them. LOL If I remember right it seems like they were $3.99. That was in 1955.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. This place called Thorp is special to me because my Great Grandparents, Robert Bruce Banks and wife Josephine Lydia Banks (nee Jones) lived there way back in the 1890s. As I wandered through the mall seeing all the thousands of items I couldn't help wonder if just maybe my great grandma may have carried water in that old bucket, or if great grandpa used that hay wagon on a hot summer day, way back when.

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