Antiquing Adventures in My Grandpa’s Garage

My grandpa has a cabin next to my childhood house.  I know that is a weird concept, but my mother lives on a lake and he bought the cabin next door.  So, while I was home one weekend visiting, socializing, and such I thought that I needed to investigate his garage next door for treasures. 

My grandpa has passed on, but his memories and values are still going strong inside me.  Our new house is very much a representation of him, as he owned a little stucco beauty of his own.  Also, as a child instead of getting me video games, Barbie dolls, or little ponies he always purchased bonds for my birthday and holidays.  Throughout my adolescent and college years I saved those bonds because I was determined to use them for the down payment for our first house, and I did.  So you see I am a very sentimental and gushy person so raiding my grandpa’s garage to find items to put in my home was a very special experience.

First off I found these license plates.  I have been looking for vintage license plates for quite some time, and almost bought some here.  I have no idea if these 66 plates belonged to my grandpa, a previous owner, or was something someone picked up along the way – but they sure look cool!

I also found a vintage Coca Cola bottle opener.  I have also wanted one of these for a looong time, as my dad is a HUGE Coke fan (the pop not the drugs).  I see these occasionally in antique stores, but none have caught my eye enough to buy it.  The unique thing about this opener is that some of the red paint on the logo is still intact, whereas ones I have looked at the paint has been rubbed off.  It has tons of rust on it, which adds to the charm.  One quick way to get rust off an antique like this without damaging the integrity is to use olive oil or vegetable oil.  It combats the rust while giving your metal a shine – at least that’s how my other grandpa does things.