Antique Garage Treasures

Recently a friend invited me to rummage through her Grandpa's garage for antique decor goodies.  Remember when I rummaged through my own Grandpa's garage here?  Ya, Grandpa's are great.  I came home with a few treasures....for free.  Don't get me wrong, I tried to give her money, compensation, heck I even begged, but she was having none of that.  So after the tenth time I asked "are you sure?" I gave in and accepted the awesome treasures I found.  It didn't hurt that she was egging me on saying "you're not taking enough stuff!".  I went home with this awesome Bridgeman Russle Co. milk glass with deep orange graphics. I thought this would make a great eclectic vase for a bunch of wildflowers!

I picked up a pale blue Ball canning jar, similar to this one, but with a little different lettering.  I also picked up two blue electrical insulators that will match the ones from here. 

I wasn’t sure what I would do with this old style medicine bottle, but I felt it had a lot of potential.  And the fact that it actually stored medicine at one time pushed me to take it home! 

I also picked up these fabulous keys and locks.  I was amazed at the variety, and I am in love with skeleton keys.  I was also infatuated with the post office lock, and the fact that it was still attached to the key!  I love pieces with character and these definitely have it!   

One of my favorite picks with this old rail road lantern.  Can we pause for a little history lesson?  Okay, you don’t have to beg, we will.  This lantern is a product of the Adams and West Lake Company.  They manufactured this lantern for the D.M. & N. Railroad.  That stands for Duluth, Mesabi, and Northern Railroad.  There was a merger in 1937 between the D.M. & N. and the Spirit Lake Transfer Railway to create the D.M. & I.R. Railroad, which was the Duluth, Mesabi, and Iron Range.  The northern region of the state of Minnesota is called the “Iron Range” because of the huge mining industry of iron ore.  Those who live there (or grew up there), including me, are dubbed “Iron Rangers” or “Rangers” for short.   Soo..that puts this lantern as manufactured pre 1937, AND it was used on railroads in my hood! It was amazing to think that I have a little piece of rail road history sitting in my house!

After a little cleaning this baby shined!

My last big steal, and tied for my favorite, was this beverage crate.  I wasn’t as successful finding the history of this crate but it was used to carry and distribute Clicquot Club soda.  There is a little Eskimo child on the side holding a big bottle of club soda.  When I first saw this little child I thought they were holding a bottle of champagne.  I was confused the say the least.

The best part?  It was manufactured in my birth city! Boo-yah!

That rounds out my amazing journey to pick another Grandpa’s garage.  Anyone else had any amazing finds, free or otherwise?