Wednesday, March 16, 2011

STOREFRONT ARCHAEOLOGY

OLD STOREFRONT WINDOW WITH VINTAGE BOTTLES
Sometimes we walk past a store and suddenly do a double take of what we just saw. This was the case as I walked past a vacant old storefront recently. The two photos on this page were captured from the storefront's two small front windows where some antiquities of yesterday paraded along an inside shallow shelf. Bottles in one window and a boot and board in the other -- looking as if they had been dug out of a dirt floor basement. 

STOREFRONT WINDOW  WITH VINTAGE BOOT AND OLD TONGUE AND GROVE BOARD
Questions arose within me. Who placed these old used goods in the windows? How long had they been there? They were dirty and scruffy -- reminders of where they had been. To me it looked like an individual had found the items,  treated them like archaeological shards from the past, and for some unknown reason placed them in the windows for all to see. 

Was s/he trying to tell us something? Perhaps to remember some type of lessons from the past? That beauty can be found in age? Your guess is as good as mine. 

13 comments:

  1. If it's a sign of the economy in your neck of the woods, things look bleak. (would love to know the story behind the muddy bottles)

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  2. Tess -- Well, I think you could be "right on." The economy is bleak in these parts!! I did find your comment humorous though -- thanks -- barbara

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  3. Maybe their photos are identical to yours? ;-)

    Neat!

    Elora

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  4. Elora -- I guess I don't understand? barbara

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  5. Interesting that these items were in the store window. They do look just "found".

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  6. It was a bit obscure! Sorry. What I meant was that whoever it was that put those bottles in the window, and the old shoe, was possible setting them up to photograph them...and thus, they and you have identical images!

    hope that makes sense!
    E.

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  7. That boot needs a bright red geranimum planted in the top. I like the old bottles. Was Dunn's a local brand?

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  8. Elora -- Ahhh -- I get it now. thanks for un-confusing me and thanks for the comment too -- barbara

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  9. Sheri -- Oh the red geranium would be a bright spot in a rather drab window. I really have never heard of Dunn's. Maybe a local brand? I've only lived in KY a little over three years so I am not familiar with old local brands. -- barbara

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  10. Farmchick -- I'm sure there is an owner of this building even though it is vacant. Perhaps s/he found the objects in the nooks and crannies of the place and thought people passing by would be interested. But no explanation of them was placed in the window. -- barbara

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  11. Enjoyed your words today... and that old boot. Wonderful!

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  12. The items look to me like they've been in a flood. That caked-on mud...I've seen it before, sadly. Why they are on display is certainly a mystery--maybe a practical joke?

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  13. Granny Sue -- I think you hit the nail of the head. This small town experienced flooding last fall. Maybe this is what the floods churned up and the storefront owner set these items in the window to show that the nearby river can dig up some really old stuff. Thanks -- barbara

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