These beautiful hand-carved wood figures would most certainly please a collector. One or two might also be a perfect addition to your holiday decor.
Yesterday we encouraged you to look UP and DOWN when you browse our shop. Today we want to point out the variety of items you might find.
Nautical and more
Just a few ideas for a nautical decor or gift including wood figures, decoys, and a duck-decorated lamp.
Vintage Cameras
Vintage cameras and accessories have always been popular items at Bahoukas. We don’t keep them long in many situations. Whether you collect them to display or you’re a photographer who loves to actually work with them, you’ll want to stop in on a regular basis to check our latest finds.
Pottery to Porcelain
Beautiful pottery piecesmini water pitcher and bowl setsbeautifully patterned pitcher, bowl, and chamber pot
Whether you’re looking for an unusual pottery piece, mini porcelain pitchers with wash bowls, or a beautiful pink-rose water pitcher, bowl, and chamber pot, we may have just what you’re looking for. As a unique gift or to add to your home decor, it’s worth taking a peek at what we have.
So from Tea to Tools
We really do have something for everyone!
We look forward to pointing out the special items you might be looking for to complete your holiday gift-giving or to add a bit of spice to your decor. Stop in soon. We’ll be watchin’ for ya.
SailboatLife MagazinesFishing poles and moreCoinsBeer tapsVintage Tools
At Bahoukas Antique Mall, we can help you cater to Dad! From vintage tools to collectible coins and tokens, fishing poles to decoys and sailboats, or books and magazines on a variety of topics, we’ve got great ideas for you.
Vintage Woodworking Tools and moreNewsweek MagazineDecoys and NauticalsBooks on a huge variety of topics
This is just a sprinkling of the many items in our shop just in time to create a beautiful gift for dad. Or maybe he collects:
Star Wars
PEZ
Brewmania
Cameras
Records and albums
Boardgames
Lighters
Military
and more….
It’s a beautiful weekend coming up. Stop in soon to pick a special item for that special “Dad” in your life! You bet, we’ll be watchin’ for ya!
Bahoukas received a beautiful collection of calipers and micrometers recently to add to some we already had. It’s a wonderful collection.
Don’t know what they are?
Calipers
Calipers were used as early as the 6th century BC by the Greeks and Romans, according to Wikipedia.
Calipers (photo courtesy of Pixabay)
A caliper (British spelling also calliper, or in plurale tantum sense a pair of calipers) is a device used to measure the dimensions of an object.
Many types of calipers permit reading out a measurement on a ruled scale, a dial, or a digital display. Some calipers can be as simple as a compass with inward or outward-facing points, but no scale. The tips of the caliper are adjusted to fit across the points to be measured and the dimension read by measuring between the tips with another measuring tool, such as a ruler.
It is used in many fields such as mechanical engineer-ing, metalworking, forestry, woodworking, science and medicine.
The first ever micrometric screw was invented by William Gascoigne in the 17th century, as an enhancement of the vernier; it was used in a telescope to measure angular distances between stars and the relative sizes of celestial objects.
A micrometer, sometimes known as a micrometer screw gauge, is a device incorporating a calibrated screw widely used for accurate measurement of components in mechanical engineering and machining as well as most mechanical trades, along with other metrological instruments such as dial, vernier, and digital calipers. Micrometers are usually, but not always, in the form of calipers (opposing ends joined by a frame). The spindle is a very accurately machined screw and the object to be measured is placed between the spindle and the anvil. The spindle is moved by turning the ratchet knob or thimble until the object to be measured is lightly touched by both the spindle and the anvil.
Micrometers are also used in telescopes or microscopes to measure the apparent diameter of celestial bodies or microscopic objects. The micrometer used with a telescope was invented about 1638 by William Gascoigne, an English astronomer.
Here’s a detailed video with information for both inside and outside calipers and micrometers. Most likely, more than you ever wanted to know unless you’re a user of these great instruments. But a perfect primer for appreciating these amazing instruments.
Now that you know all you ever wanted to know about calipers and micrometers, stop in and visit to view our collection. Rain or shine, yep, we’re watchin’ for ya!
This selection of jacks is pretty unique. The center one is a train jack, the outside ones are car jacks.
Vintage Train Jack
Vintage Car Jack
Vintage Car Jack
These are certainly unique to our shop. Have someone on your gift list that just might be looking for one of these. Stop in today and pick it up. In the meantime, check out the great restoration in the video below. Beautiful!
All of Us at Bahoukas wish you a safe and wonderful Holiday!
Remember, we’re closed on Christmas Day and New Years Day. Give us a call if you’re stopping by Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve to be sure we didn’t sneak out early! Yeah, we like to celebrate, too. And yes, we’re watchin’ for ya. So hurry in!
The above photo is a 1910 Oliver Typewriter available in our store. Here’s a great quote from a collector’s website:
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the typewriter industry was developing rapidly. Before the Oliver typewriter entered the market, text remained hidden from the typist on the underside of the platen as it was typeset until the platen was lifted. This design was convention across many successful typewriter brands of the era. However, the typewriting industry was soon revolutionized by Reverend Thomas Oliver and his eponymous invention. The Oliver typewriter features two towers of typebars which strike down onto the platen, allowing the text to remain visible at all times. With this iconic typing mechanism, the Oliver become known as The Standard Visible Writer.
The history of manual typewriters began in 1575, when an Italian printmaker, Francesco Rampazetto, invented a machine to impress letters on papers. Not until 1714 did a Brit named Henry Mill take out a patent for a machine similar to a typewriter.
It was until 1874 that these typewriters were commercially introduced to Europe and America. By the early 1900s, the electric typewriter would hit the market.
Tom Thumb Cash Registers and Typewriter
Did you ever get one of these for a Christmas gift? The cash registers came first to be followed in 1953 with the Tom Thumb Typewriter.
Tom Thumb toy typewriter by Western Stamping Co.
It was the beginning of the glory days of the durable metal Tom Thumb toy cash register, manufactured exclusively at Western Stamping Co., 2203 W. Michigan Ave.
“I bet they made 600,000 of those cash registers a year for at least 10 years,” said Edna Whiting, 86, of Blackman Township, daughter of Arthur Poole, a company founder.
… The toy cash register’s keys were first attached one at a time. By 1953, they were attached in one process, which upped production and enabled the company to produce half a million cash registers and 100,000 typewriters that year.
Many of us “boomers” probably remember the heavy black Royal typewriter. They seemed to last FOREVER! This interesting quote may help explain why:
To promote the ruggedness of its typewriters, George Edward Smith, president of Royal bought a Ford-Stout tri-motor airplane in August 1927. This plane will drop over 200 typewriters in crates with parachutes to dealers over the eastern seaboard of the USA. Royal will eventually deliver over 11,000 this way with only 10 being damaged.
Many famous writers used their typewriters, often long after the computer arrived.
Author Will Self explains why writers use a manual typewriter: “I think the computer user does their thinking on the screen, and the non-computer user is compelled, because he or she has to retype a whole text, to do a lot more thinking in the head.”
In 1883, Mark Twain was the first to present his ‘typewritten manuscript” to a publisher. The book? Life on the Mississippi
And did you know that J.R.R. Tolkein typed and retyped his Lord of the Rings manually on a typewriter? Jack Kerouac was a speed typist at 100 words per minute!
Read more about writers and the typewriters in the link in the above post.
No matter what the reason: you love to type on a manual typewriter, you’re fascinated by the mechanics themselves, or you’re a collector! Stop by and browse our collection of typewriters. We’re here and we most certainly are watchin’ for ya!
Carpentry is a skill that came into being when mankind first decided to build, and crude tools were fashioned to help in the process. While early tools were rough, as time went by, the necessity of having better saws led to the more refined handsaw.
We have a variety of hand saws available in the store that can be sharpened and used or appreciated as a decorative item for a home or shop. (Yes, there are ice tongs in this photo – chuckle – you can read about them in an earlier post).
Paintings
… show saws in use as early as Egyptian times! These saws were made of copper and are depicted as a large blade with no handle.
The hand saw gave mankind the ability to keep warm, cook food, and build homes, barns, churches, and business structures. It’s another tool that we take for granted but was key to our development. Of course, today we have all sorts of electric saws. But we could still build with the hand saw even if we lost ‘the grid.’
By the 1800s, handsaws could be found in almost every home and were used to cut wood for fires as well as building. Various manufacturers such as Sheffield and Cam produced different styles and sizes for different uses, with both flat rectangular edges and sloped rounded end designs. Handles varied as well, some with an opening and others that closed about the hand. Often companies engraved their name across the metal or created fancy curved handles.
Because of its versatility, the handsaw is still an important tool for carpenters and woodworkers today. Today’s models look very much as they did back in the 18th century, but there are significant differences. Handsaws often have plastic handles and removable blades. The metals are often made to be rust resistant; and they can be thicker or multi-bladed for faster cutting. Some models are able to cut through glass, veneer and even metal.
Whether you’re a prepper looking for a useful tool, someone who loves decorating with vintage tools, a collector, or a woodworker that appreciates the vintage tools, we invite you to stop in and see what we have. Of course, we’ll be watchin’ for ya!
The tools pictured are ice tongs and ice saw used to cut blocks of ice from the Susquehanna River when it froze thick enough – ideally 8″ thick! It was hard work. The blocks of ice at 8″ thick would average 2.67 cubic feet and weigh about 150 lbs (considered manageable weight)! This info is included in the book: Heavy Industries of Yesteryear, Harford County’s Rural Heritage, by Jack L. Shagena, Jr. and Henry C. Peden, Jr. (available in our store).
Why did we need ice blocks?
Into the 1930s, households used large blocks of ice to keep food cold in “iceboxes.”
This photo is from the 1920s. Courtesy of the Sloane Collection.
By the end of the 1800s, many American households stored their perishable food in an insulated “icebox” that was usually made of wood and lined with tin or zinc. A large block of ice was stored inside to keep these early refrigerators chilly. By this point, cold had become the clear choice among food preservation methods, proving less labor-intensive and more effective at preventing spoilage. Other techniques, like salting, drying, and canning, erased any appearance of freshness and required more time to prepare. Iceboxes also presented a new way to save prepared foods—or leftovers—that previously might not have lasted beyond one meal.
The above photo is of Abbott Bros Ice House, located where the Havre de Grace Marine Center is on Water Street in Havre de Grace.
For the local history lover on your holiday gift list, at least one of the items featured, the book, and the Abbott Bros Ice House photo (available at Bahoukas) would make an awesome addition to their collection. Talk to George today.
In the meantime, hurry in to find YOUR favorite items for someone on your gift list. And yes, we’re definitely watchin’ for ya!
These cast iron kettles are a size 4 and 8. The larger is a Jos Bell & Co.
Heat On? Fireplaces Working?
It’s the season where we begin to crank up the heat. Along with the warm and cozy fireplaces and pellet stoves or even just the welcome heat from your furnace, dry air starts to affect our comfort. Many folks love to put a kettle of water on the stove and let it add a bit of humidity to create a more comfortable – and healthy – home!
These two kettles are definitely up to the task. Come see them for yourself. We also have a number of other cast iron items waiting for you to consider.
Might You Be A Hunter?
Electric Wellsaw model 400 for cutting meat – from the 1950s
Along with cooler temps, it’s also hunting season. This 1950 Wellsaw model 400 electric saw is for cutting meat. It does work.
You know, here at Bahoukas Antique Mall and Beer MuZeum, you just never know what our ‘collector of collections’ might have in the shop. So hurry in and enjoy a look back while considering how you might use these very collections to make your life forward a bit easier or more fun.
Yep, we’re here – ready to help you find the most unique of holiday gifts. And we’re watchin’ for ya!
We have a full collection of Imperial Knives from the 1970s. These knives were recognized for excellent prices and fair quality. They were made in the U.S. until the late 80s from everything we could find.
Imperial Cutlery has been producing great knives for incredible prices for over 100 years.
… The prices are amazing, the quality is fair. You get more than what you pay for.
Complete Set of Imperial Diamond Edge Knives (1970s) Made in the U.S.
Other Knives in our collection
Pocket Knives
Along with the above Imperial Knives Collection, we have an assortment of other knives from small penknives to larger pocket knives.
A Bit of Pocket Knife History
The earliest known pocket knives date to at least the early Iron Age. A pocketknife with a bone handle was found at the Hallstatt Culture type site in Austria, dating to around 600–500 BCE. Iberian folding-blade knives made by indigenous artisans and craftsmen and dating to the pre-Roman era have been found in Spain. Many folding knives from the Viking era have been found. They carried some friction binders, but more often they seem to have used folding knives that used a closure to keep the blade open.
Roman Archeological find of the Roman period of a folding or pocket knife and reconstruction, original found at Gellep, Germany
You know, it’s time to begin your holiday shopping. Do you have an adult in your life that would appreciate the gift of a pocket knife? Well, you know, we’re here and ready to help. Yep, we’re watchin’ for ya!
Its design may have derived from the gun worm which was a device used by men to remove unspent charges from a musket’s barrel in a similar fashion, from at least the early 1630s
The corkscrew is possibly an English invention, due to the tradition of beer and cider, and Treatise on Cider by John Worlidge in 1676 describes “binning of tightly corked cider bottles on their sides”, although the earliest reference to a corkscrew is, “steel worm used for the drawing of Corks out of Bottles” from 1681.
In 1795, the first corkscrew patent was granted to the Reverend Samuel Henshall, in England. The clergyman affixed a simple disk, now known as the Henshall Button, between the worm and the shank. The disk prevents the worm from going too deep into the cork, forces the cork to turn with the turning of the crosspiece, and thus breaks the adhesion between the cork and the neck of the bottle. The disk is designed and manufactured slightly concave on the underside, which compresses the top of the cork and helps keep it from breaking apart.
A heritage corkscrew. When the old London Bridge was demolished in the 1831, its surviving fragment was turned into a corkscrew, which was sold at an auction in Essex, UK for £40,000 (around $62,790), about 100 times its guide price.
So there you go … more than you ever wanted to know about the familiar corkscrew. But it just might put you on the path to being a helixophile. We’re here to guide you. And you bet, we’ll be watchin’ for ya!
Maybe you can’t get him the ‘real’ one… but we have some models that would make perfect stocking stuffers!
Duck decoys
Our selection of duck decoys is limited but very interesting. Stop in to see what we have!
Bob Lackey is known by many in Harford and Cecil County and definitely by residents of Havre de Grace. We carry his books – the entire series. This is a great historical fiction series that starts in the canal days of Havre de Grace and is truly a wonderful way to get a feeling of what life was like in those years gone by.
Of course, our Brewmania collection… well stop in and see for yourself!
Bahoukas’ Beer MuZeum is amazing! Huge selection of brewmania for any man cave! Whether a collector or just adding to the ambiance, we have something that will work!
We have several slot machines and jukeboxes.
Stop by and check them out. Nope – won’t fit in a stocking, but just might be the perfect gift!
Vintage tools are always of interest … stop in and see if we have something that guy on your list can use – or to add a bit of interest to the decor! We can help you with your choices.
Heddon Fishing Lures
The fisherman (or woman) in your life may be VERY familiar with these lures. Stop by and check them out. They are a collector’s dream Perfect extra thoughtful gift!
Of course, these gifts aren’t limited to the guys. And remember, we have over 9,000 sq ft of items to discover. When Thanksgiving is over, we’ll be ready to help you with your holiday shopping. Join us for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday… or ANY day that you’re in the mood to discover the perfect gift. (We promise not to tell you bought something for yourself while you were here!)
And yes, we’re here… and we’re watchin’ for ya! Happy Thanksgiving!
We’ve heard it said that “Locks don’t keep the thief out. They know how to open locks. Locks keep the morale person from being tempted.”
Wonderful variety of locks and keys at Bahoukas Antiques
We’ve posted several items related to locks and keys. Consider these links: Above photo: CLICK HERE Below: CLICK HERE
Some are looking for the key to open a chest or a door. Others just love collecting skelton keys.
The above links share interesting tidbits about padlocks, master locks, and skeleton keys. Take a peek, the stop by and see these items for yourself. Of course, we’ll be watchin’ for ya!
for their Fall Festival – Saturday & Sunday, Sept 28-29
As you recover from this past weekend’s amazing weather, we know you’re already thinking of what to do next weekend. We share these ideas – a visit to Steppingstone Farm Museum for their Fall Festival. Then stop in and see what we have available in vintage tools. Of course, we have thousands of square feet of other items …
Vintage tools including planers, ice tongs, and more
CLICK THIS LINK for a variety of vintage tools that we have. Then visit us at Bahoukas Antique Mall for amazing vintage tools. Yep, we’ll be watchin’ for ya!
This set of cobbler’s shoe repair stands would make a very interesting display in the right setting.
Sausage Press/Juice Press
This press has been painted, but it’s really beautiful!
This press isn’t exactly the one we have, but you get the idea. It’s also been powder-coated for durability and looks amazing!
A unique cigar press
A small cast iron cigar press.
How’s it Done? Creating cigars, as you may know, is a process that takes months and even years. After our sweet tobacco leaves are primed from the fields, they are sorted, cured, fermented, sorted again, and bunched. It is here that we differ from the regular cigar and get into box-press. Once ‘bunched’, the filler is rolled in its binder; a standard cigar will be pressed into shape in a mold and this will be its final shape. The molds are stacked sometimes 25 high for an allotted time. The stacking allows for pressure to be distributed evenly. From here the cigar is trimmed and paired with its wrapper. Where box-pressing differs is the compression methods used to make the iconic square shape. Box-pressing is only ever done on a stronger leaf; a broadleaf wrapper is far too delicate to withstand the pressing process.
Standard Box-Pressing This method is very similar to pressing your regular cigar. Once the screaming newborn stogie has its wrapper, it’s snugly placed in its box, while multiple boxes are stacked and placed on a manually controlled press with just enough pressure to form a tight seal and avoid breakage.
So as you see, here at Bahoukas Antique Mall, you just never know what you’ll find. Stop by soon and see these unique vintage tools for yourself. Great collectibles, unique items, and definitely conversation starters! Yep, we’ll be watchin’ for ya!
For the woodworker, we have a variety of vintage tools plus a few others. Come check out our collection and see if we’ve got one to add to yours!
A small portion of our pottery, jugs and crocks!
It’s been awhile since we’ve posted a selection of our crocks and jugs. But we have some beautiful items. In the coming blustery days, if you’re braving the weather, come on by. Yep, We’ll be watchin’ for ya!
At Bahoukas, we have a nice selection of old tools including a few saws.
A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and moving it forcefully forth and less forcefully back or continuously forward. This force may be applied by hand, or powered by steam, water, electricity or other power source. An abrasive saw has a powered circular blade designed to cut through metal or ceramic. from Wikipedia
The above photo includes 2-man (person) saws and an ice saw. Below we have an electric meat saw (used by a butcher).
At this time of year, I think of all the folks gathering and chopping wood to be prepared for the colder days and the long winter nights. What’s the poem about your wood chopping efforts? Oh yea, it warms you when you cut it and again when you heat with it. But the following is from Almanac.comand we think that’s probably much more accurate:
I figure that this wood will warm me seven times.
1. Cut
2. Split
3. Put into truck
4. Take out of truck
5. Bring into basement
6. Stack
7. Burn
But just like those who knit and crochet, or color intricate designs, cutting wood can also be very satisfying as noted in the following quote:
I spend a lot of time doing carpentry. Sometimes there is nothing that gives me the contentment that sawing a piece of wood does. Abbas Kiarostami
We look forward to showing you all the wonderful, old tools available at Bahoukas. So stop in soon. Someone may love one of these under their Christmas Tree. Oh wait, maybe they need one to ‘cut the tree!’ In any case, yep, we’ll be watchin’ for ya!
You just never know what might be discovered when you’re searching our shelves. High up on one of those shelves, we discovered a Home Pasteurizer by The Schlueter Co. of Wisconsin. Used for pasteurizing raw milk, we’ve discovered that they still make these.
… If you traveled through even fairly large cities around the year 1900, you would often come across something now illegal in most urban areas: milk cows. Dairy animals were not uncommon in cities, and it was often the task of young children to lead the animals to whatever grassy areas were available on the edge of town so they could graze.
In the last hundred years of urban migration, the number of home or small farm dairies has been greatly reduced. Who needed to keep a cow when it was so much simpler just to buy milk from the grocery store? As the population of rural areas emptied into urban centers, Americans became more and more disconnected from the source of all their dairy products… as well as more concerned about the quality of those products as dairies became enormous commercialized enterprises.
The above quote is from an article that gives the many sides of the raw vs pasteurized vs homogenized milk. If you’re one of those folks who take self-reliance and personal responsibility very seriously, we have a tool you might need.
…It’s actually very easy to pasteurize your own milk on the stovetop. An added bonus is that your milk won’t need to stand up to long distance shipping and prolonged storage, so you can pasteurize it safely using lower heat and less time than many industrial milk producers use. All you need is a stainless steel pot and a simple kitchen thermometer.
So there you have it: the tool or the recipe!
Of course, we keep telling you about all the surprises waiting for you to discover at Bahoukas Antique Mall and Beer MuZeum. You can be sure, we’ll be watchin’ for ya. Stop in soon!