Over a recent weekend, Chris and I drove out to Chicago to attend the wedding of friends. When asked by people whether we would be flying, I replied “No driving, you can’t get antiques on a plane.” So setting out on a Thursday evening we headed west. Reaching Cleveland by midnight, we called it quits. By early Friday afternoon we had reached Elkhart, Indiana and decided to try our luck. Our first stop was the 820 Antiques at 820 N. Ward Street, Elkhart.

 

820 Antiques is a good size mall, with a friendly staff and a wide variety of items that makes browsing fun. This visit we only bought a souvenir spoon from Chicago’s, 1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair. But should we ever be in Elkhart again we would definitely stop in.

 

 

Here’s a lesson to never let a name trick you. While looking up antique stores in Elkhart, one of the stores that came up in my Google search was The Amish Mall. I have to admit the use of “Amish” was a turn off for me. As we were heading back to the highway and to Chicago, we stopped at a traffic light on W. Bristol Street. Directly across the street from the light was The Amish Mall. Because it was right there, we thought let’s try our luck.

They do sell Amish furniture and goods and hence the name of the store. But they are multi dealer shop selling almost anything you can imagine.

 

Always keeping an eye out for Deco at the back of the store we found a Royalchrome desk. Online searches for the desk have attributed the design to Kem Weber and Wolfgang Hoffmann. Both men did design for Howell in the 1930’s and 1940’s. But we have not found any proof as yet if either designed this desk. We believe this desk was the design of an anonymous company employee creating in the style of Weber and Hoffmann. So far the only period reference I’ve found is a 1947 advertisement from ebay that shows a desk similar but not exactly the same.

 

 

Chris really liked the desk and with a price of only $100.00 it was too good a deal to pass up. Chris’ desk is black metal, with chrome tube legs and an ebonized wood top. It’s a striking piece of furniture and its in very good condition. Our biggest concern was, will it fit in the car. It did.

 

 

Like the staff of 820 Antiques the staff at The Amish Mall were friendly and helpful. We would stop back there should we find our selves back in Elkhart. Now it was on to  Chicago and the wedding. Before leaving Chicago on Sunday Chris and I visited two antiques malls on the North Side. Stop one, the Edgewater Antique Mall. On this trip we did not make a purchase, I know we will go back in the future and will buy something.

 

The Edgewater Antique Mall is a multi dealer shop. Most of the dealers specialize in Mid-Century Modern, at fair prices. There is also a nice selection of Art Deco objects and a great choice of items from the 1933-1934 Chicago World’s Fair.

 

 

Just a short distance down North Broadway is the Broadway Antique Market, located inside an former 1930’s department store.. This mall offers 75 dealers on two floors, with objects from many eras, but with a large array of Art Deco and Mid-Century items.

 

 

Chris and I felt right at home at the Broadway Antique Market. Items we took a pass on, two, three tiered, ebonized wood and chrome tube side tables. These tables (sold by two different dealers) definitely designed by Wolfgang Hoffmann were in great condition, but we had no room in the car and they cost just a bit more than we could spend.

 

And a pair of Norman Bel Geddes, enameled steel, club chairs. Unlike the one in the photo below the chairs for sale had a light brown upholstery, with metal painted to look like burl wood. They were very nice and also out of our price range.

 

 

What I did find, was an item high on my “Art Deco Bucket List”, a Norman Bel Geddes, Soda King syphon bottle. To me this is the ultimate in syphon bottles. It is ultramodern and looks like a bullet. The evolution of the Soda King syphon bottle can be found here in this article we did a couple of years ago. I call the design for this bottle the “Syphon of tomorrow”. It hit the stores in time for the Christmas season of 1938.  I’ve been looking for this syphon for a number or years. Once I saw one for sale at a NYC antique show for $450.00, way too much for me. Luckily the one for sale at the Broadway Antique Market had a price of $125.00. Not cheap but a much more reasonable price than the one at the antique show.

I know the Broadway Antique Market will always be a destination for Chris and me when we are in the Chicago area. And if you are into Art Deco, Mid-Century Modern or just like great antique malls, you should check it out too. Now lets see what other Deco finds we’ll come across in 2018.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, ‘Tiquen Guys)