Exploring the antique marts of western Michigan

This past weekend was a long weekend here in the US, being Memorial Day on Monday - a day of remembrance for those who have lost their lives in war.

We traveled across to Michigan, our neighboring state directly across Lake Michigan, taking the 2 1/2 hour fast car ferry that travels from Milwaukee to Muskegon (click on the pictures to enlarge the map) and headed to the small but handsome town of Holland.

With its rich Dutch heritage and culture (funny that) the small town of 35,000 residents features more than 43 religious denominations with 145 churches (only 3 of them Catholic!).

No doubt due to these rather interesting statistics, it's a dry town on Sundays (and many business and restaurants were closed) but funnily enough at the one restaurant we did have dinner on Sunday night they said we couldn't buy beer or wine, but we could buy hard liquor...??!


That aside, it's a very picturesque town, built on the edge of Lake Michigan, with oak lined quiet avenues, a thriving Saturday Farmers' Market (this weekend featuring new season's asparagus and rhubarb), and front porches groaning with hanging flower baskets.

Holland's proximity to Chicago (it's only a two and a half hour drive) has meant it's been a popular destination for weekend getaways, and many houses like the above were established as "cottages" or weekend retreats for the city folks escaping the skyscrapers and heat of summer. Nice gig if you can get it...

Robbie had some work to do putting a mast in a maxi boat there, so I had two full days to explore, and luckily for me, as well as being one of the furniture-making capitals of America (home to such brands as Herman Miller, Steelcase, Baker and Haworth) it also has a thriving trail of antique malls. I was twice lucky - I had the car...!

There were a number of malls - large barn-like buildings covering 1-2 acres where dealers rent small unmanned booths to display their wares. I originally went in search of vintage Herman Miller but lucked out. Obviously most is now sold on eBay...I did see a couple of Eames moulded plastic chairs, but sadly no LCW moulded plywood lounge chairs which is what I was really after!). I did manage to score a rather cute retro brushed aluminum desk fan for Robbie...

At nearby Allegan they were hosting the monthly antique fair which featured over 400 dealers under the shade of more oak and walnut trees at the local fairground.

It took three hours to just get round all the stalls and after spotting a pair of rather lovely ice cream chairs at the ones of the first stands I visited, I spent the rest of the three hours looking for better, cheaper ones.

You know the ending of the story....I went back to get the first ones I saw, only to find one had already sold. However I got a good deal on the final one - $20! This weekend's restoration project is in the same style as the ones in the photo, but has a wooden seat.

I first learnt about the American classic ice cream chair, typical of the 1950s ice cream parlors, when I flicked one afternoon onto the Martha Stewart show on TV (yes, I know - cringe!) when she was restoring one (click on video on this link) - in preparation for "the onset of Summer and the need to lay out ones outdoor furniture"....bla bla bla..

I'll post before and afters - it will motivate me to get the job done!

I also couldn't resist visiting nearby Grand Rapids - home of Amway - and nearby Zeeland (Old Zeeland?), home of Herman Miller. Buying liquor in Zeeland on a Sunday isn't a problem there either - there isn't even a pub or bar in the town - it's completely dry...

How on earth did all those great furniture manufacturers fuel their creative juices???

I think things improved by the time they got to New Zeeland..