A Small Road Trip

We recently took a little road trip. And I do mean a little road trip....Newberry, SC is about an hour and a half away so for us that's barely a road trip. This was our first time there. We've heard a lot about the town and figured hey we have nothing to do today and it's a Saturday with great weather. So why not?

Newberry Opera House

Turns out this quaint town has a ton of antique shops. There's even a general store that was featured on American Pickers! The gentleman who owns CT Summer, Inc is William Shull and he's a real great talker. He's got a story about everything and has tons of pieces of history in the hardware store which was started in 1928 by his grandfather. He and I were chatting and he had me look at some items in the shop that are his personal items. One of which was an incredibly old safe. He had me open it and inside was a pile of checks from the early 1900's. It was so interesting to look at them and compare them to what checks look like now. They changed a lot fairly quickly over the years. The penmanship people once had was absolutely gorgeous. It's a shame that we've lost that.

Newberry Court House

It was fascinating seeing how much the checks were written for. Rarely was there one over $20 for groceries. There was one for over $90 in groceries for one week. They must have had one heck of a party! The highest one was for over $1,250 which back in the 1920's was an arm, a leg, and probably a few farm animals.

We looked in numerous antique stores. Why? You never know what fascinating things you may find. A lot of the shop owners also love to chat. If they know what you're looking for, often times they can help direct you to where to look in their shop and they will keep an eye out for you for items in their hunting.


We stopped in a book store. They carry used and new books. They have a section in the back of the store with postcards. You guessed it, I'm a postcard nerd. And hidden in between postcard bins I found these red cotton tags. There's lots of cotton still grown all over South Carolina so I know I can use these in my scrapbooks!

One of the antique shops we visited, had a small basket filled with wine and alcohol labels. I just had to go through that basket. I found that I had to have!

Whiskey makers aren't super common up North where I'm originally from so they caught my eye. The one on the left is a label for Red Rock Straight Rye Whiskey from Boston, MA. I've had many trips to Boston and am sure I can find a use for this one!

The the label on the right is a Mohawk Valley Bourbon Whiskey also from Boston. Besides it being a Boston label, it says Mohawk Valley which is significant in my life because I lived many years near the Mohawk Valley in New York. I've got hundreds if not thousands of photos from the Mohawk Valley. It will be tough to choose which photos need this label!

Until next time *

 Check out some penmanship from way back. Back when things had a lot of flow and scrolls.