Halloween Antiques ~ Mostly friendly and a few that look haunted

I'm happy to be blogging about a recent trip to Farm Girl Antiques! I was wondering how different this year's trip would be, or if there would even be an open store to visit. Things seem up in the air for a lot of shops. But Farm Girl was doing well and was decorated festively for both the Halloween and Christmas seasons. Of course, I'm only going to be sharing the Halloween stuff with you guys. You'll probably remember this store from blog posts past, but every year there is different.   

I can't remember if I've ever shared what the outside of the store looks like. If I have, it probably didn't look as spooky as it does in this view. I don't know why the store was looking a little darker than usual; it could have been because it was an overcast day. This place really does look perfect to hold Halloween antiques, doesn't it?

I like the shapes in these windows. It appears there's some kind of book storage going on in the upper floors of this building.

So here we are at the front door where things are looking a little more friendly.

It's fun how even the most simple things can make a display. Our minds can fill in the blanks. It looks like this scarecrow has been doing some drinking...

This is a view into one of the front windows. You probably remember that this place has large old display windows. You can walk into these spaces from inside the store too.

How cool is this bat violin case? I feel like a short story could be written around this.

Same thing with this little rotter!

These look like printed copies of vintage treat bags. I'm not sure if this is a large piece of art paper, but I think it would be cool for scrapbooking or wrapping presents. 

I assume this felt party hat is vintage. Some of the items in this store are modern artistic creations, but this looks vintage or very vintage inspired to me. I was just searching the words "Felt Vintage Halloween Hat" online and saw some similar examples from the 1920s.

I like that chipping wall in the background. At least with Halloween decorations, it really adds something. 

This looks like a Bethany Lowe to me.

Oh, I'm now noticing that the "chipping wall" I mentioned is actually an old door. I can see where the knob would have been. And I'm guessing this is an old window frame that has been made into a sort of bulletin board? 

And how about this little ghoulie? I had been exclaiming how cool he was to my mom who I didn't realize was looking elsewhere. As it happened, one of the people running the shop walked past as I was saying that and said "Yeah!" So that was one of those funny, startling moments where I at least got an answer. :)

This looks like a decorated shelf that is actually in someone's house. I like that grumpy cupcake witch.

I didn't notice that kitty cat cupcake topper on her hat until seeing this picture at home. The brim of the hat reminds me of a flattened cupcake wrapper. I feel like this doll should be scary, but I think she's pretty. Wait, I'm looking at this and wondering if those are mossy spider legs attached to her?

Crepe paper decorations:

Some crunched cat lanterns:

This looks like one of those decorations where you wrap the paper fan type thing around the picture. I'm looking at these pics and appreciating the various shades of blue and green that are in the background. It looks good against the orange!

I ended up finding this paper skull ornament kind of buried under some other decorations. I took him out and made my own little display. Do you guys ever do that in stores? I mean, take various parts and put them together into a display and then leave it like that? 

OK, this was maybe the freakiest thing I saw that day. What even is this? My mom thought it was a mask. I don't know. It looks kind of small for that. But if it isn't a mask... ? 

Yeah, we're getting into the creepy stuff at this point. I think that doll face is far creepier without a wig, hat, or body attached to it. That bowl at the top of the pic was pretty cool. I liked the way the colors were going together on that.

And woo! This is maybe a little too real looking. And I feel like it's looking at me.

I noticed that this head reads "Debra Manikin" by Burmax. I googled that and saw that you can buy her at Sally Beauty. :) She's $62.99 there for a new one. OK, this has just led me down a rabbit hole of looking at cosmetology heads. 

This photo gives a nice view of the ceiling, which as you can tell is chipping. It looks like painted tin, which is now returning to tin. Again, another perfect background for Halloween photos.

This one feels full of life. Even though this mask is clearly empty, I feel like it is looking at me. 

How fun is this handle? The metal leaf is a nice touch too. 

I love this book cover. The Hardy Boys finding The Clue in the Embers. I don't think I've ever seen such a scratched up, textured book cover. And you see who is down there next to them? "Aunty Gravity".

Now onto what I'm going to call "The Owl Section".

This is a sweet one.

So funny I had to include him twice.

I took this last pic while standing in one of those display windows. The building you're looking at is now for rent, but was once used by the Milwaukee Ballet and before that it was the Schlitz South Side Palm Garden. Here's some fairly detailed history of the building and a few old photos you might enjoy:

Urban Spelunking: Milwaukee Ballet/Schlitz Tivoli Palm Garden

It always amazes me to see such an empty building that was once so full of life. Maybe there are still some beer garden ghosts hanging out in there.

A trip back in Halloween time!

You guys might remember photos from last year's Halloween trip to Farm Girl Antiques. There were plenty more cool displays on this year's trip! A couple of the items might look familiar from before but they're being shown in new ways.

How adorable is this sassy jack-o-lantern? Even the potato chip label on that container looks cool alongside these pumpkins. It has that same vintage/graphic flavor.

Same with that cracker box in this pic. I see "Fancy Crackers & Cakes" on this label, but I had it in my head that this was a box that held firecrackers. Maybe that's because of the sun that looks sort of like a sparkler.

That little triangle with a cat face on it is a hat. It might be hard to see, but there are little silver jingle bells on its corners.

I really like how this picture ended up, just really simple with the black, white, and orange. And I can imagine the kid in this costume carrying that lantern.

It may be hard to tell what's going on here, but this circle is a magnifier and it's in front of a page in a book. I don't think I've ever seen a magnifier that sits upright like that. It looks like something that should be in a science lab.

Spiders in a bottle:

These cut-outs were placed on an old school desk, which seemed appropriate. They look like something that could be hanging as a decoration on a schoolroom wall.

These orange frames are so beautiful. I like the way Venetian glass frames glow. And how perfect is Carole Lombard and a black cat in there? Note the jar of skulls behind her.

The sister frame to that one had another cool pic of a girl with her cat in it. The reflection on that picture was a total accident, but I like the way her face is hidden. I think that makes her look ghostly.

"Essence of common vampire BAT SPLEEN ~ Use with caution" The essence of tiny spleens. If you think about that, it sounds like a pretty tedious process. Especially if you read further: "Steeped in brine for three hundred days and nights"

Some displays like this one go with the "Farm Girl" name. I thought those orange lights were so cute on that old woodwork. Those are vintage napkins in the frame at the bottom.

You can step out into the old window display area in the front of the store. You know, the area mannequins might have been displayed back when this was a clothing store. That's where I took the next several photos.

I like this one because there are all kinds of reflections going on. Reflections of the buildings across the street, of that architectural element, and of a building in the mirror. I'm not even sure which direction that building in the mirror was facing. There could be a reflection of a reflection thing going on.

You might have noticed the old tin ceiling in previous pics.

You can imagine this as a large clothing store back in the day, right?

In the middle of the store was this fashionable skeleton, riding in her carriage.

She even has a cat in her lap.

A tiny, velvety pumpkin was the trip souvenir. Check out the cute label on top of it. Like in a few of these other photos, I'm just now noticing some of the type close-up. "Serving witches since 1674"

There it is in all its adorable fuzziness.

So there's another year's fun trip to the antique store! Did you see anything that you would have wanted to take home?

P.S. ~ If you'd like to revisit last year's shopping adventure: 

An Antique Halloween Atmosphere