SWATARA TOWNSHIP AND LEMOYNE, PENNSYLVANIA

Susanne on the trail of a good shaker.

This past Friday, we were invited by friends Debbie and Bill to join them at lunch and then visit the Lemoyne Antiques Marketplace in search of treasures. "Eat and look at old stuff? Heck, yeah, we're in," Susanne responded.

We drove to Debbie and Bill's place and clambored aboard Bill's big pickup truck for the ride to Lemoyne. Bill likes to take it when they go antiquing or to auctions. You never know what Debbie will bring home, and he wants to be prepared.

We had lunch in a new place where a Waffle House had been, well, housed. They overcharged me by $10, which I recovered -- I mean, come on, girl, the cash register practically works itself. I had a chicken salad panini, which I didn't really care for. The others, wiser than I, seemed to relish their dishes. Debbie's salad looked especially appealing.

Debbie tries on a vintage couture hat.

Back in the truck, we crossed the river to Lemoyne, where we found the marketplace, housed in an old bakery. We all recalled the name Manbeck's, the local bread that was famous when we were kids. It's a big rambling place with creaky wooden floors and high ceilings. You can find almost anything there.

Susanne was tracking down glass shakers to fill up a wire divided basket she had bought elsewhere. Debbie paints furniture, so she was interested in the small tables and chairs. Bill pointed out some cool 50s Valentines that we used to send to classmates in elementary school. He had bought some for Debbie on Valentine's Day last year. I showed them how Susanne and I exchange cards. I picked out one, she looked at it, and then I looked at one she picked out. This system saves us a fortune on greeting cards.

Bill ♥ the Valentines.

There are a lot of interesting things at the marketplace. But one of my favorite stands has to be Architecturally Speaking," an architectural salvage stand owned by Steve Ziegler. He is going great guns, and his booth is full to the rafters. I've bought some stuff from him, including a schoolhouse light for the bathroom ceiling. You've read about Steve in previous entries.

Let's stroll though the old bakery and look at some of the stuff that caught my eye.

I thought this old china closet was quite classy with its gray and white color scheme and carefully applied aging marks.

Bill liked these glass electrical insulators. I think they had Pennsylvania Railroad markings on them. Don't they remind you of Darth Vader?

The old shaving mug reminds me of the collection of them at the John Harris-Simon Cameron Mansion in Harrisburg.  I guess every barber shop had many of these for their regular customers in the old days.

You don't see something like this very often -- a priest's kit for administering last rites to the dying.

These parts from an old jailhouse call system would be useful in a house with one boy and one girl who are often sent to their rooms!

Nowadays "horsey" things catch my eye, since my grand-daughter Chloe is crazy about them.

Debbie likes Depression Glass, and this booth was full of examples.

These last pictures are all from Steve Zeigler's "Architecturally Speaking."

As I recall, Susanne was the only one of us to purchase anything, but the day was successful because we spent quality time with good friends among other people's old cast-off junk, er, antiques.