It’s always an adventure to browse through an antique store, when you never know how likely you are to find a treasure.

I had one such moment last weekend. I decided to make a short drive up Minnesota Highway 23 to Granite Falls to check out the store along U.S. Highway 212 next to the Minnesota River.

It was routine browsing at first until I came upon a box with a small number of dollar priced postcards. I decided I had time to look at them.

I have three albums of cards at home with about 30 different small collections, everything from state capitol buildings to bridges. It started back when my parents used to go to auctions. Every once in a while they’d buy me an interesting stack.

The box last weekend had two interesting old cards of Iowa State, as well as an old one about a hydropower facility in Superior, Wisconsin. Then I found one I definitely wanted, a Marshall Milling card circa 1915 with an interesting messsage.

That wasn’t the end of it. My search then turned up a card about the railroad in Granite Falls. It has a 1913 postmark from the Clarkfield post office, along with a message written in Norwegian.

Even with their local ties, both cards were available for just a dollar. For less than the cost of two cans of pop, I bought two interesting pieces of history. I took them home and put them on the antique trunk that belonged to one of my great grandfathers.

I don’t have that type of find as often as I did in the past. When my parents operated a booth at a Lake Benton shop after retiring from Marshall schools, we’d go to major flea markets and come back with interesting assortments of affordable items.

It’s gotten harder to find the time for road trips to look for antiques. Another limitation is space. If I buy something for my house, it means something I have has to go in order to make room. I’m at a point where I usually want to keep what I have.

Also my normal price range hasn’t gone up. I rarely pay more than $10 for any one item. Even postcards, pinback buttons and small advertising collectibles sometimes cost more than that.

Moments like last weekend’s postcard finds make it fun to still look once in a while. Even in the 21st century with modern day inflation, anything is possible.

I’m not sure what the future holds for antiques. Online sales have strongly cut into what’s available in shops, and have probably contributed to many of the shop closings in the region over the past decade.

I wonder if people will ever want to collect all the mass-produced generic products that are shipped in from overseas for today’s consumers.

Traditional antiques include many from historic glass companies, tableware manufacturers, pottery makers and other businesses. Some of the best finds are objects that reflect local history, from places and organizations that were popular in the past.

The University of Minnesota Extension Service has an education program called Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate, which centers around how to fairly divide up family heirlooms. In an age of large families and simple Depression influenced lifestyles, it was often an important question.

In recent years, with older generations who were part of mid to late 20th century abundance, there’s a likelihood that there will be items none of the family members need.

Hopefully at least at the auction stage people come forward to buy most of it. It’s a shame if perfectly good objects end up in landfills.

It’s especially good when antique buyers come along who will treasure objects as much as the previous owners enjoyed keeping and preserving them.

Ideally they should stay within their own regions. If we ship valuable antiques to distant locations, our corner of rural America loses pieces of its history and culture.

There’s a good chance that many items from the past will remain popular. Part of the motive is financial value. Often an equally important factor is that people simply like them and want to take them home.

— Jim Muchlinski is a longtime reporter and contributor to the Marshall Independent