Recent Article on Vintage Indie

My article recently appeared on Vintage Indie. This was a great antique mall! I highly recommend it!

On the Road with Contributing Editor Elizabeth Young: Bright's Antique World Franklin, KY

Driving to Nashville, TN this past fall, my husband and I discovered one of the best antique malls we have been to in a long time. Conveniently located right off the interstate, Bright's Antique World offers 35,000 square feet of antique furniture, glassware, jewelry, toys and more.

Owners Riley and Linda Bright purchased the land, had the building custom built and opened their doors for business in January 2003. Voted No. 1 by Busy Bee Trader readers, this mall definitely lives up to that recognition. They offer a wide variety of collectibles, quality furniture and reasonable prices. The mall is well lit and well maintained. The women's bathroom is decked out in vintage clothing and accessories in every nook and cranny and the men's bathroom carries a hunting theme.


Store Hours: Monday - Sat 9-8, Sunday 10-6, closed Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Location: 281 Steele Rd., Franklin, KY 42135 right past Cracker Barrel. Exit 2 off I-65, KY.

Phone: (270) 598-9901

Website: www.brightsantiqueworld.com

Special Events: A special event is held each spring in conjunction with the local historic district businesses. A Customer Appreciation Day is held each October offering special sales and refreshments. A Christmas Open House is held annually on Thanksgiving weekend.


Carolyn West, one of the managers, has been a dealer for over 30 years. She is also a collector as most of the dealers are. She was friendly, knowledgeable and offered exceptional customer service. This mall is definitely worth the stop, whether you are passing through the area or looking for a one day getaway.

Back From Vacation

Will update blog soon! Just got back last night from 12 days in VA visiting Dad and friends!

A Few of My Favorite Finds!

From Saturday's expedition to Indy!

Saturday In Indy

Saturday was the Antique Advertising Show in Indy. It's one of our favorite shows and we were on the road by 8 AM. A quick stop at Hardee's for biscuits, yummy, and we were on our way. It was great as usual to see all the wonderful advertising pieces and friends we have made. Our friends Mike and Anita brought a new supply of peacock feathers for the kitties, another couple gave me a souvenir ashtray for my collection (it had been her aunt's!) and wedding pictures were shared! Amy and I touched base on our home being on tour during the Antique Advertising Convention this July!

Found a few goodies to add to our collections, my favorite being a Crayola crayons cardboard counter card! Mom couldn't go with us but she lived vicariously through me and will add a beautiful revolving postcard display rack to her collection and a wonderful 1930s art deco valentine candy box!

We had a quick lunch at Subway and then on to find the Allisonville Rd. Antique Mall. Well, turns out it had closed several years ago! Bummer! So we headed to the Shadeland Antique Mall which is owned by the sweetest lady and managed by Molly the Cat. Found some items for my etsy shop there and Tim insisted that the Bozo the Clown balloon dispenser needed to come home with me. (Early Christmas present!) I ended up interviewing them for an article on Vintage Indie and then we headed down the road to the Goodwill Outlet Center. Not as great as the one in Nashville but I still managed to fill a cart with old encyclopedias and a few other good books!

We had just enough time to dash through the Southport Antique Mall! So glad they stay open until 8pm! Found a few goodies there, including two chalkboards for a friend who had asked me to keep an eye out for them! A quick stop at Archivers down the road so I could use two last coupons and get my free cardstock before the end of the month! At 8:45pm we finally sat down to a gourmet dinner at McDonalds! I love their grilled chicken ranch wraps though!

Rolled in at 11pm, tired and weary, but having had a delightful day together doing one of the things we love best- antiquing! (And eating way too many McDonald's chocolate chip cookies!)

Friday's Loot

We hit the annual book sale at Locust Grove Friday morning and got some great books! Then on to lunch in Middletown and a couple of antique stores/malls. We found out about an estate sale over on Westport Rd. so we headed over there and it was so worth it! Found some great treasures in the basement, including lots of old books!

Estate Sale Loot!

I went to a great estate sale Saturday morning just minutes away from our house! I got there about 1/2 hour after it started and people were already hauling the stuff out as fast as they could. I went straight to the basement and then to the garage where I dug through mounds of fallen boxes mainly filled with Christmas stuff! I found some great old labels, stationery, ledger paper, note pads, an unused vintage baby book still in the original box, a flamingo paint by number picture, a Kodak movie camera and a neat 60s light kit for Tim for his collection, a big jar of buttons as well as a tin filled with buttons, some carded, and a fair amount of vintage Christmas!

Great Finds!

I haven't been out buying too much lately for my etsy shop because it's been too darn cold and I have SO MUCH STUFF in backstock already but I did find a handful of treasures a week ago at Tickled Pink (vintage bride bingo, a puppies book, and eureka patriotic seals). And then I made up for lost time yesterday! Mom and I went over to the Stewart's Flea Market for a bit and hit the jackpot at my favorite dealer's booth! Lots of goodies for etsy! A huge box full of very old turn of the century children's readers, vintage children's books, flash cards, wonderful small alphabet letters for learning, children's playing cards, old magazines from 1910 and the 1950s, pieces of random ephemera, bingo numbers, buttons, a cowgirl doll, etc! Never again will I NOT take my push cart because I'm pretty sure I won't find books! HA! Fortunately, I still had the suitcase roller in my car from scrappin' at Archivers Tuesday! From there, we headed over to The Cheddar Box for a yummy lunch and then on to Shelbyville, KY so mom could pick out fabric for her kitchen windows. We had just enough time to hit one antique mall well and another in the last 5 minutes before closing! Jackpot! Mom found a treasure trove of beautiful, vintage hats for her ever-growing collection and I found some adorable children's books, sunday school tokens and vintage valentines. The best find of the day, however, were the three baskets of never used letters from an old hardware store! Dated 1962 on the backs! I was immediately in love! There were red ones and then two different sizes of the black and blue ones! These are going to be awfully hard to part with! Mom and I plan to definitely partake but for now I really just want to leave them in their little baskets and stare at them on display!