Old as Adam

Old as Adam Old as Adam. Antiques & Americana. Purveyer of the Pleasing & Peculiar Past. New store located at 125 Benefit Street, Providence, RI opening in February 2020.

oldasadam.com/goods

Buying & Selling Antiques, Including Americana, Fine Art, Folk Art, Curiosities, Furnishings, Lighting, Textiles and Antique Clothing.

Open today noon till five at 507 Main in historic Warren, RI.
12/14/2024

Open today noon till five at 507 Main in historic Warren, RI.

The way forward is simple."Friendship, Love and Truth" folk art hand-hammered copper panel that last served to block a k...
11/08/2024

The way forward is simple.

"Friendship, Love and Truth" folk art hand-hammered copper panel that last served to block a kitchen stove pipe hole, 17 inches square, ca. late 19th century.

As symbolized by the triple links, the panel spells out the motto of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization that once thrived in almost every community in America.

The Odd Fellows brought Americans together across class and political divides for charitable endeavors, mutual aid, and quirky collective rituals where folks would wear weirdo costumes and wield painted wooden axes to demonstrate the importance of empathetic connection and their willingness to help others in need.

As suburbanization drove Americans farther and farther apart and as consumers became ever more consumed by their radios, televisions, and smartphones, the Odd Fellows dwindled to all but extinction.

Today, what remains often the most impressive building at the heart of many American towns - the old Odd Fellows Hall - often stands in hollowed-out disrepair or gutted for luxury condos. Either way, the loneliness epidemic is among the only chains that unites our communities today.

Unlike the charming goofball rituals of the Odd Fellows, the story of American social and political decline is no mystery. The way forward is no mystery either.

Make-do democracy. We can vote to fix what's broken, and even remake the broken as something beautiful. Or we can vote t...
11/02/2024

Make-do democracy. We can vote to fix what's broken, and even remake the broken as something beautiful. Or we can vote to elect a sledgehammer (or abstain from voting, much the same).

The November window features all of the repaired and reimagined objects in the shop, from bricolage to tinsmith repairs.

They seem especially relevant to me now: One candidate seeks repair. The other candidate seeks only destruction and disunity, with stated intentions to shatter communities, rip up constitutional rights, and smash government services.

Vote for repair.

(Quote a riff on lyrics by )

October at Old as Adam. 507 Main Street in Warren, RI.Open Friday and Saturday afternoons and by chance or appointment.
10/02/2024

October at Old as Adam. 507 Main Street in Warren, RI.

Open Friday and Saturday afternoons and by chance or appointment.

You're running out of time to see the 2024 NH Antiques Show: Saturday, 8/10 is the last day to shop the this year.For s...
08/10/2024

You're running out of time to see the 2024 NH Antiques Show: Saturday, 8/10 is the last day to shop the this year.

For sale:

Pocket watch trade sign | painted cast iron & tin | c. third quarter 19th century (18 inches tall)

"Happy Thought" toy horse cart | painted wood | c. fourth quarter 19th century (16 inches long)

Folk art painted diminutive mirror | painted wood | c. fourth quarter 19th century (12 inches tall)

Vernacular Gothic architectural window | original wavy early glass | c. second quarter 19th century (44 inches high, 47 inches wide)

Message for details, or better yet, come to check out the show!

The 67th Annual New Hampshire Antiques Show⁠

August 8-10, 2024⁠
Thursday & Friday 10am-7pm | Saturday 10am-4pm⁠
DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown⁠
700 Elm Street, Manchester, NH 03101⁠
Admission $15 Thursday, $10 Friday and Saturday (Free return visits)⁠
Free to visitors 30 and under with ID⁠
nhada.org

I've always wanted to handle an Odd Fellows heart in hand, and was pleased to hang this early example in my NH Antiques ...
08/09/2024

I've always wanted to handle an Odd Fellows heart in hand, and was pleased to hang this early example in my NH Antiques Show booth.

Recently discovered in an old Indiana fraternal lodge, this mid-19th century ritual prop is life-size and of hand-carved and gilded wood. It holds a painted red heart in its golden palm.

In the symbolism of the Odd Fellows, the “Heart in Hand” represented “cheerful giving” and benevolence to those in need, and one of their three core values: Friendship (the others are Love and Truth).

The historic command of the Odd Fellow is to “visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan.” Founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 1819, the International Order of the Odd Fellows grew to become the largest fraternal organization in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of members by the late nineteenth century and fraternal lodges in every state, and in some regions, every town. While the organization is still in existence today, the Odd Fellows are now extinct within most of the communities where their charitable and social endeavors once thrived.

Hand: 9 inches tall (6 feet tall when mounted on its original post)

Available for sale. Message for details.

The 67th Annual New Hampshire Antiques Show⁠
August 8-10, 2024⁠
Thursday & Friday 10am-7pm | Saturday 10am-4pm⁠
DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown⁠
700 Elm Street, Manchester, NH 03101⁠
Admission $15 Thursday, $10 Friday and Saturday (Free return visits)⁠
Free to visitors 30 and under with ID⁠
nhada.org

Old as Adam at the 2024 New Hampshire Antique Show . Come visit.The 67th Annual New Hampshire Antiques Show⁠August 8-10...
08/08/2024

Old as Adam at the 2024 New Hampshire Antique Show . Come visit.

The 67th Annual New Hampshire Antiques Show⁠
August 8-10, 2024⁠
Thursday & Friday 10am-7pm | Saturday 10am-4pm⁠
DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown⁠
700 Elm Street, Manchester, NH 03101⁠
Admission $15 Thursday, $10 Friday and Saturday (Free return visits)⁠
Free to visitors 30 and under with ID⁠
nhada.org

😮 The New Hampshire Antiques Show is just one week away!For an entire year, I set aside many of my favorite finds for t...
08/01/2024

😮 The New Hampshire Antiques Show is just one week away!

For an entire year, I set aside many of my favorite finds for the show, which opens next Thursday, 8/8 in Manchester, NH. Here's a preview from my ad in :

Folk art carved and painted clock case in the form of a lion, c. early 20th century (15 x 11 x 4 inches)

The 67th Annual New Hampshire Antiques Show⁠
August 8-10, 2024⁠
Thursday & Friday 10am-7pm | Saturday 10am-4pm⁠
DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown⁠
700 Elm Street, Manchester, NH 03101⁠
Admission $15 Thursday, $10 Friday and Saturday (Free return visits)⁠
Free to visitors 30 and under with ID⁠

Visit nhada.org for more information including a complete exhibitor list.

Coming.Old as Adam Antiques & Americana opens in our new location at 507 Main Street in Warren, RI in mid-August. For a ...
07/19/2024

Coming.

Old as Adam Antiques & Americana opens in our new location at 507 Main Street in Warren, RI in mid-August. For a preview of coming attractions, peek in our windows across from the town hall and next door to and (just please excuse our painting projects).

07/19/2024

After over four years in Providence, Old as Adam is moving to Warren, RI. I'm pleased to share that my new store will open in August (date TBD) at 507 Main Street in the heart of Warren, across from the town hall.

Twenty minutes from Providence, Warren is a lovely historic town on the water with a vibrant community of antiques and vintage dealers to visit, including , , and more (it's also en route to .river.antiques).

I'll miss my old shop on beautiful Benefit Street, but with the end of my lease in sight, a move has been in the making for months and I happened upon the perfect spot. Come visit me in Warren! Opening date to follow.

A bittersweet footnote (and perhaps a rant):

I'd have liked to stay in town, but the does just about everything in its power to discourage antique dealers from setting up shop.

Had I found a new storefront in Providence, I would have had to hire a surveyor, create a map, send out dozens of registered letters, and arrange a hearing - a red-taped tangle totaling $1,200 that I would have to undergo for the second time, all the while with a blind bureaucracy treating my business as a blight on the city.

"Secondhand" licenses belong to another century. What most enlivens and renews a city's retail? Its artists and antique and vintage dealers. That's been true in urban life for hundreds of years, but Providence never caught on.

Months ago, I reached out to Smiley with my concerns and an earnest request to discuss the future of retail in the city. He didn't reply.

After thirty years in Providence, closed this month, and now I close my doors as well, unlikely to return. I only hope the city will change its antiquated policies to allow fledgling business owners to open their doors unhindered - for "secondhand" is both the sustainable future as well as the material past.

AUCTION to benefit with all proceeds donated to (This is happening on Instagram, but feel free to Facebook message me ...
11/20/2023

AUCTION to benefit with all proceeds donated to

(This is happening on Instagram, but feel free to Facebook message me to bid)

Join me and a group of other dealers to help bring attention to the growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza following the atrocities in Israel.

For auction:

Iconic early electric O.C. White adjustable lamp patented 1898 for your work bench, drafting table or living room. Restored and rewired with reproduction cord and porcelain socket. Whether wall or surface mounted, the lamp is adjustable in a variety of configurations, measuring 24 inches tall with 24 inch extension. Reflector shade optional.

Retail Price: $385
Opening Bid (with no reserve): $50

Here’s how it’s going to work for our fundraiser: Bidding will take place in the comments on Instagram in minimum increments of $25. Please refer to the comments on Instagram to see the last highest bid placed. If you prefer to place a private and confidential bid, please feel free to send us a DM. Bidding for all our items ends on Friday, November 24th at 5pm ET. There will only be one winner per item. Winners will receive a DM notification after 5pm ET November 24th.
Shipping is additional for this item to be determined at close of auction.

Winners will be making a donation directly to so 100% of your donation gets into their hands.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

To see items offered from other dealers, please click

And if you'd also like to participate, feel free to post an item under to join us. Thanks to to getting this underway.

Pulling together a few new things in the shop:"Pull Together When You Want to Win" motivational poster in a monumental s...
11/19/2023

Pulling together a few new things in the shop:

"Pull Together When You Want to Win" motivational poster in a monumental size, color lithograph, Chicago, dated 1924 (38 x 50 inches)

Wall-mount sample rope from the New Bedford Cordage Company, c. 1930s

US Army Tug of War photo, silver gelatin print, c. WWI-era

Homemade wooden oil tanker lamp, rewired, c. 1930s

Available. Message for details.

Address

507 Main Street
Warren, RI
02885

Telephone

(603) 661-9373

Website

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