As I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, I saw a mutual friend’s posting about her booth at the Carolina Trading Post down in my hometown. After looking through a few pictures, I recognized many of the items from a recent estate sale. This mutual friend had been helping organize the sale and several of the items were now in her booth.
For those of you from the Charlotte area, the Carolina Trading Post is exactly like Sleepy Poet or Black Lion or just about any other large antique store with multiple vendors selling their wares out of small booths. Rows and rows of booths!
Like I said, I was scrolling through pictures of items in her booth, and I saw these:
I thought these were the most gorgeous pieces! Also, I need some small items to help add interest to the bookshelves in the cookbook room. The price tag was not visible, but I sent her a direct message to see if they were still available along with the price. The next morning, I called the store and asked if they would put them on hold for me.
They were super helpful and put them to the side. After a two-and-a-half-hour drive down to the store, I decided to walk through the entire store to see what kind of antiques were there. Of course, I immediately spied cookbooks in several booths. And, it wasn’t long before my pile of cookbooks started to weigh me down!
Here are the first ones I found in booths on the left side of the store:
The Screened Door Pantry: Stories and Receipts (Two Bored Women, Hartsville, SC). There seems to be names for the two bored women: Harriett Courtney Lemke and Fran Wall Weaver. They had a catering and design business by the same name. This is part family history/reminisce and cookbook. I want to spend more time on this one but there’s a strong mothball odor courtesy of the previous owner. Funkadelic in the extreme so it’ll take time. Don’t Forget the Parsley (Mrs. Wille S. Berry, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College Foundation, Inc.). Looking through the Acknowledgements section, I’m guessing that these recipes are from the Berry’s-on-the Hill Restaurant. I don’t think it’s still in business so getting this cookbook is a great way to capture a bit of history. Louisiana Cookery (Mary Land): I think I’ve got a hardback version of this one? But I couldn’t pass up this paperback copy.
‘Pon Tip Edisto: Cookin’ ‘Tweenst the Rivers (Trinity Episcopal Church, Edisto Island, SC) was a no-brainer, straight into the pile. Cooking in the South (Johnnie Gabriel) was very, very affordable and a bonus because I found that it’s personalized/autographed! Celebrating 170 Years: 1827-1997 (Darlington Presbyterian Church, Darlington, SC) seemed a good grab because of the history. I bet there’s a few really good family recipes in there. And finally, Hors d’oeuvres (Mimosa Garden Club, Atlanta, GA) is one of my all-time favorite finds. I will pick up a copy of this one every time I come across it!
So when I finally check out at the register, I’m pleasantly surprised as many of the cookbooks were on sale. That was an unexpected and nice destination for shopping. I’ll keep my eye out for the posts on Facebook and wouldn’t hesitate to return the next time I’m in town!