We rolled into Le Claire, IA recently on a cross country road trip. We naturally stopped into the American Archeology shop and then headed on foot down Cody Rd to visit the other antique shops in town to see what they had to offer. There were several in town on this main drag.
Our research had indicated that Big River Antiques was the place to visit if you want to shop for a diverse selection of antiques. The shop is run by some semi-retired hippies that are some great long time pickers. They have a good eye and bring a good mix of antiques into the shop. Word has it that even Mike Wolfe pops in there to buy when he's in town;
We found the shop packed to the brim - floor to ceiling with antique treasures of all types packed and stacked everywhere. The shelves in the main room were packed so tight that it made it challenging to pull something out from the back of the shelf without creating a collectible avalanche. The lower shelves are deep and dark and I should have brought my pickin' light so I could see all the way into the back of the dark deep shelves.
There are plenty of old metal advertising signs available in the shop. Lots of of old stoneware, some art pottery, salt and pepper shakers, glassware, jewelry, old oil paintings, prints, frames, lamps, tins, primitives and everything in between.
It was a fun shop with so much antique eye candy everywhere that it took lots of time and patience to see it all. The smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies was refreshing as we shopped and they were indeed delicious. We enjoyed our visit to this shop and Le Claire, IA and will explore it again if we make it back into town.
Definitely stop into the Buffalo Bill Cody museum while you are in town which is nearby. it was an interesting museum filled with much history and antiques. read more
