Dewey Like Dewey? Who Wouldn't?

Downtown Dewey, Oklahoma, where they made the most of their small-town atmosphere

Last week I visited my mother and sister in Oklahoma. My sis and I traditionally tour Dewey's modest cluster of antique shops, where the town fathers of Dewey made the most of their old-style downtown, and the result is easy on the eyes compared to the big-box-store strip-mall look of nearby Bartlesville. I counted six antique stores in Dewey, though there could be a few more. We only had time to stop at three.

At the Linger Longer mall, named after a beloved old local manmade swimming hole that was wiped out in a storm in the 1920s, there's an old fashioned marble-top soda fountain, where Pat, the owner, served up an excellent chocolate ice cream soda. That's my sister Judy about to partake. My favorite find at LL was a display of chintz and transferware, and I bemoaned the need to travel light when I saw a couple of pieces I'd have loved to take home.

I also found some old advertising tins, including one for Lacto-Dextrin, a food supplement that promised to adjust one's intestinal flora.


Next we stopped at Mimi's, another mall near the town square, where we looked for something cat-themed for Mother, an avid feline fan...

I liked the small white-painted furniture, shelving and curios in this booth.

Finally, we stopped at Bar-Dew Antique Mall on our way out of town, where I found...

...an old oak baby chair that could be converted into a stroller, a rocker or a high chair...

a wonderful oak kitchen cupboard full of drawers and bins...

...an elegant old dressing table...

...three Roseville pedestals...

...a genuine trademarked Hoosier...

...a Mission-style rocker and secretary...

...and a white-painted metal cabinet from a doctor's or dentist's office.

Bill, the owner of Bar-Dew, told me he's low on stock (though the place looked packed to me) because he's been doing well in Dewey this summer. Furniture has been moving out the door at a smart pace, and he'll soon have to start looking for more.
This old spatter-patterned porcelain wood cookstove with warming ovens stands outside JandW Antiques on Don Tyler St. in Dewey. How I'd have loved to take it home! Wouldn't it look sweet next to Bar-Dew's Hoosier?

But, of course, we don't have a huge supply of firewood here in the desert.