With its low self-esteem and high urban blight, Hartford is the ultimate underdog city. Sad City Hartford documents the joys, sorrows and eccentricities of New England's Rising Star.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Bacon's Antiques


Bacon's Antiques is one of those places that looks super interesting, that we've driven by literally hundreds of times, and yet for whatever reason it took us forever to get around to visiting. Recently we finally got around to stopping in and it was, to say the least, an interesting experience.

Bacon's is located in the South End on Maple Street. If you are coming from the downtown area it is right after the ever amusing South Green and before the Maple and Franklin Ave split.

When we first got to the door we were initially confused. Despite being within the open hours, the door was locked. A handwritten sign instructed us to dial a number if the store was closed. As we were dialing the door suddenly buzzed and we were inside. The inside of Bacon's can best be described as hectic. There is stuff everywhere. There is almost no room to walk through the store there is so much stuff.

Overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stuff in Bacon's we decided we couldn't spend the entire day in the store and should get right down to business. First we asked the shop owner (presumably Bacon) if he had any baseball related memorabilia. "Not right now" we were told.

There had to be a few hundred framed items stacked up on the floor. Knowing we would never look through them all, we tried again.

Sad City: "Do you have any Hartford related items in the frames?"

Bacon: "None that I want to sell."

Sad City: "Ok."

Bacon: "Are you in the business?"

Sad City: "What business?"

Bacon: "The antique business."

Sad City: "Ummmm, no just looking for some cool stuff."

At this point we were starting to suspect that Bacon's was more of a collectors stash than an actual store. We decided to give it one last shot. On top of the shelving and hutches around the store there were about 8-10 advertising liquor bottles that measured between two and three feet tall. Though most of the brands were brands that we didn't recognize, they were very cool. We inquired if they were for sale.

Bacon: "Not really, I've had those for years, they are from the 1940's."

Sad City: "Yes, they are very cool. Would be interested in one."

Bacon: "Well if I were to sell them I would want to sell the collection as a whole."

Sad City: "And how many in the collection?"

Bacon: "Thirty something."

Sad City: "Well I live in a studio apartment so that isn't going to work." "Out of curiosity, how much would they cost?'

Bacon: "Well I paid between $50 and $75 for them in the mid 80's."

Sad City: "Ummmm, ok."

At this point we decided no deal was going to be struck. While we have no idea what Bacon actually wanted for the bottles, purchasing thirty of them would require getting rid of all of our furniture and living amongst a forest of three foot high liquor bottles. While that sounds somewhat tempting, we haven't quite reached that level yet.

If you are into antiques it's still worth the trip to check out a lot of cool old stuff and the cool old ad on the side of the building.


9 comments:

  1. the name "Bacon" might also refer to the old Bacon Bottling Co., which was located on Morris St. (right in that area). The building is now elderly housing (called Bacon Congregate) but you can still see the name over the top: http://hartfordsigns.blogspot.com/2010/12/bacon-bottling-company.html

    -Katie

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds like an antique collector's drug front

    ReplyDelete
  3. id have to agree, ive brought antiques in there to sell that I know were worth some serious money and the guy was like nope aren't worth anything but ill give you ten dollars for em! I think he took a look at this lady standing in front of him and immediately thought "idiot" which unfortunately for him I am not!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am a diver and I just found an antique bottle that says Bacon bottling co- hartford ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. could it be the bacon liquor comp. they were distributors in Hartford.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have lived in Hartfordjust about my whole life and that store has always been a dump. It’s defiantly a place for drug addicts . Not worth even going in

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow. I have been a fan of this store for many years. Mr. Bacon is more than fair. He is semi-retired and open for about 4 hours a day now. Signs clearly state by appointment only and to wait for buzzer to be let into store. I feel that ignorant people who cannot read clearly marked signs should not be posting reviews.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I personally know Mr. Bacon and he is a good guy. All of you people posting about "drug hangouts" and such are ignorant, childish losers. The guy runs a legit business and deserves respect for staying in the dump that Hartford has become as long as he has. If you're upset with the rules he has in place, which are there for good reason, considering the unsavory neighborhood, then shop elsewhere.

    ReplyDelete