I’ll admit it, I had not been to the antique mall in the first floor of the Anderson Building in downtown Bismarck. In fact, I don’t think I’d been in this building since Eggers Audio was in the basement! I used to spend lots of time at Boyd’s Ark when it was here as well. But that’s another story. A co-worker and friend (the two are synonymous at our offices) reminded me of this place, so I took the opportunity to end my work day early and go visit.

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of little gems in the antique mall. One of which was too funny not to photograph: this Fonzie paper doll! There was another one of these still wrapped in plastic on the top of a shelf. I saw plenty of other cool memorabilia as well. One thing I was on the lookout for, however, was a unique photo or postcard. I found a couple.

I couldn’t resist a classic “Greetings from Bismarck” postcard, of course. This style predates me but I’ve seen it plenty. I have to admit it first reminded me of a few things I saw in the Pixar movie “Cars,” which my little boys love tremendously.

Here’s the real gem. I had never seen a photo of the capitol building with these lights on top of it! The building is lit from below by giant floodlights these days, but apparently it was once lit from above as well. Since this was the first time I’d ever seen the capitol with such a feature, I had to bring this postcard home. It has no date on it, so I had to do a little poking around. The photo credit lists tht North Dakota Highway Department, so I thought I’d search the state’s photo collection.

Apparently these lights were present for quite some time! This image is one available from the state’s Digital Horizons online collection. The link to the photo with information is here. It’s also noteworthy that they were doing the whole “numbers at New Year” thing way back when as well. I like the rounded digits, too!

I had a blast at the Antique Mall last Friday, and made this interesting discovery to boot. You need to pay this place a visit and peruse the various collections for yourself. They’re also having a rummage sale in the basement this week, so you may find some unique deals there! Take some time to wander, and you won’t be disappointed. Tell them I sent you.