Found the lid to a John C Johnson combo cooker

S

SpurgeonH

Active member
Stopped in another unique place today. This one's in Columbus, GA.

To give you an idea of what it looked like ...



... and found this pile of cast iron ...



There were several things I wanted, but the prices he was quoting were all over the place. For example, he had three Griswold mailboxes, but the cheapest was $125, he wanted $50 for a Wagner breakfast skillet, $65 for a Martin Ballard Flour griddle (kind of wish I had bitten the bullet and bought that one) and $65 for a raised #8 (on the lid) Lodge DO.

I ended up buying the lid for a John C. Johnson combo cooker for $25 (I looked everywhere for the rest of it but no luck) and a little hammered toy (?) skillet for a couple of bucks.





I'm going to go back to this place again soon. So much stuff to dig through!

He had a couple of Atlanta Stove Sportsmans Grills, a Wagner whatever you call this thing ...



... and much more. Maybe next time I can find the rest of the Johnson.
 
Nice finds! I love to dig thru places like that, like a kid in a candy store. I have one around here where I live, but not quite what you saw today. Still fun to browse........
 
Wow! I usually don't get to go to places like that unless I'm on vacation. I get excited when i walk in a place like that. But usually calm down after looking at prices ha ha. What size is that large skillet in the second pic? Looks huge.
 
Wow, I'd love to poke around that place--like an Easter egg hunt for adults! But I have to agree with Russell. Nothing like sticker shock to take the edge off that giddy feeling. :grin:
 
How do you find these places, Spurgeon? What a gas!! I like the rugs; how many years will it be before they get that far down in the layers?! Thanks for sharing--WOW!
 
The big skillet on the floor was a Lodge #14 with the (U.S.) stamp under the number.

I'm really kicking myself for not buying the Ballard advertising skillet. He was asking $65 ... it's listed at $150 in the RB and around that number on eBay. Ugh. Live and learn. Plus, it would look great hanging on the wall.

I found it by accident. It wasn't even in the room with the cast iron. I was searching the whole place, trying to find the bottom two pans for the Johnson, and I found it stuck behind a pile of stuff. When I didn't buy it, it took it back and stuck it with the rest of the cast iron. It will be gone soon, I'm sure.

---------- Post added at 07:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:28 PM ----------

This guy was quite a character. Super grumpy. Reminded me of the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. At one point, when I balked at the price on the breakfast skillet, he huffed and said, "I'll give you three dollars to just leave and not waste my time."

I found out about this place from a really nice lady at a thrift store. She had warned me about the guy and said she had a lady come in her store crying because of how "mean" he was. I thought he was hilarious.
 
I would love to deal with that guy! I have one that I deal with that sounds about like this guy. You learn their personality and you don't cry, you laugh at them and come back with a smart comeback! Their job is to squeeze as much pesos out of you as they can, my job is to whittle off as much as I can. Thrift stores around here have set prices. Flea markets and Antique Malls you can usually get at least 10 or 15% off without much effort. I usually ask "Is there is any wiggle room on the price" or ask "what's your bottom price on this". Part of the fun!
 
The camera is just the camera on my phone. I have an iPhone 6+.

Russell, I agree. Guys like that make me laugh.

---------- Post added at 10:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 PM ----------

More pictures from the store today ...







 
Donna haggling is half the fun. You could start out something like this, ask the price and say.
WHAT! Are we talking American money? :)

Steve,
 
DonnaM said:
Oh, Russell, I'm so terrible at haggling! :cry:
Click to expand...

Nobody will take care of you, like you will. Given the comment above the job of the participants in a negotiation, I to try a little. Unless a deal is just so good that all I can do is some approximation of "take my money before you increase your price!"

I enjoy the haggling, to a point. When a seller gets huffy, or cranky like this guy, I have a hard time. Maybe I need to learn a lesson from above about laughing along with them...

Steve
 
Donna, just smile sweetly and ask what the best price is on whatever you're interested in. They'll give you a price or say no. By the way, it's rare to encounter one of the "grumps", but they can be very amusing. I think I might understand why he has an overstuffed shop!
Spurgeon, I'll take a guess about the Wagner piece. I think it's a wafer iron. There are certain kinds of cookie-like sweets made very thin; not my ethnic heritage, but I'd suspect that kind of thing is what the Wagner iron is for. Anyone agree or disagree with me on this?
My hubby loves stores like that--he is talented at digging out treasures.
 
OK, guys, I'll push a little more on prices!

Sharon, you guys had an antique shop? That must have been so much fun--I probably would have gone broke because I'd want to keep everything!
 
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