Nostalgia Central : Old Takes On New Sheen at Canoga Park’s Antique Row

Canoga Park’s antique row is so dense with stuffed-to-the-rafters stores that, after a while shopping there, a sort of delirium sets in. You exit yet another old curiosity shop with the feeling that you must have walked blocks--maybe even miles--from where you parked the car. And yet there it is, and there you are: after two or three hours, only a few yards down the street.

It’s hard to imagine any place richer in collectibles than this short block of Sherman Way between Remmet and Alabama Avenues (the major cross streets are Topanga Canyon on the west and Canoga Avenue on the east). “Six or seven years ago, it seems every shop on the street was American oak,” says Zulia Scotton of Zulia’s and Madgel’s Antiques, which carries mostly country items. “Now there’s a wonderful variety.”

Practically every antique category that’s become trendy in the last couple of years can be found in these 15-odd shops. Furniture much on the minds of collectors these days includes turn-of-the-century pieces in the Arts and Crafts, Mission and Eastlake styles, which were a rebellion against gaudy Victorian taste and the mass-produced excesses of the Industrial Revolution. Their simple lines and relatively undecorated, easy-to-clean surfaces also reflect the era’s new-found fascination with household hygiene.

Depression Glass

Other popular items are Depression and carnival glass; Bauer, Russel Wright, Hall, Fiesta, Franciscan, Roseville and Weller pottery; advertising art from matchbooks to vending machines; old children’s books, and 19th-Century country kitchenware and painted pine. The block has examples of each.

Prices are generally lower than these of the chic, well-known antiques centers on the Westside, sometimes dramatically so. On Sherman Way, a Rauer bowl can be had for $10. On Melrose, you would typically pay at least two or three times that much. But you can’t always expect a huge bargain just because this is a less fashionable area of town, especially when you’re looking at higher-end items.

As Stan Goldman of Turn of the Century Antiques, which specializes in restoring old American oak furniture, explains: “I have to pay the same prices to get the stuff that they do. And I used to be able to get anything I wanted and as much as I wanted. But we’re running thin.” Still, the street is far enough away from the Beverly Hills set that prices remain comparatively reasonable.

“I always like to say we’re the biggest secret in the Los Angeles area,” says Laura Stern of Under One Roof, which, like many of its neighbors, is popular with savvy tourists. “I have a lady from outside of Boston who said she could buy here and ship home and still save a fortune.”

A quick trip to a bookstore or library for a reference work helps enormously in appreciating what you find. An excellent overview of collectibles on today’s market is “Schroeder’s Antiques Price Guide” (Collector Books, $11.95). The 1988 edition is widely available in bookstores.

All the stores are open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and a few are open seven days a week. Starting from the northeast side of the street, here is a shopping guide:

Under One Roof specializes in good antique French and American Federal furniture, says Laura Stern, who owns the shop with her husband Cliff. “The two are hard to come by,” she explains, “and of all the periods, this is the best investment value.” But like most dealers, the Sterns also carry whatever catches their eye. Available recently were a five-piece brass Russian samovar with a Czarist seal for $1,295 and a $3,500 18th-Century English table with a green leather top and odd little drawers: The lord of the manor used them to keep track of his tenants’ rents.

“I doubt we’ll ever see anything like it again,” says Laura Stern of the table. Near the doorway, where the Sterns’ two dogs can be seen most days dozing in the sun, stands a small, unpriced turn-of-the-century statue of a woman, a sentimental favorite. “She probably had a little tray on her head for calling cards,” says Stern. “Somebody wanted to buy her the other day but I just couldn’t part with her.”

Zulia’s and Madgel’s Antiques is piled high with country items ranging from old colanders and wooden spoons for a few dollars each to punched-tin and pine pie safes for $795. “The holes in the tin were supposed to keep mosquitoes out and let air circulate,” says the chatty co-owner, Zulia Scotton. “Now, in California, with the amount of ants we have, I don’t think it would work.” Scotton estimates the same piece would be $1,000 to $1,200 on the Westside. “The Melrose dealers come over and buy from us,” she notes.

The shop also has a good selection of tables (one three-board pine table is $300), chairs, quilts and inexpensive old cooking items. “I sell a great deal of kitchenalia,” says Scotton. “People like crockery.” Pottery by Bauer and Russel Wright is available too, although these streamlined styles are hardly country. But, notes Scotton, they’re very popular. “Some people just poke their heads in here and say, ‘Do you have any Bauer?’ ”

The Antique Company is a co-op with half a dozen dealers in one shop, so the merchandise is as eclectic as you might expect. Here you can buy a spectacular European weed-burning tiled stove for $1,179, a good assortment of chairs for under $100, a variety of early 20th-Century children’s books and an 1893 copy of “The Dolls’ Dressmaker: A Magazine for Girls” for $12.

Sadie’s Corner Antiques has a similarly varied range of items. A Mission-style oak desk is $345, a huge desk from the ‘30s or ‘40s is $375, a large oak Mission-style mirror and a ‘30s-era desk chair are $125 each. There are also lots of silverware, children’s books and advertising art, including old matchbooks for a quarter each and a kitschy “Pik a Pen” vending machine for $65. On the counter are boxes of turn-of-the-century postcards for $3 each, many with plaintive messages typical of the eternal anxious traveler: “We leave for Wichita Thursday if the train comes.”

Old Friends specializes in American oak, especially golden tiger oak (striped-grain wood finished in a lighter color), and has a workshop for repairing and refinishing in the back. A beautiful Mission-style sideboard is $495 and a desk is $395; some turn-of-the-century dining chairs, all restored, are $95 each; an interesting piece called a chiffon-robe, a combination of a chiffonier and a wardrobe is $695, and a dinette set with four chairs is $595. Also available are Hoosier cabinets, intricate kitchen work centers with compartments for flour, spices and other items, for $1,295 each.

Carolyn Llewellyn is piled high with Depression glass, pressed patterned glass in many colors that was given away in sales promotions during the ‘30s and is now one of the most collected items around. Prices at this shop range from $6 for a small plate to $75 for a rare green iris-patterned glass, with most items near the lower end of the scale.

“Most expensive doesn’t always mean most attractive,” says Llewellyn, whose regular clientele includes people from Santa Barbara or San Diego. “They stop for lunch at Henri’s or Follow Your Heart and make a day of it.” The shop also has lamps, costume jewelry, doll furniture, a few pieces of Roseville and Weller art pottery for $27 to $100 and, if you want a real conversation piece, a Philippine birthing chair for $195.

Tee’s To Please is an odd combination of a T-shirt store and antique shop. The antiques include a turn-of-the-century Empire-style dresser for $250, a lamp from the ‘30s for $65, a pleasingly hefty country salt-glazed pitcher for $95 and a Victorian organ for $550.

Jeanne’s Antiques and Collectibles and Treasure and Stuff both concentrate on accessories. Jeanne’s has clocks, china, silver, paintings, prints and a few upholstered chairs. Treasures has dolls, china, glass, linens and costume jewelry.

Before My Time has one of the most interesting selections on the street. An early 19th-Century oil portrait of a miniature pinscher is $240, a 1910 English valet’s chair with a mechanism on the back for pressing trousers is $345, a turn-of-the-century glass-and-wood butter dish is $48, a yellowware pitcher is $60 and there are some lovely Majolica dishes, including a Wedgwood piece for $39. Near the door is a traveling trunk with a brass label proclaiming it the property of Dr. and Mrs. T. Ashcroft Ellwood (harrumph!). This should prove irresistible to anyone who loves Ralph Lauren’s ultra-WASP decorating ideas.

Guest House Antiques is more spacious than many of its neighbors because it sells mostly large pieces of furniture rather than small items. Available recently was a splendid and rather terrifying 1880 Gothic Revival armchair for $950, complete with carved naked-breasted griffons, gargoyle heads and a single cherub. This style has been getting renewed attention lately from decorators. Although few people besides the Addams Family would want a whole houseful of it, one piece certainly adds interest to a room.

Turn of the Century Antiques, on Remmet just south of Sherman Way, has been in business 18 years and is the oldest shop in the area. Owner Stan Goldman prides himself on selling top-quality American oak pieces that are anything but rickety; he also owns an adjacent refinishing shop. “We make it like the day it was made,” he says.

“Some people who walk in and love pine or cherry, they look around and say, ‘Phooey!’ ” says Goldman cheerfully. “My customers like my taste in oak. I just sent a $2,000 sideboard to a guy who was transferred to Minnesota. It cost him $1,000 to have it shipped, but he said he’d just pretend it cost $3,000 in the first place. It was worth it to him.” Some of Goldman’s most eye-catching pieces are Morris chairs that range from $650 to $1,000. These early reclining armchairs were modeled after the designs of William Morris, a founder of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Back on Sherman Way, Rhoda’s Place is perhaps the most stuffed-to-the-gills shop on the street, with loads of Depression glass, pottery by Bauer and Hall (which produced a famous line of refrigerator door pitchers) and other bric-a-brac so numerous you could easily spend an hour or so just there.

Showcase Antiques and Collectibles, which opened last October, is the newest store on the street and the most self-descriptive: It’s a consignment shop with each glass showcase assigned to a different dealer. The selection is quite varied. Items range from Roseville art pottery to erotic Indian art. A sister store in Sherman Oaks opened last May.