Thanks to all of you, The Farm was voted the Best Antique Shop of the Red River Valley for the second year in a row!

As the winner of the InForum's annual Best of the Red River Valley competition, we were asked a few questions. Not all of them were printed in the publication, so we thought we would share them here.

What makes what you do special to customers? How do you define customer service?

All vendors at The FARM strive to keep a clean shop while providing the unique antique, vintage, repurposed, decorator, and collectible items our customers are looking for. Customer service is all about providing attentive personal experiences for our visitors, our Farm Friends.

What's the most memorable moment of the past year for your or your team?

Honestly, our business is built on daily memorable moments… Helping a sister find candlesticks for her sister’s wedding, watching as older men become little boys when they spot their childhood toys, helping someone replace a broken item or find the perfect gift, assisting the woman who turns a corner and cries seeing that picture just like the one grandma had, aiding in the discovery of a vintage vinyl score, sharing in the happiness that Farm Friends feel when they bring a friend into the mall for the first time… These connections are so important to us.

What's new for your business? What should people know about your business and what you do?

Daily we bring in fresh finds, reorganize, redecorate, to keep the mall an inspiring, fun place to visit. We had just started our events program when the pandemic hit, and are looking forward to returning to those connections with our customers and local non-profit organizations.

How do you plan on defending your title next year?

To remain focused on what we do best: Providing unique items and great customer experiences in a clean shop while being an active part of the Red River Valley community.

Thank you, again, for voting us number one! We hope to see you at The Farm soon!

Fargo Antiques & Repurposed Market will be holding our annual Fall flea market in the parking lot again this September. As this annual event is also a celebration of our anniversary (we officially turn 6 years old in October!), all of our vendors will be having sales inside too!

The FARM's Annual Fall Flea Market & Anniversary Sale Dates:

Saturday, September 19th, from 10 am until 6 pm
Sunday, September 20th, from noon until 6 pm

Among the treasures to discover at this big Fargo-Moorhead junking event: vintage holiday blow-mold, handmade wood signs, & other Fall & Halloween decorations; vintage vinyl records, cassette tapes, & 8-track tapes; antique books, local history books, & vintage children's books; retro swag lamps, old beer light-up signs, vintage glass hurricane lamps, & mid-century pottery lighting; antique furniture, painted furniture, & furniture pieces for you to paint & transform; vintage clothing, collectible perfume bottles, & jewelry; paintings, pictures, frames, vintage paint-by-numbers, & other wall decor; collectible die-cast toys, antique tin toys, action figures, & retro 80s toys; hardware, weathered wood, vintage doors, & old windows; old china sets, vintage flatware, & vintage linens; collectible advertising items, antique and retro magazines, antique postcards, & other collectible vintage ephemera; mid-century modern glassware, collectible vintage pottery, old crocks, & collectible figurines  - and so much more! 

We welcome you to this event & hope to see you at The FARM!

Our next live, in-person appraisal event - much like those on Antiques Roadshow - will be on Saturday, February 29th, from noon until 4pm. Just drop in, or you may pre-pay if you wish. Click here and here for details on our Trash or Treasure? events. See you at The FARM!

If you're new to shopping for antiques and vintage, you might be confused by some of the terms used. One of the most common confusion points is understanding the difference between what's antique and what's vintage.

In the strictest sense, the difference between an antique and a vintage item is its age.

Antiques are items which must be at least 100 years old. That means, as of the date of this posting, an antique item was made on or before April of 1918.

​The 100-years-or-older rule applies to any of these items no matter what they are made of. So even though it may seem less likely for a book or glassware to survive 100 years than a piece of furniture, therefore making the fragile stuff seem like it should become an antique earlier; but it doesn't work that way. *wink*

Items over 300 years of age generally fall into one of two categories depending upon whether they are manmade creations or natural finds. If they are not manmade, if they are the remains or impressions of formerly living things, they are fossils. If the items are manmade, they are called antiquities or artifacts (also spelled artefacts). 

Typically, items over 300 years are dug up either in the process of modern land development and construction, or by archaeological work. And they are also unearthed in attics, basements, and private collections too. 

Given the relatively short history of writing systems in the United States of America, the word prehistoric is often attached to any unearthed items older than 300 years. Naturally, in our Fargo-Moorhead area, this includes a number of Native American artifacts. Though it should be noted that not all Native American artifacts are so old.

Vintage items are not as old as antiques. However, unlike the definition of an antique, labeling something vintage is far more subjective. The word vintage literally means "of age." With such an open meaning, there are many interpretations. Most antique dealers consider an item to be vintage if it is at least 40 years old. So, in the context of this blog date, a vintage item would be made between 1918 and 1978. 

Even though many vintage items are nostalgic, they are sought after for many reasons besides their age. This includes decorating and collecting. And, because so many of these objects are still useable, they are often practical pieces with a unique flair.

In order to cover additional time periods, perhaps, many of those who buy and sell antique and vintage objects also use other words. Among them, the word "retro."

Retro is an affectionate shortening of the French word "retrograde." Like the word "retroactive," the original meaning references the past -- but is not from the past. Instead, retro goodies imitate the styles of the recent past. They are not copies or fakes; but items which give a nod to the past. Think of classics such as bowling shirts and letterman jackets.

However, over time, the definition of retro has also come to encompass things from the recent past -- things not old enough to be authentically vintage, but not merely "just used things" either. They are just old enough to be nostalgic. Many of these things still can be used -- or in the case of records, tapes, and CDs, played.

Typically, the term retro is given to items which are at least 20 years old (but not yet 40 years old). Again using today's posting date, retro items would be those made between 1979 and 1998.

Also found in antique malls like Fargo's F.A.R.M. are items which are not necessarily old at all, but still collectible. Among these things are what are called reproductions (sometimes called "repros" or "repops" in the antiques business). Reproductions are copies of older items. They are not "fakes" as they are not trying to pass themselves off as older or anything other than what they are: copies of, usually, much older things. 

Some of these things, such as reproduction drawer pulls and hardware, allow for folks to more readily and affordably restore their old houses. And, in fact, many reproductions, including reproductions of antique Coke A Cola trays and old cast iron toys, have real value unto themselves. 

Additionally, many antique malls -- the Fargo Antique & Repurposed Market included -- sell collectibles and curios. Collectibles and curios need not be old at all. They just have to be desired. Think of things like Breyer horses

Of course, often collecting new items leads to collecting the older variations... That's often how that collecting bug starts! You've been warned!