Country Kitsch

Cuckoo

I picked up this Ergo Cuckoo Silhouette clock ($40) at Zone last week. This is a 2D version of a cuckoo clock with a pendulum on the bottom that really swings back and forth. Looks like the shadow that a cuckoo clock might throw. I have this hanging in my kitchen at the country house now and like the mix of country kitsch with a more modern look.

Billboard

I love antique advertising signs--not posters, but the real deal. The more rusty and decomposing the better! I picked up this old Orange Montreal sign at Brocantiques in Ste-Agathes this week which is now hanging in my kitchen at the country house. Flea markets, antique stores and ebay are good sources for these signs.

Here are a couple of my favorite spots in the Laurentains for scouting out old stuff:

B. Lebeau Antiquaire

13276 Route 117

St Janvier-Mirabel

Tel: 435-6840

This place is piled high with old chairs, doors, windows, light fixtures, stuffed dear heads, etc. If you are up for a bit of a hunt this place has great prices. Definitely not one of those high-end antique stores where everything is arranged nicely, but that's why I like it!

Le Marché aux Puces du Ciné-Parc St-Eustache

Open year round on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Parking and admission is free.

400, Hector-Lanthier

St-Eustache (Quebec) J7P 4C1

Exit 25th avenue of Autoroute 640 west.

If you bypass the indoor swap meet and the vendors selling knock-off purses and standard swap meet fare, there is a section in the back where you can find the odd antique. I found a giant "Buvez Coca-Cola" sign here last year which is in my garden. Good spot for antique washboards, old quebec license plates, etc.