Inside Hickory Antiques Mall, Where Yesterday Is Still for Sale
A nearly 40 year Hickory institution holds everything from vintage Coca Cola and Playboy magazines to Pokémon, Barbies and the uncomfortable realization that your childhood is now collectible. HICKORY, N.C. — The first surprise at Hickory Antiques Mall is how little the building gives away from the outside. You walk through the front door expecting an antique store. Then you keep walking. And walking. There are Tiffany style lamps near the entrance, collectible Barbies, furniture, records, old advertising, clothing, glassware and enough miscellaneous pieces of American life to make any attempt at seeing everything fairly hopeless. By the end of our visit, closing time was approaching and we still had entire sections left unexplored. “This place is like never ending,” CoreniaBug said while walking through the mall. She wasn’t exaggerating much. That is part of what makes Hickory Antiques Mall interesting. This is not a carefully arranged museum where someone has already decided...