Not many people know this about me, but I have a bit of a thing for antique serving implements. Bizarre, I know. I collect weird spoons, tongs and serving forks and have them all stashed in a giant tea cup on my bookcase, and by weird, I mean things like this little bird-feet-tong-for-sugarcubes vibe.

Sweetiepants huh?

I was invited by SAADA (don’t worry if you don’t know who they are, I’ll get there) a little while back to explore the antique shops of Parkhurst. It’s right down the road for me, and I’m almost ashamed to admit that I had never been into a single one of the antique stores on the Fourth Avenue strip! I had thought they would be too fancy for me and I’d rather stick to my backroad antique haunts, but after the experience, I can truthfully say the owners in Parkhurst are just as lovely and helpful as anywhere else!

Okay, now back to SAADA. They are the South African Antique, Art & Design Association, and their mission is really to keep the culture of antiquing alive and well in South Africa. Before we even began our hunt down the strip, we chatted to CEO Paul Mrkusic about what the organisation actually does.

Paul’s take on antiques is absolutely fascinating and he reported that with the revival of a passion for vintage items, so has the interest picked up in scrounging for antiques again. In essence, hipsters have made old things cool and frankly, I couldn’t be happier!

What I thought was most interesting about the antique stores in Parkhurst was how diverse each was, how each store owner has their own speciality, and how everything seemed to work together like an ecosystem. Owners refer to each other kindly, they work together and send on customers to a store should they be hunting out something specific.

I will say that the stores in Parkhurst are much more ‘sterile’ than if you go antique hunting in say Greymont, but the wealth of knowledge from each of the owners is an incredible insight into this mysterious world.

Next time you’re on the strip, take a gander in one of these little gems, I highly recommend it!