As some readers know, I started my years with MidCountry Media (publisher of Farm World) in 1987 with the antiques trade paper side of the company. I worked for AntiqueWeek and then later for The Auction Exchange and Collectors News, as well.

My parents became antiques dealers when I was in the seventh grade. They owned an antique mall in Rockville, Ind., for 20 years. I grew up surrounded by old things. As a teenager I wasn’t that interested, but when I went to college I took an oak rocking chair with me, and so many people commented on it, I began to think my parents might be on to something.

After graduating with a journalism degree I worked for a few small daily and weekly newspapers in Indiana before finding the perfect fit of antiques and journalism with AntiqueWeek.

When my parents were alive I was also an antique dealer with a booth at their mall. After their deaths, the joy I had in antiquing just wasn’t the same. But the collecting bug is strong with me, so I will always be surrounded by antiques and collectibles.

My main collecting focus right now is on postcards from Parke County, especially real photo cards that show old buildings and events. I have more than 1,000 and still find new ones from time to time. I also collect vintage German shepherd pieces. Mainly, though, I am my father’s daughter and I tend to gravitate toward anything that catches my eye.

I was recently reunited with some items I had accidently left behind during a move two years ago. Included was a “Cattle Crossing Highway” sign that Dad bought about 20 years ago. The sign has a stencil for U.S. Highway 36 on the back as well. U.S. 36 intersects with U.S. 41 in Rockville.

I can’t remember where Dad bought the sign, but I know he bought it when he was out shopping during the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival. The sign was supposed to be something Dad would take to the antique mall and resell. But instead, Dad put it in the living room and somehow it just never made it to the mall.

That was the way with many of our things. When I was in high school and my parents were setting up at antique shows on a regular basis, I would “borrow” things for my room between shows. I always promised they would go back into the show stock, but most of them never made it.

I still have a cast-metal horse statue from those days that never went back for sale after it found a home on a shelf in my bedroom.

While I am only guessing, I would think Dad’s sign was most likely placed on the highway by either a police organization or the highway department when a farmer was moving his cattle across the road. Since the sign has U.S. 36 stenciled on the back, my thought is most likely it was with a highway department.

I have another sign that says: “No Horse Traffic Beyond This Point By Order of the Police Department,” so signs such as these were definitely part of the rural culture. Now we have giant flashing electronic signs to tell us important information.

There are numerous items out in the antiques world that are perfect for anyone wanting to keep a piece of the farm as a decor item. Many farm families also have items that were passed down through generations.

Do you have a fun antique or collectible that relates to your farm or farming activities? Send a photo to me via email at connie@farmworldonline.com