Keep it in Cranston: Antiques in the Attic

Our first stop on our Keep it in Cranston tour of small businesses is Antiques in the Attic on Pontiac Avenue.

Owner Diana Gordon keeps this small shop crammed with gifts, antiques, holiday décor and jewelry year-round, changing the theme as the seasons pass. But Christmas is when she pulls out all the stops.

Here you can find holiday items that will kindle childhood memories of aluminum Christmas trees and spinning color wheels, hollow ornaments jammed with candy made in Pawtucket and Woonsocket factories in the 1940s and 50s and highly desirable bubble lights from the 1960s.

The shop is literally inside an attic, so watch your head as you duck beneath the slanted ceiling. The items for sale — and everything is on sale — are arranged to convey the sense that someone lives there. A pair of high heeled shoes sits next to a chair. A decorative pie sits on a wood burning stove next to a knife. It’s controlled clutter. From a distance the amount of goods is overwhelming. Up close, each item tells a story: collectively, a journey through time inside an imagined life, individually, a small slice of time captured in a prized object. You can’t walk through this store without finding something from your childhood, something you wouldn’t remember without seeing it on display in Gordon’s whimsical store.

This year, Gordon is inviting customers to bring one ornament to the store and she will give an estimate of its value.

“It’s not an appraisal, since appraisals often don’t reflect what someone would pay for something,” Gordon said.

And you can walk out with an ornament from the tree in the center of the shop. Want something from your childhood? It’s likely hanging on the tree. Want to give a gift that doesn’t come shrink wrapped, but is bundled with stories and memories? Consider adding Antiques in the Attic to your must-visit holiday shopping list.

Hours: Tue - Sun, noon - 5pm; Mon, closed; or by appointment

The store takes cash, checks and credit cards.

Gordon also sells items on consignment.

Cranston Patch will be stopping by local businesses leading up to Christmas Day for the Keep it in Cranston series. If you want to make sure we stop by, send editor Mark Schieldrop an e-mail message. If your business is not in our directory, let us know!