Postman’s Antiques celebrates its 25th Anniversary, sharing Shelburne’s rich history : Shelburne Free Press : https://shelburnefreepress.ca

This page was exported from Shelburne Free Press [ https://shelburnefreepress.ca ]
Export date: Sun Nov 24 19:04:10 2024 / +0000 GMT

Postman’s Antiques celebrates its 25th Anniversary, sharing Shelburne’s rich history

Local business, Postman's Antiques, celebrates their 25th year in business serving Shelburne residents. Located on Owen Sound St. Postman's Antiques is a historic building difficult to miss. What some people may not know is that this beautiful work of architecture began as Shelburne's first local post office.

Having owned the building since 1999, owner's of Postman's Antiques, Martin and Diane Guyton revel in the building's rich and diverse history, and they live their lives sharing that history with all.

According to The Free Press and Economist featuring an article in 1936 on the building of the post office and its history in the making, the building took nearly three years to build at a cost of $35000, a staggering amount in relation to today's monetary standards. To everyone's delight, Shelburne's new post office opened on January 21 in1915, creating a new visual focal point for the city, and another meeting place, rivalling the Town Hall. Shelburne's new brightly lit post office, now open, posted its first correspondence. Chester Best posted this historic letter written by his father, John Best, MP to Premier Borden proudly announcing the post office was open. Interesting by today's wage standards, the caretaker of this historic building and Treasurer of Mulmur Township, Mr. Robert Gallagher received $400 annual salary, free rent, fuel and light. The electric lighting was not the only amazing and impressive feature this structure offered as the four faced clock tower was electrically lit during the evenings and included a working bell, proving Shelburne was growing on the cusp of innovation for that time.

Guyton adds, “The clock still works, it just requires a lot of manual work to run. I imagine, in its day, it was able to seen quite a distance as all four faces are milk glass and easily visible, especially when lit.”

Since the Guyton's have owned this building, they have discovered a few interesting things. “The building once had flags all around it and one day I found all of them. Also, when the roof was being fitted, small chips of it were chipped off and tossed in a barrel. Once the building was completed, there was no way to remove the barrel and the chips of the original roof work are still here,” said Guyton. “The back room was used as an Armory in both WW1 and WW11 where young men would be outfitted before being sent off to Toronto. Also a lot of people don't realize or remember there was a telegraph office here as well.”

Catching the interest of the media, two separate television programs, Trash To Treasure and Deals From The Dark Side featured this once post office turned antique store which offers a broad mix of things from the ancient past to fairly modern day. The bulk of the items range from the 1800's-1900's and are generally privately purchased items within a one hour proximity to Shelburne however some rare items are purchased from as far away as Paris, France, Malta, Brussels, and London .

Bitten by the collecting bug as a young man, Guyton discovered he loved history and quickly learned he could collect it. That being said, one of Guyton's rare finds includes a Roman book from 1541, The Emperor Byzantine Justinian Roman Law. Celebrating their 25th Anniversary in business, the Guyton's enhance the lore and cherished history of this wonderful work of art, this amazing feat of architecture completely constructed from stone from the local quarry and one of the few buildings built completely in stone.

When asked how Guyton decided to live the life of an antique dealer, he replied, “It was a hobby that ran away with my life.” Guyton jokingly reports, “I became a seller by accident.”

That may be, but it's no accident this collector and his wife remain true to themselves and their love of history. Perhaps in one hundred years, someone will write an article including the Guyton's contribution to the preservation of Shelburne's first post office keeping Shelburne's rich and valued history alive and thriving still. In keeping with the building's track record, post office, antique store, we can only imagine what the future will reveal for this precious building!

Happy 25th Anniversary to Postman's Antiques!

For more information, call 519-925-0046.

By Alex Sher

Post date: 2013-07-04 17:38:59
Post date GMT: 2013-07-04 21:38:59
Post modified date: 2013-07-15 13:58:26
Post modified date GMT: 2013-07-15 17:58:26