Growing up, my family owned a small business: a hardware store. It was a multi-generationally owned Home Hardware in a small Kawartha village. My grandparents, parents, brother, me, and even my husband, all worked there over the span of decades.

I didn’t realize it at the time but I learned a lot of valuable things during my time at the hardware. My grandparents and parents believed in working hard, and passed that down to us. There are some skills I’ll never forget. I still know how to cut down a box with a jack knife lickety-split. I can mix paint, and cut a key, measure rope, identify what type of screwdriver you need, find you an ‘o’ ring, and on and on.

It only seems fitting that on our adventures antiquing I am always on the look out for a yardstick with my family store’s logo on it. We still have one of the wooden yardsticks that we used at the hardware, and it is attached to a table that we restored and now use as a desk. But it would be such a treat to find another one, out there in the world. 

Last weekend, my husband and I were antiquing and the shop we were in had a barrel of wooden yardsticks. They were all from different companies and stores. Each one was just a little bit different. Some were thick, some thin, some so well worn from use and others in mint condition. As my eyes quickly scanned over the yardsticks I spotted a vintage home hardware one! And then to my surprise, another one, in the same bin! How could this be? It wasn’t from our family’s exact store, but it was still Home Hardware. 

I’m so excited. I’m going to keep one for myself (it’s going to live in my craft room), and the other I’m going to give to my Dad. 

What does he plan on doing with this treasure? Well, as of late he’s having a challenging time putting on his shoes. He finds that a wooden yardstick is the perfect tool to slip his foot into his shoe without bending (like a shoe horn). Now, he can use a familiar tool for this daily task. And hopefully it puts a smile on his face and brings back some happy memories of squeaky floors and days gone by.

P.S. The logos are slightly different, and I think my Dad will probably be able to identify how old the yard sticks are according to the style of the logo. I’ll keep you posted with what he says.

Update: So, automatically, my Dad said that the yardstick without the outline is the older of the two yard sticks (I knew he would know right away). He also shared with me that they would often give wooden yardsticks away for free. They would order 100 of them and when they were running low they would order more. It was a great way to advertise on something that would still be useful to the customer. So happy I’m still always finding ways to learn from my family.