CURRENT ISSUE: 2026
ISSUE #8
NOW AVAILABLE
ISSUE 7
billings, Montana
antiques & vintage road trip
Montana’s largest city, Billings, is a major contributor to the state’s antiques and vintage scene. It is home to two of the largest antiques malls in the state, as well as a number of long time single owner shops. I could easily spend 2 full days touring the Billings shops listed here. Check our Business Listings section for more detail about each shop.
ANTHOLOGY MARKET
1807 Grand Ave, Suite B, Billings
New shop open one weekend a month. Stylish, curated mix of antique, vintage, and new for the modern home.
BROADWATER MERCANTILE ANTIQUES
1844 Broadwater Ave, Billings
Single owner shop since 2006. General line featuring furniture, Red Wing crocks, high end costume jewelry, glass, china, books, dolls. We strive for quality!
MARKETPLACE 3301
3301 1st Avenue North,
Billings Montana’s largest antique mall.
Marketplace 3301
Broadwater Merchantile Antiques
Montana Vintage Clothing
MONTANA VINTAGE CLOTHING
112 North 29th St, Billings
4,000 square feet of 1990’s and older vintage clothing for men, women, and children, including western wear, shoes, boots, jewelry, and other accessories.
OXFORD HOTEL ANTIQUES
2411 Montana Avenue, Billings
Single owner shop since 1981! A large general line, including mid century, western, vinyl records, jewelry, rocks, and books.
YESTERYEARS ANTIQUE MALL
208 N Broadway, lower level,
Billings Antique mall with 85 vendors, open daily. Antiques & vintage, vintage clothing, collectables, candy shop, and cafe.
Oxford Hotel Antiques
Yesteryears Antique Mall
SOME HISTORY RELATED THINGS TO DO IN BILLINGS
Western Heritage Center: 2822 Montana Ave, Billings
Photos, info, and artifacts on the history of Billings and the Yellowstone River valley. Located downtown in the circa 1901 building that housed Billings’ first public library.
Moss Mansion: 914 Division Street, Billings
An imposing 3 story red sandstone residence constructed in 1903 for the prominent Moss family. Guided tours offered of the home.
Pictograph Cave State Park: 3401 Coburn Road, Billings
Five miles south of Billings. This MT Fish, Wildlife, & Parks site has a visitor center with interpretative info and trails.
NATIONAL INSULATOR ASSOCIATION CONVENTION
& SHOW
If you’re like many Montanan’s, there’s likely at least one glass insulator in your personal collection of cool old things you found outdoors or at a garage sale.
JULY 10-11-12, 2026, LEWIS & CLARK FAIRGROUNDS, HELENA, MT
Fri: Open to NIA members;
memberships sold at door
Sat: General Admission $5, 9 am - 4 pm
Sun: General Admission $5, 9 am - 1 pm
Website: https://www.nia.org/shows/2026_national
Info: Doug Rusher, ddrusher@aol.com,
Ron Yuhas, hemibluemuncie76@gmail.com
The 2026 National Insulator Association convention and show in Helena this summer is a great opportunity to find out more about your insulator (free evaluations on Saturday & Sunday!) as well as the history associated with the development of communication across Montana via telegraph and telephone lines.
Insulator collectors from across the United States will be in Helena the second weekend in July and the public is welcome to participate. The convention is a big one: organizers are planning for 150 tables of displays and sales, and one of the featured presentations will be on the Montana Power Company.
Two of the Helena convention organizers, Doug Rusher and Ron Yuhas, talk about the adventure and fun they’ve had over the years with collecting insulators. The two met in high school as young collectors and both had upbeat stories about their adventures outdoors while following old line routes in the forest, dealing with steep hikes and very challenging weather while searching.
Both adventure and history become intertwined with collecting insulators. Once collectors are hooked, they want to find out where a particular insulator was made, how the insulator travelled to Montana (by rail, steam boat, horse freighter, truck!) and which locations and lines used a particular style insulator. Some insulators are very rare and coveted, selling for thousands of dollars. The association is friendly and supportive of new enthusiasts, so pack up that insulator you always wondered about and head out to the Helena Fairgrounds, July 10 - 12, 2026.
Embrasing imperfection
The “desk” where I do my writing is really
a very old table that came from a pub in Ireland.
Its green paint is faded, cracks spread across the top, and there are two sets of initials carved in one corner. Could I sand it down, repaint it, and make it look like new? Sure. Would I ever do that? Not a chance. I like tracing the initials with my finger, imagining the stories and laughter that surrounded this table over years. I like to guess what the carvers’ names were, and what their lives were like. The table’s imperfections are what make it unique.
In a society dominated by mass-produced goods, antiques are rich with history and charm. Dents, chippy paint, and scratches tell stories and add character that no reproduction can copy. Worn, weathered surfaces carry traces of lives from the past. Patina is visible history—it reflects the touch of hands, the passage of footsteps, the sweep of a broom. Patina tells the story of stormy winters, the slant of sun in summer, the splash of salt sea air, and the heat of bone dry desert. It creates a mellow richness and burnished glow that new, perfect pieces lack. That sense of history is what gives antiques a soul that anchors a room, and makes a piece treasured rather than merely functional.
Don’t get me wrong--I am not talking about furniture that needs obvious repairs. Sometimes surfaces are so damaged they have to be refinished or painted. Legs have to be repaired, seat caning has to be replaced, stained, torn cloth has to be reupholstered. There’s nothing wrong with fixing pieces so that they can shine again. No, I’m talking about items that show continual use and wear over time…pieces that may have been used to make bread on in a kitchen, endured trips in the back of a farmer’s wagon or on a ship, pieces that hands prayed over or studied on or shared a meal on. Pieces that have been admired, handled, and loved.
Anna Hillegass said, “I love older things that people have used and cherished. They have personality, character, and soul.” More and more homeowners agree. They are searching for authenticity and history to enrich their homes, pieces with character that can become part of their story. They want simple and soulful, something with meaning, rather than just another show piece for a collection. And looking for meaningful purchases makes in-store shopping fun again—running your hands over satiny smooth wood with dips and turns, feeling the primitive roughness of blacksmithed metal, enjoying the rich colors and textures of hand-woven textiles, the weight of hand-blown glass, the grain patterns in hand-milled wood…even discovering the ingenious repairs craftsmen made to furniture long before crazy glue was invented.
When you purchase an antique, you purchase a connection to the past, and stories woven over ages. If you resist the urge to remedy each flaw in a piece and embrace its imperfections, it’s amazing how it will end up becoming absolutely perfect in your story.
By Shelly Turk, Billings, MT
PAST ISSUES
ISSUE 1
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