Wednesday, July 20, 2016

'Great American'... reposting some old ones this summer...

Some years ago when we lived in Austin, Texas, my husband had left the corporate business world and we headed into our own publishing business. At the same time, his ongoing love for antiques, particularly the kind that men collect, the early west expansion, gold mining, etc. , made it a natural to have a small antique shop, as we published a book on the subject.
We found the perfect location!


On the highway south of Austin, a red and white 2 story building with the flag flying out front. We named the whole thing Great American, and the real breakdown of that was...

The lower floor was Great American Antiques...

The upstairs was Great American Publishing...
When the phone rang and they asked for the marketing department for our recently first published book... I put them on hold and ran upstairs to tell my hubby there was a call for the 'publishing business'. :)

I designed this little business card, which perfectly pictured our building and have saved it all these years.
We had some good days in that little building. The school bus even dropped our kids off there on their way home from school. When we published the first book, we casually saw (anxiously waited for) the mail truck outside the window and walked (ran!) to see how many orders were in the box. This was also the little office where we published Charlie Schreiner's book on the 100 year anniversary of his YO Ranch in Kerrville. We have a copy of the book he gave us, bound in longhorn hide which sits in my hubby's office.
It was in Austin where we met
Charles Harrelson, and he and Joe walked across the highway and sat with their coffee in Dairy Queen as they talked about life, and he shared PART of who he was. The rest we found out later...

More chapters from the journey. All 3 of our kids were baptized in Austin. My dad flew in from California and joined our pastor in the baptism. These were 3 kids whose salvation and baptism we wanted 'signed, sealed and delivered!'...

Austin, Texas was a good chapter.

7 comments:

manthano said...

That was an inspiring insight into the "Good old days".
THANKS.

Vee said...

Happy memories! They put a smile on my face.

Debbie Petras said...

I love that ...signed, sealed and delivered. Praise God! I love all of your posts new and old. Keep them coming Sonja.

Love you,
Debbie

Sharon said...

How I wish I could have visited that antique store!! Your hubby and mine would become fast friends if they ever met! Their shared love of all things Western would bond them immediately! Love your stories, Sonja...

GOD BLESS!

Crown of Beauty said...

What a delightful post this is, Sonja. It's been a while since I visited your blog. That Great American two storey building must surely have been a memorable part of your life story. I loved being here, felt like visiting a dear friend I haven't seen for a while. Love Lidia

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

Well you know how I feel about this post. I am still amazed we lived in the same area and we pretty much do again. I am going to share this post with Bill.

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