Cathy Haggerty demonstrating how this toy horse moves. photos by Cindy Steele
People enjoying a breakfast or lunch at a window-side table at the Artists Colony Inn can look through the glass and see others lingering at the antique shop at 39 East Franklin Street, just a few steps from Van Buren.
Cathy’ s Corner, a little shop of curiosities, was opened nine years ago by Cathy Haggerty with the help of her son, Bill, who pitched in with needed elbow grease to install cases and shelves. Cathy painted a mural of Hooks’ Hill with its well-known red barn on the wall, giving it her own special Brown County touch. Fearrin’ s Ice Cream Depot and the Lawrence Family Glass Blowers are established business neighbors. Visitors taking a tour of Nashville can catch the trolley right in front of the store.
Cathy’ s Corner specializes in unique and collectible items that
24 Our Brown County • Nov./ Dec. 2017
are beautiful, quirky, nostalgic, or just plain fun. They bring unusual stories and people together, which prompted Brown County antique enthusiast, Shirl Malina, to tell Cathy she is a“ contadora”— a keeper of stories. The constantly changing inventory has an eclectic selection of art, glassware, volumes written by Hoosier authors like Gene Stratton Porter, James Whitcomb Riley, and Lew Wallace; estate jewelry, headpieces, purses of silk, beads, and leather; and old toys. There is always a wide array of wonderful metal tractors, cars, and trucks; dolls and doll furniture; authentic early versions of popular card and board games, jars of old marbles; and dishes perfectly sized for a child’ s hands. Cathy is known to invite folks to“ Come down and play with us.”
Browsing in Cathy’ s Corner brings comforting memories of life in previous decades, when appliances had cords and were made of seemingly indestructible steel. Young children especially will love shopping trips to Cathy’ s Corner and hear from grandparents about a time when household items were not disposable, but repaired, and then handed down to family members just setting up housekeeping.
The women of the family collected dainty tea cups and saucers, knowing that special occasions were made more so by using china pieces or table linens carefully cross-stitched and stored in hope chests. Sewing baskets had multiple notions, spools, and tools necessary for knitting, crocheting, tatting, mending, and other fancywork.