Have you ever had the experience of driving down a road and passing a shop that broadcasts the message, "You don't want to miss exploring me?" If you're like me, you take the time to stop in the shop, spend way more time in awe than you ever imagined, and later breathe a sigh of gratitude that you listened to the message. Let me tell you; there's a place in Loomis called Emma's Horse and Buggy that you have to stop by to appreciate. Actually, you can start your appreciation even while you're driving for reasons I'll be happy to share with you, so please read on to learn them.
Treasures Great and Small
The shopping adventure at Emma’s Horse and Buggy starts from the second you exit your car. The reason for that is because this delightful place has a large variety of ironwork that has to be seen to be believed. I'll do my best to describe some of my favorites, but I want to be sure to add that these are only some of the many rustic iron yard art and metal garden sculptures found at Emma's Horse and Buggy. The cast of metal characters greeting you at Emma's Horse and Buggy include a gathering of a giraffe, mother and baby elephant, frog, turtle, ram, sheep, aardvark, colorful roosters, and of course, a full-sized horse and buggy. These charming and whimsical metal sculptures are all made in Mexico by skilled artisans. From small critters to large mammals, every sculpture has its own unique character and personality. Now that's just the beginning of our adventure at Emma's Horse and Buggy.
I spoke with the owner of Emma's Horse and Buggy, Shayla Sicotte, who told me that she took her love of vintage and eclectic collections and turned it into her shop. She said that she has always loved antiques and decided to take that passion and surround herself with them every day. She says they make her feel happy and centered. Once you're able to tear yourself away from the delightful metal sculptures and enter the front door of Emma's Horse and Buggy, you'll see that Sicotte has created a shop that reflects her passion for antiques and collectibles in many ways.
Value is in the Eye of the Beholder
Anyone with enthusiasm for antique and collectible shops knows that each shop has its own character. I've spent hours of my life perusing the insides of many an antique shop and have never seen two that are alike. Some are austere with high-priced items that are beautiful, rare, and often out of a comfortable price range. Others are full of unusual things that are fun to spot but hard to find a place to fit into most homes. And once in a while, if you're really lucky, you'll find a place like Emma's Horse and Buggy-a place that has valuable items, collectible pieces, and fun finds that all come together to create one big, happy, comfortable, and peaceful place to shop.
One of the many things that makes Emma's Horse and Buggy so comfortable and classy. Each room is tastefully arranged in a way that gives each item a place to show off but has just enough in the room to create a sense of a treasure hunt. While I love every room Sicotte has designed, my favorite is the music and game room. Yes, I do mean precisely that. If you love old games, vintage vinyl, and an assortment of older musical instruments, don't skip the music and game room. My favorite find there so far is a Hamiltons Cribbage board complete with the original pegbox. The board is marked with a serial number and even has the operator number of the person who made the game board! Now being someone who is married to a former Navy submariner, I've heard all the sea stories about how submariners spend time playing cribbage while sailing the bottom of the seven seas. I've been on the non-winning end of many a cribbage game due to my husband's history. I've seen several cribbage boards but never like the one I found at Emma's Horse and Buggy! After excitedly buying it, I came home to research the history of my find. Now to be fair, I'd noticed it was odd that the peg rows were not curved around the board. I spotted that on my own. But not having spent hours in a submarine playing cribbage while quietly sailing through the world’s oceans, I thought perhaps this was a different style of board. But what I discovered made my fun find even more special. I purchased what was known as a cribbage punch board!
Try Your Luck on a Punchboard
During the 18th century, punchboards were used for gambling purposes. Shop and tavern owners would construct a game board out of wood, drill holes in it and fill each hole with a game piece or small paper. Shop owners covered the holes with paper, and customers would buy a chance to puncture the punchboard with a nail and retrieve the piece of paper nestled in the board's hole. If the "ticket" contained a winning number, the customer won a prize. As the use of these boards grew in popularity, they evolved by having paper put in both the front and back. This prevented customers from sneaking a peek at what might be in the ticket holes, and entire boards were sold to customers in a similar way that today's lottery tickets are sold. Although their popularity suffered when gambling fell out of favor with some people, the use of punchboards for advertisement started to gain in popularity. My incredible find is a vintage cribbage punchboard from the turn of the century that I may never win any cribbage games using but have a fun find forever. And that’s just the kind of thing that happens when you shop at Emma’s Horse and Buggy. As you go through each room’s treasures, you never know what you’re going to find. Not only does Sicotte do a wonderful job at stocking a wide variety of items, but she also welcomes consignment sales, so the inventory changes often. Whether you're looking for gorgeous metal yard décor or trying to find that next treasure, you'll be so glad you took the time to visit Emma's Horse and Buggy.
Stanford Ranch Self Storage
Loomis is a great little town and one of Rocklin's immediate neighbors. As Rocklin's neighborhood self-storage facility, Stanford Ranch Self Storage welcomes our Loomis neighbors. For those who love antiques to those who have heritage collections waiting to be passed on to future generations, self storage is an excellent solution to keep valuables stored in a stable and clean environment. Stanford Ranch Self Storage has a state-of-the-art facility that offers a large variety of units. From the small to the very large, our units are the perfect way to store your valuable and beloved collections and antiques. Please come by and see us to learn more about our new facility; we're open and practicing social distancing.
Emma's Horse and Buggy is located at 3793 Taylor Rd,
Loomis, CA, 95650, Ca
916-625-8800
Hours of Operation are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday.
