SNIKTAW came about in 1991 when we turned our hobby into a business. We started collecting in the early 80's while still living in Houston. We always planned on making our love of antiques into a business, the question was when. That was decided for us in 1991 when we moved to Gurnee, Illinois and accumulated 32 pieces of furniture in the first 6 months we lived there. If we were going to keep buying we needed to start selling so SNIKTAW Antiques, LLC became a reality.
The SNIKTAW name (pronounced Snick-taw) has a bit of history with us too. It is not an old Indian name, but rather "Watkins" spelled backwards. The family has used the "SNIKTAW" name for other businesses in Texas, so we thought it would also be an appropriate name for our antiques business.
SNIKTAW initially only sold in antique malls and at one time was selling at a number of locations in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana. In 1998 we built the Gurnee Antique Center in Gurnee, Illinois and SNIKTAW moved into the front space of the 24,000 sq. ft. building where we can still be found today. However, we have expanded a bit and now occupy 3 booths and 9 showcases. We also do 6 shows a year and sell by appointment from our new barn and showroom.
"Expect quality and find the unusual" describes the merch- -andise for sale by the SNIKTAW Antiques, LLC. SNIKTAW is made of two distinct but overlapping specialties shared by Luan and Jerry Watkins — Early Americana and Folk Art. Luan's passion is early homemade or handmade items — from the smallest utensil to large pieces of furniture. Jerry's focus is more on folk art with a heavy emphasis on carnival and shooting targets.
We are both continually fascinated by the innovative ways the pioneers in this country as well as other countries solved a problem or accommodated a need. Although patents helped
with the transfer of knowledge there were still hundreds of
items made all for the same purpose before patents. Collections of these items are fascinating and we are continually building a collection — if we find one, we look
for more.
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SNIKTAW ANTIQUES, LLC
Luan & Jerry Watkins
5742 Northridge Drive
Gurnee, Illinois 60031
Phone: (847) 736-0791
©2009-2011 SNIKTAW ANTIQUES, LLC, Luan & Jerry Watkins.
All rights reserved.
