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Brothers Antiques

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Fond du Lac, WI
Brothers Antiques

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We are always buying and selling antiques and vintage items. We are located in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

10/16/2026

Fresh finds of the week!

Open today 10am - 5pm
Saturday 8am-4pm
Sunday 8am-4pm

861 Grove St
Fond du Lac

10/09/2026

Day one of sorting and staging our upcoming Beaver Dam estate sale is in the books!

We’ve already uncovered some pretty neat pieces, from antique and mid-century furniture to original bottles and crates from the old Beaver Dam Bottling Works, where the sale will be held!

Check out some of our favorite finds so far! 👀

There’s still plenty more to uncover, so be sure to follow our Brothers Estate Services page for updates and the full photo preview coming Monday or Tuesday evening!

📅 October 16th–18th | Beaver Dam, WI

10/08/2026

FEATURED FURNITURE OF THE WEEK

The Dry Sink

For this week’s Featured Furniture of the Week, we’re highlighting a piece of furniture that was once an important part of the American household—the dry sink.

So, why exactly is it called a dry sink?

Before running water and indoor plumbing became commonplace, the kitchen sink wasn’t necessarily a permanent fixture built into the house. Instead, many families used a freestanding piece of furniture like this one. It was called a “dry sink” because it had no running water and no drain.

Water had to be carried into the home from a well, pump, spring, or cistern and placed into a removable basin or pan in the recessed area on top. Here, the family could wash dishes, clean vegetables and perform other everyday household chores. Once finished, the dirty water had to be carried away and disposed of by hand. In many ways, the dry sink was the direct predecessor of the modern kitchen sink.

Dry sinks were especially common in American homes during the 19th century, particularly from about 1820 through the end of the 1800s. They varied considerably depending upon where and by whom they were made. Some were simple country pieces constructed from pine, while others were more elaborate. The recessed “well” could be left as wood or lined with a water-resistant material such as zinc, tin, soapstone, or occasionally other metals to help protect the cabinet from all that splashing water.

This particular example has a wonderfully practical design. Lift the large hinged top and you’ll find the metal-lined sink area, while the double doors below provide plenty of enclosed storage. The vertical woodwork gives the piece an especially warm, country appearance.

Dry sinks began to lose their original purpose as indoor plumbing spread during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Once a household could simply turn on a faucet and have water flow directly into a sink—and down a drain afterward—carrying buckets of water back and forth quickly became a thing of the past.

Today, surviving dry sinks are a great reminder of just how much everyday household life has changed. What we accomplish by turning on a faucet once required hauling the water into the house, using it, and then hauling it right back out!

And although we don’t need them for washing dishes anymore, they’re still incredibly useful pieces of furniture. A dry sink can make a great bar, coffee station, entryway cabinet, kitchen storage piece, or primitive country accent—all while preserving a little piece of everyday American history.

Featured Furniture of the Week
Sharing the history, craftsmanship, and original purpose behind some of the furniture that passes through Brothers Antiques.

10/07/2026

Wow! Just in!

Every once in a while, a piece comes through the shop that makes you stop and appreciate the fact that it survived at all.

This original 1915 Harley-Davidson dealer advertising sheet dates to more than 110 years ago—and to a period when Harley-Davidson itself was still a relatively young company.

Printed across the top is “1915 CUTS — Order all Cuts by Number”.

So what exactly were “cuts”?

Long before dealers could download an image or create an advertisement on a computer, manufacturers supplied newspapers and dealers with physical printing blocks, or “cuts,” that could be used to reproduce an illustration in an advertisement. This sheet served as a catalog from which Harley-Davidson dealers could select the motorcycle illustration they wanted simply by ordering its corresponding number.

The instructions are especially fascinating. Harley-Davidson tells its dealers that when one of these cuts was used, they wanted a copy of every advertisement and every piece of printed matter mentioning Harley-Davidson sent back to the company so its files could be kept up to date.

It is a wonderful little glimpse into how Harley-Davidson was building its name and dealer network during the infancy of the American motorcycle industry.

What makes pieces like this particularly special is their survival. Sheets like this were working material—handled, used, superseded and eventually discarded. Finding original Harley-Davidson paper from the early teens is considerably more difficult than finding material from the company’s later decades.

And this one certainly shows its 110+ years of life. There are tears, losses and old repairs, but in a way I think that makes it more interesting. It wasn’t tucked away as a collectible when it was new. It survived.

The sheet still displays 15 beautifully detailed illustrations of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, each identified by its original advertising cut number, on the front and back side.

This incredible survivor is available in the shop for $200.

Whether you’re a Harley-Davidson collector, a fan of early Milwaukee history, or simply appreciate advertising pieces that somehow survived more than a century, this is a fascinating piece of American motorcycle history.

10/06/2026

PIECES OF WISCONSIN’S PAST

The B**r Hut — Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

We’re starting a new series here at Brothers Antiques called “Pieces of Wisconsin’s Past,” where we’ll occasionally pull an interesting Wisconsin piece from the shop and share some of the history behind it. Most will have connections to Fond du Lac and the surrounding area, but we’ll venture throughout the state whenever an interesting piece and story come along.

For our first feature, we’re staying right here in Fond du Lac with a local landmark many longtime residents will remember: The B**r Hut.

Sam Costas and his wife Ferne opened the B**r Hut on W. Scott Street in 1933, shortly after the repeal of Prohibition. What began as a small roadside establishment became one of Fond du Lac’s most recognizable businesses—and a surprisingly important piece of drive-in restaurant history.

The B**r Hut has been described as Wisconsin’s first carhop restaurant and reportedly the first drive-in restaurant in the country to serve b**r. In its earliest days, you could pull up and get a cold glass of b**r for just a nickel.

Situated along the old Highway 41 corridor, the B**r Hut became a destination for locals and travelers alike.
Perhaps its most memorable feature was impossible to miss—a gigantic Miller Girl perched atop a b**r barrel towering over the restaurant. The enormous figure became a Fond du Lac landmark in its own right. Remarkably, it survived after the restaurant disappeared and was eventually acquired by Miller.

And another piece of the B**r Hut survives right here in Fond du Lac. Sam Costas purchased and restored a 1920s carousel in the 1940s and moved it to the B**r Hut in 1955. That carousel eventually found a new home at Lakeside Park, where generations of Fond du Lac families have continued to enjoy it.

The piece we’re featuring is an original 25th Anniversary B**r Hut matchbook, celebrating 1933–1957. Open it up and you get a wonderful little snapshot of the restaurant itself—from charcoal-broiled burgers and steaks to fountain specialties, malts, imported b**rs and cold root b**r. It even includes a map showing travelers exactly how to find the B**r Hut.

It’s a small piece of advertising, but a great reminder of a Fond du Lac business that became much more than just another roadside restaurant.

Do you remember The B**r Hut? We’d love to hear from those who were there! Share your favorite B**r Hut memory in the comments—whether it was a family tradition, cruising in for a bite to eat, a memorable night out, or simply your favorite thing on the menu. And if you have any old photos of The B**r Hut, we’d love to see those too!

This original 25th Anniversary B**r Hut matchbook is available in the shop for $25.

Keep an eye out for more Pieces of Wisconsin’s Past as we dig into the stories behind the local advertising, photographs, signs, businesses, and other pieces of Wisconsin history that pass through Brothers Antiques.

10/03/2026

Featured Furniture of the Week: The “Jailhouse” Cupboard

For our first Featured Furniture of the Week, we’re taking a closer look at one of the more unusual pieces currently in the shop—a substantial 19th-century country cupboard commonly referred to today as a “jailhouse cupboard.”

The name comes from the unmistakable wooden latticework across the upper doors, resembling the bars of an old jail cell. The design was practical as well as distinctive, allowing air to circulate through the cupboard while keeping its contents enclosed. This made cupboards of this type particularly useful for pantry and food storage.

Jailhouse cupboards commonly found throughout the Midwest, and the design is often associated with German-American immigrants.

Our example is a particularly substantial version of the form. Many jailhouse cupboards encountered today have a narrower, taller profile, while this cabinet has a broad, almost wardrobe-like presence with two large lattice panels and generous interior storage.

Constructed primarily of pine, the cabinet retains old square nails and other evidence of its early construction. At some point during its long life, it appears to have been refinished, resulting in the beautiful old reddish-brown coloration it displays today. The interior is remarkably clean, and the shelving has also been refinished and stained, making the cupboard quite usable even after well over a century.

Today, a piece like this could once again serve as a pantry or kitchen cupboard, but it would be equally at home displaying stoneware, quilts, primitives, or a collection of early Americana.

Priced at $800

Check out more details on our website!

This is part of a new weekly segment where we intend to take a closer look at the history, craftsmanship, and character behind the furniture in our shop!

10/01/2026

It’s been a while since we’ve stepped back and shown you the bigger picture…

So here’s a little look around Brothers Antiques as we head into fall. 🍂

One of our favorite things about this place is that it never stays the same for very long. Pieces sell, new finds come through the door, displays get rearranged, and somehow we always manage to squeeze in just one more sign, cupboard, crock, crate, or oddball piece of history.

From old advertising and country store pieces to primitive furniture, stoneware, toys, local history, and the things that are simply too unusual to leave behind — there’s a lot packed into these walls.

And these photos are still only a glimpse.

If you haven’t wandered through the shop in a while, you might be surprised by how much has changed. And if you’ve never been in before, give yourself some time — this is the kind of place where the longer you look, the more you find.

👀 See something in the photos that catches your eye? Feel free to leave a comment or send us a message! We’re always happy to provide more information, additional photos, measurements, or pricing on anything you spot.

Come wander. Come dig. Come find something you didn’t know you needed.

Brothers Antiques FDL
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Open Friday 10–5
Saturday & Sunday 8–4

09/30/2026

There’s something magical about hearing a machine nearly 140 years old come to life. 🎶

This incredible Improved Celestina organette dates to the late 19th century and plays music using a perforated paper roll, hand crank, bellows, and 20 reeds — no electricity required.

Turn the crank, watch the paper roll through, and listen to a little piece of the 1880s come back to life.

One of those antiques that’s just as fascinating today as it must have been when it was new.

Address

861 Grove St
Fond Du Lac, WI
54935

Opening Hours

Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	8am - 4pm
Sunday	8am - 4pm

Telephone

+19205799671

Website

https://brothersantique.com/

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